Tommy Coyote Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Doesn't someone here have a dog with mast cell cancer? One of the dogs I care for has been diagnosed with this stuff. She has a place on her hip about the size of a quarter. I don't know if it started out as a tumor but it is currently a sore that doesn't heal. I guess she has the more aggressive for of this cancer. The poor owner just lost her other dog to bone cancer in December so this is really a low blow. But so far Rainy is being treated with Benedryl (that keeps the sore dry) and pred. She seems to be doing OK. She is still acting like herself. She is eating well and just runs all over the yard like she always has. I read that this is a connective tissue cancer. So what does it do? Does it just spread to other parts of the body or will this sore just keep getting worse and worse? I seem to be running into a whole lot of dogs with cancer here lately. It's heartbreaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdawgs Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 My pitbull had a mast cell tumor removed from her hip in 2007. It was a raised lump in the skin and looked like an innocent insect bite or a single hive. Surgery was curative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aschlemm Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 My friend's Boxer is going through this right now. Outcome depends on what grade it is. Grade I can be curative with surgery and wide margins. Some people elect for Chemo but if the surgical margins are "clean" it can be o.k. Grade II can have metasisis. Grade III is the worst. My friend's Boxer is grade III. The surgical margins were "dirty." But Lymph nodes are normal size and an ultrasound didn't show signs of spread. She gives Pred and Benadryl and is now doing Chemo. Mast cell is awful as it doesn't follow any set pattern. It can be a sore that never heals and if surgically removed keeps coming back to the same area. It can spread and go to Lymph nodes, spleen, liver, where ever it chooses. They do say that the ones on the main part of the body are not quite as bad as ones on limbs, face, prepuce. I'm sorry for what your friend is going through after losing her other dog. I'd get this lump off ASAP and hopefully the vet will get clean surgical margins and perhaps that will be curative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurae Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=27624&hl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted May 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Thank you. I think the owner opted to not do surgery. It was $4,000. It's nice to have treatment options but I wish so many of them weren't so expensive that most people just can't afford it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aschlemm Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 Oh my!!!! I can't say I blame them!! Wow! $4,000! Wished they lived out my way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 MCTs are hard to predict. Some dogs are gone in weeks, some live many, many years. Even with a histopath report, you can't be sure of the outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 Have them google "high histamine foods" for a list of foods to avoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 I just saw this in a Facebook post about help affording treatment for pets: http://www.dogheirs.com/dogheirs/posts/6603-resources-to-turn-to-if-you-are-having-trouble-affording-veterinary-care-for-your-dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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