Caninecancer.org.au

My dog Boy
No one believes me when I tell them my dog Boy is 14. He looks no older than 8. He is fit, agile, is ball obsessed, excitable and barely any trace of arthritis. Around November I noticed he started coughing. Not much, maybe once or twice a day. I didn't like the sound of it and knew it wasn't just a simple case of kennel cough. I guess my mummy instinct just kicked in! Around the same time Boy injured his foot whilst running and needed it bandaged. Whilst we were at the vet I mentioned that he had a cough and that I thought it was a lung tumour! My vet and I laughed off my ridiculous statement because it was such a exaggerated diagnosis to come up with! Further more, lung tumours only account for <1% of canine cancers so they are very rare and not often seen! Nevertheless, I wanted x-rays done to be sure. I am glad I listened to my instinct because sure enough, the x-ray showed very obviously showed a 4cm mass in his left caudal lung lobe. I was devastated! My vet said she almost fell off her chair! After I managed to compose myself I decided I wanted to see what we could do for him. The first step was a CT scan at the specialist to make sure the cancer was just in his lung and hadn't come from anywhere else, or spread.
I guess as unlucky as we are, we are also lucky because the scan showed it was an isolated tumour and was in a good-as-possible location to remove. With this information we booked in the surgery for 10th December. The day came, undoubtably one of the toughest days I have ever had. The hardest thing was that Boy was absolutely healthy and had no idea what he was about to endure I had to say goodbye and cried my eyes out! I didn't leave Osborne park. I just hung around the area until the surgeon (Dr Ram) called me that say the surgery went well. I was so happy! That night I went to see my baby and was shocked at how he looked. He had lines coming out of his neck, front leg and back leg, and a large chest drain as well. Half his body was shaved and he was completely out of it! I had a little cry but was happy to see him. Boy spent 2 nights with the emergency/ ICU team at Perth Vet Specialist and I couldn't speak better of them. Dr Kym and Louise are amazing. They let me stay for hours on end through the night. I really felt I could trust the nursing team as well. They said Boy was the model patient which made me very proud!
Since his surgery the biggest obstacle has been keeping Boy rested. 2 weeks after having a portion of his lung removed, he was ready to run after his ball!
We went back to PVS on the 2 week post op mark to have a recheck with Dr Ram. He was happy with Boys progress. We also had an appointment with the Oncology to discuss where to go. Sadly despite successful removal of the tumour, it did come back as a Carcinoma (I still had a glimmer of hope that it may have been a grass seed abscess!) and also some abnormal cells were found in the surrounding lung tissue which means the cancer may spread later down the track (highlights the importance of opting for histopathology!!!). So with this information Dr Jess decided that the best chance we can give Boy is to start a metronomic chemotherapy protocol of Cyclophosphamide and Piroxicam daily for life. This can help reduce the growth of the cancer. Boy started the medication 3 weeks ago and is going great guns so far! We are back to walking daily and some off lead exercise, but no running after the ball yet! My moral of the story is ALWAYS TRUST YOUR INSTINCT. Boys surgeon said that most dogs with this tumour don't get diagnosed until much later, because normally the cough is ignored or assumed to be kennel cough. Prognosis of this type of tumour is very dependent on the size of the tumour when removed. Anything under 5cm has a better prognosis. It is so important to get these things checked! I wouldn't care less if people think I'm a paranoid mum! In this case it has well and truly paid off! I am looking forward to another few years with my tough and amazing dog. He is a true testimony that animals cope so well with surgery and even at an old age, they can recover well. Remember age is not a disease! I know this is what Boy wanted and I know he will also let me know when he's had enough.