Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello,
My 12 year old wheaten terrier, Frankie, had his left hind leg amputated on March 6th due to hemangiosarcoma. This was discovered after his leg fractured. Since the amputation, we allowed one round of chemo. He had a bad reaction & had to be hospitalized for 2 nights until he stabilized. Prior to the chemo, we saw a holistic vet who started him on Vitamin A(4 drops daily), New Chapter lifeshield immunity (1 capsule daily), Yunnan Baiyao capsules (2 capsules daily). We also add an enzyme with probiotics on his food once a day and add fish oil on top of his food. He is now only eating Stella & Chewy's raw chicken patties.
The oncologist at the vet suggested we try a low dose oral chemo (Leukeran for 2 weeks then adding Palladia in combination for the next 2 weeks. We are not sure where to go with this. We want him to have the best quality of life & don't want him to experience the side effects like he had previously. He's already lost 8 pounds from prior to his surgery-although some of it must account for the missing limb.
At the moment, he's doing well, considering. He's getting around on the 3 paws but doesn't want to do stairs.
Any suggestions would be welcome. The scans he had prior to surgery were all clear but they explained that with this type of cancer, there could be microscopic cells that are not visible with the scans.
Thanks to anyone who may be of help for our Frankie.
Ronna
Hi Ronna, welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not require moderation.
I'm sorry you had to find us due to cancer, although this is a great place for info and support.
Hemangiosarcoma is not as common here as OSA, but I know we have a few newish members fighting that one, hopefully they will chime in here with their experiences.
What Chemo drug Frankie had such a bad reaction to? I haven't heard much about Leukeran but I have done some research on palladia. Many pups have some side effects with palladia- but we have had people here use it with no issues. Every dog is different, and based on my experience here most dogs have little or no side effects to chemo- that's why I'm interested in what chemo drug Frankie was on.
There is some interesting info on palladia on a blog called Rosie's Road. It is about a lab battling mast cell cancer, but who used palladia for a long time without trouble. Her blog isn't really very active lately, but if you go back to some earlier posts there is info on how she handled the drug.
My little pug Maggie was a left rear amp due to mast cell cancer. She could never do more than 3 or 4 stairs after her surgery, but she was only about 12" at the shoulder. Jumping off the one back leg was too much for her. But she could do a couple stairs up on the deck and into the house, and she would go down anything. Is there good traction on your stairs? Mag would only try stairs if they were carpeted, or had carpet pieces put down.
Karen
I'm sorry to hear you are fighting hemangiosarcoma. I just wanted to say, from our experience, Palladia seemed to be effective at slowing the progression of lung mets for the 1 month Magnum was on it BUT we stopped it because she had lots of GI issues with it. My advice when using Palladia is to make sure you are also given some meds to protect the tummy and keep vigilant for signs that the GI tract is not coping. We weren't given the tummy protecting meds until after she started having problems which I think was a mistake.
Good luck
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. That's scary! I guess like with chemo, you can always just try the drugs and see how they are handled. I know next to nothing about your pup's cancer type, so I am unfortunately not very helpful. I just wanted to send out my thoughts and hope to follow your posts as you go. Rest up, pup! You've got a battle ahead!
~ Katy
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
Ronna and Frankie, welcome. I'm so sorry you're dealing with cancer. We're here to help as best we can though, I'm glad you found us.
It sounds like your vet wants you to try metronomic chemotherapy . You'll see that the link that just showed up here will take you to lots of information about it. When it comes to Leukeran, that is a drug that's used as part of metronomics . In fact we just talked about leukeran here in this post. Just like regular chemotherapy, you can always try it and if it has any side effects you can stop. But I don't blame you for being cautious, I would be too. I'm sure that hospitalization was pretty scary for all of you.
You've got a great, level-headed attitude Ronna. That will take you very far. Stay strong and pawsitive, and lean on us, we'll help however we can.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for your support and kind thoughts regarding Frankie.
The chemo Frankie had a bad reaction to was Doxorubicin(Adrianmycin) given intravenously. Due to his bad GI issues, & hearing that Palladia could have similar problems, we're just so unsure about what to do.
Has anyone had good results with other holistic alternatives? I'm wondering about the K-9 immunity or transfer factor?
Just wondering what we can add into his regimen to help him get stronger & fight this for as long as he can if we don't do anymore chemo.
We took him for hydrotherapy this week (underwater treadmill) which is supposed to help strengthen is muscles- so we'll see how that goes. He was a little nervous about it, being a boy that doesn't love water, but he did well. They will increase the time on the treadmill the next time he goes.
He does seem better going down stairs, rather than up. We have noticed this as well. We've put a lot of rugs around the house to give him more support for when he does come upstairs, as well as carpet treads on our one wooden staircase. He spends most of his time in our lower level family room, which is carpeted & which also has access to the yard. He doesn't have to do stairs this way. We carry him upstairs to our bedroom at night so he can continue to sleep in our room with us, which is what he is used to. It's tough living in a bi-level home- stairs everywhere!
He agreed to venture out today for a 5 minute walk down our street. It seems like he still doesn't know that the leg is gone & tries to lift his missing leg. We find that if we make sure his missing limb is facing the tree, it works out for him- so he won't fall.
Thanks for all of the links. I'll check them out & keep you posted.
Ronna
Donna check the Tripawds Nutrition blog for holistic alternatives people have pursed. I'm on my phone so I can't do the diggin for ya but ill be back later if you can't find the info.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Ronna, I only joined this group today (with Sandee who has osteosarcoma), but thought I'd respond to your post as two of my dogs have had hemangiosarcoma. Though both had splenic HSA, their experiences and outcomes were miles apart. I'd never heard of HSA before Lewi was diagnosed. We'd missed any signs that something was wrong, and he was diagnosed when the disease was far advanced. He was gone within 12 days of diagnosis.
