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Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

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Episodes, or spasms?
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Member Since:
5 August 2015
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11 August 2015 - 5:19 pm
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Hi! My name is Jo Anne. Our dog Cheyenne had a mast cell tumor in her front leg and needed to have the leg amputated. This happened in early June after months of different vets and tests since March to find out what it was. She has been recovering well and the chemo doctor and some other doctors have said she's the poster child.

July 19th she had an "episode." I took her out to go potty, and she spotted and started to chase a deer. I got her stopped, and back in the house. A couple minuets after being inside she fell over and stiffened, arched her neck and howled, and lost her bowels. The whole episode lasted about 30 seconds. It looked like her whole body had a muscle spasm. She didn't shake. By the time I had the vet hospital on the phone she was fine. We brought her in right away and they did blood work, a chemistry, ultra sound and xrays. Everything was fine. They recommened we have her low grade heart murmur checked out. July 24th we met with the cardiologist, she did an ultrasound and said everything was fine, the low grade heart murmur is from age, (she'll be 12 in Oct.) and there is no reason to take meds for it. She did say she might have a possible arrithmia but she would have to wear a monitoring vest and have an episode with the vest on to know for sure. She also said it hasn't been proven but could be from the chemo. If it happens again to just call and let them know.

Well tonight I took her out to go potty, and a short walk, she didn't do anything strenuous, but she did have an episode. Same thing but she didn't loose her bowels this time. I called the hospital and they said to keep an eye on her overnight and the doctor will call me tomorrow. Has anyone else had a similar situation? She is fine right afterwards, and is eating drinking and going potty normal.

On The Road


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11 August 2015 - 5:33 pm
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Oh Jo Anne I'm so sorry, seizures are scary.

What kind of chemotherapy is she having?

i'm glad to hear she's doing well otherwise. Hopefully the docs can figure this out.

Thanks for joining us, your future posts won't require approval.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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11 August 2015 - 6:24 pm
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Thanks! She is taking vinBLAStine. July 18th she had 1.7mg. July 19th an episode. They haven't called it a seizure, but a collapsing episode. Aug 1st she had chemo 1.9mg and today Aug 11 an episode. She goes for chemo again this saturday. Only has 3 treatments left. Well after Saturday 2 treatments. She needed 8 treatments total.

Michigan
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2 April 2013
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11 August 2015 - 7:22 pm
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How does she act immediately afterwards?  When a person has a seizure, they usually are not quite themselves for at least a few minutes, slightly confused sometimes.  To me it sounds like she's having a seizure.  When the episode happens, if you are not able to get her to follow commands, I would really lean towards a seizure...sorry...but that's what it sounds like.

Donna

Donna, Glenn & Murphy 

Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17  
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs

Donna.png

Livermore, CA




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11 August 2015 - 8:17 pm
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Hi Jo Anne,

My pug Maggie lost a leg to a MCT and did 6 months of chemo.  She had alternating treatments with vinblastine and CCNU.  In all that time she never had a reaction like your Cheyenne. 

My second pug, Tani, had epilepsy most of her life and what you describe sounds sort of like the seizures that Tani had.  Her epilepsy was caused by hydrocephlus (fluid in the brain) so had a definitive cause.  She always would lose her bladder during her bigger seizures (not bowels).  She recovered pretty quickly, within a couple minutes of the end of the episode, but would be tired for a day or so.  She was on pheno barb once we confirmed her diagnosis and lived to almost 15.

I hope your vet has some input.  I don't think oncologists know for sure what all the side effects of chemo are, and of course different pups react differently.  Maggie developed kidney failure about 3 years after her chemo.  The vet then said it was not caused by the chemo, but years after she passed new information came out that the chemo could cause kidney failure (Maggie passed from another cancer, not kidney failure).

Keep us posted on what is happening.

 

Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls

Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.

1999 to 2010

 

              Maggie's Story                  Amputation and Chemo

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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11 August 2015 - 8:24 pm
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I can't offer any insight. My Happy Hannah had osteo and her treatment was four rounds of Carboplatin.

Just want to say sorry Cheyenne ...and you...are having to deal with this on top of everything else.

The fact that this "issue" isn't slowing Cheyenne down is really good. It's wonderful to hear that, other than this "bump in the road", she is handling life on three legs with great vigor! She is clearly enjoying her sweet self!

You are a great advocate for Cheyenne. The Oncologist can hopefully figure this out.

If you can, update us tomorrow after speaking with the vet, thst would be great. Really interested in what the vets are thinking. A wuestion for them...if it is chemo related, would loweri g the dose be a possibility...or more time in between doses..or different type of chemo, etc., etc.

Hang in tnere, okay! Cheyenne sounds like she has a lot of spunk and is quite a fighter!!!

