jerry said

Sofie said

My sweet 14 year old shih tzu pup has mast cell tumors that have spread in his body and one that has grown on his hind leg. All this has transpired in the last month.

I'm really sorry to hear this. When you say "inoperable" does that mean he's not a good candidate for an amputation surgery? If you haven't already sought out a second opinion I would highly recommend it, just in case the first vet missed something. And it can help you put your mind at ease knowing that you've gotten all the information you can to make good treatment decisions.

We would like to help you better, so please do register as a member and start an all new topic about your dog (what's his name?). We are here for you.

  

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for the kind words but we have had 3 opinions and 2 of them were from oncologists. The amputation option was on the table until more tests were done, namely ultrasounds and blood tests. This week we were told that amputation is more or less pointless as his cancer has spread and at this point even Palladia, Vinblastine etc will not help. If I knew that any or all of these drugs would get rid of this cancer I would do it in a heartbeat but sadly they will not. Instead we feel it will make him more ill and right now we are just trying to make things comfy for him with home cooked organic chicken and medicating him with prednisone to at least keep some inflammation in check.  His name is Blickers and he was named after a bakery, long story but a cute one:) As a pup he looked like a tiny version of Barkley from Sesame Street. I have had the joy of sharing my life with very different breeds, namely much bigger dogs but I never thought I could love a small dog as much as I do. 

This portable snuggly dog has melted many hearts over the years and been my awesome grief buddy after my dad and beloved American Cocker Spaniel passed away merely a month and a half apart in 2004 quite suddenly. It was too much to bear and I think the universe brought me what I needed and it was in the form of my awesome buddy Blickers. 

I spoke to the oncologist yesterday about CBD oil and they did not have much experience with it or rather the research and treatment facility they work for does not yet have much data to go on. This hospital is the top companion animal cancer care clinic in the country. They did the best they could and gave me realistic options not to mention their doggy bed side manner was amazing. I could only wish human doctors were like this.