Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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So tomorrow is the day for our Lylee girl's first chemo infusion.
This is so difficult. I do not want to cause her anymore discomfort than what she has already experienced. But I also know that the OSA is so aggressive, and her's unfortunately showed particularly active dividing cancer cells. So really I feel that we need to give our girlie the best shot at slowing down these beasties. So I feel we should add in the carboplatin route to all of the ohter things that we have been implementing.
I know there is a risk of low white counts and possible sepsis, but I haven't really seen dogs on this site getting sepsis which is life threatening. Ugh - this is hard.
She has recovered really well from her amputation - today is day 15. She has been on a couple of short walks and has done great. The only thing that isn't normal for her is her breathing. Her respiration is high, including bouts of panting at rest. I have read here that dogs can pant at night for a while, but she does it through the daytime too. I was initially trying to see if it was pain or the drugs. Well she is off everything except carprofen and she has taken this last year for a while with no side effects. I now really feel it is not pain. I can read her face so well and she does seem very happy and relaxed, and is eating well. Maybe she just needs time to normalize into her 'new normal'.
Thank you everyone again for a fantastic community - you are the best! 
Huggs oxoxox
Lylee's Mum
http://lyleegir.....ipawds.com
Awww. It's so hard!
You can take my advice with a grain of salt because I personally don't *think* I'd do chemo from just what you said:
I do not want to cause her anymore discomfort than what she has already experienced
Plus, I am just not convinced that it helps much. But that's just my personal opinion which means nothing since I am just a long time observer and have never done it nor been through it.
We've seen so many here be fine for a long time without it and vice versa.
So, if you don't feel right about putting her through anymore and just enjoy every moment and don't worry about doing it!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Hello Lylee's mom,
Well, I don't know how well chemo works, but I am all for trying to do all I can to kill cancer. I gave Carboplatin to my boy and what he experienced was pretty mild for the first 4 doses. You can always stop chemo at any point if you don't like how your dog feels with it. I don't know about sepsis, we were lucky enough not to go through that!
Whatever you do, whatever you choose, doing it out of love is the only way to go.
Elizabeth and Sammy
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
Chemo is a personal choice. Carboplatin is pretty benign as far as chemo drugs go and the majority of dogs either have no symptoms or mild ones such as decreased appetite for a few days or lethargy. Every dog is an individual but statistically more of the long term survivors (2 plus years) had carboplatin vs no chemo. Trouble and Nova both had chemo (I think both had carboplatin). On the other hand Cemil is still doing well and he did not have chemo.
I agree with Sammy that you could try it and if you think the side effects outweigh the benefits then you could always stop.
Pam
Dr. Pam is so right, you can always stop the chemo if you feel it's compromising her quality of life.
My pawrents didn't do chemo on me for other reasons. Later, when we saw how easy a chemo session is in this session with Daisee Dog, they now think they'd probably do it if they were dealing with cancer again.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Dizzy has had one session of chemo, we weren't going to do chemo but decided we needed to give it ago we found the money so wanted to do what we could. She had a blood test monday to check her white cell counts and they are slightly down but not too much so she can go ahead with the next treatment next week. It is such a personal choice but if you start it you can decide not to continue. Go with what feels right in your heart, good luck whatever decision you go with
Dizzy diagnosed with osteosarcoma 24 may 2011 amputated same day doing fine hopping around on three legs giving the neighbourhood cats what for
You might consider reviewing this topic for lots of feedback from others:
And if Lylee does not handle her first treatment well, there is no law saying you must continue.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you for all the great feedback and advice!!
Well, we ended up rescheduling the chemo for tomorrow afternoon.
I needed to be sure that our girl was okay re: the increased respiration and that we were really doing the right thing. Plus I spent most of the night researching supplements, antioxidants and chemo, there is a lot of conflicting opinions regarding this, I have her on a lot of good stuff and needed to get clarity on this too. I had an informative chat with her oncologist, she is great and easy to work with esp. with paranoid-ish pawrents.
So it looks like we will do it and like many of you said we can stop if we want.
Thank you again!
Huggs xoxoxo
http://lyleegir.....ipawds.com
Everybody seems to have different exeriences with chemo, but I will tell you that we had a very good experience with it. Our sweet Ginger was 9 1/2 when she had her back right leg amputated (osteosarcoma). She had 6 rounds of chemo and only got sick once. She did feel a little puny a day or two after a couple of the treatments, but she really did tolerate it very well. She is now almost 15 months post-amp and still completely cancer free. We think it is worth a shot and like others said, you can always stop. Good luck and keep us posted.
And also, if you are on the fence about it - you may have regrets if you don't do it. And you can always stop if you feel it's stressing her.
Good luck!!!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Okay - we did it. Actually feels like we had an infusion too!
This feels weird 'cos the holistic route is my preferred path. Well we are doing that anyway but adding in chemo is a stretch.
I sincerely hope it doesn't cause our girl more yucky stuff.
Thanks again!
Huggs xoxoxo
http://lyleegir.....ipawds.com
Whew! Congrats! One down!
Well, we're sending an infusion of love your way so that she rolls on right through this without any side effects! Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Good for you for making a decision that is right for you! Racquette is in for her second round of chemo (Carbo) right now....so we'll see. I am not anticipating anything more than potential appetite suppression for a day or so....she has amazed everyone so far...swimming at 15 days post op, etc. And she is 13+ years old! the "good stuff" you are giving her may be the key to keeping her immune system up...Rac also gets lots of homeo and natural supplements...and she did not need anything additional after the 11 day CBC check. Keep us posted!
Wendy and Racquette
Racquette's mom
Skyler had chemo (vinblastin) once a week for 8 weeks, and cytoxin every other day. She had no side effects at all from the chemo. I hope Lylee tolerates the chemo as well. You're in our prayers. Please keep us posted.
Cathy
You might want to review these other videos about chemotherapy for dogs too.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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