[Rosie's Mom]

This may have been discussed, but I guess if you do not have the issue, you might miss it.

Our Rosie, who is 8 1/2, was diagnosed with a small (1cm) mass in her bladder. We tried to catch enough urine to test, but her bladder was distended and we could not. She was seen by an oncologist who referred us to a specialist in radiology. The radiation is pinpointed rather than by a square. Rosie had 21 treatments.

It did not make her ill, but we needed to not wash her etc fort the over three weeks. Her bladder returned to normal and we are awaiting another visit to the Oncologist in 4 days. We were warned that she would still strain as her bladder would still be absorbing the radiation.

Right now she tends to urinate in the house. Not every day, but twice today. I think this is a side effect fo the radiation. She is taking Rimadyl and Gabapentin.

Has anyone gone through this with their dog? We are so worried. She is our 3rd Standard. They all had at least one relation in the line. She is a red standard and the line began with Shangri-La kennels. Rosie is not from Shangri La.

The cost of the radiation was enormous, but we love her so much. She has been the perfect dog. (except that she digs up my yard looking for moles)

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I suspect she is rather proud of her mole hunting skills! Good girl, Rosie.

I'm sorry to hear about her health troubles. I've so far not experienced bladder cancer with a dog, but I navigated incontinence with my last girl during her senior years, and it can be quite a challenge. It can be very mentally hard on our dogs, too.

Sending my best wishes to you and Rosie. Hoping she makes a full recovery after this treatment.

Can I ask what were the first signs of her cancer? Did she have symptoms?

 

[MMM18]

Hi - Yes, I"m unfortunately very familiar with bladder/prostate cancer. My mini poodle passed back in July after an 18 month battle with it. His tumor was on his prostate although cancer cells were found at diagnosis in his bladder. He had a form known as Transitional Cell Carcinoma (TCC), so cancer throughout the urinary tract.

Does yours have TCC? They can test for it by a specialized urine test known as a BRAF test. We started with 18 sessions of IMRT radiation. He had no side effects from it. We then just treated him with Piroxicam, which is an NSAID that is known to help stop the growth/spread of TCC. He was on that for quite a while. The first year that he was diagnosed, he had no symptoms.

After about a year, the cancer spread to a nearby lymph node. We then started chemotherapy. He did a few treatments of chemo but the cancer kept spreading - to his lungs and then to his bones. We stopped the chemo when it spread to the bones, because he was having trouble tolerating it. He got another 5 sessions of radiation when it spread to his bones which helped him tremendously.

However, the cancer then spread to his anal glands which eventually started causing him discomfort and then spread to his liver and at that point he was very uncomfortable and was going to go into liver failure, so I had to make the decision to put him to sleep to relieve his pain and suffering. It is a very awful disease but they can live quite a while asymptomatic with it. Feel free to ask me any questions. I pretty much read/researched everything when my boy was diagnosed.

 

[Countryboy]

The no wash instructions may be for your own good. Interaction is slightly dangerous. Human BC patients are sent into isolation in their own rooms thru radiation therapy. Their family is told to minimize contact 'cos they're radioactive.
The old adage involving Cancer is that we rarely die from it but we all die with it. I imagine that goes for dogs too. If it pops up once, it will pop up again.

 

[Rosie's Mom]

I wanted to give everyone a update on Rosie. She sailed through the 21 days of targeted radiation. After about 3 weeks she began chemo. The first dose lowered her blood count. The wonderful VSEC/Blue Pearl vets had a meeting and lowered her 2nd and subsequent doses. She finished her 6 treatments about a month ago. Her last CAT scan showed that the tumor had shrunk significantly and better, there was no lymph glands involvement and the minor swelling was gone. She now is scheduled for another check in 2 months.

She is still active and when there is no snow, digging up the yard. I have noticed that she now can show a little tiny bit of annoyance at her brother the Portie when he becomes a pest. But that may be due to the fact that she will be 9 in April. He will be 6. She is the boss.

Our vet is happy with her results and is still optimistic that she will have several more years of our love. This was ve4ry expensive, but she is definitely worth it!