Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hey there -- It's been a while (at least a year) since anyone has posted about this, but has anyone else's dog developed SHC from taking cyclophosphamide daily?
If so, did it ever clear up on it's own? And how quicklly> Poor Legolas is not very comfortable - feeling like he needs to pee all the time, straining and just all around miserable.
In retrospect, perhaps we should have done it every other day (our onco recommended daily and I probably should have done more research). But we didn't, so now the poor guy has developed this condition.
If anyone has any insight to share, that would be great. We immediately took him off the medication and now we are also wondering how quickly the cancer may metastasize if we don't have him on a daily chemo regimen. We haven't ruled out switching him to Chlorambucil but the vet wants him to feel better first.
On an up note for everyone on this board, Lego started limping last December and his amputation was on Jan. 8. We've had 11 fantastic months! He remains a very happy, healthy dog who loves to run (hop? lope? he's a lab/golden mix who kind of reminds me of a kangaroo) around our farm (or he did, until the last few days when he has been under the weather). Really hoping it clears up!
--Lego's mama
Hi and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I'm sorry that Lego is having issues- we have had some members with this issue more recently I think. I searched the forums on 'cystitis' and got these results. Maybe something there will be helpful until others chime in.
It's great to hear how well Lego has done overall since his amp- are you dealing with OSA?
We would love to hear more about Lego and maybe see some pictures!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Lego and Mom 💗🐶
Eurydice started her metronomic treatment a little over one month ago, she is also taking cyclophosphamide daily and the onco warned us about the possibility of SHC.
Luckily she has been as good as gold up to now but of course it's still early days.
I have no experience with SHC but am very interested in hearing what others have to say as my girl might well be on the same boat at a later stage.
Nitro has developed incontinence from metronomics , I am sure his Mom will share her experience with you.
As for feeling he is left unprotected I embrace your point of view, I would personally feel the same way so I am very interested to hear more about Chlorambucil and see how it helps Lego.
I am so glad to hear Lego is a happy, healthy dog, he obviously has a great family who love him to bits💗💗💗💗
Please keep us posted, others will be here soon.
Sending you a big hug and cuddles to your cutie pie 😘😘😘😘🐾🐾🐶💕
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Hi there - thanks for the responses! I have obviously lurked on this site for years and probably should have paid more attention to some of the suggestions, like, we did six rounds of chemo because, again, the vet here does it that way and I wondered if it was necessary. We have been doing tthe metronimic medication since early August.
i added his photo! He does have osteosarcoma - so far so good. We feel like every day is a bonus with him. I'm just hoping he starts to feel better soon. We have not had s lung scan recently, so no idea whether he has mets. Will be chatting with the vet again early next week - will let you know how he is doing!
Thanks for all the Tripawd ❤️💕
Aww Lego is a sweetie! I'm so glad he's doing well otherwise. Karen gave you the search results for cystitis, so you'll see that it's not all that uncommon (although less so for boy dogs). It seems that ever since oncologists started recommending daily dosages of metronomics (maybe just in the last couple of years), we're seeing cystitis more and more within our community. When Jerry was on it way back in 2008, he took the cytoxan every other day, which was standard then, and rarely was cystitis an issue here. Just something you might want to mention to your onco. What is the treatment plan for healing the infection?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
It appears that treatment for SHC, at least for Lego, is no treatment. Since the cystitis is not actually caused by an infection (it's an inflammation of the bladder caused by the chemo), antibiotics don't help. He is already on Rimadyl, an anti-inflammatory, which helps. I think anti-inflammatories tend to be prescribed for the condition if a dog is not already on them.
As for Lego, he is doing better in terms of going to the bathroom. There is no longer blood in his urine and he doesn't seem as uncomfortable as he was before. He still sometimes has incontinence. We are careful to make sure he gets out every couple of hours to go to the bathroom.
But his demeanor has changed significantly since the cystitis and subsequent removal from chemo. He sleeps more and is having more trouble with his remaining back leg (he was a rescue dog with signs of hip dysplasia when we adopted him at 8 months of age, so it was something we knew would be a problem for his remaining hip when we chose amputation).
He is finally acting like a senior dog, which hard for us to watch and we are wondering how close we are to the end or whether he just still is under the weather from the SHC. We probably will take him in to have a follow up with his oncologist to see what's going on with him. If it is just the SHC and he doesn't have mets, we may consider the other metronomic drug, and if so, will let keep y'all updated!
Thanks for all the information and support.
Oh Lego we are so sorry you are feeling so poorly 😔
Having had recurrent cystitis myself when I was in my thirties I know it just leaves us prostrated and feeling really bad generally ...
So this could be the reason why he is feeling so low, sleeps a lot and is a bit apathetic ...
How old is your boy?
When are you seeing his oncologist?
Please keep us updated, ok?
Sending you lots and lots of pawsitive thoughts and energy and lots of cuddles to your sweet boy too, so hope he will feel better soon 😘😘💕💕💞🐶💗
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Hi...as stated above, my Dobe Nitro developed inconntinence from his metronomic therapy. He was on this protocol for about 10 months before it started. This was back in October 2015, and he still deals with this issue today. Now, he just turned 11 years old on Halloween, so I'm sure his age is partly to blame. For a time shortly after this started, his urine became extremely dilute, and he was thirsty ALL the time. The vet said to not limit his water intake, as this could be very dangerous, so we slapped diapers on him (with some really cool male wraps, very colorful) and learned how to deal with it. His homeopathic vet put him on a supplement called "Renafood" by Standard Process, that helps the kidneys regain function. He eventually overcame the inconntinence, having several months of dryness. Lately, though, it has come back - again he's a "mature" Doberman; we have a sitter let him out while we're at work, and he needs to wear a diaper overnight, but it's manageable, and in the grand scheme of things, not that big a deal. He also gets chiropracitic adjustments and acupuncuture every 2 weeks.
We did substitute Leukeran - which doesn't seem to cause cystitis - for a time, but then stopped that too. I decided he'd had enough chemo meds. He is now 2 1/2 years post amp and doing well. Good luck as you move forward.
Paula and Nitro
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
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