cavNrott

If you don't send it to pathology then you won't know if you're dealing with a benign condition or a malignancy so you won't have any idea how to proceed. It would be of no value to receive advice on this without knowing what the condition is. My dog has a malignancy so I know what I'm dealing with and know how to proceed in her best interest. A benign condition is usually not connected with pain whereas cancer is a painful illness and effective pain medication is indicated as the disease progresses. For yours and your dog's sake I hope the lump is benign.

How sad, just a baby. R.I.P Little Levi.

It sounds like you need the advice of a specialist. I'd be asking your vet for a referral to the Specialist Referral Centre for an expert opinion and advice about what can be done to help this young boy of yours. They have an MRI machine there and also a CT scanner. They have surgeries in Glen Waverley and Essendon. Sophie sees the oncologist at the Glen Waverley Centre. Poor Diesel, so young to have all these problems.

Definitely get him to the vet.

I'm so very sorry Occy. Rest in Peace Sandy

I'm beginning to think the products from the naturopath pharmacist are working for Sophie now rather than her drug regime. After I dropped Sophie home from the onco I went to the pharmacy to have scripts filled for her. He asked about the tests and when I told him what he prescribed worked and her levels are all within normal range....he smiled and quietly said 'of course it worked'. This man is very spiritual, serene and calm. He is searching for something else for Sophie and will phone me when it's in. Everything he's given Sophie has worked for her. I did ask him about the rapid growth and bleeding of the tumour but he said that's beyond his field so I guess there is nothing to help with that problem. It'll be interesting to see what Sophie's levels are when they do the intensive tests next visit. The onco has no explanation why the levels are now normal. I didn't offer any information about the natural products or the mistletoe, though I don't think it's doing much. Shek: The products arrived today and very well packed I must say.Thank you.

Thanks for all kind thoughts and well wishes for Sophie. She continues to astound us all with her happy attitude and GOOD test results. She didn't have the extensive tests done where we wait 24 hours for the results but her in-house FBE was good with all levels within normal range. They are doing the extensive tests only on alternate visits so she'll have that done next time.

Thanks for the positive thoughts. We leave in about 10 minutes and I'm a shaking mess. Dunno what's wrong with me, I can usually take this in my stride. Sophie, on the other hand is happy and excited, running around like it's a party. She knows where we're going and loves the oncologist.

Hope you have a spare flame suit I can borrow I share your opinion Kamuzz. A puppy deserves to be loved and wanted by the whole family. Rob's wife clearly doesn't want this pup and she and the children are afraid of the baby puppy as well, keeping in mind this puppy is at the very loveable and cute stage right now. Rob, I think the best thing for the puppy would be to return it to the breeder...hopefully you bought the pup from a registered breeder who will take Samantha back and find her a new home. You sound as though you would be an excellent owner for the pup Rob but the odds are against you with the feelings your family has. I think you are buying yourself a heap of trouble if you keep this puppy. I predict if you do keep her it won't be long before you have heated discussions about the amount of time you spend with the puppy. Training, house training, teaching a puppy manners etc., does take a lot of time and should, but obviously won't, in this case, involve the whole family. I doubt it would make a difference even if you had a smaller breed pup, they bite and chew the same as the larger breeds. They piddle inside the house until they are house trained so I doubt your wife would be happy with any dog. Sorry to throw in the negative when you want this puppy and are happy to train it but I feel you are up against too much opposition and the welfare of the puppy must be considered as well. When you are at work and away from home this pup would be in the care of folk who don't want her or like her.

A number of dogs have had nasty reactions from it. Do a google search.....and a search on this forum for more detailed info that I can't remember. I didn't take it all in because I was never going to use it. I think both Morgan and Cavandra on this forum have plenty of info on it. I also believe they took it off the market in the USA.

Agree about the pain Shek. How long before you noticed Jaida coughing? I've been watching Sophie very closely and have not yet heard her cough.

