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Anyone with experience of these?
She was diagnosed a year ago, had surgical removal and chemo (ouch) but it came back within a few months.
Now she's on antihistamine, but that obviously isn't a cure.
She does seem like she's a bit more subdued recently.
Bump.
The old girl is now limping quite badly, so off to the vet tomorrow 🙁
Good luck it's awful seeing them in pain/unwell. My 12 year old lab has just bounced back after removal of a tumour of the spleen weighing 1.5kgs. So relieved to see her back to normal.
Vet says options are euthanasia, amputation (but might have spread to lymph nodes in which case not going to work) or masivet. Product marketing for masivet looks very impressive but European Medicines Agency is a bit more downbeat.
Masivet is an amazing drug when it works. I have had 6 moths of complete remission (that is tumour disappearing) with it although they always come back eventually. It only works on C-kit positive tumours, these are usually high grade mast cell tumours and the C-kit mutation can be tested for on tissue if you have it. If not then you have the option to trial but it is very expensive. Minimal side-effects though.
Masivet ends up being taken for the rest of her life, at around £3500 per year.
And apparently after 2 years, only 40% of dogs survive.
Sounds like a really challenging situation. I think as long as there was a chance that would maintain her quality of life, and it was financially feasible for me, I'd go with that. But not been in that position myself yet. Don't know how I'll fare if it happens to one of our two.
How old is she?
One of my dogs is 15 now and she has got lumps on her and is getting weak back legs. The vet said at her age to leave the lumps alone and let her enjoy her old age in peace without the stress of treatment, I agreed with the vet as I feel sometimes we keep our pets going for our sakes.
They have relatively short lives compared to us anyway, so long as they've been happy then our job is done, as sad as the end is.
She's 9 years old.
If the lumps were not bothering her I would leave them, but the one on her leg is obviously causing her quite a bit of pain. She's not really walking unless she really has to.
I'm thinking that amputation might be the best way, assuming the vet agrees it's doable and the tumors have not spread too far.
Stelfonta (Virbac) is a new treatment for mastcel tumours, in the form of a single injection in the tumour. The tumour dies off and will leave a wound that has to heal on it's own so indicated only for tumours below hock or elbow. I don't know anymore about it but maybe worth looking into.
Such difficult decisions when you love them so much!
Her leg works much better with the dishwasher door open.
Difficult to truly comment without full history and biopsy results etc. Masivet can be very successful but not always. Amputation in a dog of her size usually results in good mobility and quality of life, more so if its a hind limb that is amputated. Advanced imaging can be helpful and in some cases referral to a specialist oncology team can make a big difference too.
Have a good think about it and always write down all your questions so you don't forget anything. I love clients with a list in a situation like this. A consultation with an Oncologist can be useful and they won't pressurise you into going for major surgery or investigation if its not right for your dog or for you either.
Good luck.
One of our previous dogs (6 year old Flat Coated Retriever) went on Masivet and it bought him another 6 months of quality time with us. If money is not an issue then it might be worth checking out.
Vet says amputation would only be to reduce pain in the short term.
Going to try the masivet, even though it is eye wateringly expensive. They seemed to think that in about 50% cases it provides a cure. If not, I think we're at the end of the road.
Looks like the Masivet is a bust. We're going to give it a couple more weeks, but a month in, and it's not touched it.
Our 4 yo fox terrier got a severe grade mast cell tumor early this year, it was very fast growing. Had to make the horrible decision to have ehr put down a few months ago. We knew it was coming. Once she stopped eating, wouldn't go for walk and seemed in pain. Forcing more meds down her throat seemed like just punishment for her when it wasn't treatable. Probably the hardest thing I've had to do mentally, holding her while she got the injection but it was the right choice for her.
Update on this. She's still with us, but it's clear we're nearing our time together now.
She's on 10mg of steroids to keep the swelling at bay, but that means that she is hungry all the time. In the last few days though we've had to start giving her paracetamol as she can't really get through the day without it.
Will see what she's like over the next day or two. Better to have finished too soon wanting more, than to finish too late wanting less.
You have my sympathies - we lost our boy to a nasal tumour in March.
It's obvious she's had a wonderful time with you and that you care about her deeply, so without meaning to sound too cold, she'll let you know when the time has come. You are however totally correct, the worst regret is leaving it too long.
She's a beautiful girl, give her a hug from me.
You have my sympathies too 😔 we lost our older lad at 11 in July - small growth appeared literally overnight one day, and three weeks to the day he was PTS as it was pressing on his throat so much he went into respiratory distress.
I have a video of him from his last morning, and he was still running about daft, chasing toys, etc. Far better to let them go when they're still themselves, even though it hurts us more. Give her a hug from us.
Mine had a treatment with a veterinary osteopath, who turned out not to even be a qualified osteopath, five days before she was pts, the vet having missed her heart condition.
I bitterly regret putting her through so much treatment and not letting her go earlier, although in the fog of confusion caused by the thought of losing her, it seemed the right thing to do at the time. And it's why I'm awake at stupid o'clock this morning.
I can only echo your comment: "Better to have finished too soon wanting more, than to finish too late wanting less." Life, everybody's lives, should be like the old joke about comedy: There are only two rules of stand up comedy. The first is always leave them wanting more.
I can also echo others' comments about her being a beautiful girl and having had a wonderful life with you.
Took her for a walk yesterday morning, she seemed fine, she even managed to beg a treat from another dog walker by pulling the old "I haven't been fed since the last time" routine.
But then in the afternoon she got all shivery, didn't want to move, but couldn't get comfortable, leg swollen worse than before. Wouldn't eat, even offered her some smoked salmon we had in the fridge. She just looked terrible.
So we took her along to the vet, along with two of the children and our other dog, and let her go.
I'm so sorry for you. You did the right thing by her. You'll never forget her and there'll be lots of grief to go through for you and the whole family but eventually you'll remember the good times. Hold onto those.
Heartbreaking 🙁 she was loved and lived !!
So sorry to read about this. It seems as if you gave your dog the best life and that is what it's all about really. My thoughts are with you and your family
So sorry. Bit teary here.