Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hey everypawdy,
Next Wednesday, 1/13, Tripawds will visit the Veterinary Cancer Group in Southern California, where we will get a tour of this groundbreaking cancer treatment center. We will also have the honor of interviewing Dr. Mona Rosenberg, VCG's founder and Chief of Staff. Here's a little about her:
Mona Rosenberg, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
The owner, CEO and Chief of Staff of Veterinary Cancer Group, Dr. Rosenberg brings a wealth of expertise and experience to the practice. After receiving her DVM degree from the University of California, Davis, Dr. Rosenberg completed her internship and residency at the Animal Medical Center in New York. A diplomate of the ACVIM in Oncology since 1992, Dr. Rosenberg is also an active member of the Veterinary Cancer Society and SCVMA. As the head of the oncology residency program at Veterinary Cancer Group, Dr. Rosenberg plays a hands-on role in preparing the next generation of brilliant, skilled and dedicated veterinary oncologists.
Since you can't be there, we want to know what you, Tripawd members, want to ask Dr. Rosenberg. We will have about a half hour to speak with her, and would love to ask her some of the oncology topics that are on your minds.
So, please post your brief questions below, by Tuesday evening. Try to keep them as general as you can so all pawrents here can benefit.
Thanks so much.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
When my dog was dying from synovail cell sarcoma, the few abstracts I could find were restricted and had to be purchased, yet the studies are funded by public money and public donations.. Why isn't the public allowed access to research papers funded by the NIH, Morris Animal Foundation, the AKC Canine Health Foundation etc? It seems unethical that one must purchase research studies or worse yet, subscribe to particular publications/journals to be able to obtain information that might be useful. Vet schools are often in the same boat and must spend thousands of dollars in journal subscriptions to gain access to information that should readily be available. I am curious why this is.
Thank you so much for talking to Tripawds and for taking questions.
Susan Spinhirne
PAWESOME question Susan, thank you so very much.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm really concerned about the study that removing the primary cancer site makes the cancer metastasize faster. If that is so (and I hope I misunderstood) then aren't we in a no-win situation - Don't remove it and it doesnt spread but they have horrible pain and broken bones or remove it and they die sooner.
Debra
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
I'm also interested in knowing what she says about the above questions regarding access to abstracts, and about the possibility of stimulating metastases after surgery on a primary tumor.
I also would like to know if she knew about d the veterinary conference that (that a recent Tripawd member mentioned) regarding an abstract, or presentation about a study stating that extending carboplatin for an additional 5-6 weeks, added another 200 days of survival for canines with osteosarcoma.
Since you are interviewing her... will you be able to videotape the interview, or at least provide us transcripts of the interview??
Angel Jake's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
Okay here are a few, although they are kind of revisions of the question(s) asked by others.
1) Is there an advantage in running Carboplatin for 5-6 rounds rather than just four? One tripawd member understood her vet to say this was recently shown to increase survival by an average of 200 days compared with survival based on four treatments along. (She is checking that with her oncologist who obtained the information at a recent conference in the states.)
2) My main question: What is the current thinking of the the pros and cons of having chemo or anti-angiogenesis begin before surgery?
3) It seems that quite a few dogs develop mets within a few to several weeks of their amputation. Wouldn't it make sense to have more thorough scans done at the start when figuring out what sort of treatment plan (e.g., amputation, radiation, chemo)? Like many others, my dog only had chest x-rays at the start. We did not know if his met (a subcutaneous met) found eight weeks later had been present before chemo or developed during it. Such information might have influenced the course of treatment. There have been many dogs on this site who were found to have advanced mets much earlier (after 2-4 weeks), but no imaging had been done at the time of the initial diagnosis.
I agree and would like Tazzie's #3 answered..
The vet that cared for Shilo indicated that the tumor in her abdomen was large and most likely there when we did the amputation. Have they considered offering the different testing options when first considering amputation and considering that many of our babies had tumors show quite rapidly after amputation indicating that spread had already taken place. I am sure many may want to take this option when considering treatment as Tazzie said.
Shilo diagnosed with osteosarcoma 9/4/2009, amputation 9/9/2009. ShiloAnne lost her battle 11/23/2009 where she regained her fourth leg and is patiently waiting for her parents to join her. We will always love you baby girl.
All good questions...
Since we're struggling with the decision of whether to start chemo or not, I'd love to hear more about ways to tell if it's already spread. I think shiloanne worded it better than I can, though! Our vet can tell Holly's had her cancer for 21 months (from looking at an old x-ray where they can now see the start of it), and said it appeared to be not aggressive like osteosarcoma normally is, and was well differentiated. So even though the x-rays look clean, and her bloodwork looks good, and the surrounding tissue samples taken during her amputation were clean, we'd love to know if there is additional diagnosis we should be looking into before deciding on starting chemo. (sorry I got wordy here)
Holly joined the world of tripawds on 12/29/2009. She has a big little sister, Zuzu, who idolizes Holly and tries to make all of her toys into tripawds in Holly's honor. And she's enjoying life one hop at a time!
http://anyemery.....ipawds.com
These are all great! I will try to consolidate them and get them into interview format. For interviews, I usually do type out the transcript and then turn it into a shortened blog post, but if you want to read the whole thing in transcript format, I'll see what I can do.
Thanks so much. Any other questions?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
This is not a question but a suggestion to Holly to start a topic with the question she listed above (whether any others scans might be useful at this stage). I for one have a strong opinion on that one based on our experience (as I bet Shilo does too), but don't want to get off the topic of posing questions for the Dr that is listed here.
Okay, here is another question (not that I expect to have a OSA dog again, but it might be of use to others):
What are the Dr's thoughts about immune boosting supplements during chemo, e.g., K9 immunity or Power Mushrooms? Is it helpful in fighting the cancer to have such supplements when the chemo seems to act in the opposite way by reducing the production of cells? Is it good to start such things during chemo or wait until after chemo (assuming they are useful at some stage).
(Do you see what I mean?)
My question is if they had any experience using the drug Masivet and if so, did it seem to be more tolerable than Palladia? as effective?
I also wondered about Susan's question, why do some oncologists not want to use K9 immunity when on chemo?
Thanks,
Karin
Thanks everyone. I'm consolidating the questions and sending them off to the doctor now. Any that come in later I'll try to squeeze in to our interview but can't make any promises.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Has the oncologist answered these questions yet? I wasn't sure if the answers were going to be posted here or in a blog. Thanks.
Scott, Charlotte & PEZ
Hey thanks for asking! We are in the process of turning our interview with Dr. Rosenberg into a few different blog posts/videos. Since we are chef/cook/bottle washer, it takes us a while to get these out there, but hang in there! As soon as they go live, we'll let you know here.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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