Do you mean your dogs get Sentinel Spectrum? If so, I think it's a top quality product. I use it for my 4 dogs too. It's expensive if you buy from the vet or a pet store. Have a look at www.pricelesspets.com.au and you'll probably find it a lot cheaper there. I don't know anything about Purina total care but I believe those flea collars don't work too well and some dogs are allergic to them.

C4 covers Parvo, Hepatitis, Distemper and Parainfluenza. It doesn't cover any worms. Heartworm is given monthly. You can also give it in daily tablet form but there is no 3 monthly protocol for heartworm. There is a 12 month heartworm injection that I strongly advise against.

That's what the vet did when Sophie ripped half her nail off too. He removed the rest of the nail and bandaged her foot. He said there's a risk of infection with the quick exposed. I think I'd bandage it and take her to the vet tomorrow. I wouldn't wrap it in sticking plaster it'll make it difficult and painful to remove the plaster.

Thanks Kiash for your kind words. Sophie and I are a team... she's the inspirational half of this team. She lives in the moment and enjoys everything. She's always happy. I'm the one who worries about what might happen next. To see her cope the way she does inspires me too. Shek and I have been talking and I think I might put Sophie on the Robert McDowell osteo and Pine bark mixes if she can come off this drug regime. Guess I just have to wait and see what the onco has to say about it all. Hug was duly given to Sophie...she loves hugs.

Thanks to all for keeping us in your thoughts. Sophie is still feeling well and happy. The mistletoe isn't slowing the growth of the tumour. The naturopath has prescribed another product for cell renewal, he said it won't do harm and may do some good. We see the oncologist on Thursday and Sophie will have more tests. I'm probably living in a fools paradise but I'm expecting Sophie's liver and kidney enzymes to be ok. I know its not rational to expect that because her cancer is well established but hoping for the best won't do her any harm. I believe it's Sophie's happy nature and love of life that's kept her going for months after her prognosis (just a few days/couple of weeks). None of the vets expected her to see February let alone still be here happy and pain free. I make sure she's pain free, she can't enjoy life if she has pain and I don't want her to give up. I think it's time to take her off the cytotoxic drug as it's no longer working to slow down the growth of the tumour. This stuff kills off cells. It doesn't discriminate between cancer cells and normal cells. Since it's no longer killing the cancer cells I'd rather not take the risk of it killing off any healthy cells. We'll see what the onco has to say.

rmc: Thanks for the kind words. Since you've caught this disease in the early stages I'd ask the vet for a referral to an oncologist. Sophie wasn't expected to survive beyond the end of January and she's still going, though she's winding down now. I declined both surgery and chemo and her oncologist prescribed a drug regime. I won't put Sophie through unnecessary and painful procedures that won't cure her or put her into remission. She is pain free and that's my priority for her. Oncologists are up to date on the various trials around the world, more so than the local vet and may be able to offer you a treatment that could put your dog into remission. They also have access to the latest drugs available for cancer treatment. I'm hoping for the best for you and Kia. That vet sounded very brash. I hope you can speak with your usual vet and get more detailed information and advice. Sam&Saski: The oncologist gave me a couple of cans of Hills n/d to try. It smells foul and the first ingredient is beef byproduct. I won't feed byproducts to my dogs. There are home made cancer starving diets and Sophie has an alkaline diet. Cancer needs acid to survive and starving the cancer cells of acid is the objective. I feed no carbs or sugar, she has a high protein diet.

rmc: in the Health/ Nutrition/Grooming Section of this forum we have a sub forum called Palliative Care. The sub forum isn't easy to find unless you know where to look. It's very informative for those of us who have dogs suffering from cancer. Perhaps you could start a thread on your boy in there and you will probably get feeback from those who have experienced the problem you are faced with. I find the support in that section of the forum to be very helpful and encouraging. My girl has osteosarcoma and she is in the unwell Rotty thread. We speak about cancer diets and supplements that may help our dogs.

Have you taken him to the vet to make sure there are no health problems?

