Osteo Thread Part 9

[seeh2o]

Adam was due for his 2nd chemo today but, his white count was too low -- 1.8. We have another scheduled for next Monday. Discouraging however, his new harness (Julius k9) has been pretty good minus some small issues.

That's not necessarily a bad thing! Dogs who need a lower dose of carboplatin and/or an extra week between chemos have better remissions! This is from a study on dogs with lymphoma, but, per my vet and other vets, is also true for dogs with osteo, so it's actually good news! My girl has had to go 4 weeks between every round of chemo, but that's a good thing. My vet strongly suggested two things while we're doing chemo: 1) use a max CBD hemp oil or capsules (#Innovetpetproducts makes a good one at a good price and Canna Companion makes a good capsule product, but SPENDY), & 2) acupuncture.

[MaryJane]

That's not necessarily a bad thing! Dogs who need a lower dose of carboplatin and/or an extra week between chemos have better remissions! This is from a study on dogs with lymphoma, but, per my vet and other vets, is also true for dogs with osteo, so it's actually good news! My girl has had to go 4 weeks between every round of chemo, but that's a good thing. My vet strongly suggested two things while we're doing chemo: 1) use a max CBD hemp oil or capsules (#Innovetpetproducts makes a good one at a good price and Canna Companion makes a good capsule product, but SPENDY), & 2) acupuncture.

 

I emailed Dr. Couto and their # is 1K on WBC and I'm going to talk to the oncologists at Tufts about this.

 

Is this the hemp oil ? https://www.innovetpet.com/products/purcbd

 

Otherwise, Adam is doing good - he is starting to find his inner kangaroo ....

[greysmom]

Yes, that's the Innovo product.

[seeh2o]

Thanks for sharing that info from Dr Couto.

[MP_the4pack]

Small Tanzi update.

I took them for a walk at a local open space park. While it's not fenced, there's enough field shrub to seem like it. Being a tripod it's easier for Tanzi to be off leash and do her speed. So off we went on a nice stroll when she spotted a rabbit. That girl still has it in her as she took off like a bat out of you-know-where. At that moment no one would have guessed she was a tripod. Luckily the rabbit had enough warning to escape. Tanzi came back to me with a huge s-eating grin on her face.

Poor leashed Emma was so jealous.

[palmettobug]

Tanzi, you go girl!!

[Cricket57]

You show 'em, Tanzi!

 

Cricket

[greysmom]

Tanzi!!! You're doing it right girlfriend!

[queenwinniesmom]

Aw, Tanzi..... she's telling you how happy she is to be here.

I remember seeing Winnie, on 3 legs, outrun her 4 legged sisters. I held my breath, but had to let her do it. She was so happy.

[MP_the4pack]

Aw, Tanzi..... she's telling you how happy she is to be here.

I remember seeing Winnie, on 3 legs, outrun her 4 legged sisters. I held my breath, but had to let her do it. She was so happy.

That's me too. She scares the living daylights out of me. But she's happy. She's enjoying life to the fullest.

[MaryJane]

Small Tanzi update.

I took them for a walk at a local open space park. While it's not fenced, there's enough field shrub to seem like it. Being a tripod it's easier for Tanzi to be off leash and do her speed. So off we went on a nice stroll when she spotted a rabbit. That girl still has it in her as she took off like a bat out of you-know-where. At that moment no one would have guessed she was a tripod. Luckily the rabbit had enough warning to escape. Tanzi came back to me with a huge s-eating grin on her face.

Poor leashed Emma was so jealous.

 

 

Great to hear this about Tanzi!

 

 

Aw, Tanzi..... she's telling you how happy she is to be here.

I remember seeing Winnie, on 3 legs, outrun her 4 legged sisters. I held my breath, but had to let her do it. She was so happy.

 

 

I hold my breath too ...

[seeh2o]

Love it, go Tanzi!

[MaryJane]

Update on the White blood count information -- I talked to the oncologists at Tufts for a bit today and they are also talking with Dr. Couto. As a refresher, the 2nd chemo for Adam had to be delayed because his count was 1.8 which according to Tufts level was too low (their low level is 2.5). His white count today was OK, so he had his 2nd chemo.

 

However, a few days before his 3rd chemo in 3 weeks, we are going to do a blood draw and see what the value is and then the day of the chemo, he will get another blood draw. If the count from the "days before" and the "day of" indicate a white count that is increasing, they are going to look more favorably on doing the chemo even if the values are lower than their limit but, not as low as the 1K. If however, the "days before" and the "day of" values indicate that the white blood cell count is decreasing, then chemo is likely to be pushed back a few days unless the level is above their limit of 2.5.

 

So while a level of 1K might be OK - it really depends on whether the count is increasing or decreasing and it also depends on how comfortable the oncologist staff is on working out of their "black box" of experience. And to throw in another factor, what Adam was running for white counts before (luckily we got blood every year).

