Canine Bladder Cancer (tcc)

I wanted to offer my sympathy on the passing on Dov and Elie. May all of your wonderful memories bring you some comfort.

We had to make that torturing decision to say goodbye to our sheltie- Brannigan too on September 15th and I feel the same as you. She was our first baby, before we had our children. Her final moments were so peaceful in our arms in the home she lived her entire life. Our vets were wonderful and very supportive and we were grateful that they came to our home.

It was one of the saddest days of our lives. She was almost 15 and lived 14 mos with TCC. We have done all we could and it was her time to go.

I want to thank all of you for the wonderful information that I gained from this post, for all of the times I needed support and guidance.

A special THANK YOU to Marty and GENTLE ANNIE! Warmest wished to each of you and all of your furry babies who are lucky to have families that love them so very much!!

Our 9 year old sheltie was diagnosed with TCC in May 08. We opted to treat her with Metacam. She was asymptomatic except for straining to urinate. We were hoping for a simple bladder infection. There were also cancer cells in her vaginal canal. Has anyone else been told this? I asked if it could be shedding from the bladder tumor, but the vet said no. Monthly ultrasounds have shown that the tumor in her bladder has not grown. Lately she has had urge incontinence. All of a sudden she has to go and it just comes out. This is always when we are home. She doesn't have accidents when we aren't there. She has had some bloody vaginal discharge, but it cleared up after a round of antibiotics. We have not done a probe to see what is going on there, just the ultrasounds of her bladder. Wondering if someone has had a dog with similar symptoms and what we can expect next.

So sorry to hear about your Brannigan.  I hope Elie and Bran become friends at the bridge.  Actually, that's a given... Elie loves all shelties.

J&K

Hi Sheltiemum,

Sorry for what you guys are going through... it sucks.

We saw similar symptoms with Elie... usually her incontinence happened when someone new came around.  At home she was pretty darn good... only a few accidents and towards the end she had to tell us to go out rather than use the dog door.

Elie never had any blood in her urine or discharge. She did fuss at her vulva area in the last few weeks.  Neosporin seemed to help maybe just to sooth her irritation.  Might be worth a try

We were told 1-3 months (we knew we were probably already 3-6 months in to this). We treated with Piroxicam and switched to a no-grain diet. She lasted exactly 3 months.  She never lost her spirit, but she did start losing her apppetite. That's when we knew we were close.  The last week or so was a free for all: hot dogs, cereal, turkey, chicken wrapped in apple (really).

Hope that helps even a little,

Jeff

Is your RR still with us?

I have an 11-yr old RR with what I suspect will be diagnosed as bladder cancer, so I was referred to this board by a friend and the first message was yours.  I will read through more posts in the next few days, but wanted to ask if anyone knows where I can get Graviola in New Orleans, Louisiana?

What else should I look into?

FYI:  We don't have a diagnosis yet.  11-yr old female RR has been peeing blood for about 2 months now.  No bacteria in urine.  Two rounds of antibiotics did nothing.  X-ray showed no lumps.  A steroid shot helped for a few days.  Now on Previcox, which helps her sleep through the night.  (But a side effect of that, at least I think it's related, is that she developed sort-of hotspots on her front toes... so I have cut the dose in half to see if that helps the toes recover.)  And she still pees blood, and tries to pee 15 times after she empties her bladder.  There is usually a good-sized blood clot in the urine.  Vet said the bladder felt thickened, but regular in shape, leading him to think it probably was NOT cancer.  But we haven't done an ultrasound yet... and after reading messages here, I suspect it will turn out to be cancer.

I don't want to waste money doing more unproductive tests -- so what test(s) should we do that can definitively diagnose cancer or not?

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give us.

On 2/4/2005 Nannyno wrote:

I have a Sweet sweet sweet, ten year old Rhodesian Ridgeback named Diva. She is fighting the big fight right now, Tranitional cell carcinoma, in her bladder(4cm x5cm). She was diagnosed a month ago, and is asymtomatic except for bloody urine. She is in no apparent discomfort. I am giving her Piroxicam, an nsai, and have been for one month. Her regular Vet. insists it will see her through the major discomfort down the road...until she can no longer tolerate it. Without an operation, we want to shrink her tumor and slow it down, (irradicate would be BEST) with Graviola. Don't know how much to give a 75 pound girl. Does anyone out there have any experience with giving it to a dog? SO Gratefully Yours, Nannyno

well, ,mutley has been on peroxicam for 3 months and has been doing quite well, he hasnt had any accidents in the house until yesterday (1) but has lost some appetite, he is getting picky, and not eating alot, is it posibble the peroxicam is doing a nimber on his stomach? I dont want to take him off it, but not really sure what to do, he is guarding is food from Maisy ( our 5 year old yellow lab) but still not eating it. I am thinking this isnt good.'

any ideas?

Duane