I get a fruit veggie and raw BARF mix delivered free. The quality is excellent and the price is reasonable. It's free of preservatives and vacuum packed in 2kg or 5kg packs. The company is Top Shelf Pet Food. Telephone 0425 707379 and speak to Chris.

Oh! The joy of a young pup, Kiash. I knew Sophie would be my last Rotty puppy when I brought her home from the breeder. That's one of the reasons she's so very special to me. I knew there would be no more, I enjoyed every second with her. We had a good talk the day she came home from the breeder. We lay together on my bed where all our serious talks take place. I promised her I would protect her, raise and train her gently and love her always. I promised her I would never lay a hand on her to hurt her. I think she made a silent deal with me that she in turn would always be kind, gentle and trustworthy. That's the way it's always been with us. Now we have osteosarcoma and I can't protect her and keep her safe, the disease will take her. We are robbed of time we should have together. All I can do for her is keep her pain free and love her enough to let her go when needs me to. I won't ask for one more day when she's ready to go. I'm doing what I can to keep her alive, happy and feeling well but the disease will defeat us in it's own time. In the meantime we are both fighting it with everything we've got. I see an improvement in her today so maybe the new meds are good. I hope to see the naturopath pharmacist next week. He may be able to come up with other things that will help my girl. Though we didn't go out today, she has been happy just to follow me around. She's in good spirits and no pain. She had a good day.

Kiash, I take her out every day except when it's very windy. We can cope with the cold air with a coat but we don't go if there's a strong wind. On windy days we go for a drive with the car window open enough that she can't put her head out. I need to keep the cold air away from her mouth. She is a sweetie and trusts me implicitly. She knows I won't cause her pain or hurt her in any way. I'm surprised she lets me clean her mouth though. It shows what a loving dog she is, not that I needed proof. I wish she was concerned with not causing me pain...she's always stepping on my feet. I'm sure it's a Rottweiler thing. My other dogs don't step on my feet but every Rotty I've had does it. Faith does it too but not often because she's usually on the couch. The chemist I go to has a pharmacist there who is also a naturopath practitioner. He's given me a different Milk Thistle. It's for practitioner dispensing only so we can't buy it off the shelf. He was busy and I had Sophie out front in the car where she could see me so I didn't stick around to ask him why this Milk Thistle is better. It comes in a tabsule and he said to give Sophie 3 per day before meals. Her nightcap of yoghurt and goat milk counts as a meal so we're ok. He also prescribed her a naturopathic calcium ascorbate. I know which days this naturopath is on duty now so I'll see him next week and if he's not busy I'll ask him to suggest anything else that might help.

Sophie was looking totally depressed and miserable this morning and kept looking at me as though I should be doing something. It wasn't THAT look that I'm dreading so much. I took Staffyluv's advice about a walk cheering up sick dogs...she was right! We drove to the off leash park where Sophie loves to roll and run. She's taken to not only rolling in the grass but also rolls in the dirt! She came home much happier and dirtier. A good brush fixed her up and she's back to her usual shiny self. These dreary days frighten the hell out of me. Each time Sophie looks miserable I wonder if this is the last day we have together. I know this day will come, probably sooner rather than later but when she looks unhappy, reality hits hard. The mistletoe doesn't seem to be doing much, her mouth is still bleeding a few times a day and the tumour is still growing. She lets me clean her mouth so though the tumour looks awful I'd say it's not painful for her or she probably wouldn't let me near it. She knows when I approach her with a handful of tissues what's about to to happen. She's a dream to care for because she's so compliant.

No difference yet with the mistletoe Kiash, it will be a week tomorrow since we started it. Tumour is still growing and bleeding. She enjoyed a run and roll in the park today. She's still enjoying her life.

Jodie that's great news that his leg isn't bothering him. He's probably got a bit of arthritis causing the stiffness in him. Hope the Cartrophen helps. He's a bit of a legend, the Ollie boy isn't he? I hope the dear boy continues to do well. It's a great feeling when they reach a birthday the experts predicted they would never see.