We have finished Aussie's bladder infusions and the results were positive. We saw an ultrasound and the tumor is definitely much smaller and the vet said just a "nubbin" appears to be left. Aussie has been taking an oral version of the medicine for the past 4 weeks. It started out twice a day and now we are giving it to her every 8 hours. She is still peeing more frequently than she did pre-tumor, but it seems to be less than when we first started treatment.
During the bladder infusions, she was definitely a little sore the day of the treatment, so we would give her Tramadol to help with the pain for that day. It seemed to lessen the pain, but she would still moan sometimes when she got up. The treatments were on Mondays and Thursdays. By Tuesday night she was back to normal.
Throughout the treatment, her appetite has remained very healthy and we still call her a "good eater." She has lost weight, but we aren't sure if that's from the fact she's not eating carbs at all. She started at 41 lbs and now fluctuates between 36 and 37.5 lbs. We are trying to fatten her up a bit, but it's a bit of a battle right now. We are just trying to provide as much protein to help her build herself back up.
The downside of the treatment was the bloody urine and carpet destruction, but that's a price we're willing to pay to help Aussie get better. By the end of the infusions, we were shampooing our carpets at least once and sometimes twice a week. If anyone is considering this treatment and you have brand new carpet, seriously think about diapers! Our carpet is 10 years old and needs to be replaced anyway, but along the way we did discover some great cleaning products. Nature's Miracle is exactly what it claims to be. We have doused our carpets with it and it has indeed worked a miracle. It is a bit pricey, but is the one product we've found that truly does get rid of the urine smell. We also just got a Bissell Spot Bot. This thing is amazing and is making our lives much, much easier. Now when there's an accident, we sop it up, put the Spot Bot down, press a button and it cleans the carpet for us. Then we douse the spot with Nature's Miracle at the end. It seems to be a good system and our house definitely smells fresher these days. It was rough there for awhile.
We get an ultrasound done tomorrow to see how the tumor is doing. Hopefully we will get more good news. Aussie definitely seems to be doing well. She has had a couple of urinary tract infections, but that's to be expected as the tumor continues to die off. We just watch for the tell-tale signs --- more accidents and licking, and then we get the antibiotics and she gets better.
We found out she had TCC on September 5th, and it's now December 29th. Aussie looks great and if I had to do it over again, we would choose the same path. We're glad we didn't do chemo because the vet said that would age her a lot. She doesn't look a day over 7 if you ask us and she's 14 and still going strong. She is one tough puppy!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Day 16
Aussie had a slightly rough night last night. She definitely seemed to be in more pain than usual and she went out in the middle of the night and kept squatting for 30 minutes. It was cold outside, so we had to carry her in. With as thin as she is, we definitely didn't want her staying outside too long.
When we woke up, our carpet and tile looked like a Hitchcock film! This sounds awful, but in our case, this is exactly what we're hoping for. This means the bad tissue is being eaten away. Aussie still seemed sore and wouldn't eat her breakfast. This had us concerned for the first part of the day.
We took her in for acupuncture today to help maintain her arthritis care. Our vet noted that this was the saddest she had ever seen Aussie. She did seem very low key and had to be picked up so she could stand while the needles were put in. Once the 17 needles were in, she went to sleep and rested comfortably. She was notably more alert after the 20 minute acupuncture session. The vet seemed concerned that she hadn't eaten and asked if there was something we could tempt her with. Aussie loves a cheeseburger from Burger King, without the bread, of course. After her appointment, we got her a bacon double cheeseburger. She gobbled it up. It was nice to see her appetite was back. We went for a short walk and when she got home, she seemed to be resting much more comfortably than she had been.
We forgot to mention that she did throw up yesterday after her procedure. We are no longer going to feed her the morning of the treatments. Our vet has also asked us to document the blood in urine and rate it on a scale of 1-4. 1 is not very red, and 4 is bright red. We brought in the paper towels to show her what we were experiencing. She said it looked like it was about a 2. She has continued bleeding throughout the day. It appears to be at a 3 right now.
BREAKFAST
Refused to eat
LUNCH
Bacon double cheeseburger with no bun
DINNER
Burger on the George Forman grill with roasted broccoli
EXERCISE
10 minute walk
When we woke up, our carpet and tile looked like a Hitchcock film! This sounds awful, but in our case, this is exactly what we're hoping for. This means the bad tissue is being eaten away. Aussie still seemed sore and wouldn't eat her breakfast. This had us concerned for the first part of the day.
