Jedda

[jedda]

Hi, my names Carolyn and i have two staffys and a terrier.

There's Jedda she's about 9. I have had her since she was about 1. We met in Wollongong. I kept telling my friend i was taking her home (to Darwin) she kept saying fine, when it was time to go jedda jumped into the passenger seat and thats where she has been ever since. We drove all the way back to darwin and thats where "our" journey began.

Then there's Kelly she's a terrier. She's about 3 ish. Very cute but has quite the selective hearing.

Then theres' Spinx, also a staffy. We found him at work and i don't like to see pets go to the pound so i said i'd hang onto him for the night. Save someone the $100. He's been here ever since. He's afraid of storms thats probably why the people who microchipped him denied they knew anything about him. He's extremely affectionate and sweet.

Jedds is also terrified of storms. In the wet season she is on medication every day as she tears the place apart. Curtains down, computer off the table, dvd's everywhere, a screen door knocked off its bottom hinge and all the rest. Despite that i love her to pieces.

Last year we found that she had MCT's, she had surgery twice as there wasn't clear margins. Then about 3 weeks ago we found more lumps, the vet took off all the lumps she could. she said she wasn't going to do any more surgery but will give her prednisolone. I have changed her diet to meat and veggies. I read a book called Curing Dog Cancer and i am giving her, fish oil, flax seed oil, colostrum, spirulina, it also said aloe vera and noni juice. The last two are pretty hard to get into her so am trying to disguise it in meaty treats.

They are grade two MCT's. She is well and not any different from herself weeks or months ago. It works from the inside out so i'll have to take it as it comes. I was of course, completely devestated to hear the rotten words from the vet but i will never give up on my baby. She is perfect. Such a loving, sweet natured, affectionate, playful girl. She is my child.

Hi, from all of us. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Jedda (Carolyn)

[Staffyluv]

Hi Carolyn and crew,

Ollie is a male desexed stafford who will be 11 in June: he has a thread here too and he is MCT grade 2 with no clear margins on excision.

He has multiple tumour sites as the cancer was systemic - they tested the lymph nodes nearest the major tumour site and they were positive for MCT.

He is on a human (often organic) quality diet with supplements advised by our holistic vet.

He originally had the surgery in November 2005. He went back in to try and get clear margins and test the lymph nodes a week later - this was not successful.

We then underwent chemo under the guidance of a canine oncologist - what a long and winding road that was. One step forward and two steps back.

Well it will be three years (they said originally 18 months or there abouts) in November this year and he is still here.

The chemo ruined his thyroid gland and caused a few tummy issues but all treatable with human grade drugs that we get from the chemist (much cheaper than the vet).

You will also see dogsbessotted here with the divine Miss Lucinda - she has only been holistically treated and was diagnosed with MCT grade 3 with no surgery. She is still here more than 6 years now, bless her heart.

We all swap stories, thoughts and ideas on how to keep them healthy and happy.

Cheers and all the best with Jedda

Jodie

[jedda]

Hi Jodie, i read Ollies thread. You guys are doing real well. 3 years is fantastic. I haven't come across Miss Lucinda yet, i've still alot of reading to go. This is a great site and i'm glad someone referred me. Theres heaps of great info.

I look forward to meeting more pups and owners.

Cheers, Jedda

[Staffyluv]

Welcome to DOL.

Please keep us updated on Jedda's progress and how she is doing (BTW photos are a must - we can't get enough of dogs around here).

If you are unsure about anything, don't hesitate to put the questions out there - someone will have a suggestion or two.

This place is amazing for support.

[Mooper]

Hi jedda . Welcome to DOL.

My 8yo cattle dog cross German shepherd (we think) had a lump tested and then removed last October. It turned out to be a grade 3 MCT for which they managed to get clean margins. It was in a pretty good spot, past the ribs but before the hips, so plenty of flesh was taken.

