Victor
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Posts posted by Victor
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An oncologist told my friend about a vaccine that is very effective for mast cell tumors. I'll ask her for the info, I found this, not sure if it's the same thing.
http://medivetbiologics.com/home/vets/bio-solutions/immuno/vet-k9acv/
Thank you! I'll be sure to ask about that. If you could find out from your friend if that's the one, that'd be very helpful!!!
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Yikes-that’s a tough area to achieve clean margins. You really need a biopsy to grade the tumor before you attempt to plan future treatments-fingers crossed it’s a grade 1 or a low grade 2.
Thanks, tbhounds -- I'll ask about that on Monday when we see the surgeon.
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I'm sorry I don't have anything to offer but good wishes for a successful surgery and speedy recovery. I hope the oncologist and surgeon can give you some reassurances when you see them.
Please keep us updated...
{{{hugs}}}
Thanks! Will do.
My senior terrier Daisy had a few mast cell tumors (she wasn't a candidate for surgery with her heart condition/variety of other issues). She lived for about a year with her mast cell tumors (two on each back leg and one I suspected of being a mast cell tumor on her side). She could have lived longer with them if not for her heart. I had the same problem you had - whenever I mentioned it to a vet, I was told it was probably just a wart (since she was covered in other warts, they just assumed) or a bug bite or something. I did a little research and discovered mast cell tumors, then found an awesome vet who listened to my concerns and did an FNA of the bump when it wasn't even swollen.
Because of where Gilgun's tumor is I'm not sure how surgery would work, but also because of the location I'd be surprised if they didn't want to take it off.
A daily dose of Benadryl may or may not help. Since mast cell tumors release histamine, Benadryl can help with the swelling and itching. Daisy was on Benadryl for a while and it helped the swelling, but she loathed it and loathed me because of it, so I had to stop giving it to her. Before Daisy wasn't a candidate for surgery, our vet said that giving Benadryl for a few days before surgery can help (for some reason I don't remember - maybe prevent the tumor from releasing too much histamine during surgery?).
I'm sorry about your Daisy.
Thank you for sharing this. They put Gilgun on Benadryl, too (50mg twice daily).I have a cat with mast cell. We did Palladia oral chemo for a while after surgery to remove the mass in his intestine, but it was not effective. We have been managing it with an every-other-day dose of cyproheptadine, which you can get from a human pharmacy and is relatively inexpensive.
I'm sorry your cat has a mast cell tumor, too.
That's helpful to know about Palladia and cyproheptadine.Would they remove the eye as well? That eyelid is so close that I imagine stitches there may irritate the eye, or pawing at it might cause an eye abrasion.
If chemo or higher end meds are required, check out http://www.diamondbackdrugs.com
What would have been $750-1000 at my local pharmacies because a GoodRx coupon couldn't be used, dropped down to $56 at Diamondback.
The ophthalmologist thinks they may be able to preserve the eye and the eyelid with some reconstructive surgery. We are worried about it, though, especially since they'll want to get clean margins if possible.
That's good to know about Diamondback. Thank you!
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Our 6.5-year-old boy Gilgun had an FNE on a recurring lump beneath his eyelid today (see below), and it turns out it's a mast cell tumor.
We have an appointment with oncology for staging next Monday (10/30) and opthamology could do surgery the following day. Does anyone have experience with excision and/or treatment of a mast cell tumor in this location?Sadly, we first noticed an inflamed bump there about a year ago, but it went away and our vet didn't think it was anything to worry about. It came back again in January, but it went away and we thought it must be a sty. Most recently it flared up in September and it's been more prone to flaring up since then, which is why we saw the opthamologist today.
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I'm so sorry for your loss.
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I'm not a vet, but things that come to mind based on my experience with a greyhound with similar symptoms are lumbosacral stenosis (LS), stroke, meningitis, and degenerative myelopathy. I would get him to a neurologist as soon as possible.
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I'm sorry to hear your girl has developed noise anxiety. Our girl Joy is petrified of small engine noises: lawn mowers, leaf blowers, vacuum cleaners, etc. We tried Prozac, but it made her more anxious, especially at higher doses. Xanax unfortunately didn't help her either.
