So Teddy has had a rollercoaster ride with his health since February. I am still not sure whether he was poisoned but it seems that all this started possibly after he ate something in the garden that made him very sick. Perhaps something one of the foxes brought in. Who knows. One night he had the most awful smelling diarrhoea & was throwing up/off his food. Later he was lying sick and shaking all night. It took him a while to get better but he seemed to get back to his old self after this frightening episode.
A few weeks later out of the blue he started throwing up undigested food. That rang alarm bells in my head. I gave it a week and when it happened again took him to the vet. It took a while longer on the usual treatments, then a scan, endoscopy and various bloods to find out that he had pancreatitis, a gall bladder infection and unfortunately they found some cancerous growth on the pancreas and unusual cells inside his stomach (the line was described as being quite “damaged”)
It has taken a few weeks to get him back to a happy and healthy state. This now includes my cooking for him every day. I’m gradually adding in some very low fat dog food. He is no longer throwing up and the vet is happy that he is responding well and the pancreatitis has turned a corner.
But he still has cancer and chemotherapy has been discussed to prolong his life. My question is has anyone here experienced chemotherapy for dogs? I have been told by the vet that it’s not the same as when it is used for humans. It won’t remove the cancer but it should extend his time with us.
If you have experience or knowledge of this I would very much welcome your views.
Our last dog had one treatment of chemo and when she came home she was sick all night.Very reluctantly we took her to the vet next and day and said our farewells.
Your dog sounds in better condition than ours though.Hopefully he will have better luck.
Sorry about your loss. I have been thinking that he might have a better quality of life without chemo. It’s a tough call because you want to do your best for them. Teddy has been given a year to 18 months at most. He is almost 14 so I guess it’s a blessing to have had him so long. How old was your dog?
I am not sure I would put a dog through chemo, we had the option with Rocky (along with surgery to remove the lump) but they said it might only add 6 months to a year. Instead I put him on a RAW food diet and noticed his cancer stopped growing, then when I felt he was well enough I thought I’d try him on rice and chicken, but the next day the cancer DOUBLED in sized again. They gave him 6 months but he lasted almost a year, bless him.
If I were to get another dog, or had one that fell ill, I would put them on a raw food diet, i.e what is appropriate for the species.
It’s a tough decision, I’m sure whatever you decide will be for the best and I’m sure Teddy is lucky to have you
I was looking at raw foods but they do tend to be too high fat. I wouldn’t know where to start to try to make raw food myself. But I have read that it’s too dangerous to feed them raw poultry because of the risk of infection. Red meats & pork are a no-no for pancreatitis. But I have read many glowing reviews from owners.
Currently what seems to work well is cooked (dry browned) 2% fat turkey mince or less than 5% fat chicken mince, with either grated sweet potato or a small handful of long grain rice, cooked in water with a small amount of low salt Kallo organic chicken stock (for flavour). I have found that the trick is to puree it with a blender. I worked out that he couldn’t digest chicken chunks or rice grains because he had /has inflammation or a blockage that doesn’t let the anything like that through. He also likes the food to be still a little bit warm too perhaps because of the smell. He has really thrived since I started this and the vomiting stopped. It seems that the shop bought dog food that is very bad for dogs. It must be full of toxins so we are all being conned.
What’s amazing is that I thought he used to snore when he was sleeping, but since this diet he sleeps so soundly you can hardly hear him breathe. His eye tear stains have also disappeared. He’s obviously very sick because he has a cancer diagnosis and it’s on the pancreas, but some days is so full of beans and happy. I have almost put him down 3 times now. He was so poorly, but somehow the next morning he is back up wagging his tail and wanting to be fed. He hasn’t had any episodes of nearly dying since I started the cooked food. He no longer seems to be in pain (no arched back and awkward posture).
I don’t expect his good spirits to last too long given the cancer, but I didn’t like the sound of putting an animal through chemo. He’s such a lovely dog and perhaps quality over quantity and as much love as I can give is better for him.
Nothing wrong with good quality species-appropriate fats Annie, that’s what nature intended.
There’s an old guide over at Dogsey that might help:
Dogs produce more stomach acid than us - they are built to eat raw meat
The only thing you have to worry about tho is humans, i.e small children, pregnant women, the elderly etc. Generally it’s best to keep a separate fridge/freezer and prepping area.
Start with chicken. If you go to the butcher and buy meats from them they often give you chicken carcasses free as well
When we started giving it to Rocky we had no idea what to expect or whether he’d know what to do! So we watched a few YouTube vids, and sure enough, he knew exactly what to do!
@AnnieS I Cannot talk dogs specifically as all to recent and upsetting but I am sorry for the disgnosis.
However my old cat Oscar was diagnosed with Chronic Renal failure and I was advised to take him to the vets to be put on a drip which would be at lest approx once a week he was about 19 then I refused as my thinking was he would not endure being in a cage witha drio I would rather he lived his life out quality rather than lenght was my thinking, I changed his diet to total wet food. and adding extra water to all food. I also found he adored drinking froma running tap so left the tap running for him on drip basis in the bathroom (no water fountains then) he went on until he was almost 23. I sw he looked really ill and took him to the vets where we parted my thinking was always better a day to soon than a minute to late.
Basically I am saying vet intervention is brilliant now but would it of suited my old guy and me my answer No. But whatever your choice is will be the RIGHT ONE. Sending Lots of Love
There comes a time when a decision has to be made that is best for a pet. We never let any of our dogs obviously suffering if their was no cure, it’s not fair on the animal.
I spoke with the vet today. She said Teddy’s bloods look pretty good so the inflammation and infection is healing and on examination he no longer seems to be in pain. I mentioned that I probably won’t put him through chemo. She said that makes sense right now given he is feeling pretty good and the bloods have improved. She doesn’t think the cancer is affecting him too much at this early stage. We will review his weight in a month when he has his arthritis injection.
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