Chemo In Dogs-

[bertybear]

Hello to all forum users.

My Ridgeback (Bear) has been diagnosed with a stage one tumour that has been removed and he also had his spleen removed one week later as an ultra-sound & x-rays showed a lump that thankfully was not cancerous.

I need to sight the reports to be able to give more info on the terminology of the tumour ( [i think. Sarcoma]-connective tissue tumour) . it was located on his chest.

I am very annoyed with the vet we were seeing as we had it looked at when very small and they said " do not worry, fatty lump" months later it grew then we had it removed and got the bad news.

We have started him on chemo and i am worried the 50mg dose of Cyclophosphamide each 3 days, he has been put on will do more harm than good.

I am considering going to another vet who recommends a smaller dose every day that will cost more and also not using it at all.

I am asking for anybody out there that has had experience using this drug to treat their pet and to share their experiences of what had resulted from its use

and also what you may have done other than these traditional treatments.

thanks in advance to all

[gemstone]

Hello to all forum users.

My Ridgeback (Bear) has been diagnosed with a stage one tumour that has been removed and he also had his spleen removed one week later as an ultra-sound & x-rays showed a lump that thankfully was not cancerous.

I need to sight the reports to be able to give more info on the terminology of the tumour ( [i think. Sarcoma]-connective tissue tumour) . it was located on his chest.

I am very annoyed with the vet we were seeing as we had it looked at when very small and they said " do not worry, fatty lump" months later it grew then we had it removed and got the bad news.

We have started him on chemo and i am worried the 50mg dose of Cyclophosphamide each 3 days, he has been put on will do more harm than good.

I am considering going to another vet who recommends a smaller dose every day that will cost more and also not using it at all.

I am asking for anybody out there that has had experience using this drug to treat their pet and to share their experiences of what had resulted from its use

and also what you may have done other than these traditional treatments.

thanks in advance to all

Hi bertybear

I cant give any advice or experience on this I just wanted to send good wishes to Bear

[Staffyluv]

This was not the drug used to treat Ollie either but I can tell you that vets don't give dogs the same dosage they would if they were human, so it is very controlled.

They rarely lose hair or get sick with chemo because the vets can't use massive doses like doctors do with people as vets don't have the luxury of a bone marrow transplant like doctors do with humans.

If you are in doubt seek a secone opinion - we did. We contacted an holistic therapist who looked at Ollies results and told us that they could help keep him well while he was going through chemo...and that our canine oncologist of choice was one of the best - makes you feel good when the secone opinion backs up the first suggestions.

Who is your canine oncologist? We used Dr Rod Straw in Brisbane - one of the leading oncologists in the country.

The protocol we used was vinblastin and vincristine (spelling??) based... two weeks on (one intravenous and one week tablets) and one week no treatment, then back to 2 weeks treatment - for 6 months...

Wishing you all the best...

[bertybear]

thanks for the replys,

Staffyluv I have read your post about ollie, inspiring to say the least..what a trooper.

I hope Bear can amaze us too, he already has proved to be a fast healer after his ops.

We have had two opinions, both have chosen the same medications

1st vet recommends the Cyclophosphamide 50 mg every third day and Piroxicam10 mg every second day.. for 18 months. This vet is not a specialist but has experience with oncology..

2nd vet who is a specialist and costs allot more is recommending a smaller dose of the same meds every day for the rest of his days..

for both scenarios I administer the pills at home.

I am seeing the specialist on Monday, maybe I will have a clearer idea then on dosage and outcome.

The Cyclophosphamide is a nasty drug, I have been thinking of not using it because I have to pretty much treat Bear as leper as the med is very dangerous.

I will not mention the vets names here as I do not want to defame them in any ways, but I will say the specialist seems to be very skilled.

To tell you the truth I am very confused and I need to get copies of all the test results so I can try to understand it all better.

I can't help but blame the very first vet ( not either of the above vets ) that did not treat the lump as suss months ago when it was small and possibly could have been removed more successfully.

If anybody knows of a holistic vet in Perth W.A. can they list them here for me

Also dietry ideas and vitamin supplements that do not cost the earth would also be handy.

[Staffyluv]

As far as diet is concerned if you stick with the general rule that carbs feed cancer, then you are on the right track.

Canine cancer diet another link

We use human grade food, turkey, chicken, beef... Plus I add good quality veg to shake it up for him, sweet potato, zucchini, pumpkin etc... He used to have roo as well but the chemo did cause problems with his thyroid gland and his stomach has ended up with problems. He also gets cottage cheese with flax oil on it - just a tablespoon of cheese and teaspoon of flax, helps his tummy and is really good for them.

Ollies tumour was the same - they thought it was a fatty lipoma at first and said not to worry but then it looked like it formed a point under the skin (because it was small and hard like a pea under the skin and did not move with the skin), they decided to do an aspirate and it came back with MCT - no clear margins on exicision and there were multiple tumour sites...

He is on carafate (lines the stomach) and thyroxine for the rest of his days. We believe the chemo damaged his thyroid gland. We aslo used lymphodran to help support his lymph system when he was on chemo. There are lots of support supplements out there - vitamin C is one of the best tonics in the world for all dogs but especially beneficial to cancer dogs - Ollie has 1000mg a day.

I know what you mean about the toxicity of these drugs - however, I refused to limit his quality of life because we did not know how long he was going to be with us. If he wanted to, we still went for walks. I had heard that I should not take him out to the park because of the toxicity of the drugs he was on and that his immune system was compromised but when I asked the oncologist about this, he said it was fine (we were not going to poison the ground if he went to the toilet) and that if Ollie wanted to go for a walk, to take him...

You will hear all sorts of rumours surrounding the drugs you need to use and you will also get those silly people who say 'how can you put a dog through chemo - it is hard enough for people?'... Dogs can't have chemo at the levels that humans do because they can't have a bone marrow transplant when the chemo bombs their whole system, as it does in humans - all chemo will do for dogs is extend their life expectancy, it is not a cure in dogs. They don't get sick like people do and they don't lose all their hair like humans do.

That said, a couple of times Ollie had a flat few days where he just wanted to lay around or seemed to be ill and he lost the fur on his legs where they used to shave it for the drip and he also lost the hair on his tail. This has all grown back. He is now 3 years and 8 months post dxd and anyone that knows him, still can't believe how well he looks and is...

All the best and I am happy to answer any questions you might have if I can...

[bertybear]

Sorry for the late reply, been busy this week...

Thanks Staffyluv for the offer to answer questions and for the general advise.

The tumour he has is a soft tissue sarcoma.

I am doing him up a new diet with very little carbs and also plenty of fish oil.

I have come to terms with the thought of this now & I am just going to make the best of it..He has got some time left yet..!

Bear is doing well and is now on 15mg of Cyclophosphamide and 10mg of prioxicam every day, the specialist here in Perth is very good and I trust in his knowledge.

There are no ill effects yet, also I am giving him more fluids via meat stock I have made to flush out his bladder, hope there are no complications for while.

Thanks to all...I will update in the future