Bone Cancer ?

[pampa]

Hello to all,

I'm currently living in France and have 3 lovely mutts to keep me busy. They are my whole life and are in perfect health, or so I thought...

I took my "family" to the vets for annual vaccinations and I had them microchipped (in the hope to come home to Oz), whereby my vet, looking face on at my Boxer/labrador cross, asked me since when she had that bump... What bump, and then I noticed it... Above her left eye, there is a hard, bony lump about the size of a small quail egg, which follows the eye socket around to the outside corner of the eye making her very lopsided from a front-on view. I can't beleive I hadn't seen it before and the vet is sure it wasn't there last check up (in april). He thought it was a knock, a big bump, a haemotoma. He told me to keep an eye on it and keep him posted. Well, 6 days later it is still there and I even beleive it is so much more apparent than last week. We went back to the vet tonight and saw my regular vet's associate who also thinks it could be a knock and has put her on anti-inflamatory medication and antibiotics in case she has some sort of infection???... Her teeth are in great shape so no internat abcess or the likes. He also says that if it doesn't go down we may have to do a scan to see what it is... He said I shouldn't think of "the worst" (the "C" word) right yet and should wait a bit to see if the bump goes by itself. Problem is, I just came home and looked closely at a photo of my girl that I took in September and she already had a small lump back then. I probably didn't notice the "growth" myself because I see her all day, every day, but since last week it has become flagrant. I'm beside myself with panic. Has anyone else's dog ever had a similar boney "bump" appear mysteriously on the head, or elsewhere for that matter?? Has anyone lost their dog to bone cancer, can they enlighten me on the progression, how it manifests itself etc... My girl is only 3 years old and a very hard player. I'm just praying it's a knock from rough play . For the moment my vet isn't wanting to say anything which really worries me more than anything.

Any help or suggestions would be VERY appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[cowanbree]

My Kayla had one directly below the eye. I had it removed and 18mths on no more trouble with it. I find they get all sorts of lumps and bumbs and while I will always get them checked and removed if possible so far I haven't had any real problems with them.

[haven]

Pampa, relax there are hundreds of things it could be other than bone cancer!

I always recommend starting with the book " The nature of animal healing" by Martin Goldstein, a vet who practices mainly natural therapies. His clinic deals predominantly with cancer and many of the petients are refered there as a 'last hope.' Despite this they have one of the highest recovery rates from cancer in the world. The book is great for anyone as it covers diet, vaccinations and various health issues but covers a lot of info and has a seperate section on cancer and treatments for.

[pampa]

Thanks guys but it was the VET who put the "C" word in my head ! They know I'm quite realistic and I'm capable (and have done so on several occasions), to staple my dogs together after fights or accidents, they always have something wrong with them somewhere but this is DIFFERENT a slowly spreading boney lump ... I begun treatment yesterday and it has not improved at all, in fact I'm sure it's bigger again than what it was yesterday

I've taken photos to compare in another couple of days and if it keeps growing, we'll be off to do a catscan within 10 days...

I hope you are right on it being something else !

[Marine Girl]

I had a 12 mth old Boxer and she starting limping and I realised that there was a lump on her leg, say where our ankle is and it started getting bigger quickly..took her to our vet and he did a biopsy it was Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and a very aggressive form, I was informed..and that longterm there was no real solution, it would have just been prolonging her life a little, but in my eyes no real quality..

Vet gave me all the options and I came to the decision that I wouldn't go through chemo persolly and made the decision to have her pts, but chose to have it done at home so it would be more peaceful for her, as she was a rescue and had enough crap in her short life....

wish you luck with your baby..

[haven]

Any news Pampa?

[pampa]

Hello again.

So far my vet is fairly worried.

We had xrays done on Tuesday which showed absolutely nothing, no apparent growth or lack of density BUT he wants to wait a bit longer... If it grows rapidly he'll open up and take some cell samples immediately. If it doesn't grow, he'll open and take samples when my bank account is replenished.

Whatever the case, if it is cancer, the time factor will not change anything.

I think it is spreading but I'm hoping against hope that I'm imagining it

Last night I dined with a girlfriend who is a vet.

I showed her the photos of my girl doggie and she told me (and my heart goes out to you Love my Boxer) that last month she had a 6 year old Boxer in with a similar rapidly growing bump on his spine. When she opened him up to take samples, she told me the boney lump was really flakey, like nothing she'd ever seen before... Well, the biopsy came back positive for Osteosarcoma which is apparently a real problem in this breed.

Just after seeing the photo of Talia, she suggested to me that I shouldn't just yet book a plane ride home for her as she may not make it that far down the track. .

My girlfriend obviously did not want to distress me, but she is very pesimistic and didn't want to get my hopes up.

