To chemo or not

My dog just had another surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on his abdomen near his penis. (He's got cancer of blood vessels or skin cancer.) The doctor advised that his chances of having another tumor is very high so to reduce the chances of getting it again it's better to do chemo but there'll definitely be side effects depending on the dog. She said if we continue to remove the tumor each time it appears is not good for the dog which is now 8yrs and because it's so near to the penis she doesn't have enough margin to totally remove the cancer cells and now there's not much skin in that area. If another tumor comes up in the same area will require a major op which will be costly. Have asked her to work out the costs of the chemo and how many treatments required before we make a decision on what to do. I know for sure it'll be just as costly but if that is a better solution then we may need to consider to have it done. Can someone give me a better solution?

 

Tough situation. For me personally I always weigh up the quality of life, especially when the pet has already been through a couple of surgeries and treatments.

Is your vet a regular DVM? If so then I would say your best option right now would be to find a reputable cancer specialist (an oncologist), go for a consultation and find out what they think. Make sure you take copies of medical records, x-rays, bloodwork, all lab work thats been done in reference to the cancer.
Ask your vet if they can refer you to anyone, most vets dont have a problem with this at all. (and any that do, shouldnt).
If your vet is an oncologist then find another one and get a second opinion, not to 'prove your vet wrong' or that you dont trust your vet or anything but different vets use different methods and courses of treatment for different cancers. I wouldnt wait though, I think its something you need to act on as soon as possible.

Sorry couldnt help any more. :?

 

Check out the info on this web page: http://www.uexplore.com/health/CanineCancer.html.

I don't know where you live, but if you can get your dog an appointment at Smith Ridge Veterinary Center in NY (one of the vets listed on that page) then do it! He has an excellent success rate with cancer. People go from all over the country to see him, although of course that's not possible for everyone to do.

 

Thanks DeLaUK & Jamiya

Thanks for the advice. As we do not have much financial resources, we can't afford to look for advice from other vets but this clinic I go to has a group of doctors where they'll discuss about his condition. Has spoken to the doc when I picked up my dog after the surgery and she has suggested an alternative treatment using homeopathy drops which according to her no one knows how it works and how effective it is. It's some extract from plants which when a healthy person consume it will get cancer but when a person with cancer consume it'll be cured. However there's no scientific proof that it works but I'm willing to give it a try rather than going for chemo which will be too harsh on my dog with all the possible side effects. If anyone heard of this unconventional treatment, please let me know.

 

Homeopathy is EXCELLENT for things that regular doctors have no idea how to cure (and everything else for that matter). However, most vets haven't the slightest clue how to use homeopathy properly. You have the basics down - basically, the total symptom picture of your dog should be taken, including mental state, common behaviors, temperature preferences - everything! Then a remedy is found that is most similar to the total picture. These remedies have been "proven" on healthy people and the symptoms they cause are the same symptoms they cure in an unhealthy person (or dog).

Most vets do not have the training to find the correct remedy. They use homeopathy in the same cookbook fashion that they do everything else - for this disease, give that medicine (or remedy), etc. Sometimes this can work by accident, but it's not ideal and it can do a lot of harm.

The name of the homeopath I use who is very knowledgeable and works through e-mail and has reasonable prices is Magda Aguila at aquiline@myexcel.com. You might e-mail her with your info and see what she says. She is very willing to work with you on payments or whatever you need to do in that regard, and her rates are extremely reasonable, especially compared to what you pay to even walk through the door of a vet's office.

Also, in its usual timely fashion, Whole Dog Journal has an article in the November issue about cancer. I haven't read it yet, but their articles are always packed with good information. You can get a 14-day free trial subscription on their website.

 

Sending you strength and good JuJu in dealing with this, I know it's gotta be tough. I recently learned a little about people using "cancer diets", and it was amazing to me. I'm posting some links below for you to explore. What are the Homeopathic drops? One of the things I read in multiple places was that eliminating all carbs from the diet is important. Apparently carbs feed the cancer.

http://www.holisticdog.org/

http://www.holisticdog.org/Symptoms/D_E ... xseed.html]

http://www.cancure.org/

This is to another board where a bunch of links were posted regarding cancer resources.
http://www.i-dog.com/board/messages/46/ ... 1128281094

Hope these help...

 

It would really help to know what type of cancer your dog has. The prognosis for hemangiosarcoma is much different than for squamous cell carcinoma or a mast cell tumor.

From your previous post one would suspect your dog has an hemangiosarcoma. Even with chemo, the prognosis is not good.

On the other hand, my daughter has a beagle who had his spleen removed a year ago due to hemangiosarcoma, and he's still alive with no further tumors to this date, and no chemo. At the time of his surgery the vet said the median survival rate for spenic hemangiosarcoma without chemo is 17 days! With chemo the survival rate extends to 63 days. We didn't concider that to be much of an option, so opted to forego chemo and just wait and see.


You need to discuss this further with your vet. Not only do you need to have a realistic estimate of how much this is going to cost, but you also need a realistic idea of what to expect, and how well the treatment provided is expected to work. Nothing is 100%. Sometimes treatments work, sometimes they don't. You need some answers, and then weigh your options carefully.

 

Thank you all for the advice

Thanks Jamiya, I'll email to Magda for some advice and also thanks to the rest too. It's just a pity that my dog has cancer but he still looks active and normal even after the recent surgery though at times he'll feel tired which I think is normal. Think I'll just try the homeopathy therapy as it's not as costly as chemo and hope for the best. He's already 8 now not sure how many more years can a dog live up to but will want him to have a happy life till the end without any suffering.

 

I can't tell you whether to give chemo or not. Honestly, I have no idea what I'd do in your shoes.

But, I wanted to share that I had a former boss whose dog had that type of cancer. That dog was her whole life. First, he had surgery to remove his spleen (I think). Then she decided to give him chemo even though the vets said that it would only give him a few more months. She said he did really well with it. The day of the chemo he would get sick, but then he was OK until the next treatment. He lived an extra 6 mos. And she spent like $10,000. I don't know what his life was like towards the end.

Anyways, just thought that might give you more insight. If you really want I could probably get you her email address. I haven't spoken to her in a long time but she is a really nice lady.