Canine Bladder Cancer (tcc)

 

On 10/5/2007 Nancydm wrote:

I began reading your message board yesterday after my Lucy (12 year old black lab) was diagnosed with TCC. 

Six years ago she was diagnosed with Chronic Hep - result of Bartenilla (rare tick borne illness).  She has since been on

Ursodiol 300mg

Metronidazole 500mg

Derm Cap ES 945mg

Milk Thistle 150mg

Vitamin E 400 I.U. She also has a heart condition, laryngeal paralysis and arthritis.  After six years of meds and praying for her health yesterday was yet another blow to the heart.  She is the sweetest girl - a wedding gift from a co-worker. Her vet at University of Pennsylvania has put her on Prioxicam and Misoprostol.  She has been having difficulty urinating (frequent) for about six months.  We meet with an oncologist in two weeks to discuss chemo.  Any input would be appreciated. THANKS, Nancy

Gosh Nancy! I almost think Lucy's name should be changed to Lucky, that she has survived so much. She clearly is a well loved and cared for dog!  My dog, Annie, was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago and is still hanging in there.  My oncologist was not ever too positive for success with an operation--in our case, at least.  He also did not feel that chemo was too successful for this type of cancer.  So all we've done is the piroxicam.

We just went in yesterday to see him again (Annie was having trouble getting in and out of the car and through her doggie door, so I was worried this somehow could be related to the TCC--it seems not) Anyway, after reading on the board so much of late, I asked him if he was sure that he was keeping up on the latest procedures and was there not ANYTHING more we should be doing.  I truly like him, he's a good man, but I wanted him to never forget that I am putting so much trust in him.

I know he got my point--and still piroxicam is the number one treatment of choice for us.  You will have to see what your vet recommends.  My vet did say that there is a new radiation treatment that they have at the Univ of Florida that works on TCC of the uretha. They have only done a few procedures but it looks promising. It won't work on the bladder, however.

So, Nancy, I don't know if that was any help to you at all.  Lucy sounds like a real fighter so don't give up hope.

Good luck to you,

Marty 

 

 

On 10/6/2007 Gentleannie wrote:

 

On 10/5/2007 Nancydm wrote:

I began reading your message board yesterday after my Lucy (12 year old black lab) was diagnosed with TCC. 

Six years ago she was diagnosed with Chronic Hep - result of Bartenilla (rare tick borne illness).  She has since been on

Ursodiol 300mg

Metronidazole 500mg

Derm Cap ES 945mg

Milk Thistle 150mg

Vitamin E 400 I.U. She also has a heart condition, laryngeal paralysis and arthritis.  After six years of meds and praying for her health yesterday was yet another blow to the heart.  She is the sweetest girl - a wedding gift from a co-worker. Her vet at University of Pennsylvania has put her on Prioxicam and Misoprostol.  She has been having difficulty urinating (frequent) for about six months.  We meet with an oncologist in two weeks to discuss chemo.  Any input would be appreciated. THANKS, Nancy

Gosh Nancy! I almost think Lucy's name should be changed to Lucky, that she has survived so much. She clearly is a well loved and cared for dog!  My dog, Annie, was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago and is still hanging in there.  My oncologist was not ever too positive for success with an operation--in our case, at least.  He also did not feel that chemo was too successful for this type of cancer.  So all we've done is the piroxicam.

We just went in yesterday to see him again (Annie was having trouble getting in and out of the car and through her doggie door, so I was worried this somehow could be related to the TCC--it seems not) Anyway, after reading on the board so much of late, I asked him if he was sure that he was keeping up on the latest procedures and was there not ANYTHING more we should be doing.  I truly like him, he's a good man, but I wanted him to never forget that I am putting so much trust in him.

I know he got my point--and still piroxicam is the number one treatment of choice for us.  You will have to see what your vet recommends.  My vet did say that there is a new radiation treatment that they have at the Univ of Florida that works on TCC of the uretha. They have only done a few procedures but it looks promising. It won't work on the bladder, however.

So, Nancy, I don't know if that was any help to you at all.  Lucy sounds like a real fighter so don't give up hope.

Good luck to you,

Marty 

Marty,

Thanks for the response.  I am encouraged after hearing that Annie is going on 2 1/2 years since diagnosed.  Sorry to hear about her trouble of late - how old is she?  Lucy has had trouble with steps, car, bed etc. for a while and is now on Ultram for pain and it seems to help.

Lucy's tumor is in the uretha and bladder - I will ask about the radiation when we meet with the oncologist.   Glad to hear the piroxicam is working - we started Lucy on it Friday.

