[BaileyGirl]

So i got the worst news possible and found out our 5 year old Bailey has lymphoma. Its so sad. We are up in the air about chemo. She seems ok other than tiredness and tons of water drinking and urination. She is even peeing in her sleep. It sucks. I want to know what anyone here thinks or if you have a experience you would like to share please do. Thanks all. please pray for our baby

 

[jwn6w]

We had a 4 yr. old shepherd who came down with lympocarcoma I know I did not spell this right. Well he was going to turn 5 in a couple of weeks. He had big golf ball size lumps in his neck. My husband too him to NC State for chemo and radiation and we were able to prolong his life until he was a month shy of turning 9. They told us at NC state that if we had not gotten him there when we did he would have been dead in 2 weeks. We took him to our local vet who did the chemo after that 14 week period at NC state. He was a wonderful dog and led a very full happy life. Never got sick from the treatments and just loved to play all of the time. They had told us at NC state that we would only have him most likely for 19 months which turned out not to be the case. I still miss him so much. It was 2 years ago this month on the 13 that we had to have him put down. So there is hope it is just expensive and I was very lucky that my husband loved him as much as me. I had many people say that spending that amount of money on a dog was foolish but we did not feel that way. Hope this helps! Good Luck

 

[BaileyGirl]

We had a 4 yr. old shepherd who came down with lympocarcoma I know I did not spell this right. Well he was going to turn 5 in a couple of weeks. He had big golf ball size lumps in his neck. My husband too him to NC State for chemo and radiation and we were able to prolong his life until he was a month shy of turning 9. They told us at NC state that if we had not gotten him there when we did he would have been dead in 2 weeks. We took him to our local vet who did the chemo after that 14 week period at NC state. He was a wonderful dog and led a very full happy life. Never got sick from the treatments and just loved to play all of the time. They had told us at NC state that we would only have him most likely for 19 months which turned out not to be the case. I still miss him so much. It was 2 years ago this month on the 13 that we had to have him put down. So there is hope it is just expensive and I was very lucky that my husband loved him as much as me. I had many people say that spending that amount of money on a dog was foolish but we did not feel that way. Hope this helps! Good Luck

thats what they said about Bailey. If we wouldn't have gotten there she would've been dead in 9 days. She is on day 2 of Prednizone, probably spelled wrong, anyway she is at least attempting to eat a little bit now. I just wish that it didn't cost a fortune to help out our dog

 

[Soundguy]

I'm sorry to hear about Bailey's diagnosis and the heartache you're going through. I lost my fifth GSD and possibly my best friend ever to lymphoma in December of 2011. River was 9 years old when he was diagnosed the April before. I studied everything I could find at the time. Unfortunately, the best survival time I could hope for was about 1 1/2 years and on average about half that time. I can only tell you that there are exceptions to that, so don't give up hope. My prime concern was for River's quality of life and I originally was not going to do chemo because of the side effects. However, we have a great vet who was willing to work with us on the cost and a chemo treatment that caused River absolutely no side effects and it gave us 9 months of great time together. He had a series of 3 shots, 3 weeks apart and the cost was about $900. We also kept him on prednisone the entire time to keep him comfortable. On that regime, River was only sick for one day before we sent him to join the others at the bridge. I will have to go back and look for the name of the drug and I'll be glad to do that if you send me a pm. In the meantime, my new best friend, Cas and I wish you and Bailey the best of luck and we'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[BowWowMeow]

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. My ex's sheltie was diagnosed with lymphoma when I felt that his lymph nodes were enlarged. This was probably 14 years ago. We tried prednisone but he didn't do well on it and, at the time, the chemo treatment was very strong and most dogs could not handle it so she opted not to do chemo. He only lived 4 weeks after the diagnosis.

I understand now the chemo is not as harsh and many dogs do well on it and live for years afterwards.

What does the vet recommend?

 

[BaileyGirl]

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. My ex's sheltie was diagnosed with lymphoma when I felt that his lymph nodes were enlarged. This was probably 14 years ago. We tried prednisone but he didn't do well on it and, at the time, the chemo treatment was very strong and most dogs could not handle it so she opted not to do chemo. He only lived 4 weeks after the diagnosis.

