Jump to content

Recommended Posts

They are allowed to give the vaccine to dogs that are not enrolled in the field study, including dogs that wouldn't qualify for the field study. I think it's a bit more expensive, but it is allowed.

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm so sorry you are having to join this club.

 

If the cost of chemo is one of those factors, you should contact the Greyhound Health Initiative. I think they have their free chemo program up and running. There would be costs assiciated with administering the drugs - bloodwork before each dose, IV costs, personnel time - but having the chemo free really helps.

 

https://www.greyhoundhealthinitiative.org/

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest jatx

I have contacted Dr. Couto actually. I looked into his consultations. I was a student at Ohio State in Columbus, OH when I adopted her and back then OSU was still providing free chemo for greys. Unfortunately I'm back in Texas. Thanks for mentioning him. I know that he isn't well known sometimes outside of the area and outside of grey circles. While I could find chemo options and even afford some, we chose palliative care to let her go naturally when the good Lord calls her. That was the difficult decision.

 

I also found out that she pulled a stitch or two from the biopsy site :sigh: Bandaids galore for her until the amputation!

 

 

Was there any one particular site or book or anything that has helped anyone else? Anything that helped make your grey more comfortable? I'm currently trying to adjust her diet to one more aligned to Dr. Ogilvie's guidelines for fighting cancer. Any suggestions help. Thanks everyone

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest thing with palliative care is keeping the pain under control. You'll have a little breathing room on that with doing the amp. Most of us have found a combination of an nsaid (whichever your dog tolerates the best), gabapentin (a drug to help with nerve pain), and a pain medication (tramadol or codiene sulfate) have worked the best. The gabapentin is really key - it's very safe, has a huge dosing range, and greyhounds tolerate it very well. The supplement artemisinin is also something that is recommended. Your oncologist should be able to help you there.

 

Other things to think about include targeted radiation, and infusions of bone-strengthening drugs (like fosamax). IMO, if you're going to go the route of amputation you might as well follow it up with chemo. With the GHI, it doesn't matter where you are located geographically for them to provide the free product, though if you are very isolated, finding someone to administer it might be an issue. Dogs tolerate chemo much, much better than people, with maybe some minor nauseau following a treatment, so that shouldn't stop you from doing it. The difference in longevity is about 3-6 months with/without chemo.

 

Make sure you get a chest xray prior to her surgery. If there are no *visible* mets, you'll have a better chance of having a longer time with her.

 

There are numerous links to websites and information in the first post of this thread. Some may be a bit dated as we've been doing this for quite a while and things have been moving very quickly in the realm of canine cancer research lately. Also, don't discount her viability for entry into one of the vaccine studies. Your vet should be able to advise you if your girl is eligible for any of the ongoing trials.

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest jatx

Thanks. Unfortunately we are quite remote (relatively speaking) with the nearest oncologist being about 4-6 hrs away.

 

Luckily her chest rays had no visible mets. So that has my hopes up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest gjohnson1989

Party update: She's recovering extremely well from surgery. We're about 3 weeks post surgery and she's hopping around like nothing every happened. She got her staples out about 10 days ago (60 of them!). She got her first round of chemo last Wednesday and it didn't seem to phase her in the slightest. She went in today for blood work and it wasn't good from what my wife told me on the phone. Her white blood cell count and another count (I can't remember what it was called) were both very low and our vet said if they don't come back up then she wouldn't be eligible for chemo anymore. She also has an infection around the bottom of the surgery site so they started her on antibiotics. We will take her in again next week for another round of blood work to check those two levels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Her white blood cell count and another count (I can't remember what it was called) were both very low and our vet said if they don't come back up then she wouldn't be eligible for chemo anymore.

 

Make sure the vet is aware that carboplatin can be given to Greyhounds with a lower neutrophil count than the typical low cutoff. Dr. Couto's number five years ago was 1500 neutrophils per microliter, I don't believe that's changed but you or your vet can reach out to him. Amputation without sufficient chemotherapy does not improve median survival times. Please don't let your vet compromise your girl's chances by withholding chemo without a consult with Dr. Couto. Good luck to you both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Low white cells isn't unusual and a round of antibiotics will bring them right up. And, anecdotally, an infection is supposedly good news, as dogs who get them seem to have a longer surviveability rate than dogs who don't.