 As sad as I am I'm not giving up hope.  Just trying to make the most of every day with her.  My husband and I took her to the beach yesterday for a little frollic in the water - she had a ball and came home with a great appetite (which she has not had for a while).   

 Good luck to you and Annie and thanks again for the reply.

Nancy

 

My lab, Lucy, does not seem to want to eat her dry food.  I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing this?  She is on a restricted diet, Royal Canin can and dry and an occasional carrot.  She only likes it when I make "biscuits" out of her can food which basically are meatballs made with the can food and cooked in the oven for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees.  This began just prior to her diagnosis of TCC.  Any input would be appreciated.  Thanks, Nancy

My 13 1/2 year old very healthy, very active Scottish Terrier Dougal has just been positively diagnosed with bladder cancer. Two previous tests (one with urine, one by going up the urethra and snipping a bit off) came back negative. With great hope that this might be polypoid cystitis and not cancer, he had surgery last week with hopes that it would just need debulking of the polypoid cystitis to alleviate the symptoms. Well, very bad news. It is TCC. I just found this site yesterday. It really does help to know there is a place to ask questions/and share info. I've heard a lot on here about piroxicam and other drugs/herbs/additives. Dougal is still quite healthy. He's eating fine...just changed from Innova Senior & Evo to No grain kibble from Nature's Variety with added veggies/yoghurt. He doesn't go out more frequently, but when he does, it's constant squatting. Also, he's always straining to defecate. Usually he starts peeing, and then go right into squatting to defecate. His stools are tiny since he is going so often. Dougal was on Piroxicam and Pepcid briefly after our first vet visit where an ultrasound was taken. The antiinfammatory had immediate amazing effects. The frequency, however, did start back up again after about 10 days, plus they were worried about his kidneys. I don't remember what the problem was specifically. I'm sorry not to have written everything down. Emotionally, I was such a mess at that point. We are going back next week to have stitches out and talk to the oncologist. All we are hearing so far is radiation and chemo. But I've read almost nothing on this message forum about these. I'm wondering what experiences you all have had. Dougal is not the kind of dog that likes to be messed with...not a hands on guy except for me. So, these experiences of being handled/picked up etc by strangers won't be pleasant for him. Because of his age, my first instinct is to say no to both radiation and chemo, but, if they really have a huge benefit and not horrible side effects, I might reconsider. At our first visit, the oncologist was talking adding just a few months. But most of your dogs seem to be succeeding far beyond that. Is that the norm? Any and all info on radiation/chemo--both positive and negative--would be a great help. Thanks so much! Give all your doggies a hug for me! Joann & Dougal & Dougal's brother Riley

Hi,

I decided not to opt for the chemo or radiation for Lucky so I can not help you here but I wanted to send you good wishes for your doggie.  All the best.

 

Michele and Lucky   

On 10/11/2007 Abbyshap wrote:

Hi,

I decided not to opt for the chemo or radiation for Lucky so I can not help you here but I wanted to send you good wishes for your doggie.  All the best.

 

Michele and Lucky   

Michele... Thanks so much for the good wishes. If you don't mind my asking...did you opt out because of your dog's age/condition, the cost (which I have no idea of yet) or did you believe it just wasn't right for your dog ? I already know both the surgeon and the medical oncologist are leaning towards these two options. They can be very persuasive and I want, like everyone, to do the best for my boy. thanks Joann & Dougal

Sorry about the diagnosis.  We have a 9 yr old large mix with TCC (Sunny).  Your message struck a chord with me.

I think you are right about the length of time the docs mention.  It seems most people here have outlived the span given by far.  I know we have even though we didn't do anything for the better part of a year (our vet thought she had spay incontinence).  We chose surgery only because she had to have emergency surgery for something else- no chemo or radiation because of her age and how long she had had it.  She got really sick again pretty fast (a couple of months)- we even almost put her down.  We started Poly-MVA after that. 

She has done overall pretty well but what I wanted to tell you was she quit that straining and always trying to go thing that you mentioned.  I felt so bad for her during that because I knew she was tired but she was always working on going.  Her quality of life is a lot better (She has been on it full strength for 3 months).

We hope she will see 10 years (in January) but if not her time was happier I know.

The hardest part of all this I think is finding your own way that is right for your dog.  I think you are right to consider all the handling though, my dog doesn't like to go places so that was a big factor in our decisions.

Best to you,

Mandi 

On 10/11/2007 Mandi wrote:

Sorry about the diagnosis.  We have a 9 yr old large mix with TCC (Sunny).  Your message struck a chord with me.

