Following on from my "Cancer Treatment in Dogs" post....

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Michelle73

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Here's the thread if you missed it:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/sh...&PHPSESSID=


Anyway, I had a message from the Vet yesterday, the Biopsy strongly suspects malignant lymphnode cancer.

I have an appt with the vet on Friday to discuss where we go from here - Bailey is 11 years old now so I don't wish to put him through Chemo Therapy. We're going to discuss with the vet how to give him the most comfortable life from here onwards. I need to know whether or not his exercise regime has to change and things like that. Bailey is amazing, if you met him today you wouldn't know there's anything wrong. Its just when I see him exhausted and sleeping like a baby at night I realise he's an old man now and I know he wouldn't want to go through the Chemo. I'm quite certain that one day he will just come to me and say "You know what Mum, I've had enough, let me go." So I plan to wait for him to tell me when its time.
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I'll up date you all next week after I've seen the vet.

Thanks for all your continued support.
 
Bumble Dog is still on chemo, and we have seen absoulty no reaction or side effects at all over the last year if that is any help.

Good luck
 
Bumble Dog is 10, and if you had seen her this morning breakfasting on poo
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and hoof
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and mousing to her hearts content you would not believe a year ago she could not even stand up and fitted every couple of hours.
 
I personally think you're being very fair to your dog and I do sympathise how hard this is for you both.

Funny enough, I was only speaking about chemo with a vet last night at our skittles night. He finds it quite disturbing that dogs can be brought in for chemo sometimes, although not always (as in the case of Bumble) as often as every week. They have to be annethasised (spl!) each time first which doesn't do them much good in the long run, have the chemo which knocks them about a lot in some cases, not so much in others, they stay at vets for a day or two, go home the next day looking and probably feeling like c*ap then have to come back the next week and go through all that again all for two or three 'good' days! He hates it and the majority of times, it seems like it's only being done for the owner because they don't want to let go but they don't seem to think of the pain and upset the dog is actually going through on their behalf.
Cancer in anybody or anything is absolute cr&p and so cruel for everyone involved.
 
MFH 90 - Thats my view on it. I saw my Grandfather die of Stomach Cancer and another relative die of Breast Cancer. All of their close relatives who had to make decisions about their treatment have all said it wasn't worth it and thats whats swaying my decision about Bailey. Bumble Dog was 9 when he started his, two years ago Bailey was a much more athletic dog than he is now and I definately would have gone through with Chemo but he's just showing his age over the last year or so. Like I say, if any of you met him today you wouldn't know there's anything wrong but I know him and I can see that he has bad days where he's tired and warn out! He likes to go for a run with me but when I put my running stuff on last night and said are you coming for a run with Mummy? He looked at me as if to say get stuffed!!!! So then i said walkies or din dins? He ran straight to the food cupboard!!!!

Thanks MFH 90. Its good to know I'm not a meanie mummy!!!!
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Of course you're not a meanie mummy, silly thing! You're putting your dog first, that's all he can ask, surely? You know him better than anyone, that goes a long way.
I'm sorry about your Grandfather and relative, that's horrid. An old friend has just been diagnosed with lung cancer for the second time and he won't/can't go through chemo again not just for himself but for his family's sake and has booked himself into the local hospice; very sad.
 
Bumble's chemo is a fairly new type of drug, she has to go to the vet four times over two days, it is a quick injection in the neck and she is off home again - she then has to have a blood test the following week. At no time during this treatment (apart from the initial diagnosis) has she had to have any anasthetic.

ETS If at any time we thought she was suffering and we could not help her, we would let her go with dignity.
 
You are so lucky with that treatment regime, what a shame it possibly can't be used for all types of cancer.

Please don't think I was having a go at you, that was not intended at all because I vaguely seemed to remember about the injections and they seem so different to the treatment as described to me last night. My vet's a pretty practical chap, I'd trust him with my life, but he is horified at what some people will do (or have done) in the name of caring.

I also know that Bumble is your most prized (along with Donkey of course!) person and you wouldn't allow anyone to harm a hair on her head so forgive me if Implied otherwise, it was not meant.
 
