Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Nevada was due for her second round of chemo today. Our vet alternates between two different types, so it would have been a new one today. They ran her blood test first and found that her white blood count was pretty low. He said "not dangerously low" but too low to do chemo as it may then put her in danger if they did it. Has anyone else had to put off chemo due to this? He wasn't concerned and said it should be fine by next week. But I'm just still in a worrying stage when everything doesn't run smoothly. My mind immediately goes to thinking there might be something else going on as this whole experience started out oddly with being diagnosed with one disease, then later finding she has cancer too.
That is a normal thing to occur. It can be scary. The reason behind delaying the chemo is the white blood cells fight infection and if they get to low it could cause major problems. It happes a lot. Some dogs have the delay. My Sassy's numbers lowered but enough to have to delay. It does show that chemo is working
Hugs
Michelle & Angel Sassy
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Yeah, ditto what Michelle says. This is somewhat expected and a perfectly "normal" bump. Sometimes it happens ore than once and can cause a couple of delays. And it is an indicator that the chemo is working!
Noe go hug that precious Nevada forus, okay! Oh yeah! Give yourself a big hug from us too! You are doing a great job
(((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))
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!
Yep, like Michelle & Sally said, this is pretty normal. I had the same thing happen with Athena-- and after we had to delay the 2nd & 3rd treatments by one week, the oncologist just moved us to a 4 week schedule instead of the standard 3 weeks. (Also, we had to slightly reduce her chemo dosage.)
My original post back in May: WBC low after first chemo
04/09/13- OSA Diagnosis ~ 04/23/13- Left Forelimb Amputation ~ Carboplatin Chemo (6 total)
July 2006-November 18, 2013
I will always love you, Athena.
My pug Maggie had chemo for mast cell cancer, and the low WBC count caused us to delay treatment twice. As you can see it is not uncommon, and usually nothing to worry about.
As always during chemo keep an eye out for any signs of any type of infection- pups are more susceptible when the WBC count is low- but I don't think infections happen to often. Mag did chemo for 6 months and never got an infection, and she was a dog who got ear and eye infections frequently!
Nevada should be back in the saddle next week.
Karen
absolutely normal, totally freaked me out the first time it happened, especially because Jill was acting COMPLETELY normal and her wbc's dropped A LOT.........we were delayed twice because of low WBC's (neutrophils specifically).
Jill is now 4 months done with chemo and doing great 
Jill is a 9-year-old tuxedo kitty. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in June 2012 on her toe in her right hind leg. Her leg was amputated on 12/12/12 and she completed four rounds of chemo (2 of Carbo, 2 of Doxy) in April 2013. "Like" Jill's facebook page: https://www.fac.....tty?ref=hl Proud member of the WINTER WARRIORS!!!! Her blog can be read at http://jillsjou.....ipawds.com. xoxo
Yep. It's common! As a precaution and/or as a treatment, some vets will give antibiotics. It'll help support the WBCs. Jackson took Zenequin for 5 days after every chemo (all carbo, 5x) and never had to postpone appointments. Was it the antibiotics? I bet they helped. Was it one of the other many things we did? Maybe. Who knows! Give a call to your vet/onco and ask about antibiotics. See what they say.
~ Katy & Jackson
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!
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