Update - Dog has been diagnosed with Lymphoma!

[Perch_44]

***Update***

well, we treated him for the liver flukes, which I mentioned further back in this thread, it was a gamble but worth trying. They put him on phenbezdinal and biltricide for a week. Since then , he has had diarrhea and vomited once, both on the same day.

he started the treatment on Wednesday 10/3.

No more blood in his stool

Solid stool

no vomitting

he is now eating again - 4 cups a day since approximately 10/9.

he runs to his food bowl and devours his food. and has put some noticeable weight back on. his ribs are starting to fill out again.

his attitude is much much better.


I spoke with my vet again yesterday, and although we are by no means out of the woods on this, as he could still have cancer, but also had a parasite on top of that. My vet is going to check with the specialist, and see if we should treat again at the three week mark, and then again at three months, if we are still progressing.

This has been an up and down roller coaster the past few weeks, but it has had some good outcomes so far, and i'm going to hang onto that while I can.

*******




This is a follow up to a couple threads i started over the past year. This is the most recent one:

http://www.retrievertraining.net/for...-it-out-either


Well, he has continued to drop weight, and then had some spouts of diarrhea with blood in it sunday and yesterday. so I talked to my vet and got referred to an internal medicine specialist in the Metro.

I went there today, they did another battery of tests and an ultrasound, and on the ultrasound they found lymphoma all over and attacking his liver and intestines (which is what caused the bloody stool).

basically, he told me my only option is to give him chemo, or put him down soon (he recommended less then a week) due to the fact that his organs could shut down overnight, or his intestine could tear open due to the inflammation and disease.

I am very torn here, part of me is relieved to know what is actually wrong with him, but he is only 6 years old, and he "is not supposed to get cancer this young"...

when i left the vet I was convinced that I was going to take him hunting this weekend, so he can enjoy the field one last time and then have him put down early next week.


But......here is what is killing me right now. He actually ate today, has not had diarrhea since yesterday afternoon, and myself, my wife and daughter went on a long walk in the woods with him today. He is not slowing down, and acts happy and normal when outside.

It is killing me inside now to put him down, because i feel guilty that i'm possibly taking 2 weeks, 2 months, time unknown, from him, before he truly needs to go down. But on the other hand, I do not want him suffering at all, and would rather him go out happy.

They gave me a prescription of prednisone for him, which they said could make him better in the short term.


Any members out there that have dealt with Lymphoma in their dog, can you please give me some insight here, and your experiences, so I can make this decision easier. I do not want to take any good days from him, but at the same time, I do not want him to experience even one "bad day".

I'm really at a loss right now..... i'm looking at my best friend laying at my feet right now, and I want nothing but the best for him, whichever option that is.



and for those of you that see these symptoms in your dog, see an internal medicine specialist ASAP, do not wait a year like I did. I could have helped him, and I didn't.

[mitty]

Crapy, that sucks. I'm soooo sorry.

I got nothing.

Has there been a biopsy to confirm the ultrasound diagnosis? Or is it crystal clear from the biopsy that it is lymphoma out of control, no possibility or something else?

[Perch_44]

Crapy, that sucks. I'm soooo sorry.

I got nothing.

Has there been a biopsy to confirm the ultrasound diagnosis? Or is it crystal clear from the biopsy that it is lymphoma out of control, no possibility or something else?

99% sure. we are waiting for pathologist's diagnosis, which I will have tomorrow. They said the only other thing it could be is a virus that shows up in ultrasounds that way, but it is not present in my part of the country, and very rare in North America period.

I'm hoping for that 1%....but its not looking good.

[Jennifer Henion]

It's hard. Don't beat yourself up over the waiting a year. Doubt you could have beat it if you had found it earlier. You would have just known and been in limbo longer. It's not your fault. Now is the time to be strong for him. Do his favorite things and watch him closely. Decide on a week or two weeks or three, depending on what your vet thinks. Better for both of you if he goes without major trauma. The longer, the more risk of that.

My boy had it at 9 yrs old and was also happy and active til the last day. His cancer was attacking liver and spleen and causing a lot of fluid build up, which required procedures to drain. The third time I had him drained, he had bruising and was not happy. So, I knew I had a week left before he would fill up again. We did all his favorite things and the day came. We played one last game of frisbee in the yard and we drove to the vet. Vet came out to the car and it was peaceful. A lot better than if nature called on it's own, I think.