We took her in for acupuncture today to help maintain her arthritis care. Our vet noted that this was the saddest she had ever seen Aussie. She did seem very low key and had to be picked up so she could stand while the needles were put in. Once the 17 needles were in, she went to sleep and rested comfortably. She was notably more alert after the 20 minute acupuncture session. The vet seemed concerned that she hadn't eaten and asked if there was something we could tempt her with. Aussie loves a cheeseburger from Burger King, without the bread, of course. After her appointment, we got her a bacon double cheeseburger. She gobbled it up. It was nice to see her appetite was back. We went for a short walk and when she got home, she seemed to be resting much more comfortably than she had been.
We forgot to mention that she did throw up yesterday after her procedure. We are no longer going to feed her the morning of the treatments. Our vet has also asked us to document the blood in urine and rate it on a scale of 1-4. 1 is not very red, and 4 is bright red. We brought in the paper towels to show her what we were experiencing. She said it looked like it was about a 2. She has continued bleeding throughout the day. It appears to be at a 3 right now.
BREAKFAST
Refused to eat
LUNCH
Bacon double cheeseburger with no bun
DINNER
Burger on the George Forman grill with roasted broccoli
EXERCISE
10 minute walk
Monday, November 10, 2008
Day 15 - Treatment 4
Aussie went in this morning for her 4th treatment. They were able to get the catheter in and she spent all day in the office. This is standard. We drop her off in the morning between 7:30 and 8am and pick up after 4:30pm. We got her home and she went outside. When she came inside, we noticed drops of blood on the floor. We got her to roll over and sure enough, there were signs of blood. We never thought we'd be this happy to see our dog peeing blood!
We called the vet immediately just to make sure this was as expected and to make sure we hadn't misheard earlier. She sounded as elated as we were. This is a sign that the tumor is dying off! Aussie's tumor is in the upper right portion of the bladder, so the vet said she increased the volume of the dosage to make sure it got all the way up to the top of the bladder. This is definitely a good sign!
The only downisde is that Aussie does seem uncomfortable this evening. She's moaning a bit and needing to go outside more frequently. We are contemplating giving her tramadol. We need to check how old our prescription is. We fear it's too old. She goes in tomorrow for acupuncture, so we can restock tomorrow.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, butternut squash, cabbage and yellow squash
DINNER
Aussie wouldn't eat dinner tonight. She ate a small piece of cheese, but didn't seem to interested in it.
EXERCISE
None. She seems uncomfortable tonight and we are going to let her rest
We called the vet immediately just to make sure this was as expected and to make sure we hadn't misheard earlier. She sounded as elated as we were. This is a sign that the tumor is dying off! Aussie's tumor is in the upper right portion of the bladder, so the vet said she increased the volume of the dosage to make sure it got all the way up to the top of the bladder. This is definitely a good sign!
The only downisde is that Aussie does seem uncomfortable this evening. She's moaning a bit and needing to go outside more frequently. We are contemplating giving her tramadol. We need to check how old our prescription is. We fear it's too old. She goes in tomorrow for acupuncture, so we can restock tomorrow.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, butternut squash, cabbage and yellow squash
DINNER
Aussie wouldn't eat dinner tonight. She ate a small piece of cheese, but didn't seem to interested in it.
EXERCISE
None. She seems uncomfortable tonight and we are going to let her rest
Day 12-14
Aussie had a great weekend. She bounced back quickly after her procedure on Thursday, and had a nice pep in her step when we went for walks and off-leash outings in a field. She hasn't had an accident since Thursday night, so we are hoping this is a good sign. We haven't been counting the number of times she pees outside as much, but she seems to be coming in more quickly than before.
BREAKFAST
Turkey and Tuna, butternut squash, broccoli
DINNER
Tuna, butternut squash, yellow sqash and cabbage
EXERCISE
15-20 minute walks each day
BREAKFAST
Turkey and Tuna, butternut squash, broccoli
DINNER
Tuna, butternut squash, yellow sqash and cabbage
EXERCISE
15-20 minute walks each day
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Day 11 - Treatment 3
Aussie had her third treatment this morning. We've found it's critical for her to have some urine in her bladder to help facilitate getting the catheter in. The vet assistants watch out for our car in the morning. We don't let Aussie's feet hit the ground and carry her into the office and go straight to the cage. This prevents her from peeing. The staff has been great working with us on this.