Earlier this summer I read about Zylkene on Greytalk, and we've been giving her that with some success. She still vocalizes and tries to escape the noises, but at least she doesn't tremble with fear like she used to. We've been giving her 450mg once per day (mixed with her breakfast):
https://www.chewy.com/vetoquinol-zylkene-behavior-support/dp/121055
@KF_in_Georgia: Thank you for the information on BuSpar. I'll ask our vet about trying that next summer!
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We put out Damminix Tick Tubes each spring and fall: http://ticktubes.com
The effect isn't immediate, but we've definitely noticed a decrease in ticks over the years.
ETA: The tubes contain permethrin-treated cotton balls, so you wouldn't want to use them where your greys could get at them. We put them outside our fence. Also, our greys wear muzzles with poop guards in the yard.
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thanks, bookmarked the page, it's currently unavailable. this is the note on their page,
"Attention: After our current on-hand supply is exhausted, Cobalequin will no longer be available from AffordableVet.net. If this product is something you need, submit your email through the form below and we'll contact you with product information when available. (We promise we won't spam you or email you for any other reason)."
That's interesting -- I hope it's not being discontinued! We get it from our vet.
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Nutramax makes a chewable B12 supplement called "Cobalequin". Each chew tab has 1,000mcg of cyanocobalamin.
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In their April 2017 newsletter, UW Veterinary Care announced the following clinical study:
CANINE BONE TUMOR STUDY
The UW Veterinary Care Radiation Oncology Service is seeking dogs with osteosarcoma, the most common bone cancer in dogs and children, for a study of the effects of stereotactic radiation therapy. This new approach delivers more precisely targeted, higher doses of radiation in fewer treatments, which may provide better pain relief with fewer side effects. The study will also evaluate the effects of the treatment on the immune system, potentially helping to prolong life. For qualifying dogs that participate in the study, there is no cost for radiation therapy.They have a number of other oncology studies, too: https://uwveterinarycare.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/April-2017-SA-Patients-Needed-for-Clinical-Studies.pdf
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Bravecto is another good option. We've been using it for several years now, and it does a great job of killing any ticks on our greys that we miss (we live in the country, so we always check them over after they've been outside). You only have to give it once every 3 months, too. It's important to give it right after a meal to avoid GI irritation. Two of our dogs eat it like a treat as long as we break it in half first. For our picky eater we break it into 2-3 pieces and give each piece like a pill.
ETA: We prefer Bravecto over Nexgard, since Bravecto kills ticks within 12 hours, whereas Nexgard takes up to 48 hours. I believe this is an important difference when you're worried about the transmission tick-borne diseases!
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Thought this might be of interest:
FDA Alerts Veterinarians and Pet Food Manufacturers about Potential Presence of Thyroid Hormones in Pet Foods and Treats
March 27, 2017The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising pet owners and caretakers, veterinarians, and the pet food industry to be aware that pet food and treats made with livestock gullets (meat from the throat region) have the potential to contain thyroid tissue and thyroid hormones. Pets that eat food or treats containing thyroid hormones may develop hyperthyroidism, a disease that is rare in dogs and usually triggered by thyroid cancer.Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include excessive thirst and urination, weight loss, increased appetite, restlessness, hyperactivity, elevated heart rate, rapid and/or labored breathing, vomiting, and diarrhea. Continued exposure to excess thyroid hormones can cause damage to the heart and in some cases, death.The FDA is issuing this alert now after a recent Center for Veterinary Medicine investigation into reports of three dogs in different households that showed signs of hyperthyroidism. In these cases, extensive testing on all three dogs conducted at a reference laboratory showed elevated thyroid hormone in the blood, but ruled out thyroid cancer. Reference lab interviews with the dogs’ owners revealed that all three dogs had been fed BLUE Wilderness® Rocky Mountain Recipe TM Red Meat Dinner Wet Food for Adult Dogs and/or Wellness 95% Beef Topper for Dogs.Based on the recommendation of the reference lab’s consulting veterinarian, the feeding of these dog foods was discontinued. After the dogs stopped eating these products for a few weeks, their clinical signs disappeared and thyroid