Tcc

Been checking this site for 3 months, helpful to read about other folks dealing with this horrible disease... My forrest, who is an amazing basset beagle mix was diagnosed 09/15/07, have had him on piroxicam, pepcid & carafate in addition to tramadol prn for pain since then. At first, he was having lots of trouble with bm's... Read somewhere that canned pumpkin helped with that ( which it has), but how does cottage cheese and flax seed figure in?  Amount and frequency? Forrest is almost 13, and his symptoms started with increased urination  (which i pointed out to the vet in july)and then that fateful day when he peed blood. Absolutely refuse to be overly aggressive with treatment with him now, just trying to maintain a good quality of life .. Any other suggestions? Diet, supplements etc.. Open to anything  non invasive. Thanks, forrest, bailey and gunners mom.

 

On 12/12/2007 KGVRN wrote:

Been checking this site for 3 months, helpful to read about other folks dealing with this horrible disease... My forrest, who is an amazing basset beagle mix was diagnosed 09/15/07, have had him on piroxicam, pepcid & carafate in addition to tramadol prn for pain since then. At first, he was having lots of trouble with bm's... Read somewhere that canned pumpkin helped with that ( which it has), but how does cottage cheese and flax seed figure in?  Amount and frequency? Forrest is almost 13, and his symptoms started with increased urination  (which i pointed out to the vet in july)and then that fateful day when he peed blood. Absolutely refuse to be overly aggressive with treatment with him now, just trying to maintain a good quality of life .. Any other suggestions? Diet, supplements etc.. Open to anything  non invasive. Thanks, forrest, bailey and gunners mom.

 

Hi there--I am sorry to hear about your pup's diagnosis. 

There is a great big long thread in the bladder cancer section--over 625 entries. It is all devoted to TCC in dogs.  If your read through it, you will see a lot of stories.  Some will make you very sad, but some will give you a lot of hope.

You'll see many suggestions of how others have chosen to deal with this  rotten disease.  My dog, Annie is 12 1/2 now; she was first diagnosed 2 3/4 years ago and is still doing well. She is a PBGV--so her body shape is probably similar to your Forrest's.  She has been on 5 mg of Piroxicam all this time and it has worked well for her.

Good luck to you.

Marty 

Thanks for the info, will check it out, good luck to you and your baby as well. Nice to hear that the diagnosis was so long ago and your dog is still doing so well, Forrest has some days better than others, but mostly still good days, what more can you ask for right? Thanks again and happy holidays, Karen

HI All, our beloved Westie, Spike, is a little over 12.5 yrs old and started having symptoms (incontinence)  about a month ago. He was first diagnosed with a urinary infection and when that didn't clear up all the tests were started. They  found a 3 cm mass in his bladder and the vets are 99% sure it's TCC and put him on piroxicam and meds for his stomach and glucosamine for the lining. We have scheduled a scope and biopsy with a specialist next Friday to see what we're dealing with.Spike also has an enlarged prostate which is worrisome. Still, he acts and plays just like the puppy he's been for the last 12 plus years!! HIs appetite is great, he does strain to try to urinate after he goes  but his flow is still good, however there are some drops of blood that is visible to the eye. Doing some reading I found out that Westies are predisposed to bladder cancer and they even conduct studies on that. We want to give Spike 2 or more years of quality life, that's our only hope- we'll put up with the pee accidents as long as he's happy ,and not in pain. I'm so glad I found this site, it will give us hope. God bless these dogs they are so special. 

 

Hi Marty and Annie,  Has been a rough couple of weeks for Forrest and I!! New Years morning, Forrest couldn't stand, support weight, etc... Took him to the emergency vet fully prepared to say my ultimate goodbye, layed next to him on the floor crying like a baby, I might add... Good news for us, Forrest had exasperated an ongoing degenerative spinal disease issue that has not bothered him in over 2 years... Once he was sufficiently medicated, we brought him home and hoped for the best, he did recover nicely with his mobility, but he has been 100% urinary incontinent since. My regular vet says this is due to disease progression -vs- degenaerative disease. We have handled this with kids "pull up's" wrapped around his waist, we do what we have to do, right? My question is, have you had any adverse effects with Annie and the peroxicam at all? You have such an amazing success story with her!! My continued supprt for you and your pup, and thanks for your input in advance, Karen

 

On 1/13/2008 KGVRN wrote:

Hi Marty and Annie,  Has been a rough couple of weeks for Forrest and I!! New Years morning, Forrest couldn't stand, support weight, etc... Took him to the emergency vet fully prepared to say my ultimate goodbye, layed next to him on the floor crying like a baby, I might add... Good news for us, Forrest had exasperated an ongoing degenerative spinal disease issue that has not bothered him in over 2 years... Once he was sufficiently medicated, we brought him home and hoped for the best, he did recover nicely with his mobility, but he has been 100% urinary incontinent since. My regular vet says this is due to disease progression -vs- degenaerative disease. We have handled this with kids "pull up's" wrapped around his waist, we do what we have to do, right? My question is, have you had any adverse effects with Annie and the peroxicam at all? You have such an amazing success story with her!! My continued supprt for you and your pup, and thanks for your input in advance, Karen

Hi Karen!

I'm sorry to hear you've had such a rough run of it this new year! Anytime anything has happened to Annie, I have always assumed it was cancer related--she had a limp once (the only time in her life) and we were at the emergency room ourselves. By the time the vet could see us, the limp was gone. So we got a chest xray (long story) and that made me relax that the cancer had not gone to her lungs.  When I finally saw her oncologist, and shared my fear of bone cancer, he told me that although a spread was possible, it was a very painful cancer and not likely the cause of her limping for an hour and a half!  My biggest regret is how much I worry (it is my husband's biggest complaint).

Last Tuesday, Annie had terrible diarrhea and it recurred again on Wednesday--pure liquid running out of her. (This is the first time in her life anything like this had happened) We went to the regular vet who shot-gun treated her with deworming medicine, anti diarrhea medicine and an anti microorganism medicine.  Now had this happened with my other dog, our golden retriever, I would still be nursing her with rice and boiled chicken--but not Annie.  Things got worse when Annie lost her appetite--we used to joke that we knew the end was near when she stopped eating.  It was NOT funny at all , when that really happened.  The nurse at the oncologist's office had us stop her piroxicam and that is killing me as I believe so much that it is what keeps her alive.  In fact, her peeing has been much worse this week, but I think it's because she is in such distress.  I THINK we've turned this corner, however. Her appetite is coming back and her poop is starting to firm up (I can't believe we write about such things!!) When I'm sure she's back on level ground, I'll be getting that piroxicam into her as fast as I can!!

In my heart of hearts, I don't think it's the piroxicam that has caused this latest crisis. She'll have been on it three years in just a bit and it has never bothered her. (I do give it to her in melted cheese every night after dinner. My theory is that she was taking it on a full stomach and the cheese would help as well to coat her stomach) I also do not believe it is yet her time, but of course, like everyone here on the board, I fear the worst. I'll be watching her closely the next few days and in all likelihood we'll be visiting the oncologist again so that he can reassure me (I HOPE that is what he'll do).

As for Forrest, my oncologist has always told me there is less to worry about as long as they are passing urine (as opposed to being unable to at all). He also said that if and when Annie was worse and having more trouble urinating, he could catheterize her.  In some dogs this debulks the tumor just enough to improve things for the pup.  I don't know if that's an option for you or not, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

I am not an overly religious person, but in addition to the piroxicam, I have taken to praying every night with Annie. We will remember you and Forrest in our prayers tonight.

Good luck, Karen 

Marty 

Thanks so much Marty, I pray that your Annie gets a great report from the vet. Keep us all updated. Karen.

 

On 1/15/2008 KGVRN wrote:

Thanks so much Marty, I pray that your Annie gets a great report from the vet. Keep us all updated. Karen.

Hi Karen--

We are back to normal here (or as normal as it can be).  I would have to guess that whatever  was wrong with Annie, it was unrelated to the cancer.  We didn't even call the oncologist! Thank you for listening to my blithering. 

Good luck with Forrest.  If you've read my postings, Annie has had much worse times and has improved from them. I don't know what could have happened, but for a while her peeing was down to just trickles and drips (which sometimes still occurs) and then improved dramatically.  When I bring her to work, she might only go out twice during the day!

I hope this can happen for your pup as well.

Best regards,

Marty 

 

So glad to hear that Annie is doing better! Forrest is still plugging along like a champ, good appetite and attitude, I fear the incontinence is something we will have to deal with though. He wakes 5-6 times a night, and we leave the door open during the day when we are home so he can come and go as he pleases. Thank goodness for the pull ups!! My continued support to you and your Annie, and all of the other folks that are dealing with this rotten disease. Karen