Canine Bladder Cancer (tcc)

Chrissi, I'm so glad to have you to communicate with. Ryle is our second dog. Our first dog, Otis, was a shelter rescue and he was hit by a car in front of our house. We thought we would never recover, but a littler over a month after his death, we found Ryle is a pet store –– just a 8 week old precious little thing. We adore him –– he's our life. Can't believe it's been 12 years. My first family pet was a scruffy terrier mix we brough back from Germany. She lived 16 years, so I know what you mean about 12 not being old. Some days Ryle still acts very young and is healthy except for this nasty cancer. We are waiting for our cancer vet to give us a call today and see where we are in Ryle's meds. Here is my email address if you would like to contact me without going through this chat room. shele.o'hollaren@craneaerospace.com I would love someone to talk to .... this is the hardest thing we have gone through in our lives. Ryle is our life and it's so hard on my husband, as Ryle is his hiking buddy and they are bonded like glue. Hope to hear from you. Shele and Ryle

Hi Shele... Gandalf was diagnosed last Wednesday with TCC...It was horrible for both my husband and myself....He is so healthly... I put him on both Echinacea goldenseal and flaxseed oil... I ordered graviola but it's backordered... He's on piroxicam and cytotec. He has always had a great diet since I am a veggie and fruit lover...My husband has started cooking him chicken.. Which he is very excited about.. NO more carbs...lots of water and love... How am I doing???? I have been crying for five days...I love him and can't stand to think that he has to go though this...I promished him 12 years ago when I adopted him that I would give him the best always....He doesn't know he's sick...AND WE'RE NOT TELLING HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!If you or anyone else can give me any more advise please...Thank you all Gandalfs Mom Pam

Pam, My heart aches for you and everyone else who has to watch their babies go through this horrible, horrible disease. I’m reading your note at work today, so I don’t have access to the names of the meds we have Ryle on. I do know the raw food diet has made a difference in his stamina. We took Ryle to a Holistic veterinarian, Dr. Seigler, who took him off ALL carbs –– that means, off ALL process dog foods. We live the Seattle and have access to a couple of local raw food companies. You can look online for one close to you. Some to look for by name would be Raw Advantage, Pepperdogz, FarMore Raw diet foods, Darwin. We have Ryle on Darwin (it’s a company in Seattle.) You can look up their information on http www.darwinspet.com. Here is a generic site for raw food ...http:// www.onlynaturalpet.com/Natural_Raw_Dog_Food_s/ 33.htm. We give Ryle Proxicam every other day. Our holistic vet didn’t want to put him on Cytotec –– instead we have him on natural herbs for his colon. I’ll get the names and amounts and let you know. Keep in mind that every dog is different, just like every person with cancer is different. The Proxicam has helped with his frequency of urination. I was trying to find information about Graviola, but I couldn’t find any animal information. Our Holistic vet said it couldn’t hurt, but didn’t give us any and didn’t know much about it for treating this kind of cancer. We have Ryle on Tramaleen (I think) –- it’s a mild pain pill, all natural, we take it. Another pill we have him on is Nordic Cod Liver Oil, not flaxoil. We break open the pill and put it into his raw food. It’s VERY important that you keep Gandalf’s immune system going and build it up to fight the cancer. You should check for a Holistic vet in your area and get a consultation from them. I think a healthy balance between the Holistic vet and a western vet can really make a good combination. Ryle’s our baby, our only dog, and we love him intensely. We try not to let him know we are worried and take him swimming and hiking (his favorite things to do). We really haven’t changed his routine so he doesn’t get stressed. It’s really important that you do that...keep on with things the way they have always been for him. Here is our email address at home...or my work email... shele.o’hollaren@craneaerospace.com. Email us and we can give you our phone number and please call anytime if you just want to chat. This is so rough, sometimes it just takes a friendly voice or someone who is going through the same thing to understand how you are feeling. I am so very sorry. I know, we still cry a lot. Shele (Ryle’s Mom)

Hi Pam, Here are the medications that our Holistic vet has Ryle on: Transfer Factor Advanced Formula, Stasis in the Lower Palace (Chinese Herbs), Curcumin 97 (regulates cellular inflamation), CAS Options (immune antioxident) and Piroxicam. We also have him on vitamins we buy from the health food store: Co-Q10 (60mg twice a day), Slippery Elm (twice a day), Marshmellow (480mg herb twice a day), Nordic Naturals Omega 3 Fish Oil (twice a day), plus the raw meat diet and we add a Seameal Mineral nd Vitamin supplement from a company called Solid Gold (Ryle has been on this for most of his life). The Slippery Elm and the Marshmellow are for his stomach in lieu of Cytotec. Again, I would suggest finding a Holistic vet in your area and get their opinion. It's tough. It's a guessing game with cancer .. no one really knows or has an answer. We are just trying to give him the best days possible and love him. Hope this helps ... please feel free to contact me anytime. Shele and Ryle B.

