Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Dear All
Hoping for a bit of help and feedback.
Mischa is my three legged wonderdog who was diagnosed as having TTC last September following a hind leg amputation for a bone tumour that had spread from the TTC.
She seems to have responded really well to treatment which so far has been Piroxicam daily and Mitoxantrone chemo treatments. She had 6 treatments 3 weeks apart and has been on 6 weekly treatments since then. She has had 9 in total and has been doing so well.
Today I dropped her off for what I thought was a routine chemo treatment and the oncologist seems to think the tumour in her bladder has enlarged slightly.
He had recommended not continuing with the Mitoxantrone and switching to Palladia three times a week.
I have googled the drug and everything I read online scares the pants off me. My oncologist who I have always trusted and seems to have been fantastic so far at treating Mischa tells me he is seeing great success with treating TCC with Palladia. I am however worried about the side effects as so far she seems to be in the best of health and is happy and full of life.
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks everyone.
Mischa's Mom - Rebecca
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Hi Rebecca and Mischa, welcome. We're so glad you found us, there are lots of folks who have experience here with using Palladia to treat dog cancer. But I need to ask you, what do you mean by "TTC"? You also referred to it as "TCC" so I'm confused, can you explain?
Mischa is darling, by the way. Love that avatar!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
jerry said
Hi Rebecca and Mischa, welcome. We're so glad you found us, there are lots of folks who have experience here with using Palladia to treat dog cancer. But I need to ask you, what do you mean by "TTC"? You also referred to it as "TCC" so I'm confused, can you explain?Mischa is darling, by the way. Love that avatar!
Hi Jerry
Sorry it is Transitional Cell Carcinoma which is bladder cancer. We had no idea she had it and the only reason we found it as being a primary tumour is that it had spread to the bone in her hind leg. We first noticed she was in so much pain with her leg and after a few weeks of vets thinking it was a ligament issue they saw the changes on her xrays with the bone density, sadly the only option was amputation and only then when the vets did the post amputation blood work and scans did they discover the primary was a bladder tumor. She has been pain free since the amputation and the bladder tumour has caused no infections or blockages to date and had decreased in size significantly on the chemo.
The Palladia had now been recommended as the oncologist thinks the mass in her bladder may have increase slightly.
She is an ingredibly tough dog and the vets consider her to be unique in the fact that it is very rare to diagnose TCC because of an amputation.
Oncologist seems to think Palladia is good but I am a bit freaked out by some of the stories I have read online.
We live in Sydney Australia and really appreciate the support network that you have with your wonderful site.
Regards
Rebecca
For the short time Magnum was on Palladia it seemed to be slowing the mets in her lungs.
We stopped it due to GI issues. If I knew then what I know now I'd still do it BUT I would make sure she was given appropriate medications to protect her tummy the whole time she was taking the Palladia.
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
Hi, we must have posted at the same time. I'm in Sydney too. Feel free to PM me if you want to.
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
Hi and welcome to you and Mischa. She's adorable.
We did Palladia w/ our Abby. She was only on it for 3 months and we had to stop due to GI issues. She was on it to help w/ the 2 lung mets she had from bone cancer. During the 3 months, one tumor got a little bigger, one got a little smaller, and no new tumors appeared, so we had mixed results.
Another dog at the same oncologist's office had multiple small lung mets disappear while on Palladia - but that was a different type of cancer (I'm sorry - can't remember what kind but I know it wasn't the same as what you are dealing with, and it wasn't bone cancer). I know for that dog the mets did ultimately come back, but for a while the Palladia helped.
Since we had mixed results, I can't really say if I'd try the drug again in the same circumstances, or whether I'd try to go the holistic route.
I don't have any knowledge/experience with the type of cancer you are dealing with, so don't know anything about Palladia in relation to TTC.
You could always try it and then stop if Mischa doesn't handle it well. But just in case, I'd ask them to give you only a small amount for your first prescription. We ended up having some left over that we couldn't use, and it's pretty expensive stuff, so you don't want to pay for a bunch of it and then find out Mischa doesn't tolerate it well.
Hang in there and keep us posted,
Jackie, Angel 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 everyone for your comments. Mischa has been on Palladia now for a week. 3 treatments and all good so far, no GI problems as yet. Fingers crossed it works for her. Thanks everyone.
Mischa's Mom Rebecca
Hello Rebecca
Firstly, I have only just seen that Mischa had been on Palladia, in an effort to help with TCC. I really hope that Mischa continued to cope well with this....
Logan has been through many sessions of mitoxantrone and now 3 sessions of vinblastine, when the former stopped being effective. Although the vinblastine seems to be keeping the tumours stable, we are considering other options for our boy, for a few reasons: he really doesn't like being at the clinic for the chemo sessions and gets stressed- he would prefer to be at home all of the time; we're not sure if the intravenous chemo is causing him other problems, inc inappetance....
We're considering: metronomic therapy with chlorambucil and previcox; Palladia, or maybe even just Previcox (although he hasn't actually started Previcox yet, as we're getting his tummy prepared with ranitidine (Zantac).....all of which we still need to discuss with our oncologist....and none I suppose are without the potential to cause side effects (Logan's a sensitive boy when it comes to meds!).
Could you please let me know how Mischa coped with the Palladia,Rebecca, beyond 3 weeks and if you found any other treatment particularly effective.
Thank you so much for any info you may be able to provide.
Garry and Logan (UK). 11yrs 11mths Eng Bull Terrier. Dx TCC 01 May 2012.
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