 

Many "ifs" here .... however, we are leaving it that every potential chemo event with Adam is going to be a consideration of many factors and which at this time, both the oncologist team and I are happy with.

[greysmom]

That sounds like a sound strategy. Keep us updated going forward.

[seeh2o]

Bowie has chemo #6 tomorrow. I don't know what happens after that. What are the next steps? I feel like we're going to be untethered. I made an appointment next week with Dr. Alice Villalobos who was part of one of the cancer books for dogs. She is local and supports raw feeding and homeopathic, I think she deals exclusively with dogs who have cancer. Just hoping to get some ideas from her. I understand Palladia is pretty much out of favor these days, based on some studies. We're still waiting for that biologic vaccine to be released sometime this year, Bowie's oncologist, Dr. Ayl, will treat her with it when it comes out. Tick tock....

[greysmom]

After chemo, there will be another round of xrays to set another baseline. We had two check ups 8 weeks apart, then it was out to every six months. Getting back to life and living.

 

Palladia was i think proven to not make that big a difference in pain levels or bone density, so it has been taken out of the treatment protocol.

 

I'll be interested to see what the homeopathic vet says.

[MaryJane]

Bowie has chemo #6 tomorrow. I don't know what happens after that. What are the next steps? I feel like we're going to be untethered. I made an appointment next week with Dr. Alice Villalobos who was part of one of the cancer books for dogs. She is local and supports raw feeding and homeopathic, I think she deals exclusively with dogs who have cancer. Just hoping to get some ideas from her. I understand Palladia is pretty much out of favor these days, based on some studies. We're still waiting for that biologic vaccine to be released sometime this year, Bowie's oncologist, Dr. Ayl, will treat her with it when it comes out. Tick tock....

 

My conversation with the Univ of Penn that did a study on the vaccine suggests that they are looking for a September release - but that was about 2 months ago, timelines may have changed.

 

Hope everything goes well with the chemo.

[MP_the4pack]

Tanzi's last chemo was April. A week later she had a full workup of blood and x-rays. She had it again in June, her next is in September. I don't know when it'll go from 3 months to 6 months. But that's it.

[seeh2o]

Tanzi's last chemo was April. A week later she had a full workup of blood and x-rays. She had it again in June, her next is in September. I don't know when it'll go from 3 months to 6 months. But that's it.

Good girl, Tanzi! Is she getting any metronomic treatment? They want to put Bowie on Cytoxan every other day starting in a month.

 

Any other dogs on Cytoxan? How did they do?

 

MaryJane, thanks for that info. Fingers and paws crossed it comes out next month.

Edited August 5, 2017 by seeh2o

[greysmom]

Yes, Dude did it for a couple months. No issues for him, but plenty for us. It needs to be given a certain amount of time (30 minutes? 60 minutes? I don't remember ) before eating, with a high fat food like peanut butter. I used to fix a spoon with his pill and peanut butter before bed every night, then wake up just enough to give it to him in the morning. Then we'd all go back to sleep until it was time to get up.

[seeh2o]

Yes, Dude did it for a couple months. No issues for him, but plenty for us. It needs to be given a certain amount of time (30 minutes? 60 minutes? I don't remember ) before eating, with a high fat food like peanut butter. I used to fix a spoon with his pill and peanut butter before bed every night, then wake up just enough to give it to him in the morning. Then we'd all go back to sleep until it was time to get up.

Thanks, that's good to know.

 

Bowie would eat a piece of poop if it had peanut butter on it! She's picky, though, has to be the salted chunky stuff from Trader Joe's! When she was staying at my friend's while I was out of town they couldn't get her to take her pills - even with peanut butter. Last time I had to leave her there for a couple of days I took her jar of TJ's peanut butter and she gobbled them all down. My friend couldn't believe it!

[MP_the4pack]

Good girl, Tanzi! Is she getting any metronomic treatment? They want to put Bowie on Cytoxan every other day starting in a month.

Any other dogs on Cytoxan? How did they do?

MaryJane, thanks for that info. Fingers and paws crossed it comes out next month.

No Tanzi's not on anything.

[seeh2o]

Tripawds sent this update out on metronomic chemotherapy today. Bowie is going to start in about 3 weeks. Also, the big veterinary oncology conference is in October, maybe the release of the vaccine will be announced there... I hope, I hope.

http://tripawds.com/2017/08/02/metronomic-chemotherapy-faqs-for-tripawds/?utm_source=Tripawds+News+Opt-In+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a3c4810258-TRIPAWDS_NEWS_2017_08_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_064ccd3e80-a3c4810258-116027237

[greysmom]

Thanks for the link! I'll save it to add to the next thread.

[MP_the4pack]

I'm torn between wanting to keep cancer at bay and not wanting to give her any more drugs. She's so happy now. But periodically doesn't want to eat. Something she never did before chemo.