 

Once her white cells are up again you can continue with her chemo. It never stopped ours only delayed it a week.

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The chemo will lower the circulating white blood cells in the blood however, the bone marrow is always creating new ones. Most times, the white blood cells are high enough at 3 weeks after the chemo treatment to have another chemo treatment but, greyhounds tend to recover slower so the white cells might not be at a high enough level at 3 weeks so, their treatment could be pushed out to every 4 weeks or so. When there is a low white blood count, there is more of a susceptibility for infection as the white blood cells fight infections so, if their count is very low, the oncologist may prescribe antibiotics. Another note is that greyhounds run lower on the white blood cells normally so, this also needs to be taken into account when identifying the level of white blood cell count where it will be OK to have another chemo treatment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest gjohnson1989

The second reading that was concerning to our vet was NEU, not sure what it stands for but the normal range is 2.95-11.65 and Party is at 1.85. Thats the number she was most concerned about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

My girl completed her 3 rounds of the vaccine without incident. 4 weeks after her last infusion she developed 2 hard nodules in soft tissue. One in the soft tissue above her remaining scapula, the other on her abdominal wall near mammary gland #4 (though they don't think it's actually in the gland as it's too far away from it). She had an FNA 2 weeks ago today and of both nodules and they are the very rare form of osteosarcoma in soft tissue, extraskeletal osteosarcoma. There had been a suspicious spot in her lung at the time of vaccine #3, thus far (as of today) that is smaller and seems to be going away and is sometimes MIA on xrays.

 

I am in the process of switching her to a ketogenic diet, not a lot different than her regular raw diet, just more fat, no organ meat and very specific veggies. She is getting another infusion of the vaccine today and we are discussing the possibility of electrochemotherapy to kill the nodules. She is still eating great, sassy, pooping well and has as much energy as an 11 year old tripawd broodie normally has.

 

If anyone has any insights or helpful experience with this, I'm all ears. She has a great medical team supporting her (and me). If no insights, she could sure use your prayers.

Edited by seeh2o

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

17 months, 5 days post diagnosis and amputation. Nodules seem to be stable (is it the vaccine working to encapsulate them????), I switched her to a CBD oil made from the real deal, so it has a bit of THC in it that is supposed to be helpful in fighting cancer (no side effects, not high), and I switched her to a ketogenic diet. She likes it, poop is a bit lighter in color and not as much of it (not that there was very much to begin with as she has been on raw since I adopted her 4 years ago). Still bright, happy, sassy, demanding! She has taken to jumping on the top terrace and looks like she's the Queen of the World, which of course she is! I wish I could figure out how to post pictures here again, I've got a great one of her the other night with ears up and a kick-ass video of her doing laps at Ed's house.

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

OMG, I saw Bowie today from work on the nanny cam. Came home and her bed was all twisted up. I wanted to see the video of her doing it....well let me tell you, little Miss Thing didn't just dig it up with her front paw this time, SHE GRABBED IT WITH HER MOUTH and pulled on it! She's 11 years old, not 11 months!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I drove Bowie to Las Vegas last night after work, she had an appointment for a booster shot of the vaccine. I dropped her off this morning and just got off the phone with the vet. Shoulder nodule has shrunk slightly (!), abdominal one is the same, a small second abdominal one has come up (though I felt it was there before in May), suspicious spot in lung they found in April hasn't changed, there was a spot on her lung near the front of her chest last time (I just heard about this one today) that they thought may have been a blood vessel close to a bone that is still there and unchanged. They can't say the spots in her lungs are mets, just that they are suspicious and watching them. Blood levels are good, but kidney levels are top end of normal, so we're going to dc the Rimadyl for now. They are very pleased with how she's doing!!!

Edited by seeh2o

Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog)

Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go Bowie!!

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...