Sorry you have to go through this, especially with a guy only 6 years old! I know it's hard. It will be for a while. But, you can make it better for both of you if you help him through to the rainbow before it hurts.

Good luck! I'll be thinking of you guys!

Jennifer

[mitty]

Well, I don't want to give you false hope...And...I don't remember or did not read your previous thread..but I have a cat that was spewing diarrhea all over the house. Vet says most likely the cat has inflammatory bowel disease, but possibly lymphoma. An ultrasound suggested lymphoma and vet recommended I do a biopsy. I decided not to, on the ground that I didn't think neither myself or my cat would be better off doing major surgery and chemo in the event it was actually lymphoma. I expected to have my cat another 2 months.

Meanwhile...2 yrs later...cat is doing pretty good on pred and metronidazole. The cat is only 4 yrs old.

Anywho, like I said...I don't want to give you false hope...but if your dog is not suffering, what is the rush? (But if dog is sufferning, another story...)

[Perch_44]

The big concern with him is weight loss. his healthy weight was 79-81 pounds. he is at 62 today....

I just have that little bit of hope that the pred will help calm things down so he eats and if puts weight on, do I keep him around until he starts to show visible suffering, or do I end it now? that is what is eating me up inside right now.

I just don't want to feel guilty for letting him go too soon, but then I don't want to feel guilty for keeping him around too long...

This really sucks and I do not wish it upon anyone.

[mitty]

My cat has put on weight since she went on the pred and metronidazole.

She was an unhappy camper for awhile,but is now is pretty chipper on the drugs.

She's a nice cat, but I also expect her to go downhilll at any moment. But meanwhile she is happy and I got a cat that I like.

[Jennifer Henion]

Definitely don't make the decision by yourself. Work closely with your vets and the test results and your intimate knowledge of your dog and his daily status of well being. Mitty waited and it worked. I knew it was time, cause I had physical signs to go by. I think you and your vet will have signs to point the way. Hope so!

Jen

[pupaloo]

Give him the prednisone, feed him whatever he will eat, and enjoy the time he has. Life cannot be decided by one good or one bad day-better to think of it in terms of more good days than bad days. You will know when it is time, I promise. And don't beat yourself up, it's not your fault. You'd be here now no matter what you did a year ago....

[jeff t.]

This is a follow up to a couple threads i started over the past year. This is the most recent one:

http://www.retrievertraining.net/for...-it-out-either


Well, he has continued to drop weight, and then had some spouts of diarrhea with blood in it sunday and yesterday. so I talked to my vet and got referred to an internal medicine specialist in the Metro.

I went there today, they did another battery of tests and an ultrasound, and on the ultrasound they found lymphoma all over and attacking his liver and intestines (which is what caused the bloody stool).

basically, he told me my only option is to give him chemo, or put him down soon (he recommended less then a week) due to the fact that his organs could shut down overnight, or his intestine could tear open due to the inflammation and disease.

I am very torn here, part of me is relieved to know what is actually wrong with him, but he is only 6 years old, and he "is not supposed to get cancer this young"...

when i left the vet I was convinced that I was going to take him hunting this weekend, so he can enjoy the field one last time and then have him put down early next week.


But......here is what is killing me right now. He actually ate today, has not had diarrhea since yesterday afternoon, and myself, my wife and daughter went on a long walk in the woods with him today. He is not slowing down, and acts happy and normal when outside.

It is killing me inside now to put him down, because i feel guilty that i'm possibly taking 2 weeks, 2 months, time unknown, from him, before he truly needs to go down. But on the other hand, I do not want him suffering at all, and would rather him go out happy.

They gave me a prescription of prednisone for him, which they said could make him better in the short term.


Any members out there that have dealt with Lymphoma in their dog, can you please give me some insight here, and your experiences, so I can make this decision easier. I do not want to take any good days from him, but at the same time, I do not want him to experience even one "bad day".

I'm really at a loss right now..... i'm looking at my best friend laying at my feet right now, and I want nothing but the best for him, whichever option that is.



and for those of you that see these symptoms in your dog, see an internal medicine specialist ASAP, do not wait a year like I did. I could have helped him, and I didn't.

Very sorry to hear this. The info in the this link may be helpful to your decision process in the days ahead.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/canine_lymphoma.html