seeh2o

Woohoo!!!! Great news!

Her reasoning is this, "I have had clients use Artimesin, I do not recall any adverse problems. I also do not recall any dramatic results. She is on a lot of stuff and doing well so I am not sure you really want to add something more." She's right, Bowie is on a lot of supplements and doing well.

I am soooo happy to read this. Good girl, Tanzi!!! I don't think amputation is considered curative, but maybe as you say "curative"! I also wondered if they were removed laproscopically or pharygeally, too. We didn't get into that, hopefully we won't need to. My vet isn't keen on putting her on Artemisinin right now either. She's not an oncologist, but she is pretty much dead on with her diagnosis and treatment. I'm torn.

WOOOHOOOO!!!! Go Tanzi!!!

Ok, here is the conversation I had with Bowie's oncologist today. He said they are prescribing Piroxicam because it is the only medication that has truly been studied and shown to have some anti cancer benefits. I asked about other NSAIDs and he said that any meds in the family of Piroxicam may cause the same problems for my girl. He said that most NSAIDs will have anti cancer benefits (I think because they reduce inflammation). I told him she had been on Rimadyl for several months when she was limping and it had no effect on her GI tract, so he thought that would be a good replacement for Piroxicam. We just need to watch her liver enzymes with that one. She goes in for monthly blood tests, so it should be easy to see if there is an issue. I asked about giving a second round of chemotherapy. He said that it is rarely done in an osteo dog who is, for all intents an purposes, healthy. The reason being; they don't want the cancer cells to become resistant to it should it be needed if mets develop. If mets develop they would likely want to do chemo again. He then said that the newest treatment for mets, if there are 3 or fewer, is surgically to remove them. I am guessing that is followed up by chemo. We didn't go that far because he said that we can discuss that down the road if it becomes an issue. His feeling is that we got Bowie's osteo very very early and that's why she's doing so well. 13 months post first limp, 10 months post diagnosis (diagnosis was only through pathology report, 3 sets of xrays and 1 bone scan were inconclusive). I'm an idiot and completely forgot to ask about Artemisinin because he called me during a meeting at work with some UCLA folks who are working with us on a study, so I was 100% discombobulated. I did follow up with a detailed email to my regular vet, who the onco wanted me to consult with anyway about the Rimadyl.

Oh no, holding Tanzi and you in my thoughts.

I posted the question on another board, too, send it had been done, though I don't know the circumstances. I'm hoping to talk to Bowie's onco today, it's on my list of questions.

I apologize if this is an ignorant question, but I don't think I've read about it before. If a dog lives post amputation and chemo, do they ever give a second round of chemo in the second year?

Great news! I would stop the Nupro, it has too much kelp in it which, per my very, the iodine in it can interfere with the thyroid meds. I had to keep Carl and Doodles off anything with kelp in it. When I started feeding them raw I had to keep them off of crucifeous vegetable, too.

Thank you! I'll PM you on FB, GT says you can't receive PMs.

Thank you, Jen, I forgot that. Can I pay you for it?

I think I may have been sent an out of date protocol. It seemed really challenging to give for someone with my set of circumstances. I feed raw, her evening meal is typically given between 8 - 9pm. Bowie would eat a shoe if it had Trader Joe's chunky peanut butter slathered on it!

Thank you for your thoughts and sharing your experience it helps me a lot. I have to tell you, you and Twiggy are my inspiration, I hope and pray my girl, Bowie, will have the same success as Twiggy. My goal is to keep her happy, feeling good, and healthy for as long as possible, I won't continue with something that is making her feel sick just to keep her alive longer, her quality of life is really the important thing. Like you did, I do worry about not having her on anything in terms of Rx for even a day or two. I don't want to give that evil disease any chances to come back. I remember being terrified that her chemo was delayed 2 weeks after her stitches were out because of that awful infection that landed her in the hospital for 3 days. And, after that, she needed to go 4 weeks between chemo treatments instead of 3 and they had to reduce the dose of the Carbo because her body reacted so strongly to it. I learned that her beating the infection and the extended time between chemo treatments was actually a good thing, meaning her immune system is very strong. Her regular vet and I discussed that yesterday. It never occurred to me that the 6 rounds of Carbo would continue to have an impact on her gut, but it makes complete sense. I will look into the Artemisinin again, too. My concern with that is timing of the dosage. I don't have the luxury of coming home during working hours and I don't have anyone who can give it to her while I'm at work. I'm certain I'm not the only person who has had this issue, so I need to find some guidance / work around on that. I will send an email to the homeopathic vet who works with her oncologist, we met her for a consultation at the beginning of her chemo treatments. She's clearly feeling good today, she played hop from bed to bed twirling and growling for about 5 minutes this morning. She's a very happy girl. Thanks again

I live in Los Angeles and veterinary care here is very expensive, Healthy Paw's has no price limits at all. Bowie began limping a year ago Thanksgiving, she had 3 sets of xrays and a bone scan, which were all inconclusive, but osteo was suspected. They've paid for everything all along the way. I'm guessing they are in for close to $10,000 at this point in claims for her. They've never once questioned a claim. I couldn't be happier with them!

