I was told by my vet that one of my senior citizen Rhodesian Ridgebacks named Zoe has lymphoma cancer. She is 11 1/2 years old. This is an early diagnosis based on physical examination but bloodwork and chest x-ray results are coming today and tomorrow. The only outward symptoms is lack of appetite and some small choking-like coughs (like a territorial growl usually turns into a choking-like cough). She is running a slight fever as well and is lethargic probably due to lack of food intake. It was only the last week she lost her appetite almost completely and dropped 10 pounds in a week. I thought it was the arthritis med (Rimadyl) so I stopped it a week ago. But, her appetite didn't pick back up and I took her to the vet. The vet told me I had two options...chemo or steroids. The former to try and treat the cancer to possibly cure her and/or help her live longer. The latter to make her comfortable in the short term. The two apparently don't mix...so it's one or the other. I'm not sure what to do here because chemo on a dog this old may create suffering...which I don't want her to suffer. Chemo in dogs was explained to me as a series of shots and pills over the course of several weeks. The first thing I'm trying to do is get the dog to eat...so hopefully they can give her meds to get her eating again. She only eats very few treats now and I have to coax her to eat them. She looks at her food bowl and heads to the water bowl but water is no substitute for food obviously. She passed on a piece of bacon I tried to give her...something she (and probably any healthy dog) would normally chomp down in a second. Does anyone have any experience with this and have any advice that may be helpful, such as what you did, dietary changes you made that helped, holistic treatments, chemo vs steroids, steroid effects in making dog comfortable, good books to read on the subject, etc.? I found some Dog Survival Guide on the Internet that claims to have documented practiced approaches to treatments. I'm thinking about checking that out but I am a little skeptical while also curious. I read that even when dogs are sick...they try to maintain an outward appearance they are not sick because this would be a sign of weakness for a pack dog and would lead to a quick demise. So, they try to maintain their status in the pack regardless of how sick they are and not let on to the rest of the pack how sick they are. thanks, Surfguy
Really, really sad to read this Surfguy. If you're anything like my family and I, we don't see our dogs as animals, we see them as a brother/sister. I just lost my 13 year old Lab late last year due to Diabetes and my 4 year old Red Heeler to a brain tumor. It's a very tough thing to go through seeing them suffer knowing there's not much one can do. I really have no advice but I sincerely wish you all the best. I hate reading things like this. It's literally heart breaking.
My dog had this too. He was diagnosed with lymphoma on October 30, 2002 and died exactly 7 days later. He was only 5 and a 1/2 years old. He deteriorated super fast. He had been lethargic for quite a while... but I always thought it was just due to him getting older. He was in pretty good shape when I brought him to the vet, but he got worse really quickly. The disease is really really bad. The worst thing ever... I was ready to spend the money for his chemo and he couldn't even last until then. On his last night, he was wheezing really hard... came to get a rub down from me... I told him that he would feel better because the next day we were going in for chemo... then he went to the living room and dropped dead. I still feel sad thinking about it. So the only thing I can tell you is that you have to do as much as you can to save him as early as you can.
I'm truly sorry. As a pet owner this is a great commitment we feel for our pets. I don't know about you're finances but I'm sure that treatment would be rather expensive. I guess that's all up to you. Your Dog is 11 years old though and I'm sure has lived a happy life with you guys. Maybe a change in diet. I really don't know. It's a tough call. I won't suggest anything because frankly I've never experienced anything this dramatic ( a few emergency vet visits) but nothing so major. I will wish you good luck and stay positive. I'm sure She wouldn't want you to feel down either (yes I do believe Dogs have emotions)
Sounds like a candidate for euthanizing, if you really want to make her comfortable. I've had 3 dogs go through some sort of cancer and it has never gotten better through any treatment and they only suffer in the interim. Animals won't do what they don't want to do even if it means getting healthy (e.g., eat), and they'll just continue suffering because of it. Humans are different; we'll eat even when we don't want to if it's the right call for our health. Personally, if she's obviously suffering all the time, I'd say it's time to let go. It sucks a lot and I might get some angry responses here, but it's really the best call, IMO.
