Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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We have just noticed a lesion in our dog's mouth. After comparing it with pictures online, my daughter who is a dental student (and noticed it today) is afraid it is a type of oral tumor.
He is a rescue & we have had him for two years. He has been on a good regiment of NSAIDs & homeopathic treatment, is a stoic & continues to be happy, eat fine & want to play. So it is very hard to think of putting him down. We live in the Minneapolis area & have just check with the U of M Vetrinary Clinic & it would seem that if this is a tumor, a typical treatment would involve some surgery & radiation.
We do have an appointment tomorrow with our vet, we are just wondering how long a dog can live with oral cancer & no treatment?
Hi and welcome to Tripawds,
I'm really sorry you are dealing with oral cancer- is it a oral melanoma?
I'm afraid my experience with oral melanoma was pretty short. My tri-pug Maggie was diagnosed with a oral melanoma tumor on March 1st, 2010, it was her second cancer. Because she already had another cancer, and was in the early stages of kidney failure I was not able to treat the cancer aggressively. Her tumor was on her upper pallet. The normal course of treatment would have been surgical removal, including part of the jaw, followed by radiation treatment. Mag probably would not have survived a surgery since her body was weakened by the other issues.
From the time of diagnosis until she passed was 3 months. I let her go when pain became an issue. She did not tolerate pain meds well at all, and the kidney issue did not leave us many choices.
There is something called a melanoma vaccine which is a series of shots. Last I heard it has some success with keeping melanoma at bay- but mostly when the tumor had been removed. And it was very expensive.
Are you not considering surgery for your pup?
Karen and the pugapalooza
I'm so sorry to hear about your pup. He's a gorgeous boy! Is it on the upper or lower part of his mouth? I'm assuming you don't know what type of cancer it is yet... If it is bone cancer, I know there are dogs that have had part of their lower jaw removed and have a good quality of life (if a somewhat messy-eating-style...) afterwards.
I hope that you get some answers for your pup.
Keep us posted. Wish I had some words of advice or wisdom, but I'm sending good, pawsitive thoughts out for you and your pup,
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
(Sorry - just realized you posted this in "Ask a vet" - clearly, I'm no vet, but our resident vet usually checks in and will hopefully have the words of advice/wisdom that I'm lacking...)
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
first, i'm not a vet either, but i have oral melanoma experience with gayle. there are several types of oral tumors, so hopefully you guys aren't dealing with melanoma. if you are, it is very invasive and difficult to treat. when i first noticed gayle's tumor, it was december 21st, 2010. on the 23rd she was in surgery with our vet, where she removed two growths from gayle's tongue. we did do the vaccine. four rounds, and a six month booster. it is rather expensive. i believe it helped to slow the metastisizing of the melanoma, but it did not keep it from recurring. in may 2011 we had another surgery, where our vet removed over a dozen tumors from gayle's tongue...she had stitches all the way down, like a drunken road. fortunately, the mouth heals quickly. eventually, her melanoma spread into her lymph system and we lost our battle last december, about 10 days shy of one year after first discovering the growths.
knowing all of this, i suggest you see what the vet says - maybe it's a benign growth and can easily be removed. don't get ahead of yourself, until you have to. let us know what you find out, we're sending our best wishes for good news.
oh, and one more thing. radiation in the mouth/throat area is unbelievable painful. i would not have put gayle through that.
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
It really depends on the tumor type. A benign epulis is not life-threatening but some tumors (such as squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma) can be quite aggressive. I would start with a biopsy or fine needle aspirate and see what you are dealing with. Dogs with malignant tumors can survive over 1-2 years with surgery and either chemo or radiation.
Pam
Gypsy, our Labradoodle has malignant growths on her tongue. After a wedge biopsy, the pathologist asked, "Is removing 40 - 60% of the tongue feasible?" Presumably the vet /specialist responded. We looked it up. We now know the tongue has many vital functions for a dog as an organ. One cannot replace it.
In one days time, we're going to tread a dreadful path to this "Specialist" in Surrey. He/She is going to decide the fate of our Gypsy. She seems fine although she has cancer. I don't understand how she can appear fine whilst she has this horrendous disease. She has bowed her head, coupled her paws, raised her head, laughed, wriggled and delighted in being tickled.
karen51 said
Gypsy, our Labradoodle has malignant growths on her tongue.
We are sorry to hear about Gypsy's diagnosis, but glad you found us. please consider starting a new topic to share your story and get more feedback and support from members.
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