- Joined
- Oct 9, 2023
- Messages
- 12
Hi everyone,
My beautiful boy Bug (Beagle X Pug), 13 y young has just been diagnosed with Lymphoma.
Desexed.
last vaccinations were in 2021.
Historically he has had a history of GI issues, and after much trial and error his gut is the best on a low fat, largely cooked diet and he does struggle being fully raw fed.
I believe he may have CPV - (canine papilloma virus), he must have picked that up as a puppy as it was quite active when he was very young and then seemed to be dormant for many years. This year a few new little lumps have come up, they are only ever on his abdomen, he doesn't get these in his mouth or face. He has also previously had a mast cell tumour grade 2 and no chemo required at the time, he had surgery to remove it. He does have plenty of lipomas.
Significant things of note are:
- that earlier this year he did have his first dental clean which he did go under for. I do believe that this really affected his immunity as his gums didn't really improve after this and shortly after the lymph nodes under his mandible started to become noticeable. He was initially treat with amoxyclav which didn't make any difference to the glands, but did really help clear up long standing ear infections (that nothing else we tried seemed to be able to shift).
- After this he was having quite weepy eyes and he just wasn't quite right with his groin area becoming scaly and inflamed (but he wasn't licking it or itching) and his gums not fully better, it was determined he was having some kind of seasonal allergic reaction (which he has historically been prone to during the australian winters).
He was given a shot of monoclonal antibodies - and it didnt really have any affect on him at all.
We happened to have some prednisone at home so took matters in our own hands and gave him a very small dose of that and that helped, the vet was shocked that the low dose he was receiving (5mg) made any difference at all.
- shortly after our other dog got salmonella poisoning (we can thank hubby for feeding her off giblets
), and unfortunately Bug must have picked it up off her, as he didn't eat the giblets. She was given amoxyclav on the day that Bug started getting sick and we decided to wait 24hrs to determine whether it was a once off issue. Unfortunately the vet didnt make a note of of the prescription for Bug, they were closed the next day and then they refused to dispense it as it was a different vet who I consulted with and he wasnt contactable to confirm. As Bee was better, I stopped her amoxyclav early and gave the rest to Bug so he had 1.5 days of antibiotics but it did help stop the diarrhea. Unfortunately this really did affect his GI and immunity as his anus became quite ulcerated after this and he seemed to "leak" a little after his poo's.
From there I've been trying to manage him by putting him on some probiotics and changing his food around, but I couldnt quite get anything to really help him.
Then a fortnight ago he started to decline quite rapidly and his breathing became very laboured and he threw up once.
We took him to an emergency vet on Saturday PM and she identified that he was quite ulcered in his mouth and gums. She was aware of his skin and currently his lymph glands in the mandible were still up. He was prescribed metronidazole and carafate tablets. His bloods were taken then too.
I believe that he was having a reaction to the metronidazole as he then started throwing up and having diarrhea. I went back on monday and as he was declining and now not eating. We switched him to amoxyclav and she noted that there was a very mild level of swelling in his groin glands which wasnt there before. Between Sat Pm & Mon PM he'd lost 700g of weight (from 17.1kg down to 16.4kg). At this point she did a fine needle aspiration of the lymph glands and they were sent off for testing.
The change in medication definitely stopped the vomitting and diarrhea, so I do believe there was some impact there, but he would only eat the smallest amount in the mornings and refuse everything else. He was drinking plenty of water and peeing properly. There was one day he didn't do a poo but I wasn't too concerned as the volume of food hed eaten was very small the next day he was back to the toilet and his poo was small but solid.
He wasn't improving at all on the amoxyclav (maybe very mildly) but at this point it was clear something else was going on. This vet was then off work until Thursday so I actually went back anyway as Bug wasnt improving and we got the news that his results showed "highly suspicious for lymphoma" she didnt disclose at the time that it was advanced and did prescribe him prednisolone 20mg 2 x pd for 3 weeks and then 1 x pd. She recommended Chemo.
I requested the labs and report so I could do additional research/consults.. and here we are. Currently the prednisolone has seemingly resolved everything. Night and Day difference. A dog that wasn't going to live beyond the weekend now has all lymph glands down, all ulceration (mouth and anus) down, abdominal skin healing, eyes no longer weepy, back to his fully happy cheeky self. He is however drinking A LOT of water which I understand is a side effect of the prednisolone.
I mentioned the CPV earlier and I'm also curious about canine EBV the research I've read in the last few days has got me thinking because both hubby and I had EBV in jan 2021, I was initially asympotmatic but then really really struggled with the deeper phase of it and if I understand the research correctly it can easily pass to canines. I think the issues this year have definitely weakened his immunity and brought the lymphoma up and I'm curious on thoughts around EBV & Lymphoma care.
Additionally on an emotional/energetic level it needs to be mentioned that we have had a horrendously stressful couple of years and are doing our best to manage that but we absolutely are aware that our sensitive, intuitive boy is picking up on some of that. I was also poisoned through a spider bit on my neck which really stuffed up my lymphatic system and immunity so I can definitely see an energetic connection here also.
so at the end of my essay, I'd like to help him as much as we possibly can to ensure his quality of life for as long as we can. I'd like to remove his "age" as the single factor for treatment and look at him very holistically as he is otherwise in great condition, happy, cheeky, playful and full of personality and I feel like it would be a disservice to him to simply let him go because he's "13"
My beautiful boy Bug (Beagle X Pug), 13 y young has just been diagnosed with Lymphoma.
