Brodie, my 11 year old Westie, was diagnosed with bladder cancer on March 17. The mass is located in the trigone region of his bladder. The vet who found the tumor on ultrasound feels "99.9 %" confident that we are dealing with TCC, but wants Brodie to have a fine needle aspiration biopsy to be 100% certain. I have read that this type of tumor seeds very easily to new locations if disturbed and I am completely terrified to allow this procedure to be performed. We have already wasted almost 4 months with a different vet who was treating Brodie's symptoms with antibiotics thinking it was just a UTI and I don't want to do anything to make things any worse than they already are. Can anyone advise me how they handled the "to biopsy or not" question?
Brodie was started on Piroxicam tonight, .3 mg per kg of body weight and 10 mg of Prilosec. I've started him on a prescription dog food with a moderate protein, high fat and low carb content. I considered going raw, but I had read some articles about dogs with cancer being more susceptible to the bacteria due to a compromised immune system. I am also considering Graviola and a few of the other supplements mentioned on this message board.
I feel so overwhelmed and completely devastated by Brodie's diagnosis. He's a very special little guy and he means the world to me. I am so grateful that this message board is here and would appreciate any tips or suggestions anyone is willing to share.
Thanks,
Jan