She also told me that cancers of all types are very frequent in her breed here in France and she is currently treating one such dog with Cortizone for lymph cancer as the owner won't have him chemoed... She's just keeping him out of pain until the owner comes to terms with putting him to sleep.

Apparently Osteosarcoma metastases rapidly to the lungs ??? I'm thinking of having her lungs xrayed next week ???

Here's a photo of the bump above her eye... Any positive thoughts ?? PLEASE ??? Or negative ones if others of you have had similar cases...

Edited November 11, 2005 by pampa

[Kismet]

Oh pampa... i'm so sorry. You must be an absolute wreck with worry.

Is there any way they can biopsy straight away so you can get some answers - I know i'd be going crazy with fear in your situation.

Did your vet mention the possibility of it being a benign tumour? Sorry if that's a stupid question - I have no experience in this area.

Big hugs to you and your girl - i'll be thinking of you. Please let us know as soon as you have more news.

Nicky

[shekhina]

That looks like one of my dog's heads did after some twit bashed him with a broom handle

He came up with a rather hard large lump looking suspicious so I took him to the vet. I didn't realise it had come up because of this guy hitting him over the head as it didn't come up for nearly a week later. I was paranoid it was bone cancer too. The vet took a look and said to wait it out as sometimes dogs get these around their heads and they do go down.

Took about a month or so, but it did go away...so wasn't bone cancer, just some kind of swelling that happens.

[pampa]

Thanks for your support, and I'm hoping against hope that it's just a bump (she is a very rough player), but I reviewed photos I'd unwittingly taken on the 24th of September, and unfortunately the bump was already there, though less prominant at the time as you will see in the september photo below.... It appears to be growing / spreading since the this initial photo was taken .

Paws crossed for you family's old girl too, I hope she comes through OK, sweet old gal

Edited November 11, 2005 by pampa

[V.A.H.]

I've had the lump/bump thing almost magically appear on my german girl

and then over a weekr more slowly go down with anti inflammatory/antibiotics--it was a haematoma only --I have no experience with cancer in my dogs

But I do with losng my husband to bone cancer

and Id spend 48 quality hours with a dog and them hold it to the RB

if it happened and was confirmed for one of mine

The suffering I'd bypass for even an enemy let alone a friend

But Pampa you cant change what God ordained and you dont know for sure yet.

You owe the dog positive auras if you can do that Id try very ahrd to be contained though yes its the most dreadful fearful time Im full of sympathy for you

Im praying for you and the loved dog

and I'd encourage you to enjoy and record every precious minute together, doing the dogs favorites

as you both will --whatever the out come --have special memories and floods of happy love vibes that way

Life is about that really and Iv e had to come to terms with that fact,

so I do know its the human lot and a heavy mantle to bear

God Bless you both :p

[Allerzeit]

Oh pampa - huge and to you.

Keeping my fingers crossed that your baby doesn't have Osteo and that it's just a bump from playing.

If worst comes to worst and it is Osteosarcoma then one of the most important things you can do is give every ounce of love to your girl and cherish every day - I know it's so hard to be positive when your heart is breaking, but your girl deserves all the love and cuddles you can give.

Our Rotty boy, Stewie, was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma just over 4 months ago. We've found that a raw, unprocessed diet and herbal treatments (from http://www.herbal-treatments.com) have been extremely helpful in maintaining his quality of life.

Stewie has no other conventional treatment, apart from an occasional Rimadyl tablet when he needs it, and is still very happy and living a normal life. His tumor continues to grow, though slowly, and his time is short, but he's still able to enjoy it fully which is the most important thing to us. In turn, we've learned how to really cherish our relationship with him (not that we didn't before, but you know what I mean).

Best of wishes to you and your girl, and give her lots of hugs from us. You'll always get heaps of support from this forum anytime you want advice or need to talk, so take advantage of that as much as you need to

Cheers,

Trace

[haven]

Agree with Allerzeit, a natural diet and supplements can be a very beneficial part f treating cancer in my experience. There are also lots of alternative treatments like cryo-surgery, ozone therapy, immuno-augmentive therapy etc.

If yuo search the forum you will find testimony from many people who have succesfully treated or prolonged their pets life (and quality of) after being diagnosed with cancer.

PM me if you want more info.

But remember, it could be just a bump and all my finger and toes are crossed for you

[pampa]

I have some good news for my girl... SHE DOES NOT HAVE BONE CANCER !

Her hard bump is a very rare "nodular fasciitis", which is a growth probably triggered by a trauma... By the way, the vet that biopsied her found that she had a fracture of the eye orbit, most likely the cause of the "nodular fasciitis".

Thanks to all for thier support

[haven]

Pampa that is fantisatic news!!!! I'm so glad, I was starting to get worried that you hadn't said anything.

[Labsmum]

I'm happy to hear this pampa, thanks for the good news.

[Innana]

Fantastic news

You must be so relieved

Thanks for giving us an update