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Cancer...


steveko23
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I was wondering if there were any good sites to read up on different type of cancer dogs get?

 

I ask because my best friend Dodge (4 year old border I've had for 3 years) has a bump on his head. I took him to my vet this past weekend and received the devistating news last night. He has a nasty form of cancer that is deforming his skull and is in his skull. Surgery isn't an option because of how the cancer is. Chemo and radiation are, however my vet (also my uncle) doesn't believe that will cure him. He seems 100%, has not acted any differently at all so I believe he's not in any pain. I believe I am going to spoil him rotten (more than I normally spoil him rotten ) and try to make how ever much time with him I have as enjoyable for both of us as possible. But I wanted to be as informed as I possibly could on this subject.

 

Thanks,

Steve

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Even if my vet were my uncle I'd get a second opinion. Even my vet would suggest a second opinion, preferably a university or specialist.

 

Best wishes for you and your dog,

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Chemo and radiation won't cure him but it could possibly buy him some time...maybe even more than you think. I got an additional 2 years or so with my girl after a cancer diagnosis.

 

A second opinion is always a good thing, especially as Rebecca pointed out, at a Univeristy or teaching hospital.

 

Sorry to hear about it...hugs to your pooch.

 

Maria

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Steve,

I'm so sorry to hear about the bad news on the mass on your dog's head. Maybe the best veterinary oncology in the U.S. (possibly the world) is at Colorado State University. There are new treatments being developed all there the time, and at other universities, if you are near one (or can get your dog to one) that has a veterinary program. Your uncle may very well be right about the prognosis... it's hard for me to say, without knowing the type of cancer. Some dogs beat the odds, though; having been through this with two of my dogs (one as a freshman vet student and one a year and a half ago) I can sympathise with your plight. It doesn't always happen - a lot depends on the type of tumor and the individual dog - but sometimes you get more time than you think you will. I took one of my dogs through surgery and radiation, which was expensive, but my dog got the best four years of her life after her treatment. No one could give me odds on her survival time, so I jumped in blind and got lucky. The single most important thing is the dog's quality of life, so the aim is to maximise the length of quality time. Sometimes agressive treatment will bring a lot of side effects without much gain. Sometimes the side effects (the cost to the dog) are a fair trade for the length of good quality time you get on the other end. And treatments are not generally cheap if you're going to be agressive, so there's also that to consider.

 

Every situation is different, though... my second cancer dog I didn't go as agressively with (I mainly palliated, to keep her comfortable as long as possible), since she was a different dog with a different type of tumor and treatment would have so decreased her quality of life that it wouldn't have lengthened her time at all - I'd have had to make the difficult decision to euthanise probably at the same time with or without agressive treatment becasue her quality would have been too meager to justify continuing.

 

Good luck with this. I'm sorry this is such a difficult time for you and your dog.

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Thanks for the all the support. I found some additional information out yesterday. The type of cancer is believed to be hemangiosarcoma (which from a brief search on the web doesn't give me much hope).

My goal is to lengthen the quality of life time as long as possible. After doing some reading on the web I found essiac tea and cottage cheese mixed with flaxseed oil to be common recommendations. I would have also liked to switch him to a natural diet and will continue reading up on it, but for now he'll remain on IAMS as he does really like it and I can't imagine a softer shiner coat than Dodge's. But I'll be giving him some raw chicken because he loves that as well.

 

steve

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