Canine Bladder Cancer (tcc)

I put ten drops of echinacea and ten drops of goldenseal in her water everytime we give her a fresh bowl of water. This helps to build her immune system. I give her one tablespoon of flaxseed oil at dinner time. This also helps with arthritis. I am now feeding her table food - turkey, fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, squash). If she doesn't have much time, I'm going to spoil her. If this gives her more time with us, all the better. At this point, she is still eating like a horse. I haven't seen any bloody stool yet nor has she been vomiting. I am also giving her clavamox, an antibiotic to ward off any infection she may get from her kidney not working properly. Since she is getting an antibiotic, I also give her two tablespoons of vanilla yogurt, once a day, which replaces the good bacteria that the antibiotic is killing. She loves the yogurt. I spoke to my vet about all of these things and she didn't have any problem with any of them. My dog has not been exposed to any kind of yard chemicals or wood floor cleaner. If your dog is hypersensitive to drugs, try to speak to a naturopath; maybe they can recommend more herbal or natural treatments that can help.

Hi Lori,
We took Ryle to a Holistic vet on Friday and
started him on "Darwin", a raw meat holistic
diet. He loves it! The doctor also put him on a
number of different vitamins and Chinese herbs
to boost his immune system. We are giving him CO
Q10 with a mixture of vegies in his morning meal
and dinner. The doctor told us that this cancer,
and most cancers feef off carbs. He also
suggested cottage cheese ... we had thought of
yogurt (which he loves too!) I guess we will try
anything as this point, just to make him
confortable. We love him so very much.

My prayers are with you and your baby ... it's a
tough road to take when they are like children
to you.
Shele

My bearded collie Gandalf might or might not have TCC. We have had four ultrasounds and a biopsy. The results were inconclusive...If he has it they will not operate....He is 12 years old...I have ordered the the goldenseal, echinacea and flaxseed oil. He is 64 pounds...I'm confused on the dose... This is a very scaring time for us...He is in great shape and it seems incomperhesable to think that there is anything wrong with him...Our thoughts are to have him on this regiment and see what happens...If he does have TCC then I guess we will face it head on...But for now I can not put my baby though the invasive programs that the vet suggests...Wish us luck

I am using tinctures for both echinacea and goldenseal. I am putting 10 drops of each into her water bowl every time I change the water. I give her one tablespoon of flaxseed oil over each meal and two tablespoons of yogurt with each meal since she is also on an antibiotic called Clavamox. Since antibiotics kill all bacteria, the yogurt adds back some of the good bacteria to her system. The vet had her on antibiotics originally since we thought it was just a bladder infection and we decided to keep her on them so she doesn't get any infections since her kidneys are not working properly. We also have her on Piroxicam, which might shrink the tumor; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, so we're taking the chance it will work. But, it also helps a bit with any discomfort she may have from the tumor pressing on her kidneys, etc. My collie is not a candidate for surgery as the tumor is too large and in a rough spot. I am also spoiling her with table food, something we never did before. She's getting turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and sometimes a mixed vegetable. Or she's getting fried chicken. She's loving every minute of the people food. She also has her regular dog food to go along with it. If you have a holistic vet in your area, speak with them too. There are lots of alternatives out there; we just need to be open minded. I wish you the best.

Hi Pam,
What are your dog's symptoms? We thought our dog
was healthy, until he started to urinate more
than usual. The vet had been treating him for a
bladder infection since March of this year. The
ultrasound we had done on July 26 showed three
tumors. They cannot operate on him because of
the location of the tumors. We took him to a
holistic vet who put him on an immediate diet
change to "raw" food, plus Proxicam and a
variety of Chinese herbs and a transfer factor
to build up his immune system. The main thing is
to stop or slow the growth of the tumors and
build their immune system. Diet has a lot to do
with it. Carbs feed this particular cancer. Over
almost 2 weeks, we have seen a marked change in
his energy and his frequency in urination. If
you like, I would be happy to give you the name
of our vet in Seattle, hoping he can maybe refer
you to someone in your area. Plus, I can tell
you what Ryle is on for treatment, etc. I would
be happy to give you my email address and or/
phone number. We decided not to go the route of
any kind of invasive programs. We have also
given this whole situation to God and placed it
in His hands. We are praying for a miracle, but
it's whatever path He wants us to take. My heart
is with you through this crisis. It's the
toughest thing my husband and I have ever gone
through.
Ryle's Mom,
Shele