It still took some time to get the catheter in, but not quite as long this time. Our vet has asked for assistance from an emergency vet who catheterizes dogs more frequently. On his way home from the graveyard shift, he will stop by and get the catheter inserted. We are grateful our vet is reaching out and doing whatever she can to make this happen and cause Aussie the least amount of stress and pain. That's one of the many things we like about her.
An ultrasound was done today and the tumor has not decreased in size, but this is only the third treatment. The vet didn't say it had increased either. The case study we read showed a reduction after 5 treatments, so we'll stay positive.
Aussie is whining a little tonight, but seems to be doing pretty well. She had a small accident earlier.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Beef with broccoli and yellow squash
WEIGHT
38lbs. Vet said she was a little skinny and that we need to add more meat protein into the diet.
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
MEDICINE
Her usuals, plus heartworm and flea and tick meds.
It still took some time to get the catheter in, but not quite as long this time. Our vet has asked for assistance from an emergency vet who catheterizes dogs more frequently. On his way home from the graveyard shift, he will stop by and get the catheter inserted. We are grateful our vet is reaching out and doing whatever she can to make this happen and cause Aussie the least amount of stress and pain. That's one of the many things we like about her.
An ultrasound was done today and the tumor has not decreased in size, but this is only the third treatment. The vet didn't say it had increased either. The case study we read showed a reduction after 5 treatments, so we'll stay positive.
Aussie is whining a little tonight, but seems to be doing pretty well. She had a small accident earlier.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Beef with broccoli and yellow squash
WEIGHT
38lbs. Vet said she was a little skinny and that we need to add more meat protein into the diet.
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
MEDICINE
Her usuals, plus heartworm and flea and tick meds.
Day 10
Aussie had a good day and wasn't whining like she was the other day. She didn't have any accidents, so we couldn't tell if there was any discoloration happening. She seemed to be sitting down a little more easily and didn't seem quite as sore. She had good energy.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey and tuna with zucchini and yellow squash and broccoli.
EXERCISE
Weather was nasty, so unfortunately we didn't get a walk.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey and tuna with zucchini and yellow squash and broccoli.
EXERCISE
Weather was nasty, so unfortunately we didn't get a walk.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Day 9
Aussie is still sitting down a bit gingerly, but she hasn't been moaning or whining otday or tonight. This is uplifting. She was excited to eat both of her meals and demanded a walk when we got home tonight. She hasn't had any accidents today, so that is good news as well.
While working on this blog post, I had to go get her veggies out of the steamer and I put the laptop on the couch. When I came back, she had jumped up on the couch and fell asleep with her head on the laptop. It was adorable. I have updated the profile with that picture. She is definitely resting comfortably!
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, cauliflower, green beans
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
While working on this blog post, I had to go get her veggies out of the steamer and I put the laptop on the couch. When I came back, she had jumped up on the couch and fell asleep with her head on the laptop. It was adorable. I have updated the profile with that picture. She is definitely resting comfortably!
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, cauliflower, green beans
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
Monday, November 3, 2008
Day 8 -- Treatment 2 (Take Two)
Aussie went to the vet this morning for her 2nd treatment. They were able to get the catheter in and deliver the medicine. It stayed in the bladder for 4 hours. When she peed, the vet was disappointed that it wasn't discolored. We are keeping the faith because this was only the second dose and it had been a week since the last one. Perhaps this is naive, but we aren't letting it get us down.
It did take 1.5 hours to get the catheter in, so she did seem a bit sore tonight. She would sit down gingerly and get up a little slowly. However, she was excited to go for a walk and had a lot of energy. She wanted to keep going. A little later, she did start making some odd sounds, kind of like moaning and whining. She sometimes moans at us when we stop rubbing her and this is when we noticed it. It was a sound we've never heard before, but she wanted to play ball and was very excited. We were kind of getting mixed signals --- when our dogs don't feel well, they aren't interested in walks or playing with the ball. They tend to just lie down and give us sad looks or go off by themselves. We have a theory. It could be complete crap, but we are actually wondering if she sounded different because she had a sore throat. She tends to bark a lot when she's in a cage and when she's at the vet, she's kept in a cage after the treatment so she won't pee. We need to check to see if she was barking a lot. Aussie has actually barked so much that she lost her "bark" so it may be a theory.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, Beef, cauliflower and green beans
EXERCISE
20 minute walk.
