My 13 year old westie just diagnosed with bladder cancer

My sweet little westie was just diagnosed with bladder cancer.  Yesterday she had a large tumor removed from the trigone region of the bladder.  It was very invasive surgery.  Unfortunately, my vet is concerned with the suspicious tissue in her urethra. I just started her on prioxicam today.  I am so heartbroken because my Caralie was a healthy, spunky 13 year old who was still going to doggy day care twice a week. Her spirit is still good although she is in pain from the surgery.  I feel so overwhelmed by all of this and am trying to make sense out of all possible options to give my baby and I the gift of more time.  I had no idea that bladder cancer was so prevalent in westies. I think this is something that breeders and owners of westies should advise people.  Caralie is my dog-child and I am not ready to give up on her. Any help, advice and support shared will be greatly appreciated.  All prayers for Caralie are appreciated as well.   Caralie's Mom

You and Caralie are definitely in my thoughts and prayers!  There are several Westie owners who post here occasionally as well as owners of many other breeds of dogs.  My Westie, Willie, was diagnosed with TCC over a year ago.  He had a small tumor removed and has been on piroxicam (with stomach protectors) since then.  There are many ideas of other treatments discussed in various threads on this board.  I haven't tried any of them because Willie has a very sensitive stomach.  However, others have had good results using them.  Willie will be having another ultrasound in the next couple of weeks and depending on the results I may choose to review my options again.  The good news is that Willie is doing very well....he seems to feel good and continues to be full of the Westie spirit!  I am hoping that he will be with me for a long time to come!!

I too had no idea that Westies had a higher incidence of bladder cancer.  Willie is my third Westie (I also have a younger one, Weston) and never read anything about TCC.  There is some research being done about bladder cancer in Scotties and Westies (the #1 & #2 breeds in prevalence) so I hope that more information will become available.  Owners should know and test for TCC if ever their babies get bladder infections that aren't readily cured.  As it is, I might have recognized that Willie was having a problem earlier if  I had been better informed.  Still, I am happy for each day that I have with my Willie! I hope that you and Caralie have many, many more happy times together.  Please, let us know how she's doing! 

Sue