My 13 yr old scotty has had a "probably" diagnosis of TCC. Started in June with what I thought was a urinary infection which responded for a short time to antiboitic baytril. Again the urinating problem recurred but this time with blood. Xrays did not show any stones. Vet said ultrasound and possible biopsy could be done but a cystocopy would be best. He put her on a stonger antibiotic (can't remember the name as I am at work). I opted not to have the ultrasound or cystoscopy because in the end she is too old for any surgery and it seems to be a mute point. I did have a V-BTA test which came back positive. She went on Piroxcam on Friday and by Sunday the excessive urinating (and accidents) stopped. I really don't know what to do. I feel guilty not having more tests run, but as I've said surgery would be too hard on her.(She had surgery in March of this year for a type of melanoma on her foot (3 pea size growths) and it was VERY hard on her.) Seems like I just can't stop crying because she doesn't even act sick. Guess I just wanted to share my pain. Thanks for listening, Karen

My dog has just been diagnosed with the beginning stages of bladder cancer(4 mm x 5 mm). My vet told me she can't help me because she and her colleagues have never come across this type of cancer in their clinic before. Can someone recommend a vet or better yet, a vet oncologist, with this kind of experience in Toronto, Canada? At the same time, can someone recommend an holistic vet in the west end of the city who can help my dog re: supplements and diet? Thanks in advance, Pip

http://www.pets4life.com/index.php?p=research/ hvet Hi Pip, Above is a website link to a pets4life –– listing all the holistic vets registered on their site. There are a couple in Toronto. Take a look. Our dog is doing better on his holistic supplements and Piroxicam and raw food. Get another opinion from another vet. This is not a common cancer, but there are things you can do for your dog. Hope this helps. Best wishes. Shele and Ryle B.

Thanks for the info. - I 've made an appt. with an holistic vet for the end of Aug. Surgery, chemo and radiation therapy are not options. Therefore, going with medical therapy, perhaps Piroxicam. In the meantime, am eagerly seeking info. re: supplements and diet. Poochie is a 14 yr.old Bichon Frisé, 12 lbs., stage 1 kidney disease, stage 1 heart murmur, with a collapsed trachea (on a bronchidilator, Theophylline, 100 mg/day). He's had 6 teeth extractions so raw bones and such are out. Currently on 125 mg/day of Cipro (antibiotic) for 2 weeks for an urinary tract infection (1st time ever). His diet consists of a cup of Wellness Senior kibbles mixed with homemade food - cooked extra lean ground chicken/turkey/beef, shredded cabbage and cabbage. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks, Pip

Your holistic vet will probably put Poochi on a good program of vitamins and such. From what I've read about TCC, most all the dogs are put on Piroxicam. It's helped our dog with his need for frequent urination. We are not sure what it is doing, if anything, for the actual cancer tumors. But we continue to hope. Ask your vet when you have your appointment, but we were told that kibble is not good. The carbs/sugars in dry dog food is bad for TCC. Our dog was taken off his kibble completely and put on raw dog food. Our vet suggested cottage cheese, broccoli and any of the vegetable that help with the immune system. Sounds like you are on the right path with the chicken/turkey and beef. If I can be of any help, please let me know. This is all new to me and we are learning as we go. Shele and Ryle B.

Hi, I'm here because of my 8 year old Schipperke, Iris. She has been diagnosed with TCC in the bladder and has nodes on her liver and spleen. Like the rest of you, we are shocked. Since she is so well advanced we have decided against surgery. She was started on Piroxicam and pepcid for 2 weeks but started having stomach problems and has been off the Piroxicam for 3 days to let her stomach heal. We are going to start back with Cytotec for a couple of days and then try the Piroxicam one more time. My fear is her liver, and if she can handle all of this. I noticed you have Shelby on cytotec and pepcid. Do they work in different ways? What kind of doses are you using for what she weighs and how often? Iris is 21 pounds and had been taking 3.3 mgs of the piroxicam and 10mgs of pepcid. She was getting both once a day. My vet is not sure on the dosing of Cytotec and is trying to get more info on it. I just pray the Piroxicam will agree with her the second time around. It has really helped to clear up the blood in the urine. She is also being checked for bladder infections, don't have the results back yet. We have Iris on a home cooked diet with several supplements. We take it one day at a time and try to enjoy each one to it's fullest, but sometimes it's so hard. Hope all is well with your babies. It's nice to know there are others that understand.