I think you are right about the length of time the docs mention.  It seems most people here have outlived the span given by far.  I know we have even though we didn't do anything for the better part of a year (our vet thought she had spay incontinence).  We chose surgery only because she had to have emergency surgery for something else- no chemo or radiation because of her age and how long she had had it.  She got really sick again pretty fast (a couple of months)- we even almost put her down.  We started Poly-MVA after that. 

She has done overall pretty well but what I wanted to tell you was she quit that straining and always trying to go thing that you mentioned.  I felt so bad for her during that because I knew she was tired but she was always working on going.  Her quality of life is a lot better (She has been on it full strength for 3 months).

We hope she will see 10 years (in January) but if not her time was happier I know.

The hardest part of all this I think is finding your own way that is right for your dog.  I think you are right to consider all the handling though, my dog doesn't like to go places so that was a big factor in our decisions.

Best to you,

Mandi 

Mandi...thanks for your message. I wonder now how long Dougal was showing signs of this before I noticed. It really seemed to come on very suddenly, but that doesn't seem possible. If it weren't for the constant squatting, I wouldn't have a clue. Our friends were pretty incredulous when I told them. This is a dog who was playing fetch and agility a few days before his surgery. Was it Poly-MVA that helped with all the straining? I don't know what that is. Joann & Dougal and Riley who helps with pill delivery.

 

On 10/11/2007 jjoz812 wrote:

My 13 1/2 year old very healthy, very active Scottish Terrier Dougal has just been positively diagnosed with bladder cancer. Two previous tests (one with urine, one by going up the urethra and snipping a bit off) came back negative. With great hope that this might be polypoid cystitis and not cancer, he had surgery last week with hopes that it would just need debulking of the polypoid cystitis to alleviate the symptoms. Well, very bad news. It is TCC. I just found this site yesterday. It really does help to know there is a place to ask questions/and share info. I've heard a lot on here about piroxicam and other drugs/herbs/additives. Dougal is still quite healthy. He's eating fine...just changed from Innova Senior & Evo to No grain kibble from Nature's Variety with added veggies/yoghurt. He doesn't go out more frequently, but when he does, it's constant squatting. Also, he's always straining to defecate. Usually he starts peeing, and then go right into squatting to defecate. His stools are tiny since he is going so often. Dougal was on Piroxicam and Pepcid briefly after our first vet visit where an ultrasound was taken. The antiinfammatory had immediate amazing effects. The frequency, however, did start back up again after about 10 days, plus they were worried about his kidneys. I don't remember what the problem was specifically. I'm sorry not to have written everything down. Emotionally, I was such a mess at that point. We are going back next week to have stitches out and talk to the oncologist. All we are hearing so far is radiation and chemo. But I've read almost nothing on this message forum about these. I'm wondering what experiences you all have had. Dougal is not the kind of dog that likes to be messed with...not a hands on guy except for me. So, these experiences of being handled/picked up etc by strangers won't be pleasant for him. Because of his age, my first instinct is to say no to both radiation and chemo, but, if they really have a huge benefit and not horrible side effects, I might reconsider. At our first visit, the oncologist was talking adding just a few months. But most of your dogs seem to be succeeding far beyond that. Is that the norm? Any and all info on radiation/chemo--both positive and negative--would be a great help. Thanks so much! Give all your doggies a hug for me! Joann & Dougal & Dougal's brother Riley

 

Hello Joann!

I'm sorry to hear about your Dougal.  My Annie was diagnosed in Feb/March of 2005 and is still hanging in there.  The best advice I can give to all the people who have just heard this devastating diagnosis is to not worry.  When I first heard about Annie, I was beside myself . I canceled vacations, I wouldn't leave her alone and probably made her crazy since she could tell how upset I was. The worrying doesn't help one iota and only takes away from the enjoyment you should have while you still have your pup with you. Everybody always says how happy their dog acts and how it seems impossible that they are sick so enjoy him while you can!

That being said, we were just at our oncologist last week and I asked him again if there was more we could be doing for Annie (so far all she has been on is Piroxicam) Our vet still isn't  keen on either radiation, chemo or surgery for Annie. But should your vet recommend chemo, it is no where near as hard on dogs as humans, so that will be some consolation to you.  I don't know if this is why they are concerned about Dougal's kidneys, but our vet did another one of his bladder drawings on the board and said that if the tumor blocks one of the kidneys from emptying into the bladder, the dog can still do okay as you can live with one kidney. If the tumor is situated so that both kidneys are blocked, that dog would be in trouble.

Basically as long as Annie can empty her bladder (no matter how many times it takes) and her other organs keep working, she'll be okay. (Thank God for our doggie door!!!!)

