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Chemo - Any Reason To Keep Going ?


Pugmum
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As most of you would know, Maggie has bladder cancer (TCC). The prescribed treatment is 4 rounds of chemo with mitoxantrone (every three weeks) and a piroxicam capsule every day. Piroxicam is a NSAID that can shrink tumors.

So far she has had 3 chemo treatments, her white cell count dropped so severely on the first and thrid time that she ended up in the animal emergency. although I am constantly told that her bowels slowing is not a side efeect of the treatment it happens a week after chemo each and evert ime (starts to slow 3 days after treatment) and she gets very uncomortable (once so bad she could not walk).

The idea of this to start with was to improve her quaility of life - and I'm starting to question if thats what we are giving her. Essentially she spends two weeks not feeling well each time. ALl this would be bearable if she at leat showed some signs that her condition is improving - but it has not. She still strains to pee, and takes ages to get a flow going if she has not been outside for a while, if we are on a walk she manages a reasonable flow quite easily with susequent sqwats, Apparently is the straining that should be an area of improvement.

So the chemo has had no reall effect that I can see. I feel like I am tormenting her for nothing if she has the 4th round of chemo. I also feel like I might be robbing her of something if she does not have it.

If she does have it, it will be the second time they reduce the quantity - therefore only getting a bit over 50% of the recommended dose anyway.

I guess what I asking here is, is there anyone that has gone through chemo with their dog and seen no result from three, but seen something from the fourth ?

If chemo worked for your dog - how soon did you see a result ?

this deciasion is so hard. I'd really like to hear your experiences.

thanks

Brigitte

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ah the heartache of chemo... I remember thinking the same as you when Ollie was having chemo about 4 years ago. I don't think I ever really saw any improvement but obviously there was. I also remember him going to hospital on a couple of occasions, one of which was very distressing as we really thought we would not be bringing him home. Sometimes (not all chemo cases) can be very distressing...

Are you treating holistically too? It can help to support them while they are going through it and I know from our experience I believe that it made all the difference to how well he recovered when he did get sick.

I remember once, him being so ill and thinking I should stop this and let him go - but the holistic vet said to ask our vet to give him Vitamin C via a drip and the next morning, the dog we thought we were going to lose, he was up telling everyone he wanted out of the cage in the hospital...

I think we all have slightly different journey's with chemo, no two are the same... And only we can know what our limitations are on what we will or won't put our dogs and ourselves through.

Ollie had chemo for 6 months... one week intravenous, the next 5 pills and the next week off - then it started all over again... We have been very lucky, the chemo and the holistic treatment have given him a remission that has outlasted anything that was expected...

Only you can really know what is best for you and Maggie but I wish you all the luck that we had and are still having.

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I am sorry I cant offer advise ,only tell u of my own experiance with a pup of mine that had chemo ,his owner did all she could for him & he got 3mnths remmission, only to go down hill so fast ,it was heart breaking .

I quess you have to consider the quality of life, not the quantity ,as hard as it is ,you have to do selfless things in the name of love & dedication .

my thoughts r with you

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i strongly second holistic support as well... my dear Angel Lucinda when she was fighting cancer would really bounce abck after Vit C by iv( Lucinda outlived her dismal prognosis by a mere 6.5 years !!!!!!!!!!!!!!) ... it has to be iv. It is also quite positive in treating bladder cancer....

blessings

helen

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Thank you all for your replies.

Maggie did have the 4th chemo treatment. We couldn't live with the 'what if's' that might have been if we had not tried.

Maggie is on essiac twice a day, when I can get her to take it, she's getting fussier with her food now. she is also on the Budwig diet of flaxseed oil and cottage cheese (with fresh ground seeds as well) once a day.

Maggies ability to urinate is still diminishing, the chemo did nothing to improve or even stabilize it. :eek: Its a day to day thing right now, :rolleyes:

Brigitte

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I personally would not be giving chemotherapy to a pet. My love would be great enough to have them put to sleep.

I finished chemotherapy myself in April.

Hi di dee1,

I'm sorry that you have had the need to undergo chemotherapy - I hope it has been successful for you.

Cheotherapty in dogs is not the same as that for people. Dogs do not get the same dosage, and in general tolerate it well. They dont lose their hair,or spend days hurling up their breakfast. It is offered to 'improve the quality of their remaining life'. so when you undertake this option, you do so to make their days better.

My love for Maggie is great enough that I wanted to do all I could to improve the days she had. Okay, in her case it was not overly successful - there are no guarantees - but then I cant say what it would have been like for her at this point had she not had the treatment.

Brigitte

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I personally would not be giving chemotherapy to a pet. My love would be great enough to have them put to sleep.

I finished chemotherapy myself in April.

Hi di dee1,

I'm sorry that you have had the need to undergo chemotherapy - I hope it has been successful for you.

Cheotherapty in dogs is not the same as that for people. Dogs do not get the same dosage, and in general tolerate it well. They dont lose their hair,or spend days hurling up their breakfast. It is offered to 'improve the quality of their remaining life'. so when you undertake this option, you do so to make their days better.

My love for Maggie is great enough that I wanted to do all I could to improve the days she had. Okay, in her case it was not overly successful - there are no guarantees - but then I cant say what it would have been like for her at this point had she not had the treatment.

Brigitte

That is correct Brigitte, dogs don't get the dose that humans get because they don't (well the first one was done this year) bone marrow transplants for pets, like they do with humans because of the massive doses of drugs they give humans compared to pets.

It really is nothing like it. I watched my best friend pass away with breast cancer and she had chemo twice - horrible to watch such a sweet, life loving woman get so very ill...

On the other hand, Ollie had 6 months of chemo with holistic treatment to help him stay well and we only had a couple of times when he was 'sick' - he has also outlived the canine oncologists expectations by over 4 years now... So very worth it and I personally would do it again.

I too will have the heart to give him his wings when the time comes - so glad I chose the treatment option though or I doubt he would still be here now (loving his walks and playing like a loon at the ripe old age of nearly 13)...

Each to their own, I would never look down on someone who chose not to treat with chemo but I also think it is unfair when someone 'assumes' it must be just like human chemo and that I am doing the wrong thing by my dog (believe me, I have had plenty of people tell me how cruel I am).. I thoroughly researched everything for Ollie and weighed up all the pros and cons, including the cost, and made my decision based on what I had read and other's experience with it...

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