My Princess, Ginger, is a 12.5 year old Sheltie with a heart of gold. She was diagnosed with bladder cancer (TCC) just about a month ago after a urinary tract infection that cleared up, but she still had to pee more frequently. Other than that symptom, there didn't appear to be anything else wrong. An ultrasound revealed the bladder tumor, and a cytology biopsy confirmed it. However, it hasn't spread to her uretha. She's fine all night when she is sleeping and even during the day when she's not active. When she eats or when she's active, she feels the need to pee. The first squat, there is a full flow of urine. Then she has to squat 5 more times before she feels like she doesn't have to go. A lung x-ray was clear, so the cancer had not spread to the lungs. My vet said there were a couple of small spots in other internal organs, but they were small and could just be age related and without a biopsy couldn't really be confirmed as cancer. Given the fact that her lungs were clear, she was otherwise healthy, etc., we decided to treat her with a combination of piroxicam and the chemo mitoxantrone. This appears to be the latest combination drug treat. She has been on the piroxicam for almost a month without side effects. She had her first mitoxantrone chemo treatment on Jan 6. It takes about 15 minutes, and it is injected into her bloodstream. She had no side effects from that first treatment (some dogs may have GI upset for a few days after, but Ginger didn't). 10 days later, they check her blood to make sure her blood cell counts didn't get pushed to low. She didn't have a problem there. Her next chemo treatment is on Jan 27. After 3 treatments, they will check to see whether the mitoxantrone is having an anti-tumor effect and if it should be continued. I debated on what to do . . .my vet, who has dogs, said if Ginger was one of his dogs and given her current good quality of life, this is what he would do. So I'm giving it a try as long as it doesn't make her feel worse. I was really upset when she was diagnosed. I know she's 12-1/2, and Shelties typically live 12 to 14 years. So I was hoping she'd be around 14 or 15 years. But I know that with this disease, that is not likely. Now that I've gotten over the initial shock, I'm happy I found out while she doesn't seem to be sick. I can take this time to spoil my little Princess even more and let her know how much I love her. So I feel lucky she has been with me for this long without any prior problems her whole 12.5 years and that I have a chance to make her feel so special. I know that at some point in 2006, I will have to make a decision for her not to have to endure this disease, and that is hard. But I'm glad that I have the opportunity to try to push that date a little further away, not take her for granted, and just enjoy my little munchkin. Good luck to everyone here who is having the same challenge!