Likely Brain Tumor :( need advice...

[stacepaetzel]

I haven't been to this forum in quite some time... unfortunately, I return with bad news. It looks like Laila (age 8) has a brain tumor. It started with accidents in the house and vacant stares about 4 weeks ago. About 2 weeks ago she had a seizure, and things have gone downhill quickly since then.... at this point, she isn't even wagging her nub anymore :( We now have her on chinese herbs for a brain tumor- she is on day 2 of the medicine, and the vet expected we would see improvements in 5-7 days.

Her early symptoms were:
pacing in constant circles, can't be soothed
loss of appetite (she's lost about 15lbs)
staring into space
won't go outside, or come when called (even for a walk)
daily accidents (poop + pee)
stopped barking
1 seizure (that we know of)

Two days ago, she ran out of the yard (which she's never done) and we couldn't find her. She finally turned up the next morning about 5 miles away. She was exhausted, her paws were swollen and her eye was injured.

I feel like my girl is gone... she's just not 'there' anymore? It's like a person with alzheimers- I don't think she even recognizes me.

I'm wondering if someone out there has gone through this and can offer some advice on how they made the most of their time and/or helped their baby get better. Thoughts on treatments would be appreciated as well. It seems as if surgery/chemo/radiation are the most 'effective', but even then, she probably only has a couple years.... We go back to the vet next week, when we will decide whether we want to do an MRI or not....

We are heartbroken and want to do the best thing for our baby.

 

[LillyBear]

I can't offer any advice, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am your baby is sick. We will keep you guys in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[Disneygal]

(((hugs)))

So sorry you and your boxer are going thru this. I know how hard it is to see them not themselves. I don't have any advice or experience with your dogs illness but just want to offer support and best wishes.

Terri

 

[srennie]

I've been through this twice and I am so sorry! I know how horrible it is to see them disappear before your eyes. Our first boxer went blind one day and just started running into things. When we took him to the vet his pupils were unequal and the vet gave us a 99% certain diagnosis of a brain tumor. He was 14 y/o at the time. We started him on pred for the swelling and his eye sight returned. Then 2 weeks later he started having horrible seizures and went into respiratory distress and we made the decision to say good bye.

Our 2nd boxer started with some mild symptoms like excessive drinking. We had his thyroid tested and it was slightly low so we started him on meds. Over the next few weeks things got worse. He had low energy, he'd disappear to his kennel or dog house and sleep for hours. He had never wanted to be in a different room from us so this was a huge red flag. He started having some very mild (head bobbing) seizures. That progressed into aimless wandering, getting stuck behind furniture, distant staring, balance issues (he couldn't even bend over to get a drink of water without falling over). If he sat down he's appear to fall asleep and fall over. It was almost as if he had to keep moving or he'd get dizzy and fall over. We were treating him for dimentia and balance issues but he kept getting worse. When he started having violent outbursts we took him to a neuro who was able to 99.9% diagnose him with a brain tumor. He warned us that he could/would have some unpredictable behaviors and urged us to say goodbye sooner rather than later as we had 2 small boys and he said he would not know what he was doing but could become very violent (as we had already seen). After knowing that he was not going to get better would couldn't leave him to suffer with horrible headaches, constant dizziness and nausea, and risk him hurting us or our boys so we made the decision to say goodbye the next day. This all started around Thanksgiving and ended the first week in January so it was very quick.

I'd urge you to consult with a neuro. He gave us so much peace of mind. I couldn't bring myself to give up on him and was holding out hope that it was something other than a brain tumor but the neuro made our decision as easy as it could possibly be. We were able to say goodbye without guilt and with certainty that we were doing the right thing.

 

[stacepaetzel]

Update on Laila's Brain Tumor

Hello again... Thanks for all the thoughtful comments.
Here's the latest...
We have a holistic vet, who is well known in our area for effectively treating animals with Chinese Herbs. Although we aren't 100% sure she has a brain tumor, the vet started her on herbs to treat that. After 2 weeks, she is a million times better- still not 100%, but i feel that she is happy and comfortable. Although the herbs won't actually cure the brain tumor, they can help contain it for a while (for how long, we don't know).

