cancer??

[lmd]

Thanks for your interest in helping. No he is not throwing up any more, and I am still forcing him with feed. I had suggested to the vet chicken or lamb - I raise them - but the vet wrote it down to emphasize the beef. The office is closed and he did not call me with the blood test results.

However, I`m still using medical and he is keeping it down. I`m going to try to increase the frequency, because he needs more. I`m going to vary his food. I cooked a lot of rice, but it is hard to force down, so I think I`ll liquify it and use the baster like I do with sick animals.

A question - should the chicken be cooked or is raw OK. ( I use ground chicne /egg/trout/liver raw to feed on kibble for all my dogs. It is mostly chicken.) I also could use some chicken breasts.

This dog has always been healthy. He`s not the one who had cancer before. Does cancer always have to hit all the lymph nodes, or can just these front ones be involved? There is no fever, he drinks, and sleeps, and comes when called. He needs nutrition.

[Traci]

I never advocate raw, ever. And since you don't know yet what exactly is ailing this dog, you don't want to risk bacteria by feeding raw meat.

Simply boil it and remove the skin/fat, then mix it with cooked white rice.

Without an aspirate or biopsy, it's impossible to say why the lymphs are enlarged. It could be a reactive lymph in reaction to an allergic response to something, it could be a bacterial infection, or it could be viral. Bloodwork alone may not always reveal neoplasia, the vet needs to take several things into consideration when making a differential, such as the dog's history, present health complaint/signs/symptoms, current stats and vitals, any unusual fluctuations in chemical analysis, and rule out other health conditions that could be contributing. I suggest an x-ray because it would help your vet rule out potential GI inflammation/mass, as well as check for neoplasia that can sometimes develop in the thoracic cavity (example: some cancer types can be localized invasions, yet can metasticize to the lungs). Due to the age of this dog and the apparently sudden illness, your vet needs to get to the underlying problem before secondary problems develop and make treatment more difficult. So far, he has prescribed antibiotics, instructed you on the diet, and has given a dex injection. Not knowing exactly what labs were run, I would have assumed he would have started with a senior profile, thyroid function test and urinalyis. But, based on the initial complaint (lymph enlargement, vomiting, anorexia, losing weight, etc), additional diagnostics should have been discussed with you. There are a miriad of health conditions that can present these signs and symptoms, and based only on your posts, it doesn't sound like your vet is doing enough. The concern here is the continued weight loss and anorexia, what is causing it, have all diagnostics been utilized. If this were my dog, I would start with a fecal exam, x-rays, review the labs for anything unusual.....rule out GI problems/inflammation/infection and organ size/problems on x-rays, rule out bacterial on fecal exam, check heart function and go from there.

[lmd]

Thanks!!!!! One last point. This dog was given rabies vaccination on Nov 4. He gradually ate less since then. I had girls in heat, and he usually goes off food at that time, so I didn`t think of any problem til later. He is such a kind and gentle dog. His weight went from 68 to 65.5 pounds in the last ten days. And yes, I was planning to boil the meat.

[lmd]

I want to thank you all for giving me some ideas. We went with a week of prednisone, and the dog returned to normal eating and was eating and behaving more responsively. When the oral prednisone ran out, he went downhill again. I got more prednisone five days later, but it was not helping like the first time. He got very bad on Christmas day, and I was snowed in, so couldn`t even go to emergency. He died in the night. I am finally able to mention all this, but I sincerely do appreciate the chance to ask questions. Thank you all, and have a Happy New Year.

[Traci]

Lmd, I am so very very sorry for your loss.....this must be so difficult on you during the holidays....my heart goes out to you.

(((HUGS)))

[E's]

I am terribly sorry for your loss, and about the sequence of the events... sometimes it just seems like everything turns against us, doesn't it. Hope you are finding some comfort on the pet loss boards... these have been invaluable to me in times past. Also, my apologies for overlooking this update last night - we had an unexplained power loss here and are a bit jumpy lately anyway [major seaport and all that] so when I got back online, redid the post at hand and shut down. Please know I am thinking of you and will be, aware that these losses do not stop hurting for a long while, no matter how they come about.
Dot B

[k9Karen]

I'm so sorry to hear what happened. My deepest condolences to you and yours.