Cancer in Dogs

[bjh]

I would be interested in hearing from any of you that have had any type of experience with cancer in your dog. Your story could possible help others detect cancer early in their pets. It would be good to know what signs you observed and what kind of treatment your dog underwent and what the outcome was. I know this will be a painful subject for many.

Here is a very good website that explains the different types of cancer:

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=460

I have a 12 year old Yorkie that had a mammary tumor when she was 7 years old. They were able to remove the tumor safely. I first discovered the tumor by feeling of her mammary glands and I felt a small pea size grainy lump.

I talked to a man last year that had just lost his Yorkie to cancer. He told me his two year old male Yorkie suddenly got sick and within a few days. The autopsy showed his liver was ate up with cancer.

I know mammary cancer is fairly common in intact females and I hear that testicular cancer can occur in intact males but I just have not hear of many cases of it.

Any thoughts or input?

[MissSophie]

My co-worker and her husband just lost their chocolate lab to cancer. The dog was losing weight and not eating so they took him in and had all kinds of blood work that didn't show much. He seemed better for a couple weeks, and then all of a sudden he wouldn't lay down and was panting badly. They took him back in and had x-rays. His diaphram had ruptured as he had a large mass that had pushed his organs out of place in his abdomen. The tumor was too large to remove, and they had to put him down. It was very sad. Unfortunately, this very brave dog did not show many symptoms until the very end.

[bjh]

Originally Posted by MissSophie

My co-worker and her husband just lost their chocolate lab to cancer. The dog was losing weight and not eating so they took him in and had all kinds of blood work that didn't show much. He seemed better for a couple weeks, and then all of a sudden he wouldn't lay down and was panting badly. They took him back in and had x-rays. His diaphram had ruptured as he had a large mass that had pushed his organs out of place in his abdomen. The tumor was too large to remove, and they had to put him down. It was very sad. Unfortunately, this very brave dog did not show many symptoms until the very end.

That is a very sad story. Do you know how old the dog was?

[kalina82]

there are many different types of cancer. i don't remember all the types. I see it on a daily basis. young dogs, old dogs. bone cancer, lung cancer, mast cell tumors, testicular cancer, uterine cancer, cancer in the liver/spleen/bladder.... you name it, i've seen it. some times you just don't know until the end when you can't do anything about it. its sad.

want a reason to spay your intact female? today we took out a 9lb cancerous uterus in an intact female.... poor dog almost died. she came in yesterday and we had to give her two bags of blood because she was so anemic. the tumor was eating up her blood supply. Today we explored her first thing in the morning and found this HUGE tumor in the uterus. This would never had happened if the dog was just spayed when it was younger.... if you are not breeding the dog, i urge you to spay and neuter your pets (this is not directed at the OP or any once, just in general).

cancer patients are very sad. Their owners spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on their beloved pets in surgery and chemo just to get a few more months of happiness with their pets.

we've taken limbs off and organs out. we've taken pieces of the jaw apart, and delt with large tumors on legs that need a skin graft to cover the hole left (so we have to cut another hole in the dog and harvest a piece of skin large enough to cover the hole left by the tumor and then stretch it back together and sew it up....not pretty)

Cancer is extremely common. Most types there is nothing you can do to prevent it, the only ones you have any control over are the ones that deal with the reproductive organs.

signs of bone cancer is sudden swelling of a joint or section of bone, lethargy, limping, not using a limb, lump with an open wound, unexpected broken bone from something that shouldn't have caused the dog to break a bone (pathological fracture).

signs of cancer in the thorax would be heavy breathing, panting, lethargy, fluid in the chest cavity...etc....

signs of abdominal cancer would be swollen stomach, weird abdominal weight gain, round belly that can be hard or fluid like, lethargy, not eating, elimination problems...etc...

[bjh]

kalina82 Thanks so much for you input, it was very informative. It sounds more common than I realized. I keep hearing that over vaccination can cause increased risks for cancer. Do you see much cancer in young dogs?

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by bjh

kalina82 Thanks so much for you input, it was very informative. It sounds more common than I realized. I keep hearing that over vaccination can cause increased risks for cancer. Do you see much cancer in young dogs?

i see more cancer caused from vaccines in cats then in dogs. its more common in cats. Everyone should just be sure that when their vet gives any type of vaccine that it gets put low enough on one of the legs so that if they get cancer from it the leg can be taken off and the pet will still survive. However they will most likely need chemo as well.

[bjh]

I have heard that if you give a dog vaccinations that has cancer that it is like adding fuel to a fire. The cancer will really accelerate. I don't understand why vets vaccinate elderly dogs but I hear about it all the time.

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by bjh

I have heard that if you give a dog vaccinations that has cancer that it is like adding fuel to a fire. The cancer will really accelerate. I don't understand why vets vaccinate elderly dogs but I hear about it all the time.

i can't say that it will make things worse but it definitely won't make things better. And if you look at it from a medical/scientific view, why vaccinate and weaken the immune system of a dog that only has a few months left?