At this point, we have to decide whether to go forward with an MRI to determine for sure if it's a brain tumor, and if so, can it be treated? From what I understand, if it is a brain tumor, the treatment would likely be brain surgery and/or chemo and radiation treatments. It also seems like these highly invasive (not to mention expensive) treatments don't usually completely cure the tumor, but only buy you a year, maybe 2? We're not really sure we want to put her through this... soooo, we're not sure if we want to put her under and pay the $3000 for the MRI, just to tell us she has something we don't want to treat??

I guess I'm wondering if anyone out there in Boxerworld has a brain tumor story with a happy ending?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

 

[Disneygal]

Best wishes

I know how hard it is to make these decisions. My 12 year old boxer girl has lymphoma and I made the difficult decision to just keep her comfortable for as long as possible. She is on prednisone only. Others have treated with chemo with good results and there are happy stories out there.

From my understanding animals are not treated to CURE cancer, but to prolong their life and provide a good quality while they are here. Therefore they tolerate the chemo treatment better than humans. There are no guarantees whatever route you decide. Eventually our dear babies must go on to the rainbow bridge. One of the saddest things about these wonderful boxer creatures is that their life span is no where near ours.

In our case I had to decide that the possible extra time with a dog that would still be ill (at 12 she had other health issues) would not justify the financial stresses and also the stresses of fighting the progression of this awful disease. (possible hospitalizations ect.) We have had 6 relatively good weeks with her so far since her diagnosis...but I know it's just a matter of time till she declines farther and I'll have to say that painful goodbye.

The good news is the memories and love never die. Also dogs don't have the anxiety and fear over death that many humans have. I hope you get perspectives from those that have treated..there are many stories here. I hope it is helpful to hear from a loving owner that had to make the decision not to treat just in case that is the route you decide to take.

I understand,

Terri

 

[EAO76]

The other poster is correct, the cancer treatments are to prolong life & add some quality in their last days/ weeks/ months but I am not aware of any dog that has been totally cured. There are many dogs that have some good results with using prednisone to keep the cancer at bay for awhile. I can understand wanting to do the MRI as it will give you a definite diagnoses and some closure. It can help remove the "what ifs" from your mind if you need to make the ultimate decision to euthanize her. Im sorry you are going through this. Hugs to your sweet girl.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

We went through this with our first Boxer at about the same age, but for us the seizures started it and everything went downhill FAST (8 months) from there, with everything you described and then it progressively got worse. I personally do not believe in treating cancer in animals (especially something that extreme), so we treated with antiseizure medication and I forcefed him for awhile and we did the best we could for those 8 months, but esentially the dog we knew and loved died the day he had that first seizure...even if his body didn't. He was NEVER the same not even close, and looking back on it it was a very heart wrenching emotional, difficult 8 months.

It got to the point that he could hardly stand up anymore, would get "lost" between our outter wall and a/c unit (would get stuck and couldn't get out), get "lost" in corners, wasn't responding to any commands or his name...when it got to the point that he could hardly stand anymore I knew he as a very proud dog would have NEVER wanted to be reduced to what was in front of me...a shell of a dog...so we made the decision to put him down. His quality...well there wasn't any quality of life anymore and I still wish we had made that decision sooner than we did. So on August 22nd, 2007 we took Lucas into our much loved vet and hubby and I were both there when he went to the rainbow bridge.

I wish you the best as well as your pup. What I will say, if I had it to do over again I think I would have asked myself at the end of everyday during that ordeal on a scale of 1-10 what his quality of life was and what my reason for saying my answer was as I think we should have let him go probably 2 months sooner than we did. Hugs to you and your family during this difficult time.

 

[stacepaetzel]

Thanks to everyone for sharing your personal stories. They have been tremendously helpful. So far, the herbs have helped quite a bit, and I feel like she is happy and not in any pain (even if she isn't exactly herself). I changed her food to wet, and she's eating again. She has lots of energy and is wagging her nubby again I realize her condition could change at any moment, but for now we will stick with the herbal treatments and make the most of the time we have.

I will keep you posted on the situation.

 

[boxersrbest]

I had previously posted this in 2006. "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 except for lung fibrosis. While a cure was not to be, he lived 11, fairly normal, months. I would do it again in a heart beat. The cost of the MRI for a positive diagnosis was worth it to me as I needed to know what I was dealing with and any and all possible treatments. The only symptom Quincy had was seizures. Quincy was given Phenobarbital, dexasone and potassium bromide and was relatively seizure free. He did experience the excessive hunger and thirst and gained a lot of weight from the dexasone. He was also urinating every 1.5 hrs at the end."

I wish you all the best.