Euthanizing is probably the smart option on your part. The dog probably doesn't have long to live either way, and either way will cost lots of money. Its much easier to say though when it isn't my pet.
Damn, so sorry for what you are going through with your dog. I have no clue as to which treatment is better, but if the lymphoma has spread then chemo will be pointless. Might want to go the "dull the pain" route and once again, my condolences
I had a friend that had their lab treated at Texas A&M for their vet med school. After treatment the dog lived another 5 years. Maybe see about something like that.
I'm in no position to make a call for you, but here's an outsider thought... If you have the money for it, maybe try the chemo and see if she starts getting better. If she's obviously still suffering after a reasonable trial period, it might be time to let go considering her age. Not to derail the thread, but isn't this why dogs eat grass when they have stomach problems?
Sorry to hear it Surfguy. My border collie died when he was a little older than 7 years to lymphoma. It was pretty advanced when we found out(with symptoms/signs very similar to yours) and had to put him down after spending one more night with the poor fella. He was easily the best dog my family ever had. Smart, really kind to everyone, not overactive or destructive...the perfect dog. Anyways, at 11.5 years I highly doubt you'd want to put your dog through chemo...it's pretty painful and even thought there might be a decent chance he's cured, there are also good chances of other problems...like kidney and heart damage, connective tissue dmg, etc. And that's all possible even if he isn't cured. Personally I'd try to make him as comfortable as possible and give him the best food you can. Make his last days with you be good days, not painful and drawn out.
That sucks. I'd have to put another vote in the euthanasia box though. For my dog, I wouldn't be able to justify the expense of the treatment at that age. I'd consider doing the steroids for a little while just to give myself a little time to come to grips with it before putting the dog down.
sorry to hear that. its tough and there really aren't easy/right/wrong decisions at this point. try and give her food/nourishment somehow. its tough
I had a cat that who died at a young age, not from cancer but from cardiomyopathy. I spent several thousand dollars on diuretic treatments and oxygen tents and specialist vets at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists trying to prolong her life. The vets kept telling us that they were hopeful that she was going to be ready to come home soon, right up until they changed vets and the new one told us that it was it was the worst case they'd ever seen and it was hopeless. At that point, we had her euthanized. In retrospect, the time I spent trying to prolong her life, all the while seeing how unhappy she was is a series of bad memories, one after another. When you describe trying to feed her the bacon, that really reminded me of the helplessness at seeing how sick she was. I imagine that the chemotherapy would be like that moment magnified and repeated over and over. If it affected you like me, I don't think I could handle that, and I don't think it would really be what would be best for the pet. The problem with me and the efforts to prolong her life was that I think in some irrational corner of my mind, I kept hoping that the treatments would "heal" her and I'd have my old happy cat back. I imagine that most people probably have those sorts of irrational thought processes going on when they are first confronted with the situation. So my personal advice would be to look long and hard at making her comfortable, but of course you are the only one who can make the decision. But I think if I had to go through the same thing with my cat again, I'd handle it differently. In any case, I'm sorry that you have to be in this situation.
That's just terrible. I had a dog with a tumor inside its nose and nasal cavity. She lived with it for a while, but as it grew she became increasingly uncomfortable. Without giving out gross details, lets just say a decision had to be made to put her down. It was really difficult because she was a tough b****(she was a female dog afterall). She could have kept going but i thought it would be best to not let her get to the point where she is completely miserable and in pain. It was a hard decision, especially since she was only 5 but I decided to put her down. Up until that point, we did all we could, but at the end of the day you have to look at the quality of life they are living. 11.5 years is a good run for that kind of dog. My thoughts are with you.
So sorry to hear dude. No advice, but all the best. I have a puppy that I love more then anything in the world and don't know what I would do if.....
i just got a dog and I never thought I'd become so attached. Can't imagine what I'd do if something happened to him. So sorrty about your dog.