Good vets will not tell you that you need to vaccinate every year or need to do it in elderly animals. The only vaccine i recommend still giving is rabies because its required by law.

[bjh]

Originally Posted by kalina82

i can't say that it will make things worse but it definitely won't make things better. And if you look at it from a medical/scientific view, why vaccinate and weaken the immune system of a dog that only has a few months left?

Good vets will not tell you that you need to vaccinate every year or need to do it in elderly animals. The only vaccine i recommend still giving is rabies because its required by law.

I agree but there are so many vets that push annual vaccinations. I think rabies shots should not be required for small dogs kept in the house. I know many people do not get the rabies shot even though the law says you must. So, if your dog bites someone and your dog did not have a rabies shot then your dog gets impounded for 10 days or something like that.

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by bjh

I agree but there are so many vets that push annual vaccinations. I think rabies shots should not be required for small dogs kept in the house. I know many people do not get the rabies shot even though the law says you must. So, if your dog bites someone and your dog did not have a rabies shot then your dog gets impounded for 10 days or something like that.

yes its true, many vets push vaccines and other unnecessary things. Banfield comes to mind.. I do not like them at all.

its different in every state. If your dog bites someone here even with a rabies shot the dog gets impounded for at least 10 days, longer if there is a court case. Wit no rabies vaccine i think the consequences are worse.

its just not easy for the state to control if they all excepts for certain breeds or certain size dogs. its either all or none. you can get a letter from your vet though i believe if your dog can't get it for whatever reason.

[Tae1107]

My 12 year old Yorkie has adernal cancer. He had as much of the tumor as possible removed. The only symptom he was showing was drinking and peeing ALOT. All his blood tests were normal, they had assumed he was having kidney problems. They tested for Cushings, Addisons, you name it. Nothing...they then decided that is was behavior and gave me a script for "prozac" which I did not fill. I tried walking him more etc....and he continued to pee all the time in the house..prior he was house broken. A different vet re-looked over all his blood work and saw that his potassium was low...they re-tested his potassium which at this point was basically depleted. I was then referred to an internist who did an ultra-sound and found the tumor. They said that the tumor must have been secreting a hormone that was making him drink and pee alot. After the operation to have it removed the peeing and drinking got better...he did 5 rounds of chemo. The peeing and drinking have come back...and I know there is still a small amount of cancer on his aorta. He was given 6 months to live after his operation. It has been almost two years. the vets that did the surgery did not reccomend chemo but I did it anyway. He was never sick from the chemo so I figured it could not hurt.

Kerri

[Ozzie'sperson]

Sometime between age 10 and 11 our Yorkie started having bouts of pancreatitis. Then, he started having bowel issues.

The vet had us do one thing, then another. No one ever suggested, much less checked for, cancer. STUPID VET! and STUPID me! The last straw was when blood vessels exploded in one of his eyes and the vet said he had an eye infection. Gave us antibiotic cream.

Scruffy got worse on a weekend and we rushed him to the emergency vet.
They stabilized him and the next day broke the news to us that he had hemangiosarcoma. (cancer of the blood cells)

It had progressed so far that he could no longer breathe without oxygen. They said they could try to treat him, but it would have only given him another month or two, tops, and that, he would spend miserable and trying to recover from the treatment.

We put him down that afternoon.

While this cancer is virtually impossible to survive, if you catch it soon enough, chemo does work. I wish we'd had the chance to try.

Whenever your dog has a series of issues, of any kind -- even if they don't seem like they could be related -- ask for blood work and ask specifically about the "c" word.

[bjh]

Originally Posted by Tae1107

My 12 year old Yorkie has adernal cancer. He had as much of the tumor as possible removed. Kerri

Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad to hear he has lived much longer than expected. I know it is from all the loving care you are giving him. I pray he continues to do well.

[nikkinack]

Originally Posted by kalina82

i see more cancer caused from vaccines in cats then in dogs. its more common in cats. Everyone should just be sure that when their vet gives any type of vaccine that it gets put low enough on one of the legs so that if they get cancer from it the leg can be taken off and the pet will still survive. However they will most likely need chemo as well.

This may sound stupid but are dogs supposed to get there vaccines in there legs? I think lily got all hers between her shoulder blades .
I think you always give great advice, thank you.

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by nikkinack

This may sound stupid but are dogs supposed to get there vaccines in there legs? I think lily got all hers between her shoulder blades .
I think you always give great advice, thank you.

yes all vaccines should be given in the hind legs way below the hip so that if they get fibrosarcoma the leg can be removed with the cancer (tho chemo is still needed). If the vaccine is given in the neck and a sarcoma develops there is nothing you can do about it because you can't remove it. Next time they go to give it in the neck, ask them politely to give it in the lower thigh instead.