Desexed.
last vaccinations were in 2021.
Historically he has had a history of GI issues, and after much trial and error his gut is the best on a low fat, largely cooked diet and he does struggle being fully raw fed.
I believe he may have CPV - (canine papilloma virus), he must have picked that up as a puppy as it was quite active when he was very young and then seemed to be dormant for many years. This year a few new little lumps have come up, they are only ever on his abdomen, he doesn't get these in his mouth or face. He has also previously had a mast cell tumour grade 2 and no chemo required at the time, he had surgery to remove it. He does have plenty of lipomas.
Significant things of note are:
- that earlier this year he did have his first dental clean which he did go under for. I do believe that this really affected his immunity as his gums didn't really improve after this and shortly after the lymph nodes under his mandible started to become noticeable. He was initially treat with amoxyclav which didn't make any difference to the glands, but did really help clear up long standing ear infections (that nothing else we tried seemed to be able to shift).
- After this he was having quite weepy eyes and he just wasn't quite right with his groin area becoming scaly and inflamed (but he wasn't licking it or itching) and his gums not fully better, it was determined he was having some kind of seasonal allergic reaction (which he has historically been prone to during the australian winters).
He was given a shot of monoclonal antibodies - and it didnt really have any affect on him at all.
We happened to have some prednisone at home so took matters in our own hands and gave him a very small dose of that and that helped, the vet was shocked that the low dose he was receiving (5mg) made any difference at all.
- shortly after our other dog got salmonella poisoning (we can thank hubby for feeding her off giblets
), and unfortunately Bug must have picked it up off her, as he didn't eat the giblets. She was given amoxyclav on the day that Bug started getting sick and we decided to wait 24hrs to determine whether it was a once off issue. Unfortunately the vet didnt make a note of of the prescription for Bug, they were closed the next day and then they refused to dispense it as it was a different vet who I consulted with and he wasnt contactable to confirm. As Bee was better, I stopped her amoxyclav early and gave the rest to Bug so he had 1.5 days of antibiotics but it did help stop the diarrhea. Unfortunately this really did affect his GI and immunity as his anus became quite ulcerated after this and he seemed to "leak" a little after his poo's.From there I've been trying to manage him by putting him on some probiotics and changing his food around, but I couldnt quite get anything to really help him.
Then a fortnight ago he started to decline quite rapidly and his breathing became very laboured and he threw up once.
We took him to an emergency vet on Saturday PM and she identified that he was quite ulcered in his mouth and gums. She was aware of his skin and currently his lymph glands in the mandible were still up. He was prescribed metronidazole and carafate tablets. His bloods were taken then too.
I believe that he was having a reaction to the metronidazole as he then started throwing up and having diarrhea. I went back on monday and as he was declining and now not eating. We switched him to amoxyclav and she noted that there was a very mild level of swelling in his groin glands which wasnt there before. Between Sat Pm & Mon PM he'd lost 700g of weight (from 17.1kg down to 16.4kg). At this point she did a fine needle aspiration of the lymph glands and they were sent off for testing.
The change in medication definitely stopped the vomitting and diarrhea, so I do believe there was some impact there, but he would only eat the smallest amount in the mornings and refuse everything else. He was drinking plenty of water and peeing properly. There was one day he didn't do a poo but I wasn't too concerned as the volume of food hed eaten was very small the next day he was back to the toilet and his poo was small but solid.
He wasn't improving at all on the amoxyclav (maybe very mildly) but at this point it was clear something else was going on. This vet was then off work until Thursday so I actually went back anyway as Bug wasnt improving and we got the news that his results showed "highly suspicious for lymphoma" she didnt disclose at the time that it was advanced and did prescribe him prednisolone 20mg 2 x pd for 3 weeks and then 1 x pd. She recommended Chemo.
I requested the labs and report so I could do additional research/consults.. and here we are. Currently the prednisolone has seemingly resolved everything. Night and Day difference. A dog that wasn't going to live beyond the weekend now has all lymph glands down, all ulceration (mouth and anus) down, abdominal skin healing, eyes no longer weepy, back to his fully happy cheeky self. He is however drinking A LOT of water which I understand is a side effect of the prednisolone.
I mentioned the CPV earlier and I'm also curious about canine EBV the research I've read in the last few days has got me thinking because both hubby and I had EBV in jan 2021, I was initially asympotmatic but then really really struggled with the deeper phase of it and if I understand the research correctly it can easily pass to canines. I think the issues this year have definitely weakened his immunity and brought the lymphoma up and I'm curious on thoughts around EBV & Lymphoma care.
Additionally on an emotional/energetic level it needs to be mentioned that we have had a horrendously stressful couple of years and are doing our best to manage that but we absolutely are aware that our sensitive, intuitive boy is picking up on some of that. I was also poisoned through a spider bit on my neck which really stuffed up my lymphatic system and immunity so I can definitely see an energetic connection here also.
so at the end of my essay, I'd like to help him as much as we possibly can to ensure his quality of life for as long as we can. I'd like to remove his "age" as the single factor for treatment and look at him very holistically as he is otherwise in great condition, happy, cheeky, playful and full of personality and I feel like it would be a disservice to him to simply let him go because he's "13"