It did take 1.5 hours to get the catheter in, so she did seem a bit sore tonight. She would sit down gingerly and get up a little slowly. However, she was excited to go for a walk and had a lot of energy. She wanted to keep going. A little later, she did start making some odd sounds, kind of like moaning and whining. She sometimes moans at us when we stop rubbing her and this is when we noticed it. It was a sound we've never heard before, but she wanted to play ball and was very excited. We were kind of getting mixed signals --- when our dogs don't feel well, they aren't interested in walks or playing with the ball. They tend to just lie down and give us sad looks or go off by themselves. We have a theory. It could be complete crap, but we are actually wondering if she sounded different because she had a sore throat. She tends to bark a lot when she's in a cage and when she's at the vet, she's kept in a cage after the treatment so she won't pee. We need to check to see if she was barking a lot. Aussie has actually barked so much that she lost her "bark" so it may be a theory.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, Beef, cauliflower and green beans
EXERCISE
20 minute walk.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Days 5-7
Last Thursday was a bit rough on us, but Aussie handled the brief "set back"well. She was in good spirits and we went for walks, played with the tennis ball, and she got plenty of rubs.
She did have about 5 accidents in the house, though, so we are concerned that the tumor isn't shrinking as fast as we'd like. She goes for a treatment on Monday so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the new catheters work.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, broccoli, cauliflower
DINNER
Turkey, yellow squash, green beans and cauliflower
EXERCISE
15 minute walks each day
MEDICINE
Same as all previous posts. I will stop listing medicines since it's consistent.
She did have about 5 accidents in the house, though, so we are concerned that the tumor isn't shrinking as fast as we'd like. She goes for a treatment on Monday so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the new catheters work.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, broccoli, cauliflower
DINNER
Turkey, yellow squash, green beans and cauliflower
EXERCISE
15 minute walks each day
MEDICINE
Same as all previous posts. I will stop listing medicines since it's consistent.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Day 4 -- Treatment 2
Today Aussie went in for her second Neoplasene treatment. Unfortunately, they were unable to insert the catheter, so she couldn't get the infusion done. We are disappointed, but we imagine there will be ups and downs on this road, so we're not letting it get us down too much. It may have been because she peed before she went in and she didn't drink much water this morning. Our vet is going to try a different catheter on Monday. So we will hope for a better outcome on Monday.
Aussie had one accident in the middle of the night, but again she has been peppy today. She willingly walked into the vet's office, and was eager to eat her breakfast and dinner. She was really excited to go for her walk and kept a nice pace.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with broccoli and cauliflower.
EXERCISE
We went for a 15 minute walk tonight. It was chilly out, but she was good.
WEIGHT
38lbs --- this was her weight on the vet's scale. It's a little lower than we would like.
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism. At dinner, she gets 1.5ccs of Neoplasene oral.
Aussie had one accident in the middle of the night, but again she has been peppy today. She willingly walked into the vet's office, and was eager to eat her breakfast and dinner. She was really excited to go for her walk and kept a nice pace.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with broccoli and cauliflower.
EXERCISE
We went for a 15 minute walk tonight. It was chilly out, but she was good.
WEIGHT
38lbs --- this was her weight on the vet's scale. It's a little lower than we would like.
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism. At dinner, she gets 1.5ccs of Neoplasene oral.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Day 3 -- Still Barking Strong
Today has been another good day. Aussie's behavior is quite normal. She had no accidents during the day and she demanded a walk when we got home and "sharked" at us until we got her suited up with her collar and leash. She was pacing while waiting for her food for dinner and is as alert as ever.
She did have an accident during the night, but so far so good this evening. Her urination frequency has remained the same when she goes out, but she is squatting a little differently. When we first started noticing she was peeing a lot in late August, we noticed her stance was different. Normally, she would lower her hips and have a nice slant happening as she "shook the dew off her lily," as a friend of mine used to say. Aussie started to not lower her hips as much and her back was more parallel to the ground, instead of on an angle. We thought her hips were acting up, but that didn't seem to be the case. She has not been doing that for awhile, but now that stance is back. We don't know what that means. We will check with the doctor tomorrow.