I understand now the chemo is not as harsh and many dogs do well on it and live for years afterwards.

What does the vet recommend?

he won't make a recommendation... i guess its protocol or something. i wasnt in the appt but this is what i'm told. I feel like the world is falling apart. Bailey is our baby

 

[BaileyGirl]

I'm sorry to hear about Bailey's diagnosis and the heartache you're going through. I lost my fifth GSD and possibly my best friend ever to lymphoma in December of 2011. River was 9 years old when he was diagnosed the April before. I studied everything I could find at the time. Unfortunately, the best survival time I could hope for was about 1 1/2 years and on average about half that time. I can only tell you that there are exceptions to that, so don't give up hope. My prime concern was for River's quality of life and I originally was not going to do chemo because of the side effects. However, we have a great vet who was willing to work with us on the cost and a chemo treatment that caused River absolutely no side effects and it gave us 9 months of great time together. He had a series of 3 shots, 3 weeks apart and the cost was about $900. We also kept him on prednisone the entire time to keep him comfortable. On that regime, River was only sick for one day before we sent him to join the others at the bridge. I will have to go back and look for the name of the drug and I'll be glad to do that if you send me a pm. In the meantime, my new best friend, Cas and I wish you and Bailey the best of luck and we'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

do you think we should do chemo? if money wasn't an issue what would you do. She is having problems with peeing and isn't eating a lot, but i'm hoping this will change. Today she ate some and i ran out to get some stuff she may like. i am going to feed her around 7 or so.

 

[Shaolin]

I'm sorry to hear that. My first dog, Sebastian, was diagnosed with Lymphoma at 16. He was so old, we didn't even consider Chemo, but he was on Prednisone and what the vet called 'The Love Diet'. He got to eat whatever he wanted within reason and the Prednisone did help. He lasted another month, maybe two, but he was extremely comfortable. They also gave him some sort of anti-inflammtory, but I don't remember the name off the top of my head. The combination of the two meds really helped and I don't really remember him ever being in pain in his last month.

 

[blehmannwa]

My pit, Felony, was diagnosed with lymphoma in August of 2010. We started intensive chemo --the Madison protocol-right away. She was in the very early stages and we could afford the treatment. Ninety percent of dogs tolerate chemo very well. Felony didn't. We almost lost her after her fourth treatment. She ended up in the hospital for three days and it took a few weeks to get her back to her baseline.

At that point we switched to prednisone , a liver enzyme and another drug--I forget. I also found a hospice vet. Felony had a great life for 15 months until a paw infection couldn't be cured and started causing her pain.

Based on this experience, I wouldn't try aggressive chemo with a senior dog. Pred and support seem to have a good outcome without stressing the dog. Bailey is only five so I'd try the best therapy that I could afford. Treatment is expensive but there may be studies that you qualify for. I'm sorry that this is happening to you. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Soundguy]

If money wasn't an issue, I would definitely do chemo again and probably more aggressively than I did with River. Money was an issue at the time and I did what I could. You can find a lot of treatment information if you Google canine lymphoma, etc. If you don't have a vet to talk to, I would try to contact one of the university vet hospitals for consultation as quickly as you can or ask your vet to refer you to an oncology vet. If you're going to treat it...the sooner the better. As I remember, it took 2-3 days for the prednisone to make River comfortable and he started eating again. I can't check his records because I'm out of town until Monday, but the drug that we used was one in a 3 drug protocol and he went into full remission within two days after the first shot. If you want I can call my vet and find out. If you describe it the way it's given (a course of 3 shots given 21 days apart) an oncology vet will know what it is.

 

[RebelGSD]

I have met several dogs that were receiving treatment for lymphoma in the waiting room of UPenn. The dogs looked normal and the owners said that the dogs we handling it well. They were all years into the treatment. I asked about the cost and it was not really bad at around $100-120 per treatment. This was at a university hospital, private clinics are much more expensive. Lymphoma seems to be the best manageable of the cancers - I would try chemo if my dog had i