Mini Schnauzer just diagnosed with TCC

Hello all,

This is my first post, although I actually started reading this board before my nearly 15 year old mini schnauzer, Heide, was diagnosed with TCC cancer in her urethra.  She began with signs of a UTI which didn't clear after two different antibiotics.  She had a bladder stone removed several years ago, so we did an abdominal ultrasound which actually did show a stone as well as a suspicious area in the urethra, thought to be possibly calcifications.  She underwent cystotomy to remove the stone and a biopsy of the urethra.  There was no indication of any cancer in the bladder. The pathology returned today showing TCC in the urethra and we are going to start her on Feldene at 2 mg. (she weighs 15 pounds).  Other than continued frequent urination and accidents in the house if we don't take her out at least every two to three hours, she is eating well and does not seem to be in any major distress.  I am trying to keep positive, but I know there is a very hard road ahead of us.....I was just wondering if any of you have ever heard of this cancer diagnosed only in the urethra??  I have seen posts where the urethra was involved along with the bladder, but never just the urethra.  Also, I am wondering about her Feldene dose.  I have read on vet websites that the TCC dose is 0.3 mg. per pound, and for her weight, that would be 4.5 mg. (given once per day), but her prescription is for 2 mg.  I would sincerely appreciate any information anyone may be able to provide......I feel very fortunate to have found this website........my heart goes out to each and every one of you.... 

Kristin

Hi Kristin

My 9 yr. old Scottish Terrier Horatio just had an ultrasound yesterday and a sizeable bladder mass was found...according to the Dr. who performed the test all other organs were clean...I found blood in his urine when it had snowed several months ago and my vet has been treating him for UTI and wanted to continue...I insisted on an ultrasound...I found it highly unlikely that the bacteria had not responded to 3 different antibiotics!!!!  Anyhow, I am waiting for a call from my vet to discuss course of action...the tumor is not in the neck of the bladder....it is dead center however it is large....Horatio has no other symptoms except for the few drops of blood after he's emptied his bladder and attempting to continue to urinate. Did you have a biopsy performed on the tumor?? I'm not sure if this must be done before they decide on treatment...I am definitely interested in the Graviola/Piroxicam....I'll keep you posted on what we decide...Beth

Hello,

 My 15 year old sheltie the vet feels sure has bladder cancer as there is a mass on the ultrasound at the area where the bladder and urethea join.

 She is on 100mg of Piroxicam twice a day now and so far tolerating it.

 But she is struggling to continue urinating and wondered if you have either one had a medication to lessen the spasms caused by them feeling they need to urinate again because of the tumor?

 Thanks,

Pam

On 5/27/2009 sharaluke wrote:

Hello,

 My 15 year old sheltie the vet feels sure has bladder cancer as there is a mass on the ultrasound at the area where the bladder and urethea join.

 She is on 100mg of Piroxicam twice a day now and so far tolerating it.

 But she is struggling to continue urinating and wondered if you have either one had a medication to lessen the spasms caused by them feeling they need to urinate again because of the tumor?

 Thanks,

Pam

Hi Pam...I have also thought about this type of med and will ask the Dr. when she calls with Horatio's path report...we were told by 3 vets that Horatio's tumor was definitely removable so after many consults with family and friends we decided to go ahead with the surgery...which was not successful....the Dr. would've had to remove too much of the bladder wall along with the tumor...anyhow Horatio has recovered well and is back to his usual self...he's had no complications and after his round of post surg meds is back on Peroxicam...all of his blood work was good except for a very slight anemia but nothing to be concerned about...he doesn't strain too much but I am still going to ask about a "bladder numbing med sort of what they give to women with a UTI so I'll let you know...Beth

On 5/12/2009 dodgemtn wrote:

Hello all,

This is my first post, although I actually started reading this board before my nearly 15 year old mini schnauzer, Heide, was diagnosed with TCC cancer in her urethra.  She began with signs of a UTI which didn't clear after two different antibiotics.  She had a bladder stone removed several years ago, so we did an abdominal ultrasound which actually did show a stone as well as a suspicious area in the urethra, thought to be possibly calcifications.  She underwent cystotomy to remove the stone and a biopsy of the urethra.  There was no indication of any cancer in the bladder. The pathology returned today showing TCC in the urethra and we are going to start her on Feldene at 2 mg. (she weighs 15 pounds).  Other than continued frequent urination and accidents in the house if we don't take her out at least every two to three hours, she is eating well and does not seem to be in any major distress.  I am trying to keep positive, but I know there is a very hard road ahead of us.....I was just wondering if any of you have ever heard of this cancer diagnosed only in the urethra??  I have seen posts where the urethra was involved along with the bladder, but never just the urethra.  Also, I am wondering about her Feldene dose.  I have read on vet websites that the TCC dose is 0.3 mg. per pound, and for her weight, that would be 4.5 mg. (given once per day), but her prescription is for 2 mg.  I would sincerely appreciate any information anyone may be able to provide......I feel very fortunate to have found this website........my heart goes out to each and every one of you.... 

Kristin

Kristin ... I really feel your pain and concern as my 13 year old Terrier mix female, Dudie, was just this past week diagnosed with TCC of the urethra.  In researching it online, you don't see as many references to just the urethral cancer but more about the TCC in the bladder.   During our checkup on 5/20, the Vet noticed the urethra felt thick so he did an ultrasound.  He said is was cloudy, which meant infection but there was NO dark masses to indicate there was cancer in the bladder ... which I'm assuming is good.  When he massaged the urethra, it bled so that indicated cancer and their urinalysis showed TCC cells in the urine.

