Canine Bladder Cancer (tcc)

hi,

i stumbled across this site in an attempt to see how others are dealing with their dogs that have been stricken with some horrible disease. I saw that you have a 10 year old Ridgeback and I was instantly drawn to your situation. However, after reading the messages on this site, i can sympathize with everyone.

My dog was recently diagnosed with heart disease. She takes a cocktail of medication everyday and it has become a struggle to keep her eating. Her weight is about 73 pounds, down from 80 in October 2004.

She was always a fussy eater, but it is getting tougher as the days go by. I see that some feed their dogs oatmeal, yogurt, etc. My dog, Darla, eats chicken, beef, rice almost exclusively. To get her to take an interest, we have had to "spice it up a notch" with baby food (beef or chicken broth are faves). But there are days when even that is not interesting. And that is where we have become so distressed: she MUST eat to fight. And when she does not eat, she gets weaker.

If anyone has any tips, secrets, to get a very fussy dog to eat (anything healthy) I would appreciate it.

This site is a wonderful resource and it has been very helpful to me emotionally. It is great to talk/read about this.

Hello Brent! We welcome you to our enclave of endevour. I wanted to respond right away, even though I don't have a great remedy for Darla. I can tell you that personally, nearly any RR question I might have will be answered sooner or later in a thread of conversation running through rhodesian ridgeback folk line website: rr-folk@v2.listbox.com

You must register to participate ( whethter you just read or want to join in their chat)It's not really a chat room, but parties who do chat must have conversation relating to RR's. and they discuss rescue, show results,holistic remedies, pending legislation, EVERYTHING. Depending on the number of participants that day there may be four to seven pages daily in my inbox! Perhaps you could go to a breed-specific site which is simmilar and post your appeal. Even though hunger crosses ALL breed types, of course, I don't know of a general website, but I do know that, like this one, they are "out there". I have my fingers crossed for swift, "bingo" results for your girl! God Bless, Nannyno

Thanks Susan for the link. I will try asap. It is very much appreciated.

Today has not been a good day at all. I went out and bought some vanilla yogurt (someone on here suggested that). She seemed to enjoy that. But that was about it. We will see what this evening brings. You can see that look in their eyes: they are trying so hard for you but something just won't let them. I am not going to be a hero about this ie. her quality of life is the most important thing. And when that is no longer possible, we have to make some extremely difficult decsisions.

I pray this is only a blip in this sad process.

Hi Gregg -- Hoping this message finds you with your precious Maggie still with you. I unfortunately found myself at this site tonight while trying to see through my tears. My 12 year old Westie Baxter, was disgnosed this evening rather by accident. He underwent surgery for an intestinal blockage (another story altogether) and they found bladder cancer while in there. Thinking it was just a polyp initially, they were able to remove 90% of the tumor, but the location of the remainder precludes further surgery. Wondering how you have done with chemical treatments, and if you have tried any nutritional approaches or herbal remedies such as Glaviola. I have to hit this thing with everything in my arsenal. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.

Hi Cathleen,

I'm really so sorry to hear about Baxter. If they were
able to remove 90% of the tumor, you may have
Baxter for quite a while longer.

My angel departed 4 weeks ago. She had her surgery
in January and the vet gave her 2-3 months. She
lasted 8 months under my conditions that she still
wanted to eat, still wanted to play and wasn't in pain.
Up until the very last day, other than needing to pee
every couple of hours, she met those conditions.

Some thoughts on medicine: The piroxicam didn't
seem to help and made her very finicky. We had her
on it for 4 weeks and then an ultrasound showed the
tumor continued to grow. So we switched her to a low
dose of prednisone. It has very strong anti-
inflammatory results which we suspect helped keep
the tumor down but also opened up the urethra and
kept her kidneys in check. Right up to the last day, her
kidneys were fine as was her liver. But her bladder
started to get distended and that was the beginning of
the end - about a month longer.

So, for Maggie, who weighed 21 pounds, she got 3-4
mg of prednisone in the morning along with 2.5mg of
tramadol (a mild pain killer) and a pepcid. I also put
her on the graviola - thank you to this board! - which
knocked out any blood in her urine. My vet also
recommended glucosamine - 250mg twice a day.
Trader Joe's and others sell a liver flavored tablet
which was no problem to feed her. We also had her
on fish oil - one capsule per day. The latter items were
to keep things well-lubricated and the glucosamine
was supposed to help create mucus in the bladder.
Oh - and one other item - there is an herbal vet
supplement called Urinary Bladder Support. It had
cranberry, uva ursi, etc. and she got that once per day.

The only items I could see worked were the
prednisone which shortened the length of her pees;
and the graviola which definitely did clear up blood in
the urine. The rest were all part of the mix and
something must have worked since she lasted so
much longer than the vets every expected.

This is a rotten cancer but it really didn't seem to cause
pain - I think it was harder for me to watch her struggle
to pee or wait 2 minutes to pee than it was for her.
She never cried or squirmed until the very last day.

Again, my thoughts and best wishes are with you. If
you ever want to talk or get more advice, please drop
a note. I miss my baby girl more than I can say but I
know she was happy to stay with me and her sister as
long as she did. (Maggie was 10.)

God bless.
Gregg

Hello everyone. I want to thank everyone for all of the post and useful information - and I feel for everyone that is battling this disease with there loved one. I too was devastated when my 9 year old yellow lab (Zachary) was diagnosed with bladder cancer about 3 months ago. My vet started him on the piroxicam immediately. Once I found this site, I ordered the Graviola and started giving him 50 drops per day, along with the piroxicam. We had a return visit to the vet last week - Zachary had gained weight, the vet said he had more pep in his step, and was really pleased with the way he was doing. We were so thrilled with the report.. Some days he appears to be his old self, and other days he seems a little tired. At times he appears to be having trouble urinating, but other times he seems to be going with no problem. Since being diagnosed, he seems to dribble where ever he is sitting, and wants to go out very often. But I'm dealing with it and I'm happy that he is doing well - I hope and pray that he continues to do well. I can't imagine being without him, he is definately my best friend.