Hello,
I'm so glad to find this board. We've been treating our 12 year old lab mix for TCC since 5/20/05. We thought she had a bladder infection for a month and 1/2 prior to that.
Piroxicam....I can't stress this enough: If your dog is on this medication get them on Cytotec (misoprostol) right away. Pepcid and other antacids alone won't protect their stomachs. Our Shelby is currently on a coctail of meds throughout the day, but has done great with them so far. She's on piroxicam, cytotec, pepcid, and sucralfate. We've also seen that she does much much better while on an antibiotic. She's on a low dose of baytril now.
When she goes off the anitbiotic she gets "blocked up" with the drip drip drip of urine. That's the worst day of our lives seeing her drip and then stop but run to go every 30 seconds. Our vets have told us it's not uncommon for secondary infections to thrive in their urethra as the tumors grow irregularly causing nooks and crannys for bacteria to live. I know there's an issue coming up when Shelby gets a hazy look to her eyes. This has happened once a month now, where we wind up taking her for a catheder to empty her bladdrer and up the dose of antibiotic. Each time we've thought it was her last day and each time she wakes up fine the next day..and we're beyond thankful for that. We've run the emotions from so so sad, to angry, to disbelief that this otherwise heatlhy and energetic dog is ill in one little tube (drives me nuts to think about), and back to sad to think after 12 years she's fighting this terrible illness.
Diet!! We've found that carbs are BAD for our girl. She's on a diet of homemade foods now. She's loving this and beyond spoiled with her boiled beef, chicken, lamb, or veal. We add in low carb finely chopped veggies like cabbage, broccoli, spinach, etc. She loves a little shredded cheese ontop. I've also found that warm chicken broth entices her on mornings she's rather not eat right away. Pills in cream cheese go down easier and give her the few extra calories she needs during the day. Gerbers baby meat sticks are low carb and great to hide pills in as well.
How this happened....many of the sites I've read say genetics, or flea dips (my dog has never seen a flea dip or collar for that matter). I have ny own theory on this one and it may be totally off, but I'm going with it. We have 2 other doggies and I don't want this to happen to them.
I've done a lot of reading on flouride in the water; what it does and what it can cause illness wise...if you figure our dogs only drink tap water...no juices, bottled water, soda...just tap water with flouride. It makes you wonder. We've having a system put on the kitchen sink for about $200 to take out the flouride. Can't hurt us or the doggies, so we're doing it.
I hope all of your girls and boys are doing well and that you write back with your stories and thoughts on all of this.
Chrissi and Shelby(La La)

Hi Chrissi,
Our soon to be 12-year-old wheaten mix was
diagnosed with TCC 3 weeks ago. I can relate to
your emotional roller coaster. We have been
there –– are there. Because our dog is sensitive
to drugs, we started him on Proxicam every other
day. We just had blood and urine work done
yesterday, and will consult with the vet on
changing to Proxicam every day. I will ask him
about Cytotec, as he is on other meds for his
stomach. So far he seems to be handling it all
in stride. Like you, we have treated him for a
bladder infection since March. Makes me angry to
think they couldn't have found this sooner. You
are right about CARBS! Ryle is on a raw food
diet with some veggies ... he loves broccoli
now, which is a good thing. We have always given
our animals tap water with a purification/
filtering system. I don't think it takes out
fluoride however. I have read other articles
about fluoride poisoning OUR bodies. I can only
trace back what we have given Ryle over the
years and what he has been exposed to –– carpet
cleaners, wood floor cleaners, other household
chemicals –- not sure. My husband has used
roundup weed killer in the yard. Our dogs noses
are so very sensitive, makes you wonder –– even
when these chemicals aren't present to the naked
eye, our dogs still smell them. Just a thought.
My thoughts are with you and Shelby.

