She has CANCER!

Here is where we can discuss canine cancers and treatment options to create a support system for those dealing with the disease.

Postby bahamian1 » April 21st, 2009, 11:08 am

Hi Everyone,
I need some help, advice, encouragement..................anything!

My beloved baby Zora; the vet says she has cancer!

About August 2008, I notice that Zora got a little cut on the top of her paw rite above her nuck. I did not pay too much attention to this because the dogs in my yard always get lil nicks from running, being wild etc.
After a while I noticed that it healed up by about October 2008, and a scab had formed over this little cut.

Then in December of 2008, I noticed that this cut was back, but notice it was like a little boil or lesion so I thaught I would lace it to drain the blood and everything would be fine.

Well I did drain the blood out of it, then I cleaned the inside with some betadine soulution. I continued to clean this "cut" with the betadine for the entire month of January 2009. Anyway, some days I was certain that this thing was healing but then February came around and it was still not healed.

At this time I decided to put her on 500mg of ammoxicillan along with the betadine bath once a day. For two and a half weeks she was on ammoxicillan but this "cut" appered to get bigger.

At this point, I went to a much stronger, antibiotic: Cephalexin. I gave her 500 mg of this for three weeks. At this point the "cut" was covering about 25% of her paw and I was thinking that the cephalaxin would definitely clear this up. Cephalaxin is one of the strongest antibiotics out there and it has worked MIRACLES for me in the past. So I was feeling very confident that this "cut" would be gone in about three weeks.
Well I was wrong, This thing got bigger in 3 weeks. At this point I went to the vet.

At the vet he looked at her and put her on 1000mg of Cepalaxin a day . I told him that I had her on the 500mg a day of cephalaxin (along with betadine bath), and he was somewhat surprised to see that it did not work. That is why he increased it to 1000mg a day.
He then told me to bring her back when the pills were done in two and a half weeks.

At the end of this time, this "cut" was much worse. Her entire paw was engulfed with this cut. But what was more astonding was that the morning she had to go back to the vet, I noticed see had a lump in her neck area. At this moment I got really down because I knew that this was not good.

Once at the vet and he saw the condition of her paw, he said that it has to be cancer. He did not know about the lump in her chest yet, so I then told him. Once I told him that he was 100% certain.

Rite then I asked him what should I do. He then tells me that I should put her down! Man, I could not be hearing this rite now, not with Zora! He then went on to tell me that he knows that it is hard for me because of the history I have with Zora.
Lets put it like this, Zora is my baby. She is ten years old and she is the oldest dog in my yard. She is the daughter of one of my best dogs ever. Man lets put it like this, we have such a bond for each other , that she gets jeolous of my wife (but not in a vicious manner). She was in my life before my wife.

To make things even harder, in January 2009, I lost a male pup (Sunjata) at 5 months old that I had GREAT expectations for. Then In February 2009, I lost one of my better females (Sauda)!

So its been a very rough year for me with my yard, so I am having a very hard time with Zora!

Anyway, I suggested to my vet that he should remove her leg/paw. But he said that it may not make a difference because of the lump. I then told him to do a biopsy and then we can see which way to go. So he did the biopsy and hopefully I will know the resutls in about 1-2 weeks (because I live in the Bahamas, the sample has to be sent to a lab in the USA).

Yesturday Zora did not eat and today I had to hand feed her (and she did not eat much). This is the first time that she has not eaten. I am soooooooooooo worried and down over this. This is the FIRST that I thaught to my self that I may have to put her down!

Can some one please give me some advice!?

I apologize for writting so much but this is really bothering me!
Zora looking sexy.JPG

Zora being very mad.JPG



PS: I have posted this on other sites trying to get as much feed back as possible[url][/url]
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » April 21st, 2009, 11:23 am

Oh she's lovely!

I have no advice on the cancer. What is she eating? I think vets/oncologists generally recommend grain-free diets for cancer, but I may be wrong. I'm sure you'll get some good advice as unfortunately this board has many dogs battling cancer.
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Postby TheRedQueen » April 21st, 2009, 11:34 am

She is beautiful. :) I have sympathy to offer, but not much in the way of advice...but I'm sure others will be along shortly that will be able to help.
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Postby Pit♥bull » April 21st, 2009, 11:54 am

She's a beautiful girl, Not much to consider until the biopsy results.
Our girl Trouble viewtopic.php?f=44&t=27147 has done well after amputation and chemo but this was bone cancer.


Sending you and Zora :goodthoughts:
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Postby Jenn » April 21st, 2009, 11:58 am

:goodthoughts: I think the first step is to figure out the type of cancer, and then go from there. My heart is breaking for you, she is a very pretty girl.
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Postby bahamian1 » April 21st, 2009, 11:59 am

Thank you everyone.

