Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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So far so good - Ajax's original treatment plan following complete (we think) surgical removal of MCT was: 3 months vinblastine + prednisone, followed by 3 mos Palladia + prednisone + pepsid.
We completed the vinblastine 3 weeks ago with no side effects to speak of (other than more-than-usual scavenging for food as a result of the prednisone). No sign of MCT return, but because Ajax had some of the "bad" markers, the vet recommended this "mop up" chemo for 6 months because that is the time in which an MCT is most likely to recur.
We had to flush out the vinblastine w/ no treatment for 2 weeks, and then an extra week off while Mom and Dad went to visit Ajax's mountain in CO. Sadly, the airplane people still think Ajax is a dog and therefore would not let him come along.
Visited the vet today for baseline tests, bloodwork etc. All is well and we are to start the following regimen:
1) Continue prednisone on alternating days as we have been doing
2) Give Palladia on non- prednisone days
3) Give Pepsid every day to help prevent digestive side effects from Palladia
The vet doesn't think Ajax necessarily will have side effects, as he has not had them with other medications, but basically said if he has vomiting or diahhrea to stop the Palladia, treat the symptoms and call her. She explained that with traditional chemo, she gives a big blast all at once and then has to deal with whatever side effects occur. With Palladia, since it is administered at home on an ongoing basis, you can stop if any side effects occur. This is consistent with what Angel Abby's mom Jackie wrote in an earlier post to me.
Other than this, wondering if anyone had any additional info or things we should look out for ...
Good luck w/ the Palladia. Hope he does well on it.
Don't really have anything else to add. Will be sending pawsitive thoughts Ajax's way.
(Can't believe those silly airline people!)
Keep us posted,
Jackie
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!
I would suggest keeping an eye out for prednisone side effects as well. As helpful as it can be with healing and such, it can also trigger Cushings. Things to look for include hair loss (mostly even loss along the sides of the body), sagging belly, muscle atrophy (usually in the large muscles first), excessive hunger and thirst (pretty normal with pred, but if seen in conjunction with other symptoms, I'd have it checked out).
Not to scare you, or anything, but just be cautious with the pred. Doctors tend to prescribe it without really warning you of the possibility for side effects.
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~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
Good luck Ajax- sounds like you are doing very well!
I would keep an eye out for pred side effects too. Maggie was on pred for about 7.5 months for her mast cell cancer treatment. She didn't really have any issues at the time, but a couple years later developed kidney failure. Hard to say if it was the chemo, the pred, or just a natural course of events, but pred can damage the kidneys. I wasn't watching for it and was caught off guard. I think if I knew the symptoms I would have caught it sooner. In Mag the first indication was weight loss, which I noticed but attributed to her age. Then a lack of interest in food. Not nausea- that is different, she just didn't want to eat. There are things you can do to battle kidney failure, and like with most things it is best caught early.
I should note that our oncologist did not think Maggie's treatment caused her kidney failure.
Hopefully Ajax does not have any issues- but in the future if you notice weight loss, or lack of apatite you might get some blood work done. I don't regret doing the pred- you might remember her prognosis was only 6 to 9 months. But I wish I had known there was a possibility of a long term effect so I would have been looking for it.
I hope the he handles the palladia OK.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Thank you for sharing these details! It's so helpful for others. I don't have any advice but I do want to send lots of hugs and "wooo hooos!" for a successful treatment. Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks - both of you (Rio and Pugapalooza parents) have mentioned those things before, but I appreciate the reminder. He has had blood work every other week with chemo and will have the same with Palladia - do you know if that would catch any issues w/ the prednisone?
I asked the vet about it and she said it is possibly the most effective drug for MCT. She recommended staying on it for the full 6 mos. His dosage is 1/2 pill every other day (I can't remember the mg of the pill, but I think this may be a minimal dose for 75lb dog).
So far, we haven't noticed any of those symptoms but we are keeping an eye out. The hope/plan is after the 3 mos of Palladia, off of all drugs (yeah! for Ajax and for my wallet)
I'd have to look at my records- it was a combo I think of urine tests and blood work that diagnosed the kidney failure. Maggie became incontinent which is why we ran urine and blood work, that is how we found the kidney failure. I think you are in good shape doing blood work.
I didn't mean you shouldn't use the pred- for whatever reason Maggie's treatment bought us almost 4 years, and I think the pred was a big part of that, I would do it again in the same circumstances. It's just that I wish I had asked about possible long term issues so I would be looking for them. Of course at the time long term for us was less than a year!
The other thing with being on pred for so long is that you have to taper off slowly. So when you are done with the palladia you could be doing the pred for several more weeks, I think it took 5 or 6 weeks to taper Mag off completely. She was on an every other day dose for most of the 7 months she was on it.
Karen and the pugapalooza
The bloodwork can tip you off that something is out of whack -- keep an eye out for elevated Alk Phos, ALT and Protein, especially if there is no previous history of this in Ajax's bloodwork.
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~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
we don't know 'anything' about 'anything', but we're sending our best ET juju to ajax and hope the new protocol helps with minimal side effects!!
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
Thanks for adding the details Micki- I always have to look that stuff up (I think I purged it from my memory!) and I was at work when I posted earlier.
Karen
Thanks guys! These tips are always helpful when I talk to the oncologist. She's great, and it's a teaching hospital, but her whole team has apparently been instructed that I have a lot of questions and to answer them thoroughly! Good thing Ajax is so popular, because maybe Mom is a pain .... Though I cannot say they have ever treated me as such.
It's not called being a pain, it's called being a MOM. It's your job and your right to make sure you get all your questions answered, all your fears assuaged. And if your vet isn't willing to spend the time with you, seriously... find one who is.
Good luck to both you and Ajax. Our fingers are crossed that the Palladia works for you guys!
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~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
She is, she is! Actually, given that he has had 3 cancers in less than 3 years (benign thymoma, chondrosarcoma, MCT), he is a favorite of both the surgical and oncological teams and they have been great to us. Can't say enough good things about them, she even emails me answers to questions. I just think I have gained a reputation for having lots of questions. It's good training for the residents, I say ....
My dog was diagnosed with Grade 2 Mast cell tumors. We had it surgically removed in December but we noticed last week that he had bumps all over him. We brought him to the oncologist who recommended 6 weeks chemo 1 treatment per week then every 3 weeks after that for the rest of his life. We started prednisone and he is doing well with that. My question is why would eh not suggest Palladia? It is less invasive and from what I read seems to be pretty effective. He told us without treatment he has 3-4 weeks left??? Any one have any suggestions with the Palladia? I do not want to do chemo and put him through that. I left a message for him to call me....still waiting
Hi and welcome. Please consider registering as a member so your future posts won't need approval. Also, please consider starting a new topic so your dog's story won't get lost in this older discussion. What's your pup's name? Age? Breed type? Just curious.
I'm sorry about your pup's condition, but happy to hear that you are working with an oncologist to manage the condition. Did your dog go through amputation? Just wondering. If not, you are still welcome here of course.
There's no telling why your vet didn't recommend Palladia, so really why not just ask? What your vet did recommend is the standard go-to treatment for Mast Cell Cancer, so no worries there. However, I'm not sure about the "every three weeks for the rest of his life recommendation." Now that you've had time to absorb the recommendations, it's time to make a list of questions for your oncologist and when they return your call, have the questions ready. Here's a blog post that can help you get ready:
Questions to Ask Your Veterinary Oncologist
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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