Touch wood, we haven't found any lumps since, which amazes me. all my reading indicated that a grade 3 MCT was a death sentence, but Jack is going really well. I was already feeding him the BARF diet of an evening, but he has dry food in the morning. We've almost (finally) finished his dry food and then it will be raw all the way for him. I now add vitamin C, omega 3/6/9 oil, Joint Guard, brewer's yeast and a few other bits and bobs to the BARF mix, as well as growing most of the veges that go into the pulp.

Staffyluv and dogsbesotted have both been towers of strength for me, when I thought that worst. Now we're all just enjoying each day that we have with our dogs that little bit more, I guess

All the best to you, Jedda and the other hounds.

Edited May 28, 2008 by Mooper

[gemstone]

Hi Carolyn

how is Jedda going?

best wishes to you both

[Justchillin]

wow all the way from Wollongong, a lot of great things come from Wollongong

Sorry to hear the news, I hope things get better for you!

[dogbesotted]

Gosh how i missed thsi i dont know.

Lucinda has been living with MCT grade 3, no clean margins for over 5 years now. Heading for 6 years at the end of August.

Lucinda has been primarily holistically treated ( same vets who treat Ollie) . Lucinda has other tumours and they have not been removed as she does not deal with stress at all well.

Lucinda is now getting very very doddery --- hopefully she will celebrate her 18 th birthday on 4th August

How is Jedda doing?

cheers

Helen

[jedda]

Hello, my 10yr old staffy girl Jedda has got mast cell tumours diagnosed about 2 1/2 years ago.

A few months ago i started her on all kinds of supplements and have added to them as i became aware.

She has been through a great deal and the most recent is an absess the size of my fist grew on back leg overnight.

The vet was concerned and drained it and gave her broad spectrum antibiotics. Two days later another came up on her neck, the vet said they will most likely keep popping up and she was hoping after the antibiotics that nothing else would happen "for awhile". She is letting me know as she does each time we go in that its closer that i will have to make a "decision".

I can't reconcile that with the dog who i can take to the park, she'll run round around for an hour and a half, swim out 20 metres with her brother staffy Spinxy, collect the stick together and when they're back on shore have a minutes tug of war and she will win, she always does.

How can i put her to sleep when she eats voratiously and can at times have lots of energy to play at the park but these incidents keep happening.

Apart from the many, many vet visits and last week a spider bite (the day before absess), weeks before got poisoned by a cane toad.

I know she has cancer, she has been on and off pred but i think she will never go back on it so i am making sure she has her supplements, k9 immunity and transfer, spirulina, flaxseed with cottage cheese, fish oil, and a few other ones.

Has anyone had any experience with this?

Anything i can do.

The vet has given up and is managing.

She has been great but when i see two dogs in one I can't comprehend.

She has two kilos since these photos.

Thankyou, Jedda

[willis08]

Sorry that your Jedda has cancer

I suggest you ask in the Palliative care forum for advice, staffyluv may be able to help you. She has a dog with the same cancer.

Good luck, I hope your dog improves

[jedda]

Thanks, found my old thread, moving back there.

[Staffyluv]

Jedda, what was the grading of her MCT? It can make a huge difference. Did they remove the tumour(s), is the cancer systemic? Has she had chemo?

Mast cell tumors are graded as follows:

Grade I (well-differentiated)

Grade II (moderately-differentiated)

Grade III (poorly-differentiated)

MCT release histhamine and a host of other chemiclas that can cause a range of problems from stomach ulcers, internal bleeding and other allergy manifestations (maybe your absesses)

Ollie has MCT grade 2 but when the lumps were removed, they could not get clear margins and it has already invaded his lymph system (lymph biopsy at the same time)... Grade 2 can act like a grade 1 or a grade 3 - we have been very lucky and his seems to be more like a grade 1.

Ollie was treated with chemo for 6 months as well as being holistically treated (his diet was modified to remove as many carbs as possible as carbs feeds cancer).

