oonga Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 Staffyluv, i think it is very nice of you to make that offer and come and show your support. I am sorry to hear of what you are going through with your boy Ollie You guys are being an amazing team!!! Big healing hugs to him :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiahzen Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 yep that makes sense... She has only started the whole lounge thing within the last 3 months so i guess this is about when it all started.... Staffyluv thankyou for your kind words.. Can i ask what you changed in Ollie's diet, I have been thinking about that alot today and i think that i will change what she eats just not sure what i should change.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 yep that makes sense... She has only started the whole lounge thing within the last 3 months so i guess this is about when it all started....Staffyluv thankyou for your kind words.. Can i ask what you changed in Ollie's diet, I have been thinking about that alot today and i think that i will change what she eats just not sure what i should change.... He eats mainly meat and veges with a little hills science diet added... The meat is mainly chicken (grain fed is best - expensive but it is what keeps him healthy that matters to me), roo, venison when I can get it as well as lean beef (human quality beef, never pet meat). He goes through fazes with his veges and for about six weeks or more now the only veges he will eat is sweet potato and zucchini. He also eats fruit and organic yoghurt. He has 1000mg fish oil, 1500mg VItamin C every day. He is also on 9 tablets a day (maxalon - 2, omprezole - 1, polaramine - 1, thyroxine - 2 and carafate -3). Basically, if I would not eat it myself, I wont feed it to him. He has become quite fussy and will no longer eat raw bones, so he gets some rawhide things to chew (I would prefer if he ate the raw bones though). He gets four doggy choc treats a day after he takes his tablets, so he will take them (I have never had a problem getting him to open up so I can put them down his throat)... He used to eat all veges but has become fussy and gets selective from time to time. But we use most veges - spinach, pumpkin, broccoli, carrot, sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini... Before the diet change, he used to eat lesser quality meats (mainly beef) and veg with pasta or rice - the pasta and rice was removed because it had no nutritional value. Hope that helps. Jodie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Staffyluv has good info. We talked about it before and her advice is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 grumpette: what excellent news about Baylee...you must be so relieved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harper Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 It is so much easier with this new subforum. I have been visiting the Rotty forum to get updates on the the little darlings that are not well and it is much easier not having to rifle through pages of other stuff to find out how they are going. It is also a very good resource. Thinking of you all at this difficult time. :D for Sophie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 cavNrott Yes I am relieved about Baylee. I now watch her very closely, especially when she exercises. Her breathing can become very heavy and laboured when she as been swimming or running for a while, more so than the other Rotties that she plays with. But she still wants to keep going, even though you can see her heart pounding through the left side of her chest. She will drop and rest a little of her own accord as long as nobody throws a ball etc for her to chase/swim after. But I cannot stop her from doing all the things she loves for fear of her having a heart attack. She can no longer chase balls/frizbees/fetch toys like she used too, and has had to adjust her play to more mind games than strength/stamina games. She does not get the treats that she once got, nor any scrapes, to maintain as healthy a heart as possible and optimum weight. But this is something that we are all coming to grips with. I am just thankful that I have that time to adjust, which is something that I really wish you guys had. I a way I feel guilty for Baylee's good health, in light of your dog's bad diagnosis, and I wish I could make things better for Sophie, Kiesha and Zed, but I cannot. All I can offer is my support, understanding, compassion and assistance should you need ANYTHING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eza Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 CavNrott Thank you for pointing me in this direction. I have one question, is the cancer breed specific or very common? Im sorry to hear about the passing of Tyson (sorry if I missed anyone) and a very big hug to all the ill dogs. Ill keep my eye out for good news :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Hi Eza, no it's not breed specific but seems to be much more prevalent in this breed than other breeds. The Rottie breed is suffering really badly with osteosarcoma over the last few years. It seems to be showing itself in uncommon places in this breed too. A few of us here have lost our Rotties to osteosarcoma. Most osteosarcoma happens in the limbs but BP's girl has it in the bones of her head and my girl has it in her bottom jaw bone as well as a tumour on her gum. My son's Rottweiler was pts last week. She had it in her shoulder. Bone pain is very severe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allerzeit Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 I have one question, is the cancer breed specific or very common? As Anne said, not breed specific as such - but it is so incredibly common that I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a genetic link. Everytime we turn around we hear of another Rotty with osteosarcoma these days - it's starting to feel like we lose more Rotts to this disease than to anything else. We had Stewie with it in his leg, Cain in his shoulder, Chance in his jaw. How are Sophie and Keisha this morning? Please give them morning cuddles from me :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eza Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Thanks for explaining that. Thats sad :D Erin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaz Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Can you tell me what are some of the earliest signs of osteosarcoma? