Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Well we got the sad news today that Hunter has a small mass on his right lung. 6 months after amputation.
So the cancer was most likely in his lungs before the amputation.
We ruled out any of his body lumps that could have showed up on his xrays today.
We have to decide what to do next. Traditional chemotherapy again may stop or slow it down, but it may not help him either. I’m sure we’ll go forward with some type of treatment.
Was told that that Palladia may help him.
Can we buy this over the counter at all? Or in Canada? Or... ?
It is very expensive through our oncologist and she said she'd help us with it if we could buy it ourselves.
Thanks, Hunter's Mom
Read about our Hunter at http://superdog.....pawds.com/
7/27/2003 ~ 7/24/2013
Our Super Dog Hunter crossed over the Rainbow Bridge on a beautiful summer day in July, just 3 days shy of his 10th Birthday. He gave us everything since he was 8 weeks old. Hunter was a 14 month warrior of OS. We LOVE and MISS him every day.
So sorry to hear about Hunter's lung met. But sometimes they stay "quiet" for many months and I certainly hope that will be the case for Hunter.
You cannot buy Palladia over the counter, it is by prescription only. We were ordering ours through Costco and it was about $500 for 30 pills. I called Walmart and they did not carry it. Like a dumb bunny, I didn't start ordering it directly from Pfizer until the very end, and the direct cost is about $300 for 30 pills. I believe you have to be in a specialty practice to order it though (like where your oncologist is at), and Pfizer was pretty persnickety about it. You aren't going to be able to call them directly to order it.
I just counted and Wookie has 23 Palladia tablets left over. The dose for him was 2 tablets every other day, so that's a little less than a month's supply. I would be happy to send them to you, if you decide to go the Palladia route. I would ask for a prescription faxed from your oncologist stating that they want him on Palladia, dosage, etc. It's not that I don't believe or trust you, I just wouldn't want to be sending chemo drugs through the mail without "proof" that he is under veterinary supervision. I hope that isn't coming off as bad as that sounds in my head!
Unfortunately I do not believe there are any cheap ways to get Palladia.
I hope that helps some. Hunter couldn't be cuter! 
Right hind limb amputated 7/3/12 for OSA, started on alternating cycles of Carboplatin and Doxorubicin and oral Palladia. Single lung met 9/1. Met in the neck muscle removed 9/30. Large mass in sublumbar lymph node 10/2. Rescue chemo with ifosfamide 10/6. Mets to the rib and axillary lymph node 10/21. Started Leukeran and Pred 10/25. Wookie left this Earth for a far better place on 12/4/12. I miss you, Boo, you were my heart.
wookie524 said
I hope that isn't coming off as bad...
Not at all! Had you not asked for proof of prescription, we would have requested you do so since we cannot facilitate the sending of medications without a script via this site.. Thank you for your generous offer!
FYI To All: When shopping online for pet medication, please remember to shop only at Vet-VIPPS accredited pharmacies.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I am SO grateful for your information and offer. I will let our oncologist know. I'm sure she would be happy to write a script for this reason, and after that call Pfizer for us too; she is very generous with her time.
How long did your dog use Palladia? Just wondering how long it is effective for the dogs.
Read about our Hunter at http://superdog.....pawds.com/
7/27/2003 ~ 7/24/2013
Our Super Dog Hunter crossed over the Rainbow Bridge on a beautiful summer day in July, just 3 days shy of his 10th Birthday. He gave us everything since he was 8 weeks old. Hunter was a 14 month warrior of OS. We LOVE and MISS him every day.
I'm sorry to hear a spot showed up on Hunter's lung. But if you search the forums , you'll see that there were plenty of pooches who lived for a long time after mets were found. Jerry is one of them! Our Max also had a spot on his lung about 11 months after amputation, but Palladia wasn't available to us at that time. As always, we will be sending positive thoughts to Hunter! Stay strong!
labsrus said
How long did your dog use Palladia? Just wondering how long it is effective for the dogs.
