Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi,
My 11 year old, 65lb, Shepherd/Rotty Mix Brodie was diagnosed with OSA on 9/12/11, had his right forelimb amputated on 9/26/11 and is going to begin Chemo this morning at 9:40 AM! I will post more about the whole sordid affair in the "Share your Story" and blog sections, but I was looking for some advice/info relating to what chemotherapy protocols everyone has been following.
Brodie is being seen at the Veterinary Cancer Group at the City of Angels Veterinary Specialty Center in Culver City, CA. His Oncologist, Dr. Mona Rosenberg, initially recommended 6 doses of Carboplatin followed by Palladia. From the research I've done, Carboplatin protocols are anywhere from 4-6 doses 2-3 weeks apart. What protocols have other Tripawd parents tried with respect with Carboplatin?
Also, and Brodie was originally scheduled to begin Chemo on 10/11/11, 15 days after his surgery, but then he was diagnosed with Bacterial Endocarditis, and Chemo was put on hold until his heart problem was worked out. Thankfully, he appears to be ok now, but I am worried that by waiting two extra weeks before starting Chemo that I may have hurt his prognosis.
For those of you that have tried Carboplatin, how soon after the amputation did you begin Chemo?
Finally, I've read a lot about OSA in the past 6 weeks, and I kind of know what to expect after Chemo, but what have been some of your experiences after the first dose?
This is an incredible community and I am very appreciative of everyone sharing their time and experience to help out fellow pups going through the same ordeal.
Thanks,
Bruno
Bruno, glad you found us helpful!
We actually know Dr. Rosenberg, you are in GREAT hands, she's one of the nation's best oncologists. In fact, she discusses her protocol for carboplatin here in these VCG videos we created during our visit to VCG in Tustin.
Hope this helps. Please do share your pup's story, we'd love to get to know your pack!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Bruno,
I am a 5 yo Irish Wolfhound who was diagnosed with OSA on 9/20/11. I had my right rear leg amputated on 9/22/11. I had my first chemo treatment of Carboplatin on 10/13/11. My mom and the doctor decided to be proactive and I received a Cerenia shot along with my chemo (anti-nausea med). Also, I was sent home with 2 days worth of Flagyll (anti-diarrhea) and Cerenia pills. When I got home from the chemo that night, I was a little more tired than usual and a little picky with my food choices. I ate but it had to be boiled chicken and vanilla yogurt. The next day I was back to normal and have been since then. No diarrhea, no vomiting.
My protocol is is every 3 weeks for 5 or 6 treatments. Two weeks after each chemo, I will have a blood draw (this week) to determine if my white blood counts are ok to proceed with the next treatment.
I hope this helps, good luck,
Fergus
Hi Bruno and Brody
We have seen Dr. Rosenberg too! We go to VCG in San Diego and normally see Dr. Vancil, but Dr. R. had to fill in when he had jury duty.
With Abby, we started carboplatin ~2 weeks after her amp. We went every 2 weeks and did 6 rounds. Since she is young, Dr. V. recommended every 2 weeks because he figured she could take it.
Once she was done w/ the carbo we started MP (actually... most of this is in my sig.)
After her each carbo session we would play What Will the Dog Eat? It was always something different. The first time it was only plain pasta. Bland things are better than taste-bud tempting things.
We did Palladia for ~3 months, so if you get to that stage and want to ask me anything specifically, just let me know. Feel free to PM me.
Hope Brody does well! He's a handsome boy!
Jackie, 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!
Thanks for all of the replies; Brodie did great! I was really worried that Brodie would not respond well to the Carbo; in fact I originally thought that they had taken him back to only do the x-rays, and I was starting to get worried why it was taking so long. When he finally did come back, I was told that his x-rays were clear and that he did great! I could not believe that they had already administered the Carboplatin!!
He was wagging his tail and was super happy, and he was like that the rest of the day! He ate all of his food, took a normal walk, his poop was normal, it was amazing!!
He only ate half of his food this morning, but I think that it is because I messed up and put all of his meds in the food and it made it taste bad. Normally, I give him his meds dipped in Trader Joe's Organic Creamy Peanut Butter, but I, uh, got hungry last night and finished the rest of the jar... I was hoping that he wouldn't notice if I mixed them in his food, but I guess he did... I'm going to get more later today and I am hopeful that he will go back to eating all of his food.
Thanks for all of the replies,
Bruno
So hoppy to read that Brodie did so well with his first treatment! Skyler had vinblastin & cytoxin, so no experience with carboplatin. She tolerated the chemo well, so hopefully Brodie will continue to do so also.
Please keep us posted, sending you lots of golden hugs!
Cathy
Hi Brodie and Bruno! Glad to hear Brodie did well on his first treatment. Our dog Max did 6 rounds of carboplatin. He tolerated the first four very well; he would be a little tired about 24 - 36 hours afterwards, and that would last about a day. Sometimes he also wasn't too interested in his food. On treatments 5 & 6, Max did have some diarrhea, but it passed within a day. As someone mentioned above, your onco can prescribe cerenia to help with any possible upset stomach Brodie may experience.
Glad to hear Brodie did well. My pug Maggie was on a different regimen because she had mast cell cancer. She would hit a down period about 7 days after her treatments.
Are you keeping a log during Brodie's treatment? I highly recommend it. I tracked Mag's food and water intake, the meds she was taking, her pee and poop, her energy level, and any noticeable side affects. It helped me establish some patterns and I was able to see when in the treatment I should expect her to have down times. I think chemo can have a cumulative effect, so the patterns don't always hold through the whole course of treatment, but I found the log to be very helpful.
And if Brodie gets tired of the peanut butter I found that the Pub Cheese from TJ's worked well to get pills down.
Karen and the pugapalooza
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