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 What a dreadful disease. I'll also be watching the thread for positive news about the sick dogs, and so sorry about your dog, RnB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allerzeit Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Kaz, the earliest definite signs I've ever picked up is sudden, unexplained swelling, lumps etc. The lumps are rock hard, and come up incredibly quickly. Even earlier, if the growth is affecting a limb, you will probably see lameness - but that might be disregarded as muscle pain, arthritis, etc. With Cain we actually thought he had dislocated his shoulder - one day there was nothing, the next there was a large swelling over his shoulder. With Stewie, OH was just patting him and ran his hand over Stu's leg when he felt a slight swelling. Called me to have a look, I took one feel and burst into tears. That was only the slightest swelling, it was barely visible - but you could feel it was in the bone :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantavia Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Hi All, I am sorry to hear about all the rottie's that are unwell, I agree this is a great idea to have this thread. I hope all get better soon. To all that have gone over the rainbow bridge- They go to fields of gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiahzen Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) The first thing that we noticed was a slight abnormality in Kiesha's head..... We really couldn't tell that it was a lump due to the location but it was painfull to touch. In the end she wouldn't even let you touch her head and when you would try and pat her she would move her head away from your hand so that you could pat her somewhere else.... The lump was and still is very hard and is growing you can see the difference in these pics taken over the last few months.... The first taken in Sept 2007, you can not even tell that there is anything there and then the other was taken this month.... So you can see within the last 4 months it has gone from nothing to an almost tennis ball size on top of her head... Edited January 28, 2008 by bluepoppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpette Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 BP Hw is Kiesha coping today? Are her ears still bothing her? Have you increased the pain meds and has it helped her? How are you going/feeling yourself? Take great care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiahzen Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Thanks Grumpette... She is ok, seems alot better today than yesterday. one of the dogs was sick at the back door during the middle of the night but considering that i was asleep i'm not sure if it was Kiesha or Diesel this is the second time that this has happened and i am annoyed that i didn't see who it was..... It is possible that it was Diesel as he has had a very weak stomach since his operation. I'm not sure if the tubes or medication irritated his tummy during the surgery or after with the meds that he was on It is also possible that it was Kiesha as the meds that she is on can cause Nausea I have been feeding her at night and in the morning and she gets her tablet at night so it could have been her... I will be talking to the vet tomorrow in the morning and i will find out what he suggests for her... The only thing that i have been suggested to get at this stage is some Maxalon and some Tramadol, I have also read on the Rottweiler Health site that the Tramadol is one of the best pain drugs for Osteosarcoma along with the Feldene that she is already taking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annes Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 RnB I am sorry for Tyson's loss I dont post very much, but I just wanted to convey my best wishes to all the rottis who are unwell. It is heartbreaking to see these well loved babies be afflicted with this horrible disease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) Sophie's first sign of a problem was at the end of August 2007. I noticed she was chewing her chicken frame on only one side of her mouth. When it happened again the following day I saw her gum was inflamed and sore. I took her to the vet the next morning and the following day she had a perfectly normal pre molar (pm4) removed. It was necessary to do this to look at the underlying gum. The vet saw a lot of inflammation in the gum and sent a biopsy to pathology. Pathology came back with an non conclusive report. They either stuffed up the specimen or didn't know what they were looking at. Maybe the cancer cells were not detectable at that stage but I seriously doubt it. If it was inflamed and sore then there was an obvious problem, we just didn't know what it was. Sophie has always had beautiful white teeth with no plaque and has never needed dental treatment so I guess we had a false sense of security. Sophie seemed to heal well over the next few weeks. About 9 weeks later the same thing happened. This time I could see a blue lump on her gum where the tooth used to be. She was not able to eat by herself now had to be hand fed. She had surgery again on Christmas Eve and the patholgy report came back a few days later with the diagnosis of a highly malignant anaplastic tumour with osteosarcoma in her jaw. We caught this early. I don't know if the prognosis would have been better had pathology come back with an informative result on the first specimen, I doubt it. I think this tumour was aggressive right from the beginning. I don't think we could have prevented it whatever we did. We saw an oncologist a few days after the last surgery and Sophie has been on Tramadol since then together with Feldene a week later. She had Rimadyl in her system and we had to wait a week before she could take Feldene. Sophie has Feldene with breakfast and Tradmadol with dinner. They both appear to have an effective period of about 12 hours pain relief. The Tramadol seems to be much stronger than the Feldene. She is also on a number of other drugs that I've already posted about earlier in this thread. That's the story of Sophies cancer. edited to correct date of start of symptoms Edited August 17, 2008 by cavNrott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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