Remy Has Joined The Osteo Club :o(

[Guest june]

I am so sorry

Sending lots of prayers to help you thought this.

[galgrey]

I am so, so sorry you got this news. I'll hold you both in my thoughts and prayers.

[Houndtime]

This is so sad; I am so sorry to read of Remy's diagnosis.

 

I do hate cancer. It is the thief who robs us, everyday of those we love.

[teri_d]

my thoughts and prayers with you -- having lost two to osteo i feel your pain. there is much support on gt, go to osteo thtead if you can. friends in the same boat await you...

different paths but same forest. so sorry....

Edited April 13, 2013 by teri_d

[Riverhound]

Damn. I am so, so sorry.

[robinw]

I'm so sorry. It's a devastating diagnosis; I've been there

[GreyPoopon]

I'm so very sorry.

 

I don't have any advice on treatment. I've done pain control only with mine (four of them). When we can no longer keep them comfortable, I say goodbye. The timing has varied tremendously.

[Guest kellybrown]

I am so terribly sorry. We are at our 6th month since diagnosis. We did amputation, a back leg and chemo. You will know what he can handle. From everything I read when we got our diagnosis, amputation is pretty much the only thing that will take the pain away.

I just feel sick every time I read that someone has been given this awful diagnosis.

[Guest Adrianne]

I am very, very sorry to hear this.

[Guest greytkidsmom]

My heart hurts for you. Whatever you decide will be right because it will be guided by love.

[3greytjoys]

Oh, I am so very sorry about Remy's diagnosis.

 

Here are a couple of OSU articles (if you haven't seen them yet). If either link doesn't open, try copy/paste into your address bar.

 

https://greyhound.osu.edu/resources/freeresources/bonecancer/index.cfm

https://ckm.osu.edu/sitetool/sites/greyhoundpublic/documents/About/Newsletters/ghwpNewsletterWinter2008.pdf

[KF_in_Georgia]

Right now, first thing, while you're still figuring out your choices: Get your boy on pain meds. Typically, tramadol, 50mg to 100mg, as much as three times a day. A large dose of tramadol may make a dog anxious, with panting and pacing that makes it appear the dog is in pain, so don't automatically assume that panting and pacing on meds means the meds aren't working.

 

In addition to tramadol, there's gabapentin. This is not a narcotic; it's a drug that interrupts pain signals to the brain. (It started as a treatment to prevent seizures by interrupting the seizure signals.) The prescription is available in a couple of different strengths: tell Remy's vet you want 100mg capsules. (It comes in 300mg tablets, but you can't split those when you need to--and you'll need to.) Gabapentin can take a couple of days to build up in Remy's system, and a large dose at the beginning may make him wobbly or sleepy until he's used to them. I might do a 100mg capsule three times a day for the first day; then the same on day two except that one meal would get two capsules instead of one; then on day three, if he's moving okay and not too wobbly, go to two capsules three times a day. Finally, as needed, step up to 9 capsules a day. Yes--9. Several greyhounds on the forum have taken that much.

 

Here's the important thing with gabapentin: It has a very short half-life. It wears off too fast to be effective if your vet prescribes one large dose a day--or even two doses. Most people have done three capsules, three times a day. My Sam has other pills to take, so that he's taking pills four times a day, and I'm giving him two gabapentin capsules at each meal. Many vets are unfamiliar with gabapentin; even if willing to prescribe it, they often underprescribe or prescribe too few doses in a day for it to be effective. Since it's already going to take a couple of days to get up to speed on Remy, you'll want to make sure your vet is on-board with you giving a substantial dose right from the beginning. You're Remy's champion, and he's counting on you to take care of what he needs.

 

From other posts in the osteo thread, here's some info on gabapentin you may need for Remy's vet:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/3730018, which says "Gabapentin is well absorbed in rats, dogs and in humans, with maximum blood levels, reached within 1-3 h after peroral administration."

 

And (long link) here. That link mostly discusses the use of gabapentin to prevent seizures (what it was first developed for), but gives info on the half-life and briefly discuses its use for pain. With the half-life it has, gabapentin apparently wears off in the same length of time whether you give a large dose or a small one; in other words, a large dose influences the amount of pain relief, but not how long the relief lasts.

 

Both gabapentin and tramadol are available at people-pharmacies and neither is very expensive. In addition to these two, there are NSAIDs that can be helpful, but I'll let others chime in about what they use. I will mention that several people give Pepcid prior to giving NSAIDs to protect their dogs' stomachs; there are notes, though, that antacids can inhibit the action of gabapentin, so you may want to separate antacids/NSAIDs from the gabapentin dose by a couple of hours.

Edited April 13, 2013 by KF_in_Georgia

[RobinM]

I'm sorry to hear this, Claudia. Until you know what you are going to do, (although it sounds like pain management seems to be what you are looking at)- the very best advice I can give is keep him comfortable. bone cancer is the most unbelievably painful thing. And our dogs are so stoic. They suffer quietly.

 

Make sure you are giving 100mg of deramaxx and 50 mg of tram 3 x a day. Either way, these are the meds you should be giving.

 

I've done both-- amp and pain management. Different dogs, different ages. But keeping him comfortable will be better for you too.

