Hypercalcemia - cancer/lymphoma

[KarenCox]

I posted back in June that my boxer, Sasha, had been diagnosed with hypercalcemia and that we had got the levels back down and she was returning to normal health.

Unfortunately in September she went rapidly downhill again and her levels shot back up. We discovered that she had continued to lose weight during this time and was now down to 27kg from 32kg.

She was immediately put back on high level steroids and antibiotics as her white blood cell count was high too. Most blood tests were inconclusive as to what type of cancer, and we have decided against the five hour journey (and five hours back) to find out what she has, only to treat her the same way we are just now (steroids etc). So we don't know whether she has lymphoma or a tumour somewhere, but the treatment would have been the same anyway.

The vets thought she had days to live in September, but she rallied round and has defied them ever since. We decided against chemo as we felt the extra months were for us, not her.

So here we are, a daily enjoyment of our boxer girl and just revelling in each moment we have with her. She is happy and still being a boxer, and we know that the day that stops, we let her go.

Our main worry at the moment is that she is just constantly hungry and desperate for food. We have reduced the steroids, but that hasn't taken any effect yet. Is this normal for cancer patients I am wondering? She is having six meals a day, not gaining weight and is always hungry?

Thanks for listening

 

[nikasha]

Hey there, my dog Niko also has moderate hypercalcemia and probable lymphoma. I see it's been about a month since your post. I hope things are still going alright.

I thought dogs would be more likely to gain weight on steroids (prednisone?). Are the six meals full size?

We were heading the prednisone only route as well, but instead have taken him off commercial food, and are hoping his body will rally with good nutrients and less garbage to deal with.

 

[KarenCox]

Hi there,

Yes, Sasha is still here, but has now developed secondary Cushings from the steroids she has been on.

The meals are all full meals, she is starving all the time, but she doesn't gain weight because of the tumour/lymphoma or whatever it is she has underlying.

We just take each day at a time

 

[nikasha]

Wow, that is rough. It is so hard to know what to do in these types of situations. I know our vet is very concerned about weightloss at this point, but unfortunately I can't offer anything but commiseration. It's hard when your furbaby is sick.

So far, for Niko, his excessive urination has gone away, so the vet feels that the hypercalcemia has turned around- but this hasn't been confirmed by a blood test.