I would suggest a trip to an holistic vet to get the supplements in order - this can make a huge difference. Ollie started with lymphodran and another one called AntiOx something or other. Plus fish oil, high doses of vitamin C - 1000mg a day (fantastic tonic for all sick dogs) - when he was really sick, he went into hospital and they gave him Vit C via a drip overnight. He came out the next morning like there was nothing wrong with him.

His diet is mainly light meats (turkey, chicken with some beef and kidney and he loves fresh tuna steaks), he has yoghurt, cottage cheese with flax oil too).

Has your vet done a full blood screen lately? We have one about every 6 months now. They check liver and kidney function as well as look to see if there are any active MC's

Some skin infections can resemble mast cell tumors because both may cause raised, reddened, ulcerated or bleeding mass-like lesions in the skin.

Maybe the absess is not related to the MCT at all???

Wishing you heaps of luck - it is a hard road we travel with these dogs some days.

[jedda]

Hi, Jeddas was graded as a two, the first couple of surgeries were with clear margins but bumps just kept popping up.

Jedda has not had chemo. She has been on a diet of hills science diet food. I did read about the no carbs about a year ago and stopped giving her those things. Lately to get down her pills i've been giving her mince meat but someone said try fish, so thats what we've just started. I will mix it up between mince (good quality) and fish in spring water.

We don't have a holistic vet here, i did email a few down south but got no response. I live in Darwin, NT.

Is there anyone else i could go to that might be inclined to know about this stuff.

The vet hasn't done a full blood screen lately i don't think, she does occassionally do a test for liver/kidney?

They have mostly been ok. my head is spinning with all i've been told and because of the way i'm feeling so i will try to answer as correctly as possible.

Maybe the absess is not related to the MCT at all???

How would i know? Or is that just something you're giving me to think about.

Thankyou, Carolyn

pS, she's just had tea of fish which she ate off my hand, hungry girl. Some cottage cheese and her meds and supplements.

Have a vet appointment tomorrow.

[jedda]

hi, i have read mixed reviews about giving dogs vitamin c. That was a while ago so will do some more research.

Also wanted to say that she is drinking alot.

thanks, carolyn

[Staffyluv]

drinking a lot will be the pred - they drink heaps on it.

It could also be the chemicals that MCTs release giving her tummy a hard time - Ollie has a bit of mylanta when he drinks heaps and then regurgitates the water (he is drinking because of reflux, caused by the histamine release and damage it has done to his tummy)... He has 5ml

[Kelly_Louise]

Jedda, can you get a second opinion elsewhere? I dont know much about the cancer and the abcess, however by the sounds of it your vet has pretty much given up and is not giving you the assistance and support you need... which to me would be a worry.

When you say she is drinking alot, how much is 'alot'? And she would then be urinating more frequently - how often?

I do hope your girl is okay, I hope Jedda can have more wonderful years with you. She looks like a very special girl.

[Staffyluv]

KL Ollie has the same sort of cancer and he drinks over 2L every day and on a big day will drink more like 3L of water.

Urination does not seem to be too excessive compared with what they drink - the more I think about it the more I think it may be the result of the chemicals that the mast cell tumour release because they do cause issues like this.

I agree with KL, get a second opinion - and please check out an holistic vet, ours has made a world of difference for us.

As for the Vit C, I am yet to hear of an issue with it - I researched it heaps when told about it a few years ago.

[Kelly_Louise]

Wow that is a lot of water.

Is it usual that sufferers of this cancer would also get abcesses as Jedda is? Or is it very unpredictable in how the body reacts?

Edited July 2, 2009 by Kelly_Louise

[Staffyluv]

Hi, Jeddas was graded as a two, the first couple of surgeries were with clear margins but bumps just kept popping up.

Jedda has not had chemo. She has been on a diet of hills science diet food. I did read about the no carbs about a year ago and stopped giving her those things. Lately to get down her pills i've been giving her mince meat but someone said try fish, so thats what we've just started. I will mix it up between mince (good quality) and fish in spring water.