Hi Shele,

The thing we've found to be true is: we know are dog. Just like you know you're dog.
We're lucky in that our vet and the emergency vet center we use trust that we know are dog and what signs and symptoms happen when and why. If I ask for an antibiotic they give it to us, I guess they figure at this point it really can't hurt anything. I think some vets or owners may have seen the last 2 "blockage" episodes we saw as the end for their pet, but I just knew that each time the atibiotic stopped she got blocked up. The vets all listened to that, thankfully. And each time she bounced back within a day, now she's on them for good at a lower dose and if she becomes resistant to one there's another we can try.

I won't put her through chemo or a stint or a urine bag (can't think of the technical word for that one). Our goal is to make her happy and comfortable for as long as we can. As long as she wants to play ball, walk outside and eat her homemade chow, I'll do what it takes. It's an aggressive cancer, but my vet is really amazed at how well Shelby's done so far and how this Proxicam is working. A few years back this was not possible and a few weeks was all people were told afer diagnosis.

About the cytotec... Shelby was on 10 mg of proxicam originally at diagnosis and then within a week we special ordered it at 7 mg from a pharmacy. After a blockage episode we thought we'd try the higher dose of piroxicam again (we really thought we were at the last effort point). She's been on the higher dose each day now for a month. Without the cytotec that would not be possible. And if we have to we can go back to the 7mg.
When we first brought her home in May she was on pepcid and sulcrafate alone and after only 7 days of the proxicam her stools got dark. I found a website online that stressed the importance of the cytotec and called the emergency vet center immediatly. Since then her stools have been very normal. It's taken away that one anxiety of seeing dark or tary stools (we still check, but it's been just fine).
I feel for everything that you and everyone is going through, it's horrible. But we're lucky in that these drugs and herbal items can prolong a quality of life for our pets and give us all a little extra time to spoil and love them.
Let me know what your vet says about the cytotec.
(The one vet who perscribed the cytotec said not to handle it if you're pregnant. It's can cause uterine contractions and some other things when taken orally. She said it probaly wouldn't do anything just by handling alone but she didn't want to take any chances, so she put that out there. Just wanted anyone else to be aware as well, and the drug store info packets go further into all of that.)

~Chrissi & Shelby(LaLa)

Chrissi,
Thanks for responding. It's so good to talk to
someone else going through the same thing we
are. It's difficult to get any information on
the internet. My husband and I are of the same
mindset you are. We will not do any invasive
procedues or chemo on Ryle. He will be 12
September 10, and we just want to make his life
as comfortable as possible. Like you, we trust
our own insticts. We do know our own dogs, and
how they act/react. We are working with our main
vet and a holistic vet and a cancer specialist.
Each one has listened to us and in turn, has
given us good advice. Each dog is different. We
had a pharmacy mix the Proxicam for Ryle
according to his weight. We watch Ryle very
closely to make sure he is urinating and that
his stools are normal. So far, they are. We just
have to take it a day at a time.
Shele and Ryle

Shele,
I'll check the board regularly, it is really good to have others to talk to. What is it about "12"? We took Shelby to the first emergency vet center in May, on her 12th birthday (that stunk!). This has been really hard on me becuase Shelby is my first pet, my girl, my responsibility...we've been through a lot togther! My first family pet was a sheltie mix who was with us for 19 years. Yes, 19 years! So in my head a 12 year old dog is really very young, at 12 our sheltie was still a puppy!
I'm glad Ryle is doing well on his current treatment and that he has such good care. Let me know how you're all doing and if you find anything else in your online reasearch...I will as well.
~Chrissi & Shelby (LaLa)