Hi all. I’m here looking for some advice - sorry if this is long. I found out a month ago that my sweet girl Perdita has bone cancer. Perdita is a 12 year old 35 pound mix who, up until a few weeks ago, had so much energy people at the park would ask how old my “puppy” was. One day, she jumped out of my bed without using her stepstool and she limped after. After I few days I took her to the vet for the limp, but it “got better” and went away. Until it came back worse then before. When we did an x-ray to see if she fractured the leg, my vet informed me it looked like it was actually bone cancer. She had no other symptoms so it was a huge shock.

Fortunately, we got into a great vet for surgery, and the leg was off just 6 days after we found out (Oct 6-Oct 12). Surgery went well, her wound healed well, and she was up and hopping the next day (I stopped her per the exercise restriction of course). Overall she has less energy and motivation to move than before, but I have to say that she is getting around quite well - going up and down stairs, hop-running, jumping. She has a hard time getting comfy because she used to lay on her bad side, but overall she’s alert and seems happy.

After surgery, I called all over the east coast and luckily we somehow got two good consultations for exactly two weeks after surgery. One was at Tufts Vets, just 20 minutes away. We went to Tufts last week and Perdita got her first chemo exactly two weeks after her surgery. I feel so lucky that we got in to see doctors quickly. As of a couple weeks ago, they checked her lungs, abdomen, and lymph nodes and they were fine. I feel very fortunate given the circumstances. Her chemo was Carboplatin. They explained other chemo options and other options for down the line but  this is where we are starting. She’ll do 5 treatments total.

The other vet we met with said she sometimes does 6-8 or more if the patient is doing well. It was interesting to hear two vets’ different ideas. However, the Tufts vet assured me there wasn’t a big difference in outlook if we did more treatments. One thing that terrified me was we got a puppy less than a week before the consultations. I didn’t know we could start chemo at the first meeting and I didn’t think about the puppy being an issue honestly but the other vet refused to start chemo at our consultation because she was worried my new (shelter) puppy might give Perdita something like kennel cough and she could get really sick.

I eventually went with the Tufts vet obviously and she assured me that anything was treatable, and that she’d rather start chemo. She seemed confident that she could treat whatever came up. She said we could even go to dog parks or doggy day care. I don’t think I’m going to do that, I think I’m going to keep Perdita and her new brother Pongo (Perdita and Pongo are the names of the dogs in 101 Dalmatians :)) as a bubble. So far Perdita and Pongo seem healthy, he sometimes does what I think is a reverse sneeze and she sometimes clears her throat but I think they’re fine. If you can’t tell I’m anxious though… I had the biggest panic of my life when the first vet told me I messed up and she wouldn’t start chemo for a month to be safe. I felt like I ruined my sweet girl’s life. But I feel much better with the Tufts vet and I trust her. I’d still love advice and thoughts tho. Did you dog get sick with an infection/virus during chemo? Was your dog around other dogs during chemo? How did it go?

The other issue is food. Perdita has NEVER been picky about eating anything. She has that shelter mutt stomach of steel (ask me about the time she ate a full stick of butter, or the time she ate 12 double chocolate cupcakes haha!). But since chemo, and it’s been a full week now, she refuses everything. She’s been stubborn about water since after surgery. I’ve given her the anti-nausea meds not just the first 2-4 days when the vet said she might have GI upset, but every day since chemo.

The vet and the internet said dogs take chemo well and the main/only symptom was GI upset in some dogs for a few days. But it’s been a week and I feel she still needs the nausea and diarrhea meds daily. She refuses kibble, chicken, pumpkin, chicken broth, yogurt, her favorite fruits and veggies, even 80% of the many many yummy dog treats I have for her. I finally got her to eat only one thing - a meal topper from Petco, and she loved it so I bought out my local store. It’s all she’ll eat these days (it’s a mix of a meat, meat broth, rice, carrot so nothing awful but I assume it has lots of salt or sweeteners in there to make it so appetizing). For the last few days, I’ve blended the topper, kibble, chicken, and pumpkin into a smoothie which she thankfully accepts because she needs to eat her kibble for the nutrients and amino acids. But I wanted advice. Any tips? Was anyone else’s dog this picky after chemo? Did they experience GI symptoms for as long after?

She hasn’t thrown up yet because I give her the meds when she refuses food to prevent it, as my vet suggested. But I feel bad that she feels bad. I only felt okay doing chemo because I though she would only feel off for a couple days a couple of times. I’m worried this will happen for a week or more after every chemo. She really isn’t interested in anything besides the toppers, cream cheese, and 1-2 kinds of treats. And human food, but we’re not at the point in her journey yet where I’m willing to give her juman food constantly. I give her a small bite of what I’m eating if she can have it (pepperoni, a lick of vanilla ice cream) because she’s 12 and I want her to enjoy her life, but she also NEEDS to eat her kibble to stay healthy.

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