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Well it looks like here we go again. I posted on this site in January about my dog, Myst, coming down with vestibular disease. He seemed to recover with mild residual effects (head tilt, unsteady gait, unable to navigate upstairs). Well, over the past two weeks we felt a bump under his back left thigh. Myst is an old fella and has bumps everywhere that had been previous diagnosed as benign cysts. Then another bump was found under his left leg, and then on the right of his throat and now the left of his throat. We took him to the vet yesterday and the vet thinks it is canine lymphoma. She took a biopsy and we should know by Tuesday, but we probably already know. The question now is, given the aggressive nature of this disease without treatment, I would like your advice on your experience with treating the disease. For example, what kind of medications? Was it successful? How much was the cost? The vestibular disease treatment cost us about $6,000, while we can't say money is no object, we definitely have the means to spend a few more thousand on him. From what I have read so far, if he is stage III he would have an 80% chance of surviving one year with chemo? Given the multiple locations of the nodes, I am thinking he is probably at that stage. Oh, how do you test for it being in stage IV or V? Any thoughts would be helpful...thanks, Donna
Hi Donna, I am sorry to hear about your dog, I am a dog sitter and i took care of dogs that had this, Most of the owners of the dogs just let it go threw its course, I had one client that did the chemo, it was hard on the dog, He was a golden, he lots most of his hair and he lived about 5 months after that, Then they had to put him down, I had a Rottie with this, We found it one day and took her to the vet, And in 2 weeks, I had to put her down, She went blind realy fast! I hope its Lymphoma! Please keep us up dated, You can email me any time if you need to talk about this. Kelly
Ok, just went thru this unfortunately so I can help. My healthy 11 year old suddenly had weight loss and not too interested in eating. Had a routine visit for shots and he was so upset over her weight he did a thorough check. Never got her shots, instead an ultrasound and biopsy but we already knew the tennis ball size tumor in her abdomin was lymphoma. I was devastated. Went to a cancer md who was nice enough to talk me o ut of chemo, does not do a thing except extend life sometimes 6 more months and is very expensive. She put her on prednisone which turned her into mighty dog. Played, walked all over, ate like crazy but you have to be able to get the pill in to her every day for this and suddenly I couldnt. After 4 wks she wouldnt eat and spit out anything I tried to give her. Started being very lethargic so I cried all the way and took her to the vet knowing what was about to happen.Oh, she also had something in her lungs that made her cough terribly all night. It was time and I knew it. He said her lungs sounded bad and the cancer moves quick. I came home alone and have not gotten over it yet but know she's in a better place and not sick anymore. I would not keep her alive just to suit me and my feelings. Dogs live for today, don't remember yesterday and don't look forward to tomorrow. Please don't let him suffer, he will thank you.
Our vet said it would cost about $1500 to $2000. I don't worry about that as much as what will it do to him, the chemo. He is frail already, he has spirit though. His gait is off and unsteady, but we have always attributed this to the vesitbular disease. He is eating but not gaining much weight. I don't want to do the chemo for me but in part I am. I don't know what the quality of his life will be like with chemo. It is almost a guessing game. Thanks for the support. Donna
The prednisone helped me alot. It made her gain weight and act like herself. If it hadnt been for the lung problem she would have been here 4 mos probably. It works pretty much the same as chemo on alot of dogs. She was like a new dog after the first pill. Chemo is only to prolong their life 6 mos, but I know no one that has anything good to say since they did it. I am like you, th emoney was not the issue, but the amount of time was. Talk to a cancer dr that you trust, I doubt they will suggest chemo to a frail dog and it means running for more than 12 wks yourself. Give it some thought. I am not sorry for what I did, it gave her time to feel good and time for me to realize what was about to happen.
I will keep you posted...what do you mean "running for 12 weeks?" The vet mentioned chemo was pretty intensive.
My mom just passed away on April 8th, and I am so not wanting to feel that pain of grief again, so soon...heck I am probably not fully grieved from her passing yet.
Just over a year ago, our German Shepherd rescue had a high white cell count they had never seen before. That told me she was probably too far along for any treatment to do any good. We went with prednisone which improved her quality of life for another 3 weeks. I attribute the shots she had gotten 2 weeks before we found out about the cancer to causing its rapid spread.
littlesky-I'm so sorry to hear about yet another sad time in your life. I lost my mom earlier this year and my pups have their orders for healthy lives (fingers crossed).
I've spoken to several folks in the industry and there's no way I could ever put my own dog through chemo. It's hard enough on a person who is allowed to make a choice, let alone a dog who has no idea what's happening to him/her.
Whatever your decision, give you Myst a hug for me.
Myst has a tumor now the size of a tennis ball on his back hind groin area. It has grown this size in 48 hours...I was really hoping he would be a candidate for chemo. Does anyone know of a dog with multiple tumors and one that was very large responded favorably to chemo?
I have always put down my dogs and cats rather than put them through painful or debilitating treatment that won't save them. It's hard enough to explain to your child why they have to do something like that, how can a dog/cat understand? I feel so bad for you, I have been down this road a few times. One of my cats was on prednisone for a while and right up to the end he acted like himself. Then he sneezed out a huge quantity of blood and that was that - the nasal cancer had eaten into a big blood vessel. I cried all the way to the vet, into the vet's, and on the way home alone. I'm about to cry now, we love them so much, don't we?
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 05-18-2008 at 04:36 PM..
Reason: forgot something.
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Don't know what to do...