We started Palladia 10 days post-op (at the same time we started the IV chemo treaments with Carboplatin and Doxorubicin). Wookie was fortunate to have no side effects from Palladia. Some dogs can develop some serious GI side effects that prevents them from continuing with Palladia, so hopefully Hunter will tolerate it well. Wookie was on it for almost 5 months, we stopped it about a week before he passed as he was declining and the tumor had spread to so many places, there was really no point in continuing. Interestingly, though, the one lung met that he had never seemed to get any bigger (but granted, I was not taking anymore chest x-rays toward the end because chemo wasn't touching the spread of the tumor everywhere else). Was the Palladia responsible for keeping his lung met in check? There is really no way to know.
I remember Wookie's oncologist said he had used Palladia for 9 mos in some dogs... I never asked if they stopped at that point because they no longer tolerated it or because their disease had spread.
Right hind limb amputated 7/3/12 for OSA, started on alternating cycles of Carboplatin and Doxorubicin and oral Palladia. Single lung met 9/1. Met in the neck muscle removed 9/30. Large mass in sublumbar lymph node 10/2. Rescue chemo with ifosfamide 10/6. Mets to the rib and axillary lymph node 10/21. Started Leukeran and Pred 10/25. Wookie left this Earth for a far better place on 12/4/12. I miss you, Boo, you were my heart.
I sorry you got the lung met diagnosis.
I don't have direct experience with lung mets and we haven't used palladia. But when I was researching mast cell cancer and palladia I came across Rosie's story. Rosie is a yellow lab fighting mast cell cancer. She had a very bad prognosis but has survived. She took palladia for something like 2 years, but stopped because of high blood pressure. Anyway- she is fighting different cancer but there is lots of info on palladia on her site called Rosie's Road: http://rosiesro.....press.com/
Good luck, I hope Hunter does well on palladia.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Oh Julie, I am so sorry, I just saw this post now and when I realized it was Hunter, I felt sick. As others have said, it can stay small for a long time, Lisa's Zeus is a testament to that. The other thing I think about is, just maybe it could be a primary lung tumor and I think those are very slow growing and prognosis is quite good. I will try to find a site I found that shows if they (tumor) are small and the dog shows no symptoms -- prognosis is many, many months, a few years actually. Harley does not have osteo and no one seems to really know if the leg is malignant but a biopsy did verify that one of his lung tumors is malignant but the sample was too small to determine what kind and Dr. G even said it is possible for a dog to have two kinds of cancer going on and she seemed to think that was the case with Harley. His tumors were 4 and 6 cm when they showed up on the xray and that was the day before Hunter had his surgery; they are now about 8 and 10 cm. Regarding the palladia, Pet Apothecary in Bayside has excellent pricing. He compounds and you can pick it up or they will mail. It looks like Kelly can get you started and check Pet Apothecary for refills. Their number is 414 247-8633. Keep in touch and if I can help in any way, please, please let me know. You guys are in my thoughts and prayers always.
Harley is an 8 year old Golden Retriever. Amp surgery for an infiltrative lipoma canceled due to two masses in chest. A rescue, he found his forever home on 3/18/07 and left for his eternal home on 1/09/13. His story and medical history are at http://myharley.....pawds.com/
Hi, sorry to hear you are at this stage. I might suggest waiting to order more until you see how Hunter does on the pills that you'll get from Angel Wookie. We tried Palladia with Abby, but she didn't do well on it so we had to stop and we were stuck with a lot of expensive pills we'd paid for and couldn't use. (I would offer them to you, but they were long since donated to someone on the Bone Cancer Dogs site.)
I'm not sure if the Palladia helped us, but there was another dog here (Lucky) that had his mets disappear for a long while due to taking Palladia. (I saw the before/after xrays myself as we went to the same onc.)
All the best to you and Hunter! Abby lived a long time w/ mets, so there is hope for a lot more good time ahead. Hang in there,
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!
wookie524 said
You cannot buy Palladia over the counter, it is by prescription only. We were ordering ours through Costco and it was about $500 for 30 pills. I called Walmart and they did not carry it. Like a dumb bunny, I didn't start ordering it directly from Pfizer until the very end, and the direct cost is about $300 for 30 pills. I believe you have to be in a specialty practice to order it though (like where your oncologist is at), and Pfizer was pretty persnickety about it. You aren't going to be able to call them directly to order it.