I hope this helps you a bit, trust your vets and at the same time do what you think is best for your pup.  If I can answer any questions for you, don't hesitate to ask.  One other thing, if Dougal's brother is another Scottie, you might want to have him tested as well.  This cancer is VERY common in Scotties and the earlier they are put on Piroxicam, the better.

Good luck to you, I'll keep you in our prayers.

Marty 

On 10/11/2007 Gentleannie wrote:

 

On 10/11/2007 jjoz812 wrote:

My 13 1/2 year old very healthy, very active Scottish Terrier Dougal has just been positively diagnosed with bladder cancer. Two previous tests (one with urine, one by going up the urethra and snipping a bit off) came back negative. With great hope that this might be polypoid cystitis and not cancer, he had surgery last week with hopes that it would just need debulking of the polypoid cystitis to alleviate the symptoms. Well, very bad news. It is TCC. I just found this site yesterday. It really does help to know there is a place to ask questions/and share info. I've heard a lot on here about piroxicam and other drugs/herbs/additives. Dougal is still quite healthy. He's eating fine...just changed from Innova Senior & Evo to No grain kibble from Nature's Variety with added veggies/yoghurt. He doesn't go out more frequently, but when he does, it's constant squatting. Also, he's always straining to defecate. Usually he starts peeing, and then go right into squatting to defecate. His stools are tiny since he is going so often. Dougal was on Piroxicam and Pepcid briefly after our first vet visit where an ultrasound was taken. The antiinfammatory had immediate amazing effects. The frequency, however, did start back up again after about 10 days, plus they were worried about his kidneys. I don't remember what the problem was specifically. I'm sorry not to have written everything down. Emotionally, I was such a mess at that point. We are going back next week to have stitches out and talk to the oncologist. All we are hearing so far is radiation and chemo. But I've read almost nothing on this message forum about these. I'm wondering what experiences you all have had. Dougal is not the kind of dog that likes to be messed with...not a hands on guy except for me. So, these experiences of being handled/picked up etc by strangers won't be pleasant for him. Because of his age, my first instinct is to say no to both radiation and chemo, but, if they really have a huge benefit and not horrible side effects, I might reconsider. At our first visit, the oncologist was talking adding just a few months. But most of your dogs seem to be succeeding far beyond that. Is that the norm? Any and all info on radiation/chemo--both positive and negative--would be a great help. Thanks so much! Give all your doggies a hug for me! Joann & Dougal & Dougal's brother Riley

 

Hello Joann!

I'm sorry to hear about your Dougal.  My Annie was diagnosed in Feb/March of 2005 and is still hanging in there.  The best advice I can give to all the people who have just heard this devastating diagnosis is to not worry.  When I first heard about Annie, I was beside myself . I canceled vacations, I wouldn't leave her alone and probably made her crazy since she could tell how upset I was. The worrying doesn't help one iota and only takes away from the enjoyment you should have while you still have your pup with you. Everybody always says how happy their dog acts and how it seems impossible that they are sick so enjoy him while you can!

That being said, we were just at our oncologist last week and I asked him again if there was more we could be doing for Annie (so far all she has been on is Piroxicam) Our vet still isn't  keen on either radiation, chemo or surgery for Annie. But should your vet recommend chemo, it is no where near as hard on dogs as humans, so that will be some consolation to you.  I don't know if this is why they are concerned about Dougal's kidneys, but our vet did another one of his bladder drawings on the board and said that if the tumor blocks one of the kidneys from emptying into the bladder, the dog can still do okay as you can live with one kidney. If the tumor is situated so that both kidneys are blocked, that dog would be in trouble.

Basically as long as Annie can empty her bladder (no matter how many times it takes) and her other organs keep working, she'll be okay. (Thank God for our doggie door!!!!)

I hope this helps you a bit, trust your vets and at the same time do what you think is best for your pup.  If I can answer any questions for you, don't hesitate to ask.  One other thing, if Dougal's brother is another Scottie, you might want to have him tested as well.  This cancer is VERY common in Scotties and the earlier they are put on Piroxicam, the better.

Good luck to you, I'll keep you in our prayers.

Marty 

Marty...thanks so much for the note. Sounds like your Annie is a lot like my Dougal. I had to do all my crying while he was in for surgery and then knock it off. Cause he picks up on my every emotion and gets upset. A doggie door would be excellent. Unfortunately that's not possible. But, I do work close enough to home to do lunch with the boys. Riley is a Wire Fox. He's a big help keeping us all normal. He's also a big help with pill delivery as we do quick sits/downs/spins/handshakes for treats and there's nothing like a little competition to make a Scottie swallow fast! Just have to make sure which treat is going to which dog! I'll let you know what the vets recommend next week. Every day is a bonus! Joann & Dougal