We don't have a holistic vet here, i did email a few down south but got no response. I live in Darwin, NT.

Is there anyone else i could go to that might be inclined to know about this stuff.

The vet hasn't done a full blood screen lately i don't think, she does occassionally do a test for liver/kidney?

They have mostly been ok. my head is spinning with all i've been told and because of the way i'm feeling so i will try to answer as correctly as possible.

Maybe the absess is not related to the MCT at all???

How would i know? Or is that just something you're giving me to think about.

Thankyou, Carolyn

pS, she's just had tea of fish which she ate off my hand, hungry girl. Some cottage cheese and her meds and supplements.

Have a vet appointment tomorrow.

Grade 2 with clear margins is a good result but because she has recurring lumps (I am assuming they have been aspirated and are MCTs) that would suggest it has already invaded her system. Same as Ollie... Get a buffy coat test done if your vet will do it - it will give a clearer indication of what is going on. It is good that the vet keeps an eye on the liver and kidney function.. But a full blood screen would be beneficial as it may be that the absess is not related to the MCT and Jedda has some other sort of infection somewhere.

Use whatever you need to get her pills down - they help her. I used to buy a BBQ chicken every week and that was his to get his pills down - he has had it for nearly 4 years now and I am very lucky that I just say, 'Open up' and he opens his mouth to take them now.

I would get rid of the hills - it is loaded with cereals (carbs)... If you can change her diet to mainly good quality meat and some veg (we use lots of vegs lightly steamed and mash them really well or put them through the food processor and he gets about a quarter to a third of a cup each night with his meat).

Good luck with the vet today - if you are not getting what you need from your vet, maybe look around for another opinion - it never hurts to get another one.

Wow that is a lot of water.

Is it usual that sufferers of this cancer would also get abcesses as Jedda is? Or is it very unpredictable in how the body reacts?

Lots of water - pred is like that though, makes them want to drink heaps but then so does the effect of this cancer because of the issues it causes when it releases the chemicals it does (stomach ulcers etc).

I don't think that absesses are unheard of with most cancers. I have not had any problem with them.

Each dog, depending on previous health history and the type and grade of cancer will react differently. When Ollie was dxd they did not hold out a lot of hope that he would be alive after 2 year (they originally gave us 12-18 months with chemo) - it will be 4 years since dxd in October this year.. But we have been very fortunate in that his cancer has acted like a grade 1, even though it is systemic. The tumours are terrible, some days you hardly notice them and then the next day the poor boy looks like a chokito with lumps and bumps all over him... He also has a small tummy ulcer which is treated with omperezole (sp??) and he takes carafate to reduce the stomach acid as well...

There is so much you can do now, you just have to research and find the right vet to help you - we are so lucky, that our vet is one in a million and does so much for us (he told me one day that he has learned so much from treating Ollie - which I thought was great)...

[jedda]

We were just at the vet and shewa happy nothing else had come up, i asked what the lumpy bits were on her neck and she said it is likely the lymph gland has scar tissue. She has lost another800grams for a few weeks ago. Not good. she is 18.6 last time she was 19.4 and in her day she has been as big as 25.5.

She explained that the lymph carries things around the body, Great

She wondered how she'll go when she has finished her course of antibiotics.

I told her how i couldn't reconcile between the girl that runs around at the park (remember shes 10), she chases balls and sticks swims 20 metres out to get the stick will play fight with Spinxy and then there's talk of it being not far away. She said it all about quality of life. Jedda is eating well and getting around ok.

When i start seeing signs of another kind it will not be so hard to "do the right thing" BUT believe me i have not given up.

I never will not for my girl.

Last night was hard because it was "Territory Day". Cracker night. So had to dose up the staffys. Sometime later she began panting i got worried because in the past her panting has meant pain. but i think the pill had worn of and hopefully she was just reacting to the crackers.

If anybodies got any questions just ask.

I'm taking the kids to the mark in 10 minutes i'll get some photos.