cavNrott

You mentioned you do 4 hour shifts. So how long is the puppy confined to the crate if you include your travel time to and from work? I would not expect a 12 week old puppy to hold on for more than 4 hours irrespective of the breed or size of the puppy. He is still only a baby puppy. Do you have anyone who can take him out for a toilet break while you are gone?

I wouldn't describe it as palatable, it smells awful and tastes worse. I guess it all depends on the dose. My dog is on 5 drops of mistletoe extract twice a day. 5 drops at a time is manageable because I can hide it in some raw minced chicken. I've found minced chicken to be good for hiding stuff because of the texture. It doesn't fall apart like minced beef. Shek and Allerzeit will be able to give you some clues if you need to dose at 20 drops each time. That's the usual start up dose for Rotties with the cancer mixes.

I'm sorry for your loss. Godspeed Ashka.

Disclaimer: This post will be sooo boring for people who don't have cancer dogs. I was going to pm you the details but maybe someone else with a cancer dog might be interested. Jodie the milk thistle is Nature's Own Milk Thistle 7000. The adult directions say 2 tablets daily with food. I give Sophie 1 tablet with breakfast, 1 with dinner and another 1/2 a tablet when she has her bed time organic yoghurt and goat milk. I should mention that Sophie is 48kg so that dose would probably be too high for a smaller dog. I started the extra 1/2 a tablet in the last couple of weeks because one liver enzyme was a bit high again. If the level hasn't come down by the next test I'll increase the late night one to a full tablet. Prior to me giving her milk thistle 3 of her liver enzymes were really high. They came down to the high end of normal but now one is above normal again. Hopefully the extra 1/2 a tab will bring it down. Her kidney enzymes were high too in the test before last so I started her on coQ10 and at the last test the kidney levels were within normal range. The onco said to save my time and money regarding the coQ10 but it seems it worked. Re the Neoplasene, get ready to spend a couple of hours reading. The link is:- http--www.buckmountainbotanicals.net-pdf. (pdf gives me the irits). I don't know how to post links but the buckmountainbotanicals will get you there if you need to google it. Buckmountain seem to know more about Neoplasene than any of the other sites I've read and I've read enough to give me square eyes and a headache. I have Sophie on a few other supplements too but the milk thistle and coQ10 seem to be the ones that are doing the most for her.[/i]

I'm not sure Shek if the mistletoe is doing anything. It's only been two days so I guess I have to wait and see. The tumour has only bled once today and that's an improvement. It's been bleeding on and off all day for the last few days. Thanks for the hugs Jodie. I figured the oncologist wasn't keen on the mistletoe because she hadn't read any studies on it or doesn't agree with it because it doesn't come under the banner of conventional medicine. It certainly hasn't done Sophie any harm and that she's having less bleeding than before is an encouraging sign. The onco's evidently not against all natural supplements because she suggested the milk thistle to bring down the liver enzymes level. It worked too. I've done more research on the Neoplasene and there are a few risks involved. There's one company that has done extensive research and they appear to be the only ones who know a lot about it. I've forwarded the link onto the oncologist so we'll see what she has to say about it on our next visit. It's only about 90 pages!! I did indicate the pages with information that relates to Sophie's problem so she has about 10 pages of technical info and scientific diagrams to read and then about 4 pages of stuff specific to Sophie. I bet she puts the kibosh on Neoplasene. It seems this product needs to be administered under the guidance of a vet so I won't try it unless the onco learns about it and agrees to Sophie having it. Some of the side effects are painful, Sophie doesn't need that. I'm doing what I hope is right to prevent her having pain so I won't take any risks that might cause her pain

sorry, didn't realise this thread was 3 yrs old.

I'm so sorry for your loss Nicole. R.IP. Beautiful boy

Kiash, if it wasn't for your boy Ash, there would be no Sophie so I understand and feel your connection to her and I'm really glad you feel that way. She's a wonderful girl. She was a little bugger as a puppy, a real land shark. It was all play for her but everything within Sophie is kind and gentle. All she needed was training. She's intelligent and easy to train. I'm lucky she is who she is and that her breeder decided she was the right puppy for me. The Mistletoe extract from Robt McDowell arrived. It smells like the osteosarcoma and pine bark stuff. She had her first dose this morning. It's only 5 drops twice a day so not too difficult to get the foul smelling stuff into her. I don't know what I expected would happen but I've been keeping a very close eye on her since she took the meds. I hope it will reduce the size of the tumour...very quickly. I'm still trying to source Neoplasene in Australia. I wouldn't use the mistletoe and neoplasene together so I'll give the mistletoe a chance while I continue my search for neoplasene. I don't get why the oncologist isn't in favour of me using these herbs. Not that it will stop me. All I need to know is if anything I want to try is contraindicated with Sophie's meds. Oncology has nothing further to offer Sophie except amputation of her right mandible and that's not going to happen. There's no chance it would cure her cancer and it's painful surgery. I won't put Sophie through that. I can't just sit back, do nothing and wait for her to die when conventional medicine has nothing to offer. We have nothing to lose by trying out anything that might help so I'll keep searching. If anything makes her feel unwell then I'll stop using it immediately. She's quiet again today. They all are. It's too cold and wet to take them out so we're confined to barracks again.

Well done Poodlemum. Your extra care and attention to this little fella paid off.

