Pet Patients Cancer survival in pets: Good news just keeps on coming

January 8th, 2009  

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Jester - 7 1/2 YO retriever (in the large dog category, the most awesome dog ever) diagnosed 14 months ago with histiocytic sarcoma. Treated with palliative radiation and 9 or 10 rounds of chemo along with supplements (milk thistle, fish oil, flax seed oil, Co-Q 10, vitamins and others likely forgotten). Chemo halted last July secondary to toxicity. On a home cooked diet now. Knock wood, still going strong! (I agree that the roughest part was the diagnostic process.)

Deanna January 8th, 2009 10:48:18 AM

The Morris Animal Foundation launched an exciting campaign to find a cure for various canine cancers. Their website is:

http://www.curecaninecancer.org

JC Burcham, DVM January 8th, 2009 10:58:17 AM

Yep, even when you choose not to treat, you can have some good time. My mom's old maltese who passed in August 07 was diagnosed with the double whammy of anal sac adenocarcinoma with metastasis and kidney failure the prior January. Thankfully, my mom didn't give him the metacam his vet rx'ed to him for pain, which I am convinced would have deprived us of the additional time we had. (I know the biggest metcam dangers are for cats, but dogs in KIDNEY FAILURE probably shouldn't have it either -- at least that's what the Brightheart hospital we had his onco consult at told us.)

Anyway, we got him on fluids 2x a day, and phos binders, as well as tramadol for pain. He seemed pretty normal for the next 6 months -- it was easy to forget how critically ill he was. The last two months he did start to go downhill and when the vomiting started, we let him go.

But 8 months was much longer than we thought he'd have -- he ate a lot of steak in that time. (Yeh, not the healthiest, but deny nothing to the dying)

Stefani January 8th, 2009 11:35:21 AM

My great dane was dx w/oral melanoma in April '07, tried the vaccine, unsuccessful, opted to use Neoplasene in July '07 He's doing great tumor free!!

Lori January 8th, 2009 12:10:37 PM

My cat Vincent was diagnosed at age 8 with fibrosarcoma (from his rabies vaccine), was treated several times - didn't mind radiation, wasn't fond of surgery. We had 3 1/2 more wonderful years together. He died at age 12 of renal failure (probably from metacam). Cancer did not get him!

Marlys January 8th, 2009 01:04:11 PM

When I adopted my current ferrets last June, within a couple of weeks I knew something was off with my male, Ianto.  His energy level just wasn't where it should have been, even given how out of shape he was (life in a cage will do that).  I could feel his spleen was enlarged as well, which is a pretty non-specific indicator of "something is not quite right" in ferrets.  This is the kind of thing that can easily slip between the cracks in a shelter, so nobody at the shelter had any idea he was at all unwell.  Brought him in for a once-over, and the bloodwork revealed what I had suspected, insulinoma (a cancer of the pancreas which causes overproduction of insulin).  It was heart-breaking to realize that this guy who I'd assumed would be with us for a few years only had a life expectancy of 6-12 months.

But, he's on prednisone and a quality high protein diet, and he's maintaining really well.  He's bouncy and active and does all the things a ferret should do, though he's still a little out of shape.  He may never get the muscle tone that he could have had, but in the time he has with us, he'll get to be a regular ferret.  We've had to increase his pred dosage once, but he's still on a fairly low dose six months later, and he's doing very well.  He's on a daily dose of pepcid to protect his stomach from the long term effects of pred (and I gather there's new evidence that the increased insulin levels can lead to ulcers in ferrets too, so now pepcid is being recommended for all insulinoma cases).  I'm optimistic he might get something like a normal ferret lifespan, given that we think he's about four or so now.  And I know that if we hadn't adopted him, he would have continued to slip through the cracks until his disease progressed to the crisis stage, at which point his quality of life would have been pretty poor.  I would rather he not have cancer, but since he does, we're making the best choices we can for him.

