Update - OT: Dog Lymphoma

[buddybikes]

My trusted sidekick we are almost certain has lymphoma. Comes on very quickly, probably in only a few weeks. Will know for certain tomorrow and need to make decision on his fate quickly. He is almost 14 and otherwise good health, feisty with his brother and eating fine. From what i read, it is so quick, it will only be 4 to 6 weeks. However chemo treatment appears very successful. Have others been though dealing with lymphoma in your pup?

[djg21]

I'm sorry. It is a truly awful decision to have to make,

What breed? If your dog is 14, it has lived a long and undoubtedly good life, and likely is at the end of its natural life. I don't know if I would put that old of a dog through Chemo.

I had a 12 yr old Golden come down with acute Leukemia a few years back, and I recently had to put down my 14 year old girl when she got suddenly ill, presumably from a fast-acting cancer. With Goldens, anything over 12 years is really special.

My Vet (who happens to be my father) counseled me the last time around that as long as the dog is comfortable and its quality of life is not impaired, enjoy its company, and spend a lot if time with it. Watch it closely, and don't let it get to the stage where it is in pain before you make the decision you ultimately will be faced with.

Good luck, and I wish you and your dog well.

[Ken Robb]

My Lab had a few bouts with cancer and we had them removed a couple of times and she did fine. But when she got lesions on her spine at age 14 we knew there was nothing more to do. I was in my "period between wives" then and the dog lived with my ex and our daughter in the old family home most of the time. When the ex traveled I was "Disneyland Dad" and the dog stayed with me. On her last visit she ran and played grab-ass with the young dogs at the park though she did have to take a break once in a while. Two weeks later my ex called to say the dog's hindquarters were paralyzed and did I want to come and say "good-bye"? I declined because I wanted to remember how happy she had been two weeks before and I knew that my ex would take good care of her final moments.

So my advice is to enjoy your dogs final days of fitness/joy but when she starts to fail don't let her suffer even one extra day. This is always so hard.

[buddybikes]

He is an american eskimo who have a good lifespan. He is on the left here, only a few weeks ago with his 18 month brother.

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[moose8]

Beautiful dogs who I had the fortune of meeting when I bought a frame from you awhile ago. We had two American Eskimos - one made it to 12 and the other a week shy of 16, so at least from my experience 14 sounds like a pretty good run. When my golden had lymphoma when I was younger it was pretty quick so at least there wasn't much suffering. Feed him all the stuff he loves to eat while he can I guess would be my only real advice.

[oldpotatoe]

My trusted sidekick we are almost certain has lymphoma. Comes on very quickly, probably in only a few weeks. Will know for certain tomorrow and need to make decision on his fate quickly. He is almost 14 and otherwise good health, feisty with his brother and eating fine. From what i read, it is so quick, it will only be 4 to 6 weeks. However chemo treatment appears very successful. Have others been though dealing with lymphoma in your pup?

Not my pup, but my cat..and sending him to the other side about 2 months ago was our only option. Fluid around his lungs..came on very quickly(about 2 weeks)..very sad but very best of luck with your friend.

[tumbler]

I'm very sorry to read this. I am taking my dog to the vet today for a more minor issue, but I know how stressful it can be when they are ill. I would defer to the vet on the pros/cons of treatment. Most of them seem to have a good read on these quality of life decisions and are open/honest in discussing options and letting you know when it might be time to stop treatments. Whatever you do, give them all the love that you can and stick by them until the end because that's exactly what they would do for you.

[jwess1234]

Sorry to hear about this.

My friend's dog was just diagnosed with the same exact type of cancer. The chemo treatment is highly recommended--it's a much lower dose relative to what's given to humans, does not make most dogs uncomfortable (if it does, the vet can give a steroid to give the dog more pep), and it is supposed to extend the dog's leave by 1-2 years.

Hope it goes ok.

[buddybikes]

Received a call my vet, appears to be inflammation, just "possible" minor changes in cells. Doing another needle biopsy on Thurs and treating him with antibiotics. This 14 year old dog had heart scare 6 mos ago, turned out to be esophgeal problem but manageable, now this. Vet actually called with results on Memorial Day, wouldn't expect that from a normal physician!

[rphetteplace]

We had a dog go through the chop protocol. He wouldn't feel good the day of treatment (would only eat Burger King) then other than lose stools he really seemed to tolerate the procedure well. It's a tough call either way but my prayers are with you.

[buddybikes]

Second needle biopsy is clean, all this probably due to tick. On meds for possible infection but feeling great.

[djg21]

Great news. Ticks are fierce this year in the NE after the late snow pack.. Be diligent with Frontline applications.
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[enr1co]

Glad to hear the good news update :)

[tumbler]

That's awesome. Glad to hear it.

[93legendti]

Great news. Ticks are fierce this year in the NE after the late snow pack.. Be diligent with Frontline applications.
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Good to hear!

We had a dog go through the chop protocol. He wouldn't feel good the day of treatment (would only eat Burger King) then other than lose stools he really seemed to tolerate the procedure well. It's a tough call either way but my prayers are with you.

My father had lymphoma. If I recall correctly, the protocol was chop and they told us it was developed initially for dogs. This is going back 25 years, so my memory might not be 100% accurate.