Lewi's cousin, Tenny Klootchman, was diagnosed last July, before the tumor on her spleen had ruptured. Today, nine months later, you'd never know there was anything going on with her. At 13, she's as fit, active, and silly as ever. Tenny is receiving metronomic therapy (cytoxin) in conjunction with acupuncture, a Chinese herbal powder, yunnan baiyao, herbal tinctures, and vitamin therapy. She's never experienced an adverse reaction to any element of her treatment protocol. We feel fortunate that our Western trained vet oncologist has brought into her practice a classmate who has extended his training to Eastern and holistic medicine.
Best of luck to you and Frankie. (BTW, I have a Frankie, too. She's the old girl here at 15 and still rules the roost.)
Just letting you know we are all here for you....regardless of the variety of experiences, this is one community with one heart that reaches out to help each other.
You have come to the right place and I know you'll find the I sight of those with similar situations helpful. I think you were referred to a holistic/alternative link earlier. I certainly believe is some complimentary therapies that can be used with conventional as an asset
Sending you and sweet Frankie best wishes, Sally and Happy Hannah
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!
Hello Ronna and Frankie,
Welcome to the group. Sorry to hear that Frankie had troubles with Doxy. We just started lomustine today and can't attest to other chemo experiences.
As for other reference materials, have you read the book, The Cancer Survival Guide for Dogs by Drs Dressler and Ettinger? If not, suggest buying it. As for a homeopathic vet who comes highly recommended from several people is Dr. Loops in North Carolina. Am speaking with him on Monday. If you need any contact details, please PM me.
Hang in there.
Stirling and Tahoe
"Tahoe" - Our Amazing Superman and Best Friend.
Dec. 01-03 to Aug. 19-14
Diagnosed with Periarticular Hystiocystic Sarcoma Feb 14-13; Amputation March 18-13, and diagnosed with STS April-14. Tahoe touched so many people while visiting us, leaving a massive void in our lives. Always Missed, Never Forgotten!!
mytahoe said
Hello Ronna and Frankie,
Welcome to the group. Sorry to hear that Frankie had troubles with Doxy. We just started lomustine today and can't attest to other chemo experiences.As for other reference materials, have you read the book, The Cancer Survival Guide for Dogs by Drs Dressler and Ettinger? If not, suggest buying it. As for a homeopathic vet who comes highly recommended from several people is Dr. Loops in North Carolina. Am speaking with him on Monday. If you need any contact details, please PM me.
Hang in there.
Stirling and Tahoe
Thanks for your suggestions. I do have the book. What type of cancer is your dog fighting?
Ronna & Frankie
benny55 said
Just letting you know we are all here for you....regardless of the variety of experiences, this is one community with one heart that reaches out to help each other.You have come to the right place and I know you'll find the I sight of those with similar situations helpful. I think you were referred to a holistic/alternative link earlier. I certainly believe is some complimentary therapies that can be used with conventional as an asset
Sending you and sweet Frankie best wishes, Sally and Happy Hannah
THanks for your kind wishes. I don't know if we'll go with any more conventional drugs because he was so sick from the first one. I just want to find out about what to add on to the Yunnan Baiyao and mushrooms that may help slow this thing down. We also are trying to strength his other legs so he can feel more confident getting around. He's hesitant about going too far at this point.
Ronna & Frankie
cathleen said
Ronna, I only joined this group today (with Sandee who has osteosarcoma), but thought I'd respond to your post as two of my dogs have had hemangiosarcoma. Though both had splenic HSA, their experiences and outcomes were miles apart. I'd never heard of HSA before Lewi was diagnosed. We'd missed any signs that something was wrong, and he was diagnosed when the disease was far advanced. He was gone within 12 days of diagnosis.
Lewi's cousin, Tenny Klootchman, was diagnosed last July, before the tumor on her spleen had ruptured. Today, nine months later, you'd never know there was anything going on with her. At 13, she's as fit, active, and silly as ever. Tenny is receiving metronomic therapy (cytoxin) in conjunction with acupuncture, a Chinese herbal powder, yunnan baiyao, herbal tinctures, and vitamin therapy. She's never experienced an adverse reaction to any element of her treatment protocol. We feel fortunate that our Western trained vet oncologist has brought into her practice a classmate who has extended his training to Eastern and holistic medicine.
Best of luck to you and Frankie. (BTW, I have a Frankie, too. She's the old girl here at 15 and still rules the roost.)
Hi-
Thanks for your post. I was wondering whether you can be more specific about the herbal tinctures and vitamin therapy that you mentioned which was used to help fight the HSA. The specialty vet wanted us to try metronomic therapy with Leukeran and Palladia but we don't want to risk the side effects. He was already so sick from the first chemo. We are using the Yunnan Baiyo-1 tab twice a day; New chapter Lifeshield immunity mushrooms-1 capsule daily; and 4 vitamin A drops once a day. I would like to add other remedies that may be helpful as well, or adjust as needed. Right now Frankie is doing well except for the challenges with his missing limb & we are doing therapy to try to strengthen his other legs and muscles so he can move with more confidence. He doesn't want to go up stairs, but will go down. (He lost his left rear limb) The HSA was not visible except in the limb at the time of his surgery- but they said there are often microscopic cells that don't show up. Any advise about HSA you could share, would be welcome.
Thank you and best of luck & health with Sandee!
Ronna & Frankie
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