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Chemo Or Holistic?


lovemypooch
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My beloved 9 year old English Springer Spaniel has been diagnosed with Tonsillar Lymphoma, last week he had the tumor removed and we got the all clear however because of the type of tumor it was they have suggest chemo. (2 weeks before christmas he had a lipoma removed from his stomach which also turned out to be an aggresive tumor, we got the all clear on that too and no post op treatment was required).

I have been advised that chemo is needed but its just as a precaution (xrays showed all clear on his chest & heart and is lymphnodes are clear also), i would like to look into holistic treatments as my pooch is diabetic and im concerned chemo will effect his quality of life and also cause complications with his diabetes.

Im seeing the oncologist from QVS this week to discuss treatment and wondering if anyone else has experienced similar problems with there diabetic dog?

Can anyone recommend a holistic vet in Brisbane?

Thank you :laugh:

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Sorry cant help with vet recomendations ,but can only tell of my experiance re chemo, in a very young dog who had lymphoma,

the owner spent $$$$$on chemo & the dog was only in remission for 3mnths ,Suffered extremly & was constantly @ the emergency vets with complicatons .

I watched with horror & vowed I would NEVER put a dog through this !!!

sadly he was given his wings b4 his first birthday .

So sorry to hear your darlin is sick & trust holelistic meds will help him live a comfortable life in his twighlite years

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We did both together. I would recommend both. The chemo to fight the cancer and the holistic supplements to hold them in good stead while they are fighting with chemo.

Please note that chemo for dogs is NOTHING like chemo for people. They don't get sick or lose all their fur. Vets cannot give dogs as much chemo as doctors give people because vets cannot or do not do bone marrow transplants when the chemo damages the bone marrow (like it does with humans because we are given such high doses).

Our lad was given 12-18 months back in October 2005 and he is still here and he still has MCT - currently has 4 tumours but they are not active.

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  • 1 month later...
My beloved 9 year old English Springer Spaniel has been diagnosed with Tonsillar Lymphoma, last week he had the tumor removed and we got the all clear however because of the type of tumor it was they have suggest chemo. (2 weeks before christmas he had a lipoma removed from his stomach which also turned out to be an aggresive tumor, we got the all clear on that too and no post op treatment was required).

I have been advised that chemo is needed but its just as a precaution (xrays showed all clear on his chest & heart and is lymphnodes are clear also), i would like to look into holistic treatments as my pooch is diabetic and im concerned chemo will effect his quality of life and also cause complications with his diabetes.

Im seeing the oncologist from QVS this week to discuss treatment and wondering if anyone else has experienced similar problems with there diabetic dog?

Can anyone recommend a holistic vet in Brisbane?

Thank you :wave:

I think you need to carefully weigh up the pros and cons, and maybe get a few opinions from different vets.

Your Springer is 9 years old and has diabetes, at his age there will be a likliehood of arthritis setting in too, so if it is only going to extend the life of your dog by a few months or even a year, being an older dog, the benefit is debatable, especially if some of that time it will be undergoing uncomfortable treatment.

It was suggested only as a precaution.

Though since the tumour is in the throat, it is in a place where it would be very uncomfortable if it was to recur, so that does tempt one towards the idea of chemo.

I would lean towards holistic treatment in this case, that's not to say there might be some arguments to support chemo.

In the end it's the quality of life that needs to be considered, along with the natural life span of your breed of dog, and what if any inherited genetic diseases are present or likely to occur.

You sound like a lovely caring owner. :thumbsup:

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On that note is it for the dogs benefit to keep it alive, your dog has had a good quality of life, he/she is 9years of age.

I have had to many years ago make the heart welching decision to end my dogs life, was not easy but in the end it was for the best for him.

The vet suggested i do a mri scan to see if my boy had a brain tumour but at his age of 12 i could not put him through that.I had to push through my emotional side and think of him and what he has given me in all those years.

If it was a young dog will yeah i would consider doing it, but not a senior.

Would you want to go though all that yourself if you had cancer or a terminal disease, i now i wouldnt want to.But we got not choice but to do it, we are not allowd to end our lives of suffering from this, unlike our pets.

So please think carefully are you doing this for yourself to get a extra year or 2 out of your dog, or are you considering your dog well being.

I personally if had a dog with a terminal disease i would much prefer him to be comfortable,and live the rest of his life happy and enjoy the creatures comfort of being home with you, until it was time to let go.

I now this is hard for many of us, we all love our pets and are part of our family,But as i said before it comes a time when you just need to do the right,and for your pocket.

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Thanks for all your feedback.

Sadly our pooch passed away on 24th March, it was very sudden and we are not completely sure what happened. Our boy was only at stage 1 with his cancer so we figured we'd still have a few more months with him, I feel lost without him.

weeks & days before he passed away he was his happy self. The day before he passed away he started to eat ALLOT of grass, I called my vet and was told he would be fine - he possible had a sore tummy (acid in his tummy) and the grass was neutralizing it, all that night I felt something was wrong but since the vet assured me he would be fine I tried not to let it worry me. the next morning at 4.30am my partner went looking for him and found him in the front garden, he was alive but couldn't move, we immediately rushed him to the 24hr vet, the vet told us he had a heart murmur & his eye's were also fixed and dilated. I knew in my heart that this was the end, sadly he passed away within 10 mins of arriving at the vet.

After all the tests, xrays, ultrasounds, blood work etc etc they found no evidence of any heart problems, to this day i still have no idea what happened. We hadn't started chemo yet so I know that wasn't the cause, maybe it was just his time.

R.I.P Ralphy - Always Loved & Never Forgotten

Edited by lovemypooch
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