Need advise on chemotherapy for dogs..
 

My Zoey had a tumor on her leg,its turned out to be a Mast Cell Tumor. She was diagnosed with cancer and it has spread to her lymph nodes. Her leg is being amputated today (to find out more,view my other thread titled "my baby is in surgery" She may have to have chemo if it has further spread.
If your dog has had chemo please give me some insight about it,and how your dog responded to it,as well as anything else you know.
Thanks!

Bump???

I was hoping you'd have heard something and had an update for us. I'd give your question a little more time, it's a holiday week and you're asking a tough detailed question.

I was hoping so too. When I dropped her off at the clinic this morning at 8 am(it is now almost 2 pm) she said she would call me before and after the surgery so I wouldnt be on pins and needles all day. Well guess what I AM ON PINS AND NEEDLES BECAUSE SHE STILL HAS NOT CALLED ME YET!:mad:
The clinic closes at 6 pm.

Have you called them? I would. They may have had an emergency or something come in and just haven't had a chance to call you and follow up.

No I havent. Im the mom that always calls 23847394 times when I have to leave them at the clinic. Im sure I annoy them haha. Im gonna give her a few more hours,and if she doesnt call them im calling.

No news is good new's, think of it that way.
I do hope you hear soon, I can just imagine your anxiety.
I will watch for an update.
I can't help you with the treatment but know that I will
be praying for both of you.


Hugs,

I hope Zoey has come out of surgery and that chemo won't be needed. I have no experience with chemo but hopefully someone will post who does. Keeping Zoey in my prayers.

Keep us posted. Praying for your furbutt.
I just had my dog in the icu for 5 days, and I know what it's like waiting outside, or waiting at home staring at the phone. In my case, I was hoping for the phone NOT to ring. Because every time I left the hospital to go home and check up on the other ones, they told me they will call me only if she takes a turn for the worse and I would have to rush back to see her before it's too late!!! I remember every time the phone rang it literally felt like my heart was pounding so hard it was jumping out of my chest!
I'm sure you are going to hear from them soon, and they will tell you that it was a success.

See my thread at: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...es-throat.html

Briefly, Skittles was diagnosed with lymphoma a few weeks ago. We are opting to pursue chemo with him and so far are having good results.

In more detail: The cancer had already spread to all of his surface lymph nodes before we caught it, which is not uncommon from what I understand. The protocol our vet is using is as follows:

week 1: Vincristine
week 2: Vincristine
week 3: Cytoxan
week 4: Doxorubicin

At the same time he is receiving high doses of Prednisone every day along 1/4th of a pepcid to control GI complications. At the conclusion of week 4 will be a resting period of, I think, 4 weeks, followed by more chemo. I am not sure what the mix of drugs is then.

Those are all rather common chemo drugs in humans (and the Wikipedia articles will give you a good enough explanation of how they work), particularly in lymphomas. Thus far we are noticing no side-effects through week 2, but of course every dog will respond differently. From what I have read and according to our vet dogs typically don't lose their hair during chemo, but can lose, for instance, whiskers.

When he went in for week 1, Skittles was slightly anemic (not unusual in lymphoma patients). By the time he went in for week 2 last Friday he was clinically in remission (though tests could probably still detect cancer at this point). His anemia had improved and he was so far not suffering from a loss of white blood cells. He did briefly have an issue with diarrhea but he took an antibiotic for a week and that cleared up. Other than that and a brief loss of appetite after week 1 he has, thus far, had no side-effects.

HTH and good luck to you.

I posted this on your other thread, too, just in case.

I was just checking in, hoping for an update. How did she do yesterday? I'm praying everything is alright. {hugs}

I updated the other thread.
But in a nutshell as of 7 pm last night she was doing great!

How is she doing? you are in my thoughts.

I read your other thread. You said no physical signs of cancer. Zoey showed no signs either. She acted just as she always has. But when they tested her lymph node right above the tumor,the cancer had spread there. They also did some x rays to see if anything showed up in the lungs,or liver and nothing showed up anywhere. So we're hoping that her cancer is gone for good!

Sending you and your little one prayers for her recovery and treatment. I am sorry that you are going thru this. I know that you've had a time with this. Hugs.