Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I noticed in reading through the post that you did an oral Chemo with Jerry. Would you please give me some more info on it? Zak is not a very good candidate for IV chemo (although I haven't ruled it out or even decided if Chemo is best for him & his remaining quality of life)
He has horrible shaking fits at the vets & its hard for me to think about putting him through that if I'm supposed to be doing all this for him, not me. An oral chemo might be a better option. Also are any stats on how it fairs with fighting the cancer when compared Carboplatin?
Many Thanks..
Jenna & Zak
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Zaks mom said:
... oral Chemo with Jerry. Would you please give me some more info on it?
You can read all about Jerry's Metronomic treatment and Cytoxan oral chemotherapy in the blog. We also wrote about the results after two months of metronomic treatment. And, we put together this fun little video of our atomic dog when visiting the Trinity Test Site in New Mexico. Thanks for asking!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
In short, We had no idea either that an oral chemo pill was even an option. Living full-time on the road with him, we were sure glad to discover it was! We gave Jerry the Cytoxan pill with food every other day as part of his metronomic protocol treatment.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks. I'll go read up on it now. I've been doing some reading & have run across the Metronomic Treatment listed but I'm not familiar with it at all yet & haven't been able to investigate it so far. I've been trying to cover so much stuff that I'm spread a little thin. I want to make a decision before his staples come out in 7 days so I can give him a jump start if I decided to do Chemo.
I remember seeing Metronomic Treatment was giving to dogs instead of Carboplatin once lung mets are seen. Why wouldn't they start it sooner on other pups. Is it because its not as effective as Carbopltin??
Many thanks..
Jenna & Zak
Another important question is the costs.. is it more or less pricey than the Carboplatin
Zaks mom said:Why wouldn't they start it sooner on other pups…
No idea … we opted not to do IV chemo with Jerry, and only decided on the Cytoxan after we discovered the lung mets. We got Cytoxan from RoadRunner Pharmacy in Arizona. It cost about $60 for a two-month supply.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
OH.. I see.. you don't start it until they have lung mets. I thought you started as soon as he got diagnosed. Gotcha. That's what I thought I read from my checking out things on OS on the web... didn't start up lung mets were seen.
Do you need a RX for it?
Zaks mom said:
OH.. I see.. you don't start it until they have lung mets...
No, that's just when we started. Not sure what is typical ... that would be good info to get from a vet. But yes, it does require a prescription.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Carboplatin is the standard chemo treatment post-op (every 3 weeks for 4 or 5 treatments) and only takes 10 minutes to administer. Zak would still need to have a CBC 7 days post treatment and right before the next is due.
There are no studies on metronomic chemotherapy so I think that carboplatin is your best option. However, if you think that Zak just can't handle the stress of IV treatments then metronomics would be better than nothing. You would have to monitor your dog's urine every few months but otherwise it is safe.
I am lucky to be able to get all of my drugs at cost but for comparison the carboplatin (generic) cost me about $125 per treatment and Cytoxan tabs (cyclophosphamide 25 mg) cost $125 for 100 tabs (100 days). Since Tazzie is so large I can use the human pills for Cytoxan and also for meloxicam ($4 at Walmart or Fred Meyer) so that actually saves me money (no compounding fees).
Hope this helps,
Pam and Tazzie
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