Lymphoma?

[EllenEveBaz]

Go, Pebbles! She's obviously feeling great.

[MP_the4pack]

Awwww.

By the way, my post above should read she should NOT have hard item.

[Guest Kryspen]

We're struggling to try and keep weight on Pebbles. She looks as though she's wasting away, even though we're feeding her up as much as we can. Is this her illness? When a dog loses weight rapidly how long can we expect her to last?

 

What can we expect to happen over the next few months? How will we know whether or not she is suffering. What do we need to look out for?

 

Will going on steroids give her any longer?

[MP_the4pack]

Is she still on Pred? I believe that can cause weight loss.

[Guest Kryspen]

She's not started on Pred, or any other steroid yet. That comes on Friday. Currently she's on Synulox and Myclin (at least I think that's what it says on the bottle).

[PatricksMom]

We're struggling to try and keep weight on Pebbles. She looks as though she's wasting away, even though we're feeding her up as much as we can. Is this her illness? When a dog loses weight rapidly how long can we expect her to last?

 

What can we expect to happen over the next few months? How will we know whether or not she is suffering. What do we need to look out for?

 

Will going on steroids give her any longer?

Steroids gave us about about 4 weeks, where Murphy was happy and feeling good, when he started to show signs of decline in quality of life, we let him go the next day. The oncologist predicted 10 weeks, but from what other GTers shared, 1 month is more realistic (I'm assuming since she's on steroids you're not doing chemo). There was another steroid you can switch over to if the Prednisone stops working, but it didn't work for Murphy. Signs to look out for beyond the usual ones are new swelling in the stomach area, and discomfort finding a position to lie down.

 

Her rapid weight loss is probably the steroids. It's hard to see, but as long as it's not affecting Pebble's well being, try not to worry. What are you feeding? Our vet recommended a little chicken with his evening and morning meals on top of the kibble, and then two smaller meal during the day of chicken and rice. That helped and he seemed much happier, but he was a lot thinner at the end even so.

 

He was, if I remember correctly, also on Denamarine support his liver/reduce the swelling in it, help his stomach (I think just Tums--be careful to make sure there's no sugar free sweeteners) in it, and Tramadol--of course be sure to run this all by your vet/oncologist, make sure it's appropriate for Pebbles and get the dosing right.

 

I hope this doesn't sound insensitive, I don't mean it this way, but I think those 4 weeks were way harder on us then on him, he was comfortable and happy and I don't know if dog's don't understand they're dying when they feel well or they just don't worry about it the way people do. He'd just been removed from an extremely neglectful home, was fed enticing food instead of his "person" forgetting to give him food and water, and was so happy to be loved and to live indoors and sleep in our room, and we cleared up a number of other medical issues that were causing him pain. What helped us then and still (and he and Henry did enjoy), was we made him a bucket list and I kept track of how many fun things he got to do--nothing fancy, but ice cream trips, getting to be off leash in a friend's yard, etc. (the list still remains on my fridge) and knowing we made a difficult but in hindsight right decision to just as it became clear he was starting to experience some pain/discomfort.

 

ETA: Is there a medical reason she's waiting until Friday for the steroids? You may or may not prolong her life by much more by starting immediately, but she will feel better almost instantly.

Edited October 14, 2015 by PatricksMom

[Guest Kryspen]

PatricksMom asked "Is there a medical reason she's waiting until Friday for the steroids?"

 

Not particularly a medical reason, but when we took her to the vet 10 days ago she gave us a pack of Synulox and sent us away to decide whether we wanted Pebbles to have a biopsy or not. The vet told us to bring her back in two weeks to start steroids if we decided against the biopsy and chemo (both of which we turned down).

 

[Guest Kryspen]

We've just spotted that she's having quite severe nosebleeds, but swallowing them. That's why we've thought she was bleeding from the mouth. She'll be off to the vet in a few minutes. I'm beginning to wonder whether she'll come back or not.

[Guest Kryspen]

She's back! Vet says the bleeding is nothing to do with her teeth. It's probably another tumour somewhere, which might have been disturbed when the vet did her teeth. She's had her first dose of pred, and got a bottle of tablets for us to give her. Back in a week. She may at some stage have a more serious bleed. If that happens she's to go straight back to the vet.

 

He's given her 3 months, max.

 

We're both very cut up at the moment. Any prayers would be very welcome.

[Batmom]

Hoping for the best. Foodwise, for the sick dogs we try to give extra meals of high calorie things like eggs and not too fatty meats.

[MP_the4pack]

Sigh.

 

How old is she. She's got an adorable face.