Zora and the rest of my dogs have been eating completely raw diet for about 5-6 yeras now.
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Postby amazincc » April 21st, 2009, 1:22 pm

I am SO sorry to hear about Zora... Cancer is an ugly, nasty thing. :sad2:

Sending out tons of good thoughts for your girl. :hug3:
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Postby Marinepits » April 21st, 2009, 1:29 pm

amazincc wrote:I am SO sorry to hear about Zora... Cancer is an ugly, nasty thing. :sad2:

Sending out tons of good thoughts for your girl. :hug3:


x 2

Do you know why she's not eating? Is her throat sore or swollen from the lump there, her tummy upset, etc? You may want to try breaking up her raw into small pieces or grinding it down to a paste so it's easier for her to eat.

I'm sorry you have to wait so long for the biopsy results. Unfortunately, there's not much specific advice to offer until we know what kind of cancer Zora has.
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Postby hugapitbull » April 21st, 2009, 1:33 pm

Zora is beautiful. I know how horrible it is to deal with a cancer diagnosis, particularly on the older dogs who have been in our lives for so long. We faced the same thing in November.

Unfortunately, until you know what kind of cancer, you're just stuck in 'wait' mode. After they know for sure what kind and the stage, they can give you better statistics on your options and your options.

Sending you and Zora lots of good thoughts and hoping you get speedy biopsy report. I know it is difficult, but don't panic until you know for sure what you are dealing with.

Oh, and if no one has mentioned it, good thoughts from PBT are the luckiest good thoughts in the world.
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Postby iluvk9 » April 21st, 2009, 3:43 pm

I am sorry for the diagnosis. :(
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Postby madremissy » April 21st, 2009, 5:58 pm

I am sending many good thoughts for Zora. :hug3: She is a beautiful girl.
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Postby bahamian1 » April 21st, 2009, 11:42 pm

Thanks everyone.....and yes, she is soo beautiful!

I will try to seperate her food tomorrow. I gave her a B12 shot today so hopefully it will stimulate her appetite. For the past two days I gave her Ensure and it did her pretty good.

It is really a pain having to wait so long on her results.

For what I mentioned, is it a slight possibility that she could have diabetes and not cancer?
I know that it is a stretch, but I pray that it is not cancer.

Again, thank you all!
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Postby CinderDee » April 22nd, 2009, 5:56 am

I'm so sorry to hear that Zora may have cancer. There's not much to do until the biopsy results come back and you know what you're dealing with. Cancer doesn't automatically mean a death sentence though. My dog, Kato, has been in remission for about 1 1/2 years and is doing very well. Hang in there!

Here's Kato's thread if you want to take a look.
http://www.pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=16023

and, his blog.
http://www.katobuzz.blogspot.com/

Sending tons of good thoughts! :goodthoughts:
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Postby iluvk9 » April 22nd, 2009, 6:02 am

Just a thought you may want to run by your Vet. Should the diagnosis be cancer, I chose to have one of mine on prednisone instead of more aggressive treatments. What it did for Carlos, was to increase his appetite and sort of "keep the cancer progressing slower". I heard about the prednisone from a friend who runs the Am. Bull Dog Rescue in NY. We both had dogs going through cancer at the same time.

Carlos ate like a horse until his last few days. He did gain A LOT of weight, but that was okay with me and the Vet since his diagnosis was not good. He also had to pee almost every hour, at night.

Again, I hope you post here that the tests show differently.
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Postby bahamian1 » April 27th, 2009, 10:58 am

Good morning everyone,
My vet just called me with the biopsy results. It came back negative for cancer. So now what? I am confussed now!

The lump in her chest has gotten bigger. I asked him if it could be diabetes but he said that he did not see any evidence of it. He then said that he would have to do blood work to see if she has diabetes and the sample has to be shipped to a lab in America again!

This is soooooo frustrating. He thinks that it may just be a very bad infection that has spread from her paw to her chest. But if that was the case, I would have thaught that the cephalaxin would have taken care of this.

Does anyone have any more suggestions for me?

Thank you.
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Postby Pit♥bull » April 27th, 2009, 11:34 am

Get a second opinion. :|
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » April 27th, 2009, 12:05 pm

Well, first of all, congratulations on the negative cancer report (hopefully that's correct!). But I agree with Bob, get a 2nd opinion, and I would do it ASAP. Obviously something is wrong and you want to make sure you treat it as quickly as possible.
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Postby Marinepits » April 27th, 2009, 2:45 pm

Pit$Bull wrote:Get a second opinion. :|


I agree.

And if it is an infection, it may need a different antibiotic that is either stronger or specifically targeted for her type of infection. Has the vet done a culture to see what type of bacteria it is?

Has she has chest x-rays done?
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Postby iluvk9 » April 27th, 2009, 4:05 pm

Good news on the "not cancer". :)
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Postby blabsforbullies » April 27th, 2009, 8:21 pm

bahamian1 wrote:This is soooooo frustrating. He thinks that it may just be a very bad infection that has spread from her paw to her chest. But if that was the case, I would have thaught that the cephalaxin would have taken care of this.

Does anyone have any more suggestions for me?

Thank you.


There are many, many infections that do not respond to Cephalexin. :neutral: It may be that it just isn't the right antibiotic. As for the lump and the infection, they may or may not be related. Sometimes it is hard to tell. :|

I am glad to hear the news of no cancer. :D I hope things get better and that your poochie feels better soon.
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