We weighed her a little earlier than usual and her weight was 37lbs. We are concerned that she's getting too thin. She hasn't been eating carbs or getting treats between meals, so it makes sense that she's losing weight. We will keep a close eye on this, and apparently our scale is less than consistent. We seem to have a plus or minus factor of 1-2 lbs, depending on where you stand. We are giving her just a little bit more food to see if that helps.
Tomorrow she goes for her second treatment. Paws crossed that it goes well!
BREAKFAST
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
DINNER
Chef Paul prepared turkey with broccoli and cauliflower, with a tablespoon of pumpkin for dessert
EXERCISE
We went for a 20 minute walk. She tried to lure us to go around again, but our vet said not to push it. She suggested shorter walks than normal.
WEIGHT
37lbs. See note above on this.
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
She did have an accident during the night, but so far so good this evening. Her urination frequency has remained the same when she goes out, but she is squatting a little differently. When we first started noticing she was peeing a lot in late August, we noticed her stance was different. Normally, she would lower her hips and have a nice slant happening as she "shook the dew off her lily," as a friend of mine used to say. Aussie started to not lower her hips as much and her back was more parallel to the ground, instead of on an angle. We thought her hips were acting up, but that didn't seem to be the case. She has not been doing that for awhile, but now that stance is back. We don't know what that means. We will check with the doctor tomorrow.
We weighed her a little earlier than usual and her weight was 37lbs. We are concerned that she's getting too thin. She hasn't been eating carbs or getting treats between meals, so it makes sense that she's losing weight. We will keep a close eye on this, and apparently our scale is less than consistent. We seem to have a plus or minus factor of 1-2 lbs, depending on where you stand. We are giving her just a little bit more food to see if that helps.
Tomorrow she goes for her second treatment. Paws crossed that it goes well!
BREAKFAST
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
DINNER
Chef Paul prepared turkey with broccoli and cauliflower, with a tablespoon of pumpkin for dessert
EXERCISE
We went for a 20 minute walk. She tried to lure us to go around again, but our vet said not to push it. She suggested shorter walks than normal.
WEIGHT
37lbs. See note above on this.
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Day 2
We have become people who spend time describing and documenting our dog's urine, but that's okay. If you are new to this blog, we are not creepy people with a fetish! We are simply people who will do whatever it takes to tackle Transitional Cell Carcinoma.
Aussie had no accidents during the night, and went out this morning and peed 5 times. Since it was outside, we couldn't see anything to get an idea of the color or any other details. She was excited to eat breakfast and trotted happily to her food bowl. She then went outside and peed 7 more times.
We came home from work and there were no accidents. She went outside and peed 8 times. She came in and was dribbling the tennis ball...yes, dribbling. She picks it up in her mouth, drops it and catches it when it bounces back up. Its quite adorable. She then "sharked" at us, which is a combination of a shriek and a bark which is when she really wants to go for a walk. She expresses the injustices in her world very clearly. Her spirit and attitude are good.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
We went for a 15 minute walk. She had a nice pep to her step and didn't seem tired at all.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
Aussie had no accidents during the night, and went out this morning and peed 5 times. Since it was outside, we couldn't see anything to get an idea of the color or any other details. She was excited to eat breakfast and trotted happily to her food bowl. She then went outside and peed 7 more times.
We came home from work and there were no accidents. She went outside and peed 8 times. She came in and was dribbling the tennis ball...yes, dribbling. She picks it up in her mouth, drops it and catches it when it bounces back up. Its quite adorable. She then "sharked" at us, which is a combination of a shriek and a bark which is when she really wants to go for a walk. She expresses the injustices in her world very clearly. Her spirit and attitude are good.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
We went for a 15 minute walk. She had a nice pep to her step and didn't seem tired at all.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
Monday, October 27, 2008
Day 1 --- Treatment 1
Today we started the battle royale of Neoplasene vs. TCC. Aussie went to the vet at 8am this morning for her first treatment. I called at noon and our vet said she did really well with the treatment. They kept her at the office all day long and kept her in a cage to prevent her from peeing. She stayed there until 6:30pm. The goal is to keep the medicine in the bladder for as long as possible. The first treatment is a diluted solution to get the bladder used to it. Throughout the course of the treatment, we will be building up her tolerance so that more and more powerful doses can be given to kill the tumor. She said that the tumor will be rotting over the next 5 weeks, so we need to prepare for some nasty, bloody, stinky urine to be coming from our sweet little angel. We are also preparing for the new flooring we will probably need as our carpet is being destroyed! It's all worth it, though.