 Dudie has had two UTIs since last Fall and displayed other symptoms during the past 4 months that I questioned but wasn't given proper response or attention from the other Vet I was using in their clinic.    So I don't know how long she has been dealing with this cancer but she is now straining some to  empty her bladder.   She does not have to go out during the night though.  

 The Vet put her on the piroxicam/tetracycline protocol to see if that will reduce the tumor.   She weighs 32 lbs and is on 5mg once a day.   Since her stomach is slightly sensitive, we are trying to see how that works before starting the tetracycline.  After only two doses, she had some diarrhea late last night.     

Are you using an Oncology Vet?   The clinic I'm using is one of the best in Houston ... just given the Hospital of the Year Award ... but I've lost some confidence in them after their lack of attention to Dudie's problems several months back.   So I will be taking her to a Oncology Vet to get a second opinion and make sure we are on the right path.   Since we don't get any "do-overs" in this I want to be sure I've exhausted all resources.   

Trish ... I wish you best of luck with Heide.   The only other suggestion I can give you ... is to watch her diet ... read up on some articles on that.   Cancer feeds on sugar, which comes from carbohydrates so check into a diet that is low in carbs and high in Omega 3s to help combat it.   Give her all you can that keeps her immune system strong so she can wage her own fight against the cancer.   Dogs are amazing in how they can heal.    Staying positive is good for them ... I try to only show my sadness when Dudie's not around.   I don't want her to worry over me!!  :)    

 Good luck to all who are waging this battle with their four-legged loved ones!

Charlien

Hi All,

 Thanks so much for your posts.  I have not heard of a medication for bladder spasms.  I think many cases of bladder cancer go undetected for a while because almost ALL the symptoms for urinary cancer are the same symptoms for a UTI or bladder stone. After Heide had surgery to remove a bladder stone and a biopsy of a suspicious area in the urethra (which came back positive for TCC), she could not urinate at all and had to go back to the Hospital for catheterization.  Vet felt she could not urinate because of the inflammation and swelling in the urethra from the surgery.  She was given a shot of a corticosteroid and was able to urinate later in the day.  She still takes a long time to urinate, but my vet never mentioned anything about spasms.  We are assuming that since the tumor is in the urethra, it is preventing a free flow of urine, which is what causes the straining.  The tumor is not operable.  I am not using an oncology vet, we have none within a reasonable distance.  I have confidence in my vet and feel we are doing just about all we can right now, especially given the fact that she is 15.  I do have her on a high quality diet and am supplementing Anti-Ox for immune support as well as a supplement that includes fatty acids and other antioxidants.  We ran a follow-up urine today and it showed a low-grade infection with blood.  From what I have read, this is quite common in dogs with urinary cancer (bladder or urethra).  We don't want to give her yet another round of Baytril, so we are going to try her on low dose sulfa.  She does wear a diaper if we are not able to get her outside every 2 hours or so, but does stay dry at night, for now anyway.  I give her as much water or broth as she wants during the day, but try to cut back at night so as not to disturb her sleep. She seems to be doing very well on the piroxicam which, by the way, is properly dosed at 2 mg. per KILOGRAM (not per pound).  I give it to her at night immediately after supper on a full stomach and she seems to be tolerating it fine after taking it every day for almost three weeks.  I try not to think too much of the inevitable and just focus on the quality time we can offer her for as long as she feels well and retains the love of life she has always had for 15 years.  I have promised her that when she stops responding to her meds and starts to deteriorate, I will NOT let her suffer.......again, I try not to go there with those thoughts and try to appreciate every extra day I have with this old gal, my best girl friend.....thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

On 5/28/2009 horatiosmom wrote:

 

On 5/27/2009 sharaluke wrote:

Hello,

 My 15 year old sheltie the vet feels sure has bladder cancer as there is a mass on the ultrasound at the area where the bladder and urethea join.

 She is on 100mg of Piroxicam twice a day now and so far tolerating it.

 But she is struggling to continue urinating and wondered if you have either one had a medication to lessen the spasms caused by them feeling they need to urinate again because of the tumor?

 Thanks,

Pam

Hi Pam...I have also thought about this type of med and will ask the Dr. when she calls with Horatio's path report...we were told by 3 vets that Horatio's tumor was definitely removable so after many consults with family and friends we decided to go ahead with the surgery...which was not successful....the Dr. would've had to remove too much of the bladder wall along with the tumor...anyhow Horatio has recovered well and is back to his usual self...he's had no complications and after his round of post surg meds is back on Peroxicam...all of his blood work was good except for a very slight anemia but nothing to be concerned about...he doesn't strain too much but I am still going to ask about a "bladder numbing med sort of what they give to women with a UTI so I'll let you know...Beth

Hello,

 I posted here and sort of left after doing so much reading I just got depressed looking at the future.

 There is a drug that is supposed to help with the straining called Phenoxybenzamine (sp). At least that is what the vet told me when I discussed it with him and her put on it in addition to the Piroxicam.

 My girl went to see the Oncologist last week and his plan was to go in with a laser and take part of the tumor out. It is in the trigone area and we knew that surgical removal of all of it wasn't possible.

 It turned out that the tumor is down into the urethra and he couldn't get in with either of his scopes. Now we are moving to putting in a stent to keep the urethra open so she can urinate. I'm trying to find more info on that but so far haven't had any luck.

I have switched her to a raw diet to get her off the carbs and so far she has adapted well to the diet change.  

 I hope everyone on here is doing well with their treatments. They just spend too short of time with us.

Pam