(some vets and ferret owners prefer surgery for insulinoma cases, a debulking of the pancreas to slow the cancer's progress.  Both me and my vet feel the potential gains are too slight compared to the risks and recuperation time.  Hence we stick with the prednisone.)

regina January 8th, 2009 01:27:40 PM

My darling Peaches, an 11 year old toy poodle, has developed water around her heart. We are treating her with Lasix which makes her drink tons of water, then she has to pee frequently. Her cough has subsided somewhat but she still coughs sometimes. I'd love to hear from other who have pets with this disorder. She's had this for about 4-5 months now, and I always hope for the very best days for her. A

Leah Bisciotti January 8th, 2009 02:22:09 PM

Having had all my dogs diagnosed with cancer of one form or another, I don't view it as an immediate doom & gloom, but how to keep quality of life during progression. One dog diagnosed with Transitional Cell Carcinoma did very well on Piroxicam, amoxicillin, Vit. C & Co-enzyme Q10 for 25 months post-diagnosis. My last dog lived well with untreated mammary cancer for an additional 18 mos. Currently, I have one with mammary cancer (removed w/ wide/clean margins) that is comfortable & energetic as ever, no special treatment and it has been nearly a year! I've learned to accept cancer as any other progressive illness. Pocket's Story from New Hampshire---"what cancer did she have?"

Barbara A. Albright January 8th, 2009 03:08:50 PM

A friend's greyhound was diagnosed with bone cancer almost three years ago. He had a rear leg amputation with chemo and radiation at Ohio State, where Dr. Couto has several studies going on, and although Amos passed away this past fall, he lived almost two years longer than he would have without. I'd like to thank all the vets who are working to find ways to increase comfort and survival times (and remissions) from cancers. I haven't had to go to Dr. Couto for a cancer issue, but if I do, I'm glad he's there.

KateH January 8th, 2009 09:07:19 PM

When my pet rat was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she just over a year, old it had progessed to the point of being untreatable. However, when her sister first started showing symptoms when she was ~2 years (already a senior), I recognized the symptoms right away--in her case, a loss of coordination, and began immediate treatment with oral steroids. She lived a entire year past her first signs completely symptom-free, and was healthy until the day she died. It's almost a certainty that female rats will have some form of cancer, but they are often treatable and not even that expensive.

Leah January 8th, 2009 10:38:04 PM

this is OT, but you haven't said a word about being nominated for best pet blog!! All you readers go and vote http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-pet-blog/

barbara m January 9th, 2009 12:38:21 AM

barbara m: I had no idea. Thanks for the plug--ad your vote!

Dr. Patty Khuly January 9th, 2009 07:58:02 AM

My greyhound cross, Queen Elizabeth, was diagnosed with bone cancer 2 years ago---had a rear leg amputation and a few rounds of chemo. She's still here and happy today, at 12 years of age. She does almost everything she used to do with 3 legs, including galloping along gracefully. When I was diagnosed with cancer myself, a year ago, Queen E was my inspiration: "if she can do it, I can do it!"

Laurie January 9th, 2009 11:50:51 AM

My Payton was diagnosed with bone cancer early in 2008 below his hip. (black lab, approx 10years). We opted for no medicinal treatment other than pain management. Switched to grain-free diet. He was a huge swimmer and was able to swim almost daily this spring/summer. I think this kept him very happy/healthy. After the pool closed, he had a very gradual decline and we lost him just before Thanksgiving. We believe he was mostly pain free until the very end. Almost 8 months after diagnosis. Also ot, found this blog from the weblog contest.

Beth January 11th, 2009 05:12:47 PM

You're so right about no doom and gloom. That's what the animals living with us teach us. Our Lalla outlived all expectations by surviving nearly two years after diagnosis (osteosarcoma) and amputation without a drop of chemo or radiation. She left on her own terms after cardiac collapse during surgery for a mass in her abdomen. The evening before her surgery, she was still running on the beach and gobbling up french fries. You can see her here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVHxdIUpHAw

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