She has peed 3 times since 6:30pm and I'm writing this at 10pm. She went once at the vet, and two times at home. The last time the pee was dark. It's not smelling any worse than normal urine right now. Aussie seems to be doing well. When I got home late this evening, she was asleep on the couch, belly up, resting comfortably. Right now, she is chewing on a bone. We think overall, this has been a successful day.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
None today, unless you count the bone chewing she is doing right now. Weather is horrible and cold. We are letting her rest. Tomorrow we will do a short walk.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs --- this tends to be lower on our scale at home vs. what we see at our vet’s office. It makes sense because I bought that scale because I weighed the least on it when I was testing…
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism, and Neoplasene orally. Normally she is on 9 different medications, so this is a nice change to not pull out a medicine cabinet when it’s time to feed her. For the past few months, it has felt like we’re running a retirement home for pups.
She has peed 3 times since 6:30pm and I'm writing this at 10pm. She went once at the vet, and two times at home. The last time the pee was dark. It's not smelling any worse than normal urine right now. Aussie seems to be doing well. When I got home late this evening, she was asleep on the couch, belly up, resting comfortably. Right now, she is chewing on a bone. We think overall, this has been a successful day.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
None today, unless you count the bone chewing she is doing right now. Weather is horrible and cold. We are letting her rest. Tomorrow we will do a short walk.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs --- this tends to be lower on our scale at home vs. what we see at our vet’s office. It makes sense because I bought that scale because I weighed the least on it when I was testing…
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism, and Neoplasene orally. Normally she is on 9 different medications, so this is a nice change to not pull out a medicine cabinet when it’s time to feed her. For the past few months, it has felt like we’re running a retirement home for pups.
Addendum: She also was given oral neoplasene with dinner.
That's it for the first day.
That's it for the first day.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Aussie's Story
Aussie is the sweetest and coolest dog I know. She's an Australian Shephard mix that my husband and I were lucky enough to find at the SPCA 12 years ago. She stole my heart the moment I saw her. Even though I wasn't supposed to put my hand in the cage, I reached in and she rested her head in my hand. She looked at me with big brown eyes that begged me to take her home. How could I resist? The last 12 years have been filled with a lot of rubs, tennis balls, chew bones, walks, and a lot of happiness. The last two years have been filled with a lot of vet visits.
For two years we've been fighting arthritis and thanks to acupuncture, chinese herbs, diet and exercise she's doing great. She still loves to go for walks everyday, to play catch with the tennis ball and is the most energetic 13 year old dog I know. At the end of August; however, her behavior started to change a bit. She started peeing in the house which she hadn't done since we first brought her home 12 years ago. When she would go outside, she would squat about ten times at each outing. We knew something was wrong. So we made an appointment with our vet.
After an ultrasound, we discovered that Aussie had Transitional Cell Carcinoma. The big C-word had invaded our pup's bladder. Cancer. Two syllables we never wanted to hear, but now that it's part of our life, we have no choice but to fight back. We have fortunately caught it early and it has not metasticized. Our vet put her on piroxicam and two chinese herbs: stasis breaker and wei qi booster. She said to cut out the carbs and any sugar because cancer thrives on those two things. She suggested we start cooking her food, instead of the Merrick canned food we were giving her. We now cook all of our dog's food, which just puts us one step closer to being crazy dog people, but we're okay with that. Our vet referred us to an internist to get another ultrasound to determine the exact placement of the tumor and get a definitive diagnosis.
The internist confirmed the mass was about 3mm in size, located in the mid-upper right section of the bladder. It's not in the worst position, but not quite in the "best" position. He suggested keeping her on piroxicam and doing chemo. He said if we just stayed on the piroxicam we were looking at a 6-9 month response time. And yes, by "response time" he meant how long she would live. We loved those semantics. He said if we did chemo, we could double that time. Chemo sounded so harsh and our vet was studying in China for two weeks, so we didn't know what to do. She uses an integrative healing method and we couldn't believe she would want us to go through with chemo, considering the results of the biopsy came back as "abnormal cells, but stopping just short of calling it cancer." However, TCC apparently has a very characteristic appearance and the internist said we should still go through with the chemo. We had chemo scheduled, but couldn't go through with it without talking to our vet.