 

No more walkies. If you don't do the amp (which I agree with you) at this point the big fear is him fracturing the leg. Make sure he can't jump on/off anything when you leave for work.

 

I'm not working, so if you need help or just want me to give him meds during the day....I'm here for you.

[a_daerr]

So, so sorry for this terrible news.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. He looks like such a happy boy.

[forevergrey]

Claudia, I am so terribly sorry. Remy looks like a beautiful sweet boy who has a wonderful loving person to take care of him and make the best if not the most difficult decisions on his behalf. I too lost my heart dog to osteo last July. He was my perfect greyhound. He too was a blood donor at AMC, (but thankfully only for one year). Primetime was 9 when diagnosed, he was always so healthy, happy and playful. The diagnosis for osteo came as a shock. I adored him. He was only with me for 4 years. Sometimes when they are perfect, they don't stay with us for long.

Amputation was not an option for us either. Primetime's cancer was in the shoulder, it was a fast moving one and I live on the top floor of a building without an elevator. Money was an issue as well. If I had a backyard and a more positive diagnosis, something more then 6 months-I would have considered it but that was not the case. I kept my boy as comfortable as possible, no more long morning walks in the park, (he missed these at first until walking became too painful), I kept him on three different pain meds, rimadyl, tramadol and gabapentin and just made sure to take it one day at a time, not show too much stress or act different around him. When it became obvious to me that he was in too much pain and these episodes were becoming more frequent, I had my vet come to my house to let him go. I adopted him on July 10, 2008 and he left me on July 10, 2012. It really all comes down to making the best decision for your dog and at times these are the hardest ones to make.

 

I should add that I also lost my 15 year old Henry two weeks before Primetime died. So it was a very miserable summer. I still miss these two boys and I think about them all the time. I did however ended up adopting two greyhounds a few weeks later. It made me feel better.

[greytpups]

My thoughts are with you and Remy...he has such a sweet innocent face, it just doesn't seem fair. I'm so terribly sorry you received this dx.

[MP_the4pack]

[Guest Isabella]

No words can ease the pain you are experiencing but in your heart you will know what is the right thing to do for your Remy. Any dog who has known the true love of a human is a very lucky dog and any human who knows the true love of a dog is a very lucky human. You both are lucky.

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Claudia,

Tommy was the front left shoulder. Diagnosed at age 12 1/2, had Lumbosacral

stenosis. He was not a candidate for an amp. As you know, I did pain management. From the time he first started limping, 4 months. From the time when osteo showed up on xrays, 2 months.

 

Spoilthe hell out of him, make every day special. Give as much pain meds as needed and he can tolerate.

We can talk more tomorrow.

Nancy

[EllenEveBaz]

I second the recommendation that you get your boy on effective painkillers immediately. Cry, rage, scream all you need to, over and over, but pull it together to decide what's best for Remy. He has to depend on you. Sending cyberhugs

Edited April 14, 2013 by EllenEveBaz

[3greys2cats]

I'm so sorry you are going through this, cancer is so painful for our babies and for us. I lost my girl Sara, one year ago yesterday to Hemangio Sarcoma and it was an inoperable Mass in her spine. Pain meds can buy some time, you will know when the time is right for Remy, holding you in my thoughts and prayers

[Guest Melissa516]

I'm so sorry to hear about Remy. If there is anything I can do, please let me know.

[Guest Yankeegreyhound]

Hi there. I sent you an e-mail about a UPenn study. Definatley look into that. As others have said, pain management will be key. And also, as Robin mentioned, keep him from jumping as much as you can. That's what did Hailey in. She came down from upstairs and we had to let her go. I couldn't risk her doing that again and breaking a bone and because she was always with me and always up and down on the couches, it wasn't safe for her.

 

Have you heard back from Dr. L or from OSU?

 

Get him on the Gabepentin (sp?) asap. That's the only thing I didn't do for Hailey. Dr. L didn't suggest it and I had to ask for it. By the time I did, it was too late. Deramaxx is hard to come by. Sara had been on it but we haven't been able to get anymore for a while due to a manufacturer issue.

 

PM Snakes if you want to know about radiation, if it's an option. She did it on Fedx.

 

You know I'm always here for you if you need me. Fabio is working mornings so any night, I can help you, any time.

[Guest yat420]

I'm so sorry. I'm right here with you. Buddy was diagnosed two weeks ago. We don't feel that he is a good canidate for amputation, so we are going the pallitive radiation route. He's only had one dose so far, so I can't tell you what the results will be. We have him on meloxican (you can get a prescription for the human tablets- much cheaper!), tramadol and gabapentin. He limps, but otherwise seems as comfortable as we can expect with just the medications. He even forgets sometimes and tries to chase a squirrel, yikes! Each dog is different, but the oncologist says that 80% get pain relief from the radiation that can last up to 3 months, and it can be repeated if needed. I think your best bet is to schedule an appointment with an oncologist, they can review his case and go over all options with you. My heart is breaking too, so I know where you are. We are just treating each day as a gift and enjoying each moment we can.

[TINMANPDX]

I am so sorry for you and for Remy - I hope you are blessed with lots more time together that is not painful for him.