Wookie524 was there a special way that you were able to order Palladia through Costco? My local Costco in Maryland is unable to order this form me and claims it is not in there system. I have been getting mine through my vet oncologist, but they have just raised their prices, plus I have to pay a handling fee too.
Any information you have would be terrific!
Liane66 said
Wookie524 was there a special way that you were able to order Palladia through Costco?
FYI: Wookie524 is a veterinarian, note the Vet badge under her avatar.
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Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm seriously searching for a source of ordering Palladia that will be any kind of relief on my wallet. 
My pup has nasal cancer and has already undergone surgery, radiation, and about 6 months of Palladia. She had no ill reactions to the Palladia, but we had to take a break from it because it was pretty much costing me $700-$800 a month. She's now been off it a couple of months now, and I'm starting to notice her nose 'acting up' more than before - she's getting more discharge & crust build up. From what her oncologist told me she could theoretically be on it the rest of her life to try and keep the incurable turmor down as much as possible and her quality of life as high as possible (obviously as long as she continues to have not ill reactions), and that most of the time they stop because of costs and/or bad reactions. She's been fine physically, but I just can't afford that much every month.
I'm going to take her back to the doc for another follow-up to ensure nothing's gotten TOO much worse and see if they have any suggestions for getting the costs down. She's an older girl, but I think she's still got a lot of life left in her and hate to put her through any extra discomfort.
vvsavagevv said
I'm seriously searching for a source of ordering Palladia that will be any kind of relief on my wallet.
Thanks so much for joining us here. We totally understand these hard choices, treating cancer is incredibly expensive. Check out this Tripawds Downloads blog post, maybe these organizations can help:
How to Find Emergency Financial Help for Vet Bills
I personally don't have any experience buying Palladia so I know others can help better than I can. But on behalf of everyone at Tripawds, we send all our best to you and your girl. Feel free to start a new topic so we can learn more about you and your journey. Good luck and many hugs coming your way.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Tacking onto a recent post from a search for Palladia. Just came home from Roxie's xray 1 month after chemo ended (we'd done 4 carboplatin/2doxirubicin chemos 3 weeks apart starting a few weeks after her ampu in March). She has a 3cm tumorish mass in her left lung above the heart. 2 other suspicious areas from last month's xray also slightly enlarged. Got that punched-in-the-gut feeling because she's been doing so well; onco also seemed truly surprised/disappointed at the results. So we're starting Palladia M/W/F alternating with Deramaxx Tu/Th/Sa. Have read some comments on GI issues; has anyone used anything to coat the stomach that helps? She's REALLY annoyed at all the stuff I'm hiding in her food already..now I need to check on interactions with the stuff I'm using. Appreciate any/all ideas.
Liz and Princess Roxie
A d HRH Roxy is still doing well and showing no outward sysmptons and that's hugely important:-)
This isn't anything anyone ever wants to hear. You've also been on this site long enough to know there are a lot of options and a lot of dogs co ti ui g on with a quality filled life after mets! Jerry! Sassy! Jackson! And now Roxy's gonna' get in on tnat list of inspirtionall dogs making up teir own rules and teir own statistics!
Any reason Palladia specifically? Cytoxan or Luekeran discussed?
Apocaps and K9 immunity are all okay with metroomics....I've forgotten what else she's taking.
Listen, this journey is challenfing vut HRH Roxy has kow idea she's on it! Again, I can't say enough about how powerful itis that there are no sysmptons. This isn't anymore of a "death sentence" than anything else with this stupid crap disease!
Pepcid is sed....vut check it out first as that in itself can have it's own issues.......#&$%#%$# keybd. disappearing again...will write more when ho e from work
also live yogurt and liquid probotics
lot of love.....chin up.....same battle... new day...new drugs....and the tripawd power with you every step of way
Rooo ROOOOOOOOOOOOO ROO ROOOOOOOOOO...go make her tail wag and say ROO RooOoo
love,
Sally and Hapy Hannah
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
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