Caninecancer.org.au

My 14yo mini poodle was diagnosed with TCC (bladder cancer) about a month ago. She had one round of chemotherapy and that caused her white blood cell count to drop very low and she had to be hospitalized. Her vet decided NOT to give her a second round and she is on Perioxicam for the bladder tumor and it is definitely helping, but what is her prognosis without having any chemo? She doesn't squat all over the house anymore and is eating regularly. She had to come off of Temeril-P for her allergies, so now she is on ear drops, eye drops, antihistamine, and an antibiotic for her allergies on top of the Peroxicam. Are we being cruel, submitting her to all of these medications?

Hi Vevvie

Sorry to hear about your dog. I am not an oncologist so I will leave the medical response to their expertise. As it is a weekend it might be a day or two before they can respond.

In the meantime there is some good material to read on the website on chemotherapy. My dog had chemotherapy (the photos on this page with him playing were mostly taken whilst on chemo) http://www.caninecancer.org.au/vinca.html If used correctly and by an oncologist it is not the disaster most of us hear about all the time. Many, many older dogs do very well with cancer treatments. I share so many stories on our FB page. If you want to join that page there is a like button in the top right

Here is a couple of our links you might want to look through over the weekend so you can make the right decisions with the correct information for your dog.

http://www.caninecancer.org.au/typesofcancerathrub.html#BLADDERThere is a link there to TCC

http://www.caninecancer.org.au/treatment.html Good info here on chemo and other treatments.

You should get a response shortly to your question from one of the oncologists.

Lisa

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1. Sending tumours to the lab saves lives
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3. Using an oncologist gives your dog the best chance of survival.

Dear Vevvie,

It is pleasing to hear is that the straining to urinate has reduced, meaning your dog is feeling much more comfortable.

Treating TCC of the urinary bladder in dogs is a challenge, This disease is usually more aggressive than that of humans - it is most commonly quite invasive into the bladder wall. It also has the potential to spread to other parts of the body, such as lymph nodes, lungs and bones.

Surgery is rarely curative, as even if the tumour mass can be removed (location often even makes this impossible), there are usually precancerous changes to other parts of the bladder.

Various chemotherapy agents have been shown to have some benefit in a proportion of dogs, but the aim of therapy is to decrease the clinical signs of the tumour to allow the patient to continue to enjoy good quality, pain-free life for a longer period of time, as opposed to aiming for a cure. The side effects from the chemotherapy used initially may be avoided with a dose reduction; alternatively another drug could be trialled.

Piroxicam also has demonstrated anticancer effects against TCC, and on its own may control the disease for around 6 months in most dogs, occasionally longer.

You are the best judge on whether you feel that what you are doing is 'cruel'. However, from what you describe of your dog running around well, having reduced symptoms of the bladder tumour, and eating well, these are all positive signs for me!!

Best wishes,
Amy

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Small Animal Oncology
Registered Specialist in Veterinary Oncology
Newcastle Region