Thankfully so far Zeus seems to be handling his first treatment well.  I was concerned because he had backtracked after the injection on Thursday. But today he is doing good. I was confused since I didn't think side effects showed up until a day or so after injection.

Im also still very confused on the different drugs that can be used and why certain protocols are chosen. I have been reading everything I can find including the survival guide.  We are changing oncologist from radiation to medical so I haven't had a chance to discuss the protocol choice.  I of course want to be informed as possible so I can make sure we are doing what us best for Zeus. 

From my reading I understand that carboplatin is the drug of choice but sometimes it is combined with other drugs. I'm also unclear if supplements such as apocaps or medicinal mushrooms make sense during chemo.  I know not all vets are open to holistic appproaches but I believe that a multimodal approach is the best.

Nellie just had her 2nd round of carboplatin last Thursday. We gave an anti-nausea proactively with the first round 1x day for 4 days, didn't with 2nd round but had it on hand just in case. Zero loss of appetite or significant fatigue that we could see for either. We think it might be affecting the hair regrowth from the area shaved from the amputation but that's about it so far for side effects. Dose was increased slightly on 2nd round but veterinary oncologist said that the first dose was certainly well within the therapeutic range for Osteo treatment.

Carbo has been combined with other drugs, but as far as I can tell from reading it hasn't been shown that the combos are any better than carboplatin alone. Our Onco vet didn't hesitate to recommend Carboplatin alone 6x every 3 weeks as the treatment of choice for Nellies Osteosarcoma.

I would certainly discuss with your medical Oncologist to see what they have to say and recommend.

Hey Zeus and family! I am actually sitting in the waiting room at the UC Davis vet school oncology dept waiting for my Fionn to get his 5th round of carboplatin. Our experience has overall been very good. He gets it every 3 weeks. At any sign of serious side effects, I would and will stop.

No issues round 1

Some nausea after round 2. I had meds to give him and they helped but he seemed a little "down" for a week.

Round 3 his WBC count was too low for chemo and he had to wait another week. When he did get it he was medicated for nausea during chemo and for 4 days after and he did great! Didn't act differently at all

Round 4 we went back to a 3 week schedule and his WBC count was fine. Chest xray at this time showed NO mets, but a small pneumonia. He had NO symptoms, but he was put on 2 weeks of antibiotics anyway. Pre and post medicated for nausea and again just fine. 

Carbo is the gold standard right now in vet and human treatment for osteo. Doxyrubicin can have serious side effects on the heart (SO glad Eurydice is doing well on it though!) and is more expensive- at least here at UCD. There is a current clinical trial underway using 4 rounds of carbo compared to 4 rounds of carbo and additonal treatment with a new drug Rapamycin. The results using rapamycin look good, but it is too early for it to become standard of care. Unfortunately, Fionn did not qualify for the trial. 

I just recently added turmeric paste, fish oil and K9 Immunity to his daily regimen. Who knows if any of it will help, but it can't hurt! I hope Zeus continues to do well!

Nancy and Fionn