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The vet so far wants to do another Biopsy under anasthetic - I'm not happy about this - it didn't worry me in Bailey's younger days and I was glad that he was a zombie for a few days to give me some peace!!!! He's always been a hyperactive dog and when the vet says to me after any treatment you'll have to keep him quiet for a few days - then he always adds "I can see thats going to be hard" Luckily for me Bailey LOVES going to the vets!!!! He drags me across the car park!!!! But there's just this nagging feeling deep inside me that tells me its time to start letting him go. Obviously I still have the opportunity to change my mind once I've spoken to the vet. But I do think my vet will agree with me. I just feel so harsh and uncaring but I do have his best interests and comfort at heart and I will keep him happy and comfortable as long as I can but this must include his daily bound around the field. He's miserable when he's poorly and can't bound around. I kind of thought he'd live forever!!! AND I've said to him many times in his life "I'm sure you're going to live to 25 just to spite me!" Oh man do I feel guilty for saying that to him.

However, he has had a good innings - his mother was PTS when she was 7 and his sister at 3 so in the grand scheme of the family tree he's done exceptionally well turning 12 this September if he makes it that far.

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE.
 
So sorry to hear its a definite diagnosis. I think you are making the right decision by giving him as much comfortable time as possible.
 
To add, we have a cat with cancer and we have operated once and although we gave him that chance the lumps came back, the vet started talking about pets having lumps removed every nine months, tbh we didn't even consider another op, to us it just seems best to give them what time they have left as pain free as possible.
 
Hi, ive not ventured on here for a while but saw your post and thought id give you my experience.

My boxer Malic was diagnosed in March 2006 with a brain and neck tumour. It was the type of cancer that couldnt be treated with chemo so we didnt have to make that choice. the vets told us to either have him PTS straight away or see how he went. We chose to see how he went. When diagnosed he had had a run of severe fits, but we started him on treatment for those and apart from the odd one or two the drugs for the fits worked. He also had cardiomyopathy and a thyroid problem too that was being treated by drugs. We decided to give him a chance because he, like your dog, was still leading a good quality of life. We were told to expect at the most another month with him.

Yes over the next few months he gradually got more tired but he was 11yrs and for a boxer with all the problems he had, that was old!!

About October he became ill with pancreatitis. We were told we could try more treatment but that it may not work. The day we were to take him to the vets my partner had to carry him upstairs as he just couldnt move. In a funny kind of way we were thankful for that because the decision was now out of our hands, we had no choice and we believed his body had just had enough. He was PTS that day.
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If you decide not to have the treatment then you may have longer than you think with your doggie. Just please spend as much time with Bailey and do the things he likes to do the most whilst you can. We were glad we had a warning that we didnt have long left as we did everything we wanted to with Malic in those months and treated each day like it was the last. In fact our most remembered moments are in those last couple of months. We bought a camcorder and took videos to remember his favourite places.

Just have faith in yourdelf you will know when the time is right but in the meantime enjoy what time you have.
 
Thanks.

So sorry for your loss.
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After our visit to the vets on Friday I was very sad, I've been told that Bailey has 6-8 weeks left to go. I however, believe that he will last much longer than that. He is still so well. We have decided to start painkillers as and when he needs them until eventually he needs them every day. We will continue with his exercise regime until he tells me that its all too much. I've been taking him to different places instead of the same walk every day. He's being utterly spoilt and everytime my OH tells him off or blame him for something I say you can't tell him off he's got cancer! The vet told me that Lymphoma is the most aggressive form of cancer and with his glands currently about the size of golf balls under his throat, neck and in the backs of his thighs I can't help wondering what the various glands are like inside his body. The vet said he will become more tired and incontinent (SP??). I got out of bed at 2am Saturday morning so that I wouldn't disturb the OH, just needed to have a good cry with the dog, he was allowed on my new white leather sofa for the first time ever!!!! Apparently the OH got up and checked on me twice in the night and said that Bailey by now was asleep on the floor beside the sofa and I was snoring my head off!!! All I know is that I'm 34 and all I wanted was my mum!!! I still feel like a big kid and this is such an "adult" decision and I soooooooooooo don't want to be an adult!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's to Bailey - and the hope that he lasts comfortably longer than 8 weeks. I'm hoping to get him to Wanborough Dog show on May Bank holiday - he loves a day out at a dog show and wouldn't it be great for him to go out with a bang!
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Thanks again for the continued support.
 
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