I don't think the euthanize suggestions are unfounded, and it sounds like you have some test results to get back first, but thought I'd pipe in for the steroid route. I'd actually not expect the steroids to be super expensive, at least comparatively to chemo (which I'd agree, probably doesn't make the most sense). Clearly, if your girl really starts to go down hill, than of course you have to make the smart choice. But I see no harm in at least trying to prolong a somewhat comfortable life with steroids... I think it's important to remember, and this is not to make anyone feel bad or regret decisions or anything, but it is important to remember, euthanize does equal kill, right. Assisted suicide for humans is clearly a very heated topic, and that's with humans having the ability to really understand what it means. Living things inherently want to live, regardless of how little they are eating. Again, I hope that doesn't sway you to keep her in pain longer than necessary - we go the euthanize route at the appropriate moment. But I have enough experience with dogs, and sick dogs (including real sick dogs, with distemper) to know that even when its bad, they are still fighting and get joy out of spending time with people and being petted. But when it really starts to get bad (and with distemper, this can horrific), it's definitely time to ease the pain. Anyways, sorry to hear about her. If at some point in the future (hopefully distant future for your sake) you are interested in adopting a new friend, email me through the board...
We had a dog with cancer when I was a kid. It was a big mixed breed dog that was 11 years old. I'm not sure of the specific meds and stuff were given, but ultimately we had to have one of his back legs removed. It was the best decision we could have made. After the operation he was feeling much better than he went on to live a great life until he was just about 19 years old (incredibly old for a big dog like him). good luck with whatever decision you make.
Yea...I think we all love our dogs like family. It will be especially hard to part ways. I'll be honest, though. I didn't expect these dogs to live past 11 years old. I was always told they would live 9 to 10 years old given their breed and size. It kind of feels like I've been lucky to have them as long as I have. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, though. I just got back from the vet and, short-term here asap, I've got her on a cortisol/steroid named Prednisone. It's labeled as an anti-inflammatory that works on the immune system. The vet said it would possibly help lessen the swelling of the swolen lymph nodes and get her appetite back. This would be something she would take for the rest of her life I guess if I pass on the chemo. The chemotherapy treatments break down into three protocols: 1.) Wisconsin Protocol 2.) VCA 3.) COP I don't know much about these other than Wisconsin is $6000 over the course of the treatment, VCA is $4500, and COP is $3000. The remission rate seems to decline based on the pay grade as well. Wisconsin supposedly has an 85-90% remission rate, VCA 80-85%, and COP less. I'm going to learn about these and see if they are worth it. The Wisconsin protocol is administered a IV/shot once a week for nine weeks and then once every other week for several weeks. Treatment period in specialized doctor is 2 to 3 hours per session is what I gather. The top treatment could prolong life for 12 to 18 months if it works out. It seems like a lot of money given the age of the dog and given how the dog is having arthritis troubles as it is (not easily getting around). I'm sure the chemo will not be pleasant and I was told it could go south very quickly if things go wrong. So, I may lose whatever time I have left earlier with chemo if it backfires. Not sure on the estimated lifespan for just the cortisol/steroid. I was told 6-8 weeks by one and it is not a given by another doctor. I guess the cortisol/steroid is just to try to keep the dog comfortable versus have any stopping power. I have the card of the specialist or oncologist. I am going to call her and discuss it with her before I make a decision. I know I would just be putting off the inevitable and possibly making the dog suffer through chemo for what one could say are selfish reasons to keep the dog around longer at possible price of making the dog's remaining life a living hell. But, a month to a dog is a lot longer than a month to a human. I also still have another dog to consider. These are the down times of pet ownership. I do not feel up for this decision. I knew this was coming and would be hard. This has just been a very bad week as my Mom is having some health issues as well. It's depressing. Times like these...I just want to escape. Here is a pic of my dogs in better days. Zoe (the sick one) is the one further away (on the right) and Chloe is closest looking at camera. Thanks for the well wishes and support. I'll try to keep you'll updated. Surfguy
