mjmcmurray Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 Hi all — my 9 (almost 10)-year-old greyhound Sherlock has been having trouble with one of his nail beds for several months. As the issue wasn't resolving with any treatments, the vet determined it was time to remove the affected digit and biopsy it. That surgery was last week, and the results just came back as a mildly infiltrative squamous cell carcinoma. The vet is optimistic about the prognosis since they were able to completely remove the affected tissue with good margins, his chest x-rays came back clear, and he's otherwise in good health. He'll be going back to the vet Friday to confirm the lymph nodes look okay, but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for greys living with this type of cancer? Any insight is appreciated! Quote Morgan, adopted mom to Sherlock (Boc's Barneyfife) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 I would strongly suggest seeing if you have a canine oncologist available to you where you are. Regular vets are awesome, but sometimes you need a specialist who can provide up-to-the-minute current research and treatment advice. It's likely the toe amp removed the danger, and he'll be fine going forward. You'll need to monitor the amp site closely to make sure it's healing properly, as it could be a bad sign if it doesn't. If you'd like a further consult you can join The Greyhound Health Initiative and send digital files to Dr Guillermo Couto who is a noted greyhound vet specializing in various cancers. Greyhound Health Initiative Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy 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 More sharing options...
EllenEveBaz Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 (edited) Sending cyberhugs to Sherlock and keeping paws crossed for nice clear lymph nodes. No experience with squamous cell cancer, but have had dogs with a toe removed for other reasons and it never seemed to affect their walking or running. Edited June 9, 2022 by EllenEveBaz Quote Ellen, with brindle Milo and the blonde ballerina, Gelsey remembering Eve, Baz, Scout, Romie, Nutmeg, and Jeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmcmurray Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 On 6/7/2022 at 12:10 PM, greysmom said: I would strongly suggest seeing if you have a canine oncologist available to you where you are. Regular vets are awesome, but sometimes you need a specialist who can provide up-to-the-minute current research and treatment advice. It's likely the toe amp removed the danger, and he'll be fine going forward. You'll need to monitor the amp site closely to make sure it's healing properly, as it could be a bad sign if it doesn't. If you'd like a further consult you can join The Greyhound Health Initiative and send digital files to Dr Guillermo Couto who is a noted greyhound vet specializing in various cancers. Greyhound Health Initiative Thank you, I do think an oncologist is the next step now that he’s also getting a biopsy on the lymph node in that same leg. The amputation site is about two weeks post surgery and other than a bit of a skin infection towards the top, is healing normally. Quote Morgan, adopted mom to Sherlock (Boc's Barneyfife) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmcmurray Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 On 6/9/2022 at 8:34 AM, EllenEveBaz said: Sending cyberhugs to Sherlock and keeping paws crossed for nice clear lymph nodes. No experience with squamous cell cancer, but have had dogs with a toe removed for other reasons and it never seemed to affect their walking or running. Thank you!! Quote Morgan, adopted mom to Sherlock (Boc's Barneyfife) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okslater Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 Where are you based, @mjmcmurray? We are in Manchester but had our girl Lemming referred to the Royal Dick in Edinburgh, as they have a state of the art cancer centre up there. I'd thoroughly recommend a second opinion from them, if you want some reassurance. I think it was about £100-150 for them to go over the data. Our girl Lemming had a lot of treatment there and I would immediately go to them again when/if our next dogs have any cancer diagnoses. They were greyhound savvy - there are a lot of adopted greys in the Edinburgh area and we saw loads going in whilst waiting for ours to come out of her radiotherapy sessions. https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/services/small-animals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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