Well, the Prilosec was a bust. She threw up 1/3 of her breakfast yesterday, this time it wasn't bile and bits. It was whole undigested chunks. We saw her regular vet today, she said that in her experience 2 months has been the most dogs can tolerate Piroxicam. She wants me to stop all Rx meds until I can speak to her Onco on Monday (he is on vacation). I left a very detailed message with the oncologist coordinator, I could hear her typing what had happened and my questions verbatim. My vet was really happy with how she's doing, she's well muscled, heart and lungs are clear and weight is good. She suggested asking about Meloxicam as it is easier on the gut. Bowie was so cute, my vet has horses and mules (they were in the bullseye of the fires last week, there were homes lost about a block away from her ranchette). Bowie RAN (pulling me on leash) to the paddock fence and wanted to play with the mules! They came over and touched noses with her and she gave them kisses on their noses. I wish I could have recorded it, but it happened too fast. It was so sweet.

My vet had Doodles on a supplement for muscle spasms, after her FCE she would get them in her back even with regular cold laser and acupuncture treatments. It really helped a lot, her squeaking in pain completely stopped. She was on Standard Process Naturally Bound Minerals. The other thing that comes to mind - have you considered getting an Assisi Loop for home treatments between her cold laser and acupuncture sessions?

This is an very helpful, thank you. If she can tolerate a different medication without stomach upset, I will be very grateful. So will she. I feed Bowie a raw diet, she has never done well with much bone. Prior to the osteo I could give her 3 chicken feet with no problem, but not 4. She couldn't handle duck necks, either. She'd do what she is doing now, throw up a small amount of bile with bits of undigested bone. I suspect the culprit is the Pepcid as it reduces stomach acid, which is what she needs to digest the the bone. She is getting 3 chicken feet per day and now I grind her duck neck up, so what I'm finding in the bile are bits of chicken foot bone, not meat or ground bone. Her poop is great and her urine does not appear to have any blood in it (she uses a pee pad as needed when I'm at work). She gets a probiotic and whole milk Greek yogurt. This weekend, since she has been off the Piroxicam and Pepcid I've been adding some Slippery Elm slurry to her meals. She has a great appetite, too.

Thank you for that! Is it easier on the tummy?

Thanks, she did give her the Piroxicam with her one meal and it was at the normal time, she's just not used to eating once a day. I'm not sure why she would need a pain medication though? Thanks for the tip on the new NSAID, I hadn't heard of that. I'll ask her onco about it if she can't handle the Piroxicam.

Wow, that's so great about Allen! I hope he remains happy and in remission for a long long time. I'm not using Arteminisin with Bowie, both of her oncos (who believe in and encourage homeopathy support) didn't think it was any good. Ugh, there are so many things out there, try this, don't use that. It makes my head spin. I saw your post about the essential oils sale, thank you for posting about it. I bought a bunch of the cancer stuff. How do you use it? I'm a total noobie to essential oils. I have a friend who is very into them, but she doesn't have a dog right now, so her advice is mostly human based.

Thanks, that's the OTC one they mentioned! I'll see how she does over the weekend without the Piroxicam. Scares the beejeezus out of me to take her off of it even for one day. I just heard from a friend who's dog has osteo is on Piroxicam and he started her on Mercola's Digestive Enzymes for dogs and Health Products Distributors Inc pH Adjust which is working well for his girl rather than putting her on a proton pump inhibitor. How is Allen doing?

Bowie finished her chemo for osteo in August and has been on Piroxicam since Sept. 10mg 1x per day. I've been giving it to her in her evening meal along with 10mg of Pepcid. She also was getting 10mg of Pepcid with breakfast. She started throwing up yellow bile along with small bits of undigested food hours after her meals. At first I thought it was because she had stayed at my friend's house one weekend when I was out of town - she only feeds one meal a day and I thought maybe that had thrown her off. I got her back on her 2 meal a day routine, but the bile vomiting continued to happen intermittently. I increased her Pepcid to 20mg before each meal, added a Probiotic and whole mile Greek yogurt to her food, which seemed to help for a couple of weeks, but she's back to vomiting a small amount of bile with a little bit of undigested food. This is happening about every other day. I called the oncologist and they stop the Piroxicam beginning today through Monday and see if she still brings up bile. If she does, they want her to come in for an examination. If not, they may add another OTC stomach med in addition to the Pepcid and/or have her take the Piroxicam every other day. Has anyone dealt with this? If so, what did you do? What worked/what didn't work? My understanding is that Piroxicam is the best NSAID with anti-cancer properties, so I hate to switch her to another one that doesn't work as well. On the other hand, I don't want her to be miserable. As an aside, they said most dogs tolerate Piroxicam well, but very recently they have had 3 dogs who are having a tough time with it.

Doxepin really helped my friend's dog remain comfortable in very hot summer here in Southern California, that plus air conditioning.

My personal experience has been that females have it much less than males. I found this article to be interesting, but can't vouch for its accuracy. https://www.1800petmeds.com/education/separation-anxiety-risk-factors-dog-29.htm

I feed raw, have for about 6 years now. I used to feed Taste of the Wild or Kirkland Lamb and Veggies.