Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Are x-rays typically required prior to beginning MP?
Zeus is scheduled for his 6th (and final) Carbo treatment on Friday. Our assumption is that MP will then begin but I am curious as to whether they require x-rays to determine status before beginning MP.
Thanks!
Lisa
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
I don't know if they're "required" but our oncologist vet wanted to know the "starting point" on our dog's xrays so that we'd know if the MP was working when we look at later xrays. There can be some side effects from MP so I feel that it's worth having a benchmark starting xray to know if MP is working.
Congrats on making it to the last of the carboplatin treatments!
K, an 8 year old chocolate lab, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of the radius and ulna on 12/23/11. She had stereotactic radiation to kill the bone tumors, and 3 rounds of carboplatin. On 3/16/12, lung mets were found. We tried several different kinds of chemotherapy to slow the lung mets but none worked. Finally, mets appeared at other sites, including her spine. She earned her angel wings on July 15, 2012. K changed my life, and I'll never forget her. Our/my journey is chronicled at romp-roll-rockies.blogspot.com.
X-rays may or may not be required depending on your vet, but it makes sense to know the current state of any metastases before starting metronomics so you can tell if the protocol is working.
Jerry needed x-rays before starting his metronomic protocol (MP) because he was involved in a clinical trial for K9 Immunity at the same time.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'll echo what the others have said: the x-rays were not "required," but our oncologist was doing x-rays about every 2 months during chemo to make sure the chemo was actually working. So, yes, it's probably a good idea just to see where Zeus is at prior to starting MP. Wishing your boy the best!!
Thanks everyone.
We also did x-rays through the chemo to see if it was working. His CT at the time of amp showed a suspicious spot. Follow-up x-rays on 1/27/12 indicated the spot had grown slightly (just enough to show on the x-rays) and further x-rays at the end of March showed that it was still only one spot and did not appear to have grown. Since MP is the treatment anyway for when they have mets Greg and I were debating on whether we really wanted to know or if we just want to enjoy the time left. Someone on this site recently put it very well when they said "it's now between God and [their dog]" However, I can see the need for them to know what their dealing with for dosage and comparison purposes.
Thanks again!
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
As others said, not required, but we did them at the start and then 3 mo. in to see if they were working. Might be good to know so you can assesss if they are worth continuing down the road.
Hope Zeus sitll has just the Lone Met.
Paws and fingers crossed,
Jackie, Angel Abby & MBBunny Rita
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!
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