We checked with the internist and ensured that waiting 10 more days would not be critical to the outcome, so we waited until our vet returned. For big decisions like this, we wanted to work with our vet who knows our dog and knows us. Our vet returned and after much consideration, we are starting a 5 week treatment with a medicine called Neoplasene tomorrow. Aussie will be sedated and catheterized and the medicine will be delivered directly to the bladder. She will go in two times a week for 5 weeks. We've read some case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of this treatment and we are extremely hopeful this will work.
The purpose of this blog is to document the whole experience. We will note Aussie's diet, exercise, and behavior each day on the treatment. We will note the dates of all treatments and ultrasounds and the results. Our hope is that this blog will help others dealing with the same situation.
I will admit we've cried quite a bit and lost a lot of sleep over this, but we know that's not going to change anything. We're being positive and doing everything we can to ensure Aussie stays as healthy and happy as she can through this. We joined the National Canine Cancer Foundation and we have a pink paw magnet we keep on our refrigerator. We hit it everyday to remind us that we are putting the smack down on this tumor. Stay tuned. We're keeping our fingers and our paws crossed that tomorrow and the next 5 weeks go as well as they can.
For two years we've been fighting arthritis and thanks to acupuncture, chinese herbs, diet and exercise she's doing great. She still loves to go for walks everyday, to play catch with the tennis ball and is the most energetic 13 year old dog I know. At the end of August; however, her behavior started to change a bit. She started peeing in the house which she hadn't done since we first brought her home 12 years ago. When she would go outside, she would squat about ten times at each outing. We knew something was wrong. So we made an appointment with our vet.
After an ultrasound, we discovered that Aussie had Transitional Cell Carcinoma. The big C-word had invaded our pup's bladder. Cancer. Two syllables we never wanted to hear, but now that it's part of our life, we have no choice but to fight back. We have fortunately caught it early and it has not metasticized. Our vet put her on piroxicam and two chinese herbs: stasis breaker and wei qi booster. She said to cut out the carbs and any sugar because cancer thrives on those two things. She suggested we start cooking her food, instead of the Merrick canned food we were giving her. We now cook all of our dog's food, which just puts us one step closer to being crazy dog people, but we're okay with that. Our vet referred us to an internist to get another ultrasound to determine the exact placement of the tumor and get a definitive diagnosis.
The internist confirmed the mass was about 3mm in size, located in the mid-upper right section of the bladder. It's not in the worst position, but not quite in the "best" position. He suggested keeping her on piroxicam and doing chemo. He said if we just stayed on the piroxicam we were looking at a 6-9 month response time. And yes, by "response time" he meant how long she would live. We loved those semantics. He said if we did chemo, we could double that time. Chemo sounded so harsh and our vet was studying in China for two weeks, so we didn't know what to do. She uses an integrative healing method and we couldn't believe she would want us to go through with chemo, considering the results of the biopsy came back as "abnormal cells, but stopping just short of calling it cancer." However, TCC apparently has a very characteristic appearance and the internist said we should still go through with the chemo. We had chemo scheduled, but couldn't go through with it without talking to our vet.
We checked with the internist and ensured that waiting 10 more days would not be critical to the outcome, so we waited until our vet returned. For big decisions like this, we wanted to work with our vet who knows our dog and knows us. Our vet returned and after much consideration, we are starting a 5 week treatment with a medicine called Neoplasene tomorrow. Aussie will be sedated and catheterized and the medicine will be delivered directly to the bladder. She will go in two times a week for 5 weeks. We've read some case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of this treatment and we are extremely hopeful this will work.
The purpose of this blog is to document the whole experience. We will note Aussie's diet, exercise, and behavior each day on the treatment. We will note the dates of all treatments and ultrasounds and the results. Our hope is that this blog will help others dealing with the same situation.
I will admit we've cried quite a bit and lost a lot of sleep over this, but we know that's not going to change anything. We're being positive and doing everything we can to ensure Aussie stays as healthy and happy as she can through this. We joined the National Canine Cancer Foundation and we have a pink paw magnet we keep on our refrigerator. We hit it everyday to remind us that we are putting the smack down on this tumor. Stay tuned. We're keeping our fingers and our paws crossed that tomorrow and the next 5 weeks go as well as they can.
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