Thanks to all for the kind thoughts. I've spoken with Robert McDowell and he is sending me a bottle of Mistletoe. He uses it in some of his preparations but usually combines it with other herbs and I'm not sure what the effect of the other herbs would have on Sophie or if any are contraindicated. He's agreed to send me a bottle containing just Mistletoe, hopefully I'll receive it by tomorrow. There's another herb I've found that they claim shrinks tumours. It's called Neoplasene. I need to find someone who has it in Australia. Customs are very wary of stuff like that coming into the country though I know where to source it overseas. Maybe I should give customs a phone call to find out if they will let me import it. I spoke with the onco about the Neoplasene but she's not in favour of it because it's been successfully tested in vitro only. They say it's not contraindicated with other drugs so I wonder what we have to lose by trying it. Sophie's cancer is very advanced and very aggressive and I'd stop using it immediately if it caused her any distress. Sophie isn't feeling the best today. I do think she's winding down. I didn't take her out in the cold wind. I don't know if it would make a difference but I don't want cold wind on that tumour. It might cause pain and I'm trying to spare her from pain. I remember the dentist saying not to go out in the cold wind after a tooth extraction so I think it better to keep her inside where it's warm.

How do you know he's not in pain? Dogs don't show their pain unless it's severe. Take him to the vet before it gets worse.

My guess is it could be a UTI. Can you get a sample of his urine for urinalysis and take it with him to the vet. I would do this ASAP. UTI's are painful.

Thanks for the votes of confidence guys. Oonga the Hills rubbish that the onco wants me to feed Sophie is not S/D it's canned stuff called N/D which is apparently for cancer dogs....they make a few outlandish claims about dogs living longer on this diet. Well Sophie hasn't done too badly without their smelly canned stuff and she won't be eating it. I guess I should throw it out rather than return it to the onco. She didn't charge me for the 2 cans and would probably be insulted if I returned the unopened one. I will tell her though that Sophie doesn't eat animal by products. I know what by products consist of and I wouldn't feed it to any dog.

Thanks for asking about Sophie. The results are ever changing. The first time it was 3 elevated liver enzymes and we got that under control with Milk Thistle. Last time the kidney enzymes were high and I started her on coQ10. The onco wasn't keen on that idea, she didn't think it would work. It seems to have worked well because these lastest results show the kidney levels are now within normal range. Now we have one high liver enzyme so I might try an extra 1/2 tablet per day of Milk Thistle. The pathology results look better overall than the last results. Only a small improvement but that's one hell of a lot better than them being worse. I check with the onco that any natural supplements I give are not contraindicated with the drug regime. She seems to be not crazy keen about natural supplements but I can see they're working for Sophie. The mouth tumour measured larger than last time. I knew it! I've researched Misteltoe and it's known to sometimes shrink a tumour so I'm going to see if I can find a herbalist who will prescribe it for Sophie. It's not contraindicated so I'll give it a go. The onco, of course thinks it's a total waste of time and money....but then it's my time and money and it's my Sophie I'm trying to help. The onco suggested I put Sophie on Hills N/D and gave me a couple of cans to try. No way am I feeding her that crap. The first ingredient is beef byproduct. Not in this lifetime will Sophie be eating any byproduct of any animal. I opened the can and it stinks to high heaven. It has a really tinny smell too. Sophie will be staying on her home cooked cancer starving diet. Sophie is her usual happy self again. Tires easily but in good spirits so all is well for now.

Jodie, how is Ollie going? Any probs with the leg?

Thanks Kiash for your thoughts and prayers and your kisses and hugs. Both Soph and I can do with them right now. Sophie has really done exceptionally well. I saw the first sign of a problem at the end of August last year. She had surgery a few days later for a biopsy but nothing conclusive was found. In fact they didn't have a clue what it was. I suspect path stuffed up the specimen. The next 3 biopsies (I requested more than one, just in case) were taken when her gum flared up again in December. This time they found it was a high grade malignant anaplastic tumour. A poorly differentiated osteosarcoma. Either way, from the end of August up until now has been a long time for Sophie to survive a very aggressive malignant osteo so I'm so very lucky to have this time with her. I don't think she's ready to give up yet. I'll never be ready but I will do is what is best for her. I'm not optimistic about tomorrows results.

Sophie had a really bad day two days ago and seemed very depressed after a restless night. I thought we were nearing the end. Both yesterday and today she's been her usual happy self so it must have just been a bad day for her. She looks tired so I've kept her in for the last couple of days. I'll drive her to the park tomorrow for a run and roll around in the grass. Her energy level isn't what it was and 15 minutes off leash exercise every alternate day is about her limit now. She still loves to get out and about, it's difficult to know what's best for her. I asked the oncologist if Sophie is winding down. She said it's quite likely and to expect that some days she will feel unwell and unhappy. I'll watch her very closely, it's unlike her to have a bad day. I won't let her suffer if she has too many days like that. I want her to enjoy the time she has left and she certainly didn't enjoy last Tuesday. Both the onco and I feel Sophie is not having pain. We can do anything with her and she shows no sign of pain. The tumour has grown since her last visit and is bleeding often. She lets me clean her mouth without flinching and she didn't turn away when the onco put the calipers on the tumour to measure it so it doesn't appear to be painful. Bloods and urine were done, the full results will be in tomorrow. The inhouse CBC shows her levels are a bit high. I know she's not as well as she was a month ago but she's still amazing the way she copes with her condition. She has the attitude that life is all about having fun and makes the most of everything. I have to wait until tomorrow to find out how her liver and kidneys are holding up.

Sorry for your loss Nekhbet. Run free Krueger :nahnah:

Oh, she was only a baby. Rest in Peace little girl.

I think he might mean it's a spindle cell carcinoma. I hope all is well and you've caught it early.

Elsa I am so very sorry for your loss of your beloved Spike. May he Rest In Peace. :rolleyes:

Rest In Peace Cheyanne

Thanks for caring about us. We see the oncologist on Thursday so I'll update then.

I'm so very sorry. What sad news. R.I.P. Pippin.

So sorry Ellz. R.I.P