Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I would consider the metronomic therapy with either daily Leukeran or Cytoxan since most dogs tolerate those way better than Palladia. It may or may not help. You could also consider Artemisinin which is even safer and less likely to hurt his GI tract. These things are still experimental so if you decide to just give the immune boosters that is okay, too. If lung mets become clinical (coughing, bleeding) then many dogs improve for a short time on prednisone.]
Pam
Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that both Zep and Sam got bad news. I know how hard that is.
As others already said, Abby went 15 months w/ lung mets. It's my understanding that a key thing in terms of how long a dog will have after discovering the mets is the location of the mets. Hopefully they are not too close to the airways. Abby's were in what I called "the back 40" acreage of her lungs, which was good.
As others mentioned we did Cytoxan and Palladia - every other day. We had to stop the Palladia after only 3 months due to GI issues. I'm not sure it really helped - hard to say. After stopping the Palladia, Abby did Cytoxan & Piroxicam every day and we did artemisinin .
Hang in there. Try to enjoy every moment, and I hope you both have many many many "moments" with your precious pups.
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!
Hi Everybody. I think our pack is on the same page with Sam's. Currently we are continuing to make Zep's food, he is taking a basic vitamin and power mushrooms, as well as clorophyll supplimentation. We are adding some antioxidents, upping his fish oil and probably will increase his Metacam dosage to a little over his body weight dosage. The oncologist that oversaw the majority of his chemo has left the practice, so we are waiting for the internal med doc that is taking him over to get back in town, so we will talk about metronomic therapy options at that point. I think we are probably leaning toward just nutritional stuff and maybe some Reiki for energy support. We don't want his remaining time to be an existance of fighting side effects and feeling more like crap. If he wasn't spoiled rotten before, he is getting ready to be now...
You've got the right attitude! With that kind of approach, you'll do great.
We would love to hear more about the nutritional plan you're choosing for him. Feel free to submit a guest blog post anytime; PM me for details.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Zepplin and Sam Dog,
Sorry to hear the news, both of your posts sound so pawsative. Looks like there is fight left in both the dogs and the loving families. Stay strong.
Golden hugs from me and Jake.
Zep, I'm not familiar with Metacam. How does that help?
As far as nutrition plan... pretty much whatever he likes... I figure lean protein of any kind cant hurt. If I can cheat in a little low carb kibble that would be good, EVO fish formula, but he doesn't like it so I need to sneak it in and find a good one he will eat. Though a week of turkey, steak, salmon, and eggs... I wouldnt want kibble either!
Samdog was a 10 yr old Golden and retired SAR dog. We found a bone mass on 8/17/12, needle biopsy showed sarcoma 8/22/12, amputation on 8/23/12, post-amp biopsy confirmed osteosarcoma on 8/28/12. Sadly, we found lung mets on 11/27/12 and my Spirit Sam earned his wings on 12/2/12.
We didn't know where we were headed and we don't regret a single step along our path. It all happened too fast, but he left a legacy of love that we will always cherish. Good bye my heart.
You can find our story at http://samdog.t.....ipawds.com
Hi Sam, Metacam is an anti-inlfammatory medication. Zep has been on it since before his diagnosis (the first drug we tried) when he started limping. There is some thought that it may have an impact on new blood vessel growth or reduce the rate of tumor growth. We kept him on it because he has some arthritis in his back as well, and the oncologist recommended keeping it for the above reason.
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