Chemotherapy - anyone tried it?

[garvinsmum]

Hi all,

I haven't posted on here for a while. I haven't seemed to be able to muster up the ability to post about Blaise.

She got a couple of lumps off 3 months ago and 2 turned out to be Mast Cell Tumors, grades 1 and 2. So we hoped for the best. But more lumps came up and the last lot were grades 2 and 3. The surgery was 3 weeks ago. And now there is 2 more.
The vet referred us to an oncologist and we have decided to give her some chemo to try to slow things down. Unfortunately we would have to drive about 150ks each way to take her to get an ultrasound to see how bad things are inside. I'm a very nervous driver so I don't know how long before I can get someone to drive me up there.
In the meantime we started the chemo to see if it has any effect. Fingers crossed!
I would love to hear from anyone who has gone down the chemo path and what the results were.

 

[Austin's Mom]

I haven't done chemo, and it's something I wouldn't do, but it's a very personal decision. Keeping fingers and paws crossed that your baby does well and will be with you for a long time to come. Good luck!

 

[ELubas]

So sorry to hear about your baby. I have never faced this but have a friend who went through it with her German Shepard. The dog, Bosco, tolerated it very well. He had a large abdominal tumour that could not be removed. He was six years old :( Anyway he had chemo for about 5 mos and it really gave him a great quaility of life, which was the point-not to cure. He would come visit me at my office after and get his cookies and seemed quite happy. I think, in his case, it was the right decision. He probably got an extra year of very good life out of it. He passed almost a year after the diagnosis, while without the chemo he would have had about three months and the vets said he would have been in a lot of pain. Every case is different so I think sometimes it is appropriate and others not. Many dogs tolerate it very well, actually better than people, and I think it depends on your goal. Bosco's Mom would have done anything (and did) to make him more comfortable and keep him around as long as she could and it worked out. It is all about quality of life for a dog so I think that you set your goals with your vets from that perspective. You are the one who knows your pup best and she will tell the right thing to do if you listen to her. Best of luck to you and my guys are sending gentle boxer wiggles to your Blaise-please keep us posted

 

[marciafinn]

We have to bring Mason for a ultrsound on Tuesday. We had a grade II MCT removed two weeks ago. We are hoping for the best. Pending the outcome, we might be faced with making our decision to move forward with chemo. DH's lab had chemo and tolerated it pretty well. It did extend his life and gave him a better quality while he was still with us. He did have some vomiting. Sending positive vibes that all goes well...

 

[Slobberchops]

Hi Joanne,so sorry to hear about Blaise,I have no advice re chemo,but lots of prayers coming your way,and positive thoughts.

 

[Gruntsmom]

Fingers and paws crossed here for Blaise and that she will do well with the chemo. I don't have any personal experience with chemo, but have heard that some dogs, like people, tolerate it quite well - I hope that Blaise is one of those. Bless her sweet heart, I hope she has many good days ahead of her. Please keep us posted on how you and she are doing. Grunt and I send big hugs to the both of you.

 

[tianthai]

Sorry to hear about your dog. I have a very close friend who put his Pit bull "Shadow" on chemotherapy because of brain tumor. Although he was told that dogs did not take chemo as human beings in term of feeling bad and in pain (which I still have my doubt). At the same time Shadow got also acupuncture treatment to help ease the pain he might have. But Shadow died, it seemed that the chemotherapy prolonged his life by a few months.
After seeing the whole process with Shadow, I think I would not do it with my dog in that situation, but it is very personal decision and probably you have to make decision case by case, depending how bad the situation is.
I hope it will help your dog and my heart goes out to you.

 

[bayleighmom]

Ah Joanne, so sorry to hear about Blaise! I have no experience but wanted to send positive healing vibes to Blaise and a big hug to you! I hope the chemo shrinks those nasty tumors down to nothing!

 

[boxersrbest]

Quincy had a brain tumour and chemo was recommended. I was told that he would have no side effects and that there was a possibility that the tumour would shrink although a full cure was unlikely. He was given an estimate of 2 months without the chemo. I went ahead and, as promised, Quincy did not experience any side effects. While a cure was not to be, he lived 11, fairly normal, months. I would do it again in a heart beat.