Rick (Zachary's Dad)

Brian,
I too have a Scotty (13yr)with TCC. She has been on peroxicam since Aug 12, and on Sept 3 I started her on graviola (appx 16 drops). This past weekend I did not give her the graviola (going with the 2 weeks on 1 week of schedule) but I noticed she seemed "down", so I started it up again and she responded positively almost immediately. I am going to continue using both. Is Peabody doing OK on the peroxicam? When I first started giving it to Kacee I had to lower her dosage because it bothered her stomach. But I slowly raised it back up and she tolerates it very well now. We are taking it a day at a time and grateful for every day we still have her with us. Hope you have good results and many more days with Peabody.

Karen

So sorry for the loss of Maggie, and to everyone on this board, my thoughts and prayers are with you all. 3 years ago, I lost Baxter's sister Bonnie to lymphoma and now I am facing TCC with Baxter. It isn't any easier this time around. I am appreciatove of the suggestions and hindsight here. I ordered a bottle of Graviola drops today and will start them as soon as Baxter heals from his surgery. I suppose we are somewhat fortunate to have found the TCC when we did. Sunday 9/18 Baxter went into vet ER with vomiting and after x-ray and ultrasound were inconclusive for an obstruction, they performed abdominal exploratory surgery. During this, they removed the 2 pieces of the darn Nylabone he ate about 8 weeks ago (good) but found a mass on his bladder that they thought was a polyp or blood clot (bad). They removed most of it (90%) but no margins. When the biopsy came back with TCC, we were of course devastated. But again, the incidental finding of the TCC was a good thing in that most of the tumor was removed during the surgery, and it was discovered in its very early stages. Well, after 6 days in doggie ER, Baxter came home today and is weak but happy to be home. We haven't even seen the signs of the TCC yet but we know its there. When his tummy recovers, we can start the drug therapy (vet says about 3 weeks to allow healing internally). I will also start the Graviola. I am cautiously positive because when Baxter left the hospital today, the vet said that he has the best "chance" of survival she has seen in these cases because it was detected so early and because most of it was removed. Hoping against hope that since only a "small" amount of the cancer cells remain, that we can knock it out holistically and with chemo drugs. May also try the NSAIDs. We have a wonderful UC Davis oncologist on standby to start the protocol when Baxter is ready. Again, I am less than 24 hours from diagnosis at this point, and that disgnosis was pre-symptoms. I will keep the board updated with everything I learn along the way. I hope I am lucky like some of you have been in that you were able to enjoy your companions for many months after disgnosis, but I know in my hear that someday we will all grieve together. Baxter is the best dog I have ever had. In addition to this board, the chemo, the other drugs and the Graviola, I am trying to remain positive, but most of all, I am praying. So happy to have found a forum here. Thanks again to all who have posted; your advice, counsel, spirit, hope and love of these precious pets will inspire and encourage me throught his painful time.

Karen,

Thank you for your message -- it is appreciated. We hope that your Scottie, along with all of the other dogs on this forum, will see better days ahead. I think we all unfortunately carry with us that dreaded thought of the day that we may have to make the dreaded decison. In any case, we are fighting on for Peabody's life. We mix the powdered piroxicam (pharmacict's suggestion as not to concentrate it in any one spot in his stomach) in ground beef, spinach, and carrots daily with a dosage of 4 mg. Also, no Carbs whatsoever. It doesn't seem to bother him, although our pharmacist mentioned that it takes a while (build up) for possible problems with the stomach to occur with piroxicam. Yesterday we started 7 drops of graviola and will slowly increase the dosage after we see that there are no complications. (In general, we try to keep LOW dosages) Peabdy also uses ambrotose to--seemingly--aid cell strength. Our vet also suggested Transfer Factor, but we are holding off more meds because we do not want to tax his system. Peabody still has blood in his urine, but is urinating more freely than before. This is good news, but we are well aware of the tumor still resting in his bladder. We are doucumenting his progress (or lack of)diet, bowels, urination, etc. on a spreadsheet to help us make any logical connection that we can for us and any other pet lover in the future. But this will take much more time to be effective, if at all. Action has helped our prayers more than anything and we will share any information to all of you. BTW, keep the dogs off the treated grass (especially Scotties) and wash off the paws EVERY time the dog comes in. Hang in there to all.

I'm new to this message board. After doing so much research online, I thought I would give this a try! I have a yellow lab who is almost 9 years old. She is my baby girl! She was spayed at 2 yrs. About 3 weeks ago she was having trouble urinating. She was literally trying to go every 10 seconds! Then she started bleeding. It was a brownish bloody discharge comping from her vulva. When I took her to the vet, he decided to treat her as having a urinary tract infection. After tests showed she has no blood in her urine. Over a period of 10 days, she lost 7 lbs. She had an appetite tho. When the vet gave her an exam he said her bladder wall did seem a little thick, but it might just be inflammed from straining so much. The pain meds and anti-inflammatory seemed to have worked. She is now doing fine. What I'm wondering tho, is if these medications are just camoflaging her symptoms and if she might actually have a tumor... If she hadn't of gotten better with the meds the next step would have been a ultrasound. I'm just trying to get one step ahead. After all, you really have to have your own diagnosis before you go to the vet. Their diagnosis depends alot on the symptoms that you tell them. Has anyone else had experience with this type of symptom? Thanks for any help.. If this is a tumor, I would like to catch it as early as possible. This is my first little girl! She was my family before I ever had one... We would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to her.