My dogs' vet tentatively diagnosed my ten year old GSD, Jake, with cutaneous lymphoma yesterday. There are a number of details involved, which I won't go into now, but while I'm considering his recommendations I wanted to reach out and see if anyone else has/had a dog that was diagnosed with this. What did you do? What treatment path did you take?

The vet honestly stated that he didn't have the expertise to fully diagnose or treat this and offered a referral to a specialty clinic with oncology. In the meantime he recommended a course of antibiotics on the tiny, off-chance he is wrong and it's an infection. While Jake is taking the antibiotics we have some time to consider our next steps.

I hate to admit this but I'm concerned about how much chemo/treatment might cost. I'm also concerned about how it would affect Jake. Last I'm thinking, Jake is 10, and average life expectancy following treatment is another 18 months... is it better to make him as comfortable as possible and see what happens? I'm sure the specialist will council about all of these things, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Constructive thoughts are most welcome-

Best to all

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

My dogs' vet tentatively diagnosed my ten year old GSD, Jake, with cutaneous lymphoma yesterday. There are a number of details involved, which I won't go into now, but while I'm considering his recommendations I wanted to reach out and see if anyone else has/had a dog that was diagnosed with this. What did you do? What treatment path did you take?

The vet honestly stated that he didn't have the expertise to fully diagnose or treat this and offered a referral to a specialty clinic with oncology. In the meantime he recommended a course of antibiotics on the tiny, off-chance he is wrong and it's an infection. While Jake is taking the antibiotics we have some time to consider our next steps.

I hate to admit this but I'm concerned about how much chemo/treatment might cost. I'm also concerned about how it would affect Jake. Last I'm thinking, Jake is 10, and average life expectancy following treatment is another 18 months... is it better to make him as comfortable as possible and see what happens? I'm sure the specialist will council about all of these things, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Constructive thoughts are most welcome-

Best to all

So sorry you've had such scary news -- Hoping it's just an infection!

Absolutely NO need to apologize for financial concerns, as that sure can be a determining factor in these cases...

Bottom Line to me (allowing for one's bank account) is always:

the Stress/Fear/Pain "misery impact" on a dog's Quality of Life -- How much of that is TOO much trauma for too Little benefit?

Just speaking personally, I am not one to put (especially & particularly) a Geriatic animal through the Misery of hardly ANY stress/fear/pain for ONLY a few extra months of living here -- Other people may believe differently, of course.

So sorry & sad for you to hear this. I think along the lines of Candi on this. Quality of life is a biggie for me. Along with what will come out the other end of lengthy costly treatment...especially on an aged animal.

I also going to put this out there.....many of these speciaity vets pray on your guilt to coerce you into , costly treatment. I know this from a couple of friends with dogs that had been made to feel like crap because they either could not afford the outrageous costs or felt it was unfair to put an older dog through treatment. So be strong in you beliefs when
You need to for yourself & your dog.

Sent you a PM

I am in the same camp as Anne and Candi. You have to think of cost, and trauma to the dog, even a younger dog. We had a friend who put her 7 yr old dog through so much pain and anxiety for cancer treatment, and then he only lived 6 months longer. Even our Kasey who we had to put to sleep earlier this year, he was 9 1/2, was so anxious all the time from the pain he was having due to arthritis in a paw. We couldn't stand by and watch him hurting even though we wanted him here with us so much.

You will know what is the right thing to do if it comes to that. Anne is right about not letting the vet put a guilt trip on you.

I appreciate all of the feedback- and will keep in mind the specialty vet factor. So far we have been very happy with the "GP" vet that takes care of the dogs. He is very down to earth and offered a range of options for us to consider- even reviewing the wild ones that he did not at all recommend (like amputating a leg!?!). He asked what I thought about chemo and offered the referral, but at the same time said that the cancer could just as well be slow growing and that Jake may live the same amount of time with selective pain meds and prednisone.

Does anyone have an idea what dog-chemo costs? I've just heard "a lot."

FOR ME, quality of life is huge and I'm saying that after very recently having to put down the best dog I've ever owned.

How long they can keep a dog OR human going after a serious diagnosis and do it with the dog's/human's comfort and pain free JOY in mind is a question we all need to ask ourselves.

In the past I've kept a dog going for selfish reasons.

That was yrs ago and I still have a bit of guilt over that.

Speaking as someone who has had months of chemo and radio a while back, it isn't something I would put a dog through, of any age.

I am heart sorry for the situation you and your boy Jake are in, at his age it may be the cancer is slower growing than in a pup, I wish you both some peaceful days and nights ahead, can the vet manage his pain?

Cancer is a bitch, I am truly sorry for you both

Carolyn, I believe you have gotten some thoughtful and empathetic responses from everyone who has replied here. I completely agree that you should not feel guilty about taking the cost of the treatment into consideration when weighing the pros and cons of your choice. That's just a fact of life for most of us.

About the chemotherapy -- like Tracey above, I have been through it myself, personally. I came away with a slightly different perspective, though. I cannot say I would never put a dog through it. I believe, that with both humans and dogs, there is a spectrum of possible side effects and intensity of side effects that can be experienced; and for one individual, it may truly be horrific, whereas the experience of another is that it was unpleasant and challenging but not intolerable. I think it's also important to note that, when humans go through it, we understand why we are doing it and have the hope that we will feel better someday soon. Dogs, on the other hand, live in the moment and cannot comprehend the idea of enduring the treatment in the hope of a better tomorrow.

I'm so sorry you are facing such difficult choices. I hope your vet(s) will be able to answer all of your questions and guide you in making the decision that is best for Jake.

Last year, Raine the office dog here at Leerburg was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in her mouth. Jeff opted to do treatment, which included chemo and radiation. After just a few doses of chemo, he stopped it as it was making her too sick, and nobody here could watch it...

The Radiation treatments were continued and stopped the growth for a few months, and she did have some great days with us because of the treatments. Raine went to the bridge on her own this spring, after a wonderful day of swimming in the lake.

I think that the time we all got with Raine after the diagnosis, with the radiation treatments, was worth it in her case. She enjoyed the extra time she was given. If she'd had to continue with the chemo, to get that time, I don't think Jeff would have done it... the dog that she was after chemo treatment was not Raine...

I believe she was 10 when diagnosed... and the treatment won her about 10 more months, if I remember correctly...

Cost would have been prohibitive if she had been my dog, as I believe radiation treatments are easily in the thousands, and I personally can't afford that... it would have been a hard choice, for sure, though.

Best of luck, and we are all thinking of you.

Kel

Thank you all very much. I'm hopeful that we experience some best case scenarios and if not, we'll deal and get through it. I'll follow up if something occurs that would be helpful to others in the future.

Best-