hormone levels returned to normal. An FDA lab tested unopened cans of BLUE Wilderness® Rocky Mountain Recipe TM Red Meat Dinner Wet Food for Adult Dogs and Wellness 95% Beef Topper for Dogs and confirmed that they contained active thyroid hormone. The source of thyroid hormones is likely from the use of gullets from which the thyroid glands were not completely removed before adding to pet food or treats.After consulting with the FDA, both WellPet (the maker of Wellness) and Blue Buffalo (the maker of Blue Wilderness) initiated voluntary recalls of select lots of the affected products on March 17, 2017.WellPet voluntarily recalled of certain lots of 13.2 ounce cans of Wellness 95% Beef Topper for Dogs with best-by dates of 02 FEB 19, 29 AUG 19, and 30 AUG 19 printed on the bottom of the can. The UPC Code is 076344894506.Blue Buffalo Company voluntarily recalled of one lot of 12.5-ounce cans BLUE Wilderness® Rocky Mountain Recipe TM Red Meat Dinner Wet Food for Adult Dogs with a best-by date of June 7, 2019 printed on the bottom of the can. The UPC code is 840243101153. -
We've found that i/d kibble works quite well for bouts of soft stool. Could she have eaten something she shouldn't have? Or might it have been stress induced? A course of metronidazole can be very helpful for clearing up stress-induced colitis. You might also consider doing a GI panel if it happens again.
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Our boy Gilgun has pancreatic issues, too, and soft stool has also been a problem for him. Recently we switched him to Royal Canin gastrointestinal low fat kibble, and it seems to be working well. He no longer has soft stools and he seems to have more energy, too.
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WOW
Our Larry has HORRIBLE corns, on all 4 feet :( nothing has worked either. He actually is on famotidine (10mg 1 x day), another acid reducer, but like mentioned, has not done anything like the cimetidine. I will check with his vet to see if switching him to cimetidine is a possibility! He'll be 10 next month, so I wouldn't want to give him something that could potentially cause other issues, but if the vet says ok we can try it thank you for posting!You're welcome! I hope it helps him if his vet thinks it's safe to try!
It's worth noting that this is a much higher dose of cimetidine than would be used for acid suppression. According to our vet, 5-10mg/kg is the normal dose for dogs for acid reduction. Joy weighs 26.8kg, so the 800mg/day translates to ~30mg/kg. (The dose used for warts in people is 20-40mg/kg.)
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I just heard from Dr. Jenifer Barker, who initially diagnosed Joy's concerns. She has two cautions that I thought I should share:
- "Cimetidine can cause heart arrhythmia's and respiratory distress is some dogs."
- "Greyhounds with early renal issues can progress more rapidly with long term use of Cimetidine."
Also, I noticed the link to the research article in my post isn't working. Here it is again:
Eur J Dermatol. 2003 Sep-Oct;13(5):445-8.Cimetidine treatment for viral warts enhances IL-2 and IFN-gamma expression but not IL-18 expression in lesional skin.Mitsuishi T1, Iida K, Kawana S.AbstractCimetidine has been shown to improve various types of human neoplasms and more recently it has been shown to be effective in treating recalcitrant or multiple viral warts in some reports. However, it is not well understood why cimetidine is effective on those kinds of viral warts. We investigated 55 patients with multiple viral warts treated only with oral cimetidine for up to 4 months to examine the efficacy of treatment. The patients were divided into two groups: group A received oral cimetidine (<20 mg/kg/day) and group B received the drug (30 to 40 mg/kg/day). In addition, using real time PCR, we measured mRNA levels of the cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-18, and interferon (IFN)-gamma taken from selected punch biopsy specimens before and during treatment. As a result, 34.5% (19/55) of the patients had a dramatic clinical improvement or complete remission (CR) of their viral warts and 23.6% (13/55) of the patients had partial responses (PR) within 4 months of cimetidine therapy. IL-2 and IFN-gamma mRNA levels were significantly increased and IL-18 mRNA levels were decreased in tissues of effectively treated viral warts. Our results show that the higher dose of oral cimetidine was more effective in treating multiple viral warts, that cimetidine activates Th1 cells to produce IL-2 and IFN-c and that their expression correlates with wart remission. These results suggest that cimetidine is an effective treatment for viral warts. In addition, based on the decrease in IL-18 mRNA elicited by the drug, IL-18 might be expressed by keratinocytes infected with HPV. -
My dog is on low dose Zantac (another acid-suppressant) for an irritable stomach condition. She also gets corns from time to time but they seem to disappear in mid winter, a factor which makes it her favourite time. I think it is the cold that does it really.