[Guest Kryspen]

She was born on 3rd November 2005, so if she reaches 3rd November 2015, that will be her 10th birthday.

[macoduck]

Are her lymph nodes still swollen? If she truly has lymphoma you will be very lucky to her to live a few months. When mine had lymphoma one had to be put down within days of the swelling. The other in less than 2 weeks. Treatment would have been futile.

[PatricksMom]

Are her lymph nodes still swollen? If she truly has lymphoma you will be very lucky to her to live a few months. When mine had lymphoma one had to be put down within days of the swelling. The other in less than 2 weeks. Treatment would have been futile.

I don't regret not doing Chemo, when we had to choose, a number of people told me my oncologist's prediction of a year+ was BS, they'd done chemo and hadn't gotten much if any more time than we got. Spoil her rotten, it will help you feel better afterwards and you'll both have fun in the meantime. Mostly cuddle her and love her, no one can ever get too much love.

[Hubcitypam]

I don't regret not doing Chemo, when we had to choose, a number of people told me my oncologist's prediction of a year+ was BS, they'd done chemo and hadn't gotten much if any more time than we got. Spoil her rotten, it will help you feel better afterwards and you'll both have fun in the meantime. Mostly cuddle her and love her, no one can ever get too much love.

My older vet told me that used chemo for lymphoma long ago but after many years he quit doing it. He said it just didn't ever buy enough time to justify the cost and putting the dog through it. He still suggests it for other cancers, but not lymphoma.

[tbhounds]

My older vet told me that used chemo for lymphoma long ago but after many years he quit doing it. He said it just didn't ever buy enough time to justify the cost and putting the dog through it. He still suggests it for other cancers, but not lymphoma.

Just to clarify--it really depends on the type of lymphoma-T-Cell, B-Cell. One really needs to stage the disease before making a treatment decision. I have personally seen really decent results at times using the CHOP protocol. The last patient that was treated at the last clinic I worked at received 18 really good quality months-sadly she passed at the age of 14--completely unrelated to the lymphoma (she actually developed melanoma).

[EllenEveBaz]

<<Mostly cuddle her and love her, no one can ever get too much love>>

 

This. Thank you for loving her.

[juliemac]

I hope that you and your pup have time to create many memories together. She'll be gone way too soon, but I absolutely know that she'll know love for every moment of her retirement thanks to your care. What more can anyone ask for, right?

 

I give my 'sick' hounds as much food as they are interested in eating; if they're dealing with any type of cancer, I work to keep the sugar content as low as possible while still keeping the protein & fat levels appropriate for their illness. I'll add milk thistle and other supplements to support the liver and kidneys. Peanut butter (here we can get little 1.5 oz travel cups) or ice cream cups are easy ways to get some calories in the hounds and try to keep the weight on them.

 

Gentle hugs and good luck. Please keep us updated, and we'd love some more pictures of her if you take them!

[Guest Kryspen]

As requested, latest picture of Pebbles, and one of Mac, so he doesn't get jealous!

 

(Pebbles)

 

(Mac)

[Batmom]

Two beautiful dogs :wub: . Thank you for sharing those.

[macoduck]

Awww...

[Hubcitypam]

[Guest Kryspen]

Off to the vet for a checkup today. She's as well as can be expected but so thin. She weighed in at 23.1 kg (50lb). Her racing weight was 27.5 kg (60lb). Racking my brain as to how to feed her up without making Mac fat or jealous.

 

Continuing with the pred and antibiotics.

[PatricksMom]

Off to the vet for a checkup today. She's as well as can be expected but so thin. She weighed in at 23.1 kg (50lb). Her racing weight was 27.5 kg (60lb). Racking my brain as to how to feed her up without making Mac fat or jealous.

 

Continuing with the pred and antibiotics.

He may well feel jealous, Henry took up stealing Murphy's food dish after he ate, and taking it to his bed with stink eye looks at us. But you're the mom, and sometimes you have to do what's best for both kids, getting food into Pebbles and keeping Mac healthy. We did give Henry a small bit of Murphy's special food, and he got several health treats when Murphy got his 2 extra meals a day--maybe that approach might help?

 

And both of them are absolutely beautiful, Pebbles has that wise look in her eyes.

[Guest Kryspen]

Another vet visit today. Pebbles now weighs less than 22kg. The vet has taken her off the antibiotic, once the course has finished. He's given her tramadol for when she seems to be in pain.

We were very pleased that the glands at the base of the throat had gone right down. Apparently the pred does that, and when the glands start to enlarge again it will be good-bye time. He gives her 1 - 2 months.