Love to you and Cheyenne!

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

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12 August 2015 - 3:10 am
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Thanks everyone! I will keep you posted on what the doctor says.

To answer your question midnighter94, as soon as she is done howling she rolls over into a laying sitting position, and everything seems fine. I never tried to move her right away, I let her sit for a couple minutes, then we walked back to the house just like nothing happened.

Basically the episode happened, lasted maybe 30 seconds then she was back to normal right away. Really weird because she never had this before, nothing at all until now. The first 3-4 weeks of chemo were fine and she had weekly treatments then. Now she has them every other week. In addition she's taking prednisone which will end on saturday, benadryl, and pepcid.

Other than that she's spunky!

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12 August 2015 - 3:16 am
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Krun15, sorry to hear about your pugs. Thanks for the info.

Los Angeles, CA
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12 August 2015 - 11:03 am
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I know how scary this is ... my girl, Shelby, had some seizures while she was going through her cancer journey. We had a different kind of cancer and she also had a slight heart murmor. I was petrified but I want to let you know that while Shelby has since passed and it was from cancer in the brain ... she lived many months with intermittent seizures. Maybe once a month and usually soon after her chemo so we chalked it up to low iron from the chemo.

I hope you can find some answers with your vet. Hugs! 

Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.

October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014

Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife

Livermore, CA




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18 October 2009
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12 August 2015 - 9:06 pm
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Maggie was on all those meds too, pretty standard for mast cell cancer treatment.  Are you tapering off the prednisone?  I'm sure your vet has you tapering but I just wanted to mention that you can't just stop pred. Maggie was on it for 6 months and I think it took a month to taper off.

 

I hope you got some answers from the vet.

 

Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls

Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.

1999 to 2010

 

              Maggie's Story                  Amputation and Chemo

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13 August 2015 - 11:07 am
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Hi guys! Yes she is tapering off prednisone, her last dose is Saturday. I talked to the cardiologist last night. She doesn't think it's a seizure because Chey doesn't seem to have a before and after stage. She thinks it might be a slight arrithmia and suggest putting a vest on her to monitor her before her next chemo, and would like her to have an episode with the vest on. However since we don't know of any triggers we don't know if she will have one. I did get a price from them for the vest test, it sounds reasonable. If the episode isn't arrithmia related, will the vest tell us anything? I'm not sure what to think really. My husband and I want to know what it is and get help. We don't want to just give her seizure medicine if it's not one. Or if it's caused by chemo is it OK to let it happen three more times (the last of her treatments) then will it stop?

On The Road


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13 August 2015 - 3:52 pm
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Oh interesting but that does make a lot of sense. I do know of we had a member here once who had that test, but now my mind escapes me as to who it was. I like the way your vet is thinking and I agree, hold off on the seizure meds until you know for sure.

Sorry I have no idea how to answer your last question, I think only a vet can answer that.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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13 August 2015 - 7:24 pm
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Thanks! We have an appointment tomorrow to put the vest on. Hopefully we'll find something out!

Thanks for all your input!

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29 August 2015 - 2:43 pm
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Hi. Just though I'd give everyone a quick update. About two weeks ago, aug. 14th Cheyenne had a Holter monitor vest put on and I had to keep a diary of everything she did. They wanted it on for a week, or until she had an episode.

The next day she had chemo #6 of 8. I had them check her for anemia. The blood work came back showing she was mildly anemic. The oncologist prescribed sucrafate, I think that's spelled right, to help coat her stomach. He also started her on Pet Tinic, an iron and vitamin supplement.

Since she has been taking the Pet Tinic, and the humidity in the weather dropped, she has been going for longer, farther walks, and has an interest in that again. Before I felt like I was making her go for a short walk, and she would just get really tired. I knew something wasn't right. So the iron supplement has helped.

That same night she had chemo, aug. 15th he had an episode. Literally seconds. The vest caught it so we were able to take it off sooner. The cardiologist said right before the episode her heart rate dropped to 20 to 30 beats per min. A big drop. Not completely sure what triggered it she put her on Theophylline to slightly increase her rate rate, to prevent an episode. She has been fine since.

Today she had her 7th chemo treatment, and now we just have to hope and pray no more episodes. The oncologist said her platelets were up so he was able to reduce the dosage of chemo. Everything else looked fine. Thanks again for everyone's input.

On The Road


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30 August 2015 - 11:08 am
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Oh wow, that's a bummer she had an episode but how awesome you've got such a great vet team that's been helping her improve with all that monitoring and supplement help.

I love what vet medicine is so capable of, here's to a long, long time together with no more health issues. It sure sounds like she's on her way. Give her a smooch from us!

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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