I don't think other acid suppressants have the same effect. It seems to be only cimetidine that works for treating viral warts.
Joy's corns were really bad last winter, so I don't think it's the temperature that's affecting her corns.
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I can't believe I'm writing this, but I think we may have found a cure for our greyhounds' corns! Our 9-year-old female, Joy, has had terrible corns for the past year or so. It got so bad that she was lame on one leg and could barely walk even with pain medication. We tried everything (hulling, duct tape, Gorilla tape, Burt's Bees, O'Keeffe's, azithromycin, ichthammol, lysine, Kerasol), but nothing helped. Then we ran into a pediatrician at a greyhound event, who told us how he treated his greyhound with cimetidine (brand name Tagamet), which has been used in humans to treat viral warts (see, for example, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14693487).He gave his girl 400mg cimetidine every 12 hours for 6 weeks, after which he reduced the dose to 200mg every 12 hours for 4 weeks. He didn't start to see an effect until 5 weeks of treatment, but now she's completely corn free!
We're just past 5 weeks with Joy, and I'm thrilled to report that her corns are much better! In fact, they've all but disappeared on three of her paws, and the worst one is shrinking. We're still hulling it, but each time the size of the hulled corn is smaller. And Joy can walk again without pain medication! We still use booties to protect her paws outside (a combination of Therapaws/Slicks/Neopaws in the summer and Voyagers K9 in the winter), but she can walk and run inside without any booties at all. I can't begin to express how grateful we are!If you wish to try this treatment, my only caution would be to check with your vet first. He or she may want to do blood tests to make sure your grey's liver and kidney values are okay. You might also want to do followup blood tests partway through treatment to make sure your pup is tolerating it okay. We haven't noticed any ill effects, but every dog is different. Also, since cimetidine is an acid reducer, it could potentially affect digestion and/or absorption of other medicines.In any case, if you have a greyhound who is suffering from corns, please discuss this with your vet!Here's the link for generic cimetidine at Walgreens, which is what we're using: -
It could be the nails on her outer toes are too short. Our boy has this problem; if we dremel the nails on his outer toes too much, they'll dig into the tissue on his adjacent toes. It's a challenge to keep his toenails just the right length -- not too short and not too long!
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I agree with sending the photo to the vet. It's most likely due to the blood draw, but they should know that they're causing bruising like that.
After we discovered an enormous bruise on one of our boy's necks, we started telling vets that we do not want any blood draws from the neck. Besides the bruising, I can only imagine how frightening it must be for a dog to have blood drawn that way. And what if something went wrong with the draw? I shudder to think about it.
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Our Joy is also petrified of lawn mowers. We tried L-theanine, but it actually made her anxiety worse.
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There's no way of knowing how healthy your greyhound will be, so I'd get health insurance for him or her as soon as you adopt. If you wait until you have a problem to get health insurance, that problem will be excluded as a "prior condition".
We've had amazing experience with Healthy Paws, and I highly recommend them: https://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com
Good luck with your adoption!
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You may be able to get Detachol adhesive remover from your vet. It works well for removing sticky bandaging. Mineral oil is another over-the-counter option.
Thank you for sharing this. They put Gilgun on Benadryl, too (50mg twice daily).
We have an appointment with oncology for staging next Monday (10/30) and opthamology could do surgery the following day. Does anyone have experience with excision and/or treatment of a mast cell tumor in this location?
Our Larry has HORRIBLE corns, on all 4 feet
A Miriam Update
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
That's great news! Keep up the good work, Miriam!