My Sassy female Westie just diag with bladder cancer

I am so sorry to hear about your Sassy's bladder cancer diagnosis.  My Westie, Willie (10 1/2) was diagnosed with it about 6 months ago after he had a tumor removed from his bladder.  He has been taking 3mg of piroxicam most days since then (with Pepcid and Carafate to protect his tummy.)  So far he has been doing quite well.  He is due to have another ultrasound this month to check his progress.  My vet has recommended that we consider trying chemo only if the tumor returns.  Willie is very sensitive to meds and did not recover from his bladder surgery as quickly as your Sassy.  I haven't tried any of the alternative therapies mentioned on this board yet.  I have altered Willie's diet slightly by adding more protein and vegetables and removing as many sources of sugar as possible.  It does seem that some dogs are able to have long lives after this diagnosis.  Let us hope that our Westies will be among those dogs! 

Sue

On 1/11/2009 Sue in SD wrote:

I am so sorry to hear about your Sassy's bladder cancer diagnosis.  My Westie, Willie (10 1/2) was diagnosed with it about 6 months ago after he had a tumor removed from his bladder.  He has been taking 3mg of piroxicam most days since then (with Pepcid and Carafate to protect his tummy.)  So far he has been doing quite well.  He is due to have another ultrasound this month to check his progress.  My vet has recommended that we consider trying chemo only if the tumor returns.  Willie is very sensitive to meds and did not recover from his bladder surgery as quickly as your Sassy.  I haven't tried any of the alternative therapies mentioned on this board yet.  I have altered Willie's diet slightly by adding more protein and vegetables and removing as many sources of sugar as possible.  It does seem that some dogs are able to have long lives after this diagnosis.  Let us hope that our Westies will be among those dogs! 

Sue

Appreciate your reply to my Westie message. I have been reading these post, researching bladder cancer to get myself  some knowledge as Vetx dont really have time to sit and fullly inform a person, expecially when this is all new.  I think they assume that we will have her from 3-6 months and naturally I hope to do something to prove them wrong. I have e mailed Rain-Tree who handles lots of non prescription drugs and ask them what would be the dossage for a 17lb dog as as far as I can see the dossage is for people. If I get any information I will post it.

This in reference to Graviola from the Rain Forest in S. America.

Hi!  I look forward to reading any information you post on Sassy's progress and treatments.  Willie weighs about 20 lb so is just a little bigger than Sassy.  His Westie spirit makes him act like he is a lot bigger than that!  Gotta love it!  Good luck to you & Sassy!  We'll be thinking about you.

Sue

Sue:  I have used a vet on line(www.justanswer.com) they ask for what ever payment you authorize and reply to your question and if you accept the answer they charge your credit card.  Asked if Graviola(N-Tense from Rain Tree) could be given with Piroxicam.  The reply after research is that it can be given together with no ill efffects. N-Tense includes Graviola which is reputed to attack cancer cell and leave good cells alone unlike Chemo which kills about all cells. Rain Tree sugggested 1/2 capsule twice a day, mix it with3 table  spoons of cottage cheese,1 table spoor of fax seed oil and 1 table spoon of yogurt for better absorption. This is for dogs up to 25 lbs.  I hope to try this if my wife and I can agree on it.

Sassy is over her recent surgery and wants to play now. The purdue report gives them a mediam of 7 months.  I hope the N-Tense would add a lot longer to that.

Hi!  Thank you for posting the information about the use of Graviola.  I do think there are others on this board using it successfully.  I hope that you are able to get Sassy taking the graviola, cottage cheese, flax seed mixture.  I have been hoping to get Willie to eat something like that too.  He has a very sensitive stomach and I have difficulty keeping him eating his food so that he can take his piroxicam.  He usually stays on the piroxicam for about five days and then has to rest a day before resuming it.  His vet feels that the piroxicam is the first line of protection against the spread of the TCC.  I still am weighing the pros and cons of chemo therapy and would definitely prefer to use something like graviola instead.  I will look into ordering some.

I am so happy to hear that Sassy has recovered from her surgery and is ready to play!  There's nothing cuter (in my highly biased eyes) than a bouncing Westie.....unless of course it's a sleeping one....

Sue

On 1/15/2009 Sue in SD wrote:

Hi!  I look forward to reading any information you post on Sassy's progress and treatments.  Willie weighs about 20 lb so is just a little bigger than Sassy.  His Westie spirit makes him act like he is a lot bigger than that!  Gotta love it!  Good luck to you & Sassy!  We'll be thinking about you.

Sue

Sue well we are into 16days of the K9 immunity and 11 days into the N-Tense contains sgraviola etc. Started out with the cottage cheese etc for three times then she decided she did not want cottage cheese.  So haave used peanut butter(creamy)with the powder from the capsule mixed and she eats it right off my fingers.  Have used a egg between soft boil and hard boiled and mixed and that worked. Am also using cooked ground beef with powder on top and more meat on top and that works. So we vary it so she wont get tired of any one thing.  She seems to be tolerating the proxicam and the graviola. Use the graviola about 9:30am and again at her dinner time and then give her some regular dog food with carbs,. Ofcourse its only been a little over three weeks since operation.  Check urine with sticks for blood and PH twice a week to try and stay ahed of any problems.

I hope Willie is still doing ok. If you try the n-Tense you just open capsule and pour half onto food and save the other half in the capsule till next time that day.

Another alternative that works well for dogs is Protocel.  I believe Paul Winter has a link on his site for veternarians experienced in using Protocel:

http://alternativecancer.us

Tre

Hi!

Thank you for asking about Willie!  So far, so good.  He will have an ultrasound in the next couple of weeks.  That will help us know exactly how well he is doing.  He can only tolerate piroxicam for about five days before needing a day off.  His tummy is just so sensitive to everything.  I am so happy to hear how well Sassy is doing on her regime.  I appreciate your describing how you are getting her to take everything.  I have been reluctant to try giving Willie any graviola because I was concerned about mixing it with his regular food.  I like your idea of rotating egg, peanut butter, etc. to disguise the meds.  That makes it seem more like a treat which is always welcomed by my Westies!  Then my other Westie, Weston, could have the same thing minus the graviola.  Right now Willie heads under the table or into his kennel if he thinks he's getting a pill.  After six months of his piroxicam protocol....carafate twice a day and pepcid before lunch, piroxicam after lunch....Willie has caught on to the sounds of meds being prepared and he won't eat any food if it has anything mixed into it!  He's a little too perceptive for his own good.  I definitely need to reconsider adding the graviola to Willie's daily routine.

I will keep thinking good thoughts for Sassy and for you as she continues on with the program you've set up for her!  

Sue

Sue  Sassy has had so much upset sstomach on the piroxicam we had to stop it for now. She is eating 1/2 cap of N-Tense mixed with Smart-balance omega peanut butter.  Laps it up. Other 1/2 on  cooked hamburger meat at night. Was giving 1 k9 immunity and see its 1 for 10 lbs so will give 1 cap by mouth and 1/2 cap on the hamburger meat now.She seems to be doing ok.  Would like her on the piroxicam but she just got so sick using it. I stopped mixing with soft boiled egg as lost to much suplement when egg stuck to sides of bowl. Also add 1 tspn of flax seed oil on her hamburger. I let her eat the p-nut butter off my fingers as she gets all of it that way. Have her on dog food thats mostly meats and same with treats. Hope Willie is doing ok and wonder if yu checked with raintree about the n-Tense cap with graviola inside. Jim the k9 we also give her a tablet of k9 factor which is supposed to help her absorbe the k9 immunity.