Osteosarcoma

[rottot]

This is the first time I've written. Our 8 yr. old male Rottie has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and we are devestated. He's our baby. In lieu of amputation, we are trying diet changes as well as artemisinin in hope of remission but also trying to be realistic. Question - Anybody have ideas on the appropriate dosage for Artemisinin? Wrote the Univ. of Wa. but due to it being experimental, no advice could be given. We gave him 50 mg 2X/day for 1 week, then off a week. Where to from here? He didn't tolerate Rimadyl well at all and Etogesic gave him the runs. Thanks so much for listening.

[brunie's mom]

Sorry to hear the sad news.:(

Do a search here for "artemesin"....I know that someone wrote about it in the Vet forum.
Also there was a big article written in the Whole Dog Journal, I think maybe April or May of this year. I gave my copy to my vet she was going to give it a try with a young Lab that had osteo.
You may be able to go on-line and find the copy with the article. It did have dosages in the article.

I hope that you get some more time with your dog.

Gina

[Rottlva]

Firstly, I am sorry to hear your news. Cherish every moment you have.

There are quite a few threads on cancer diets which should be of interest to you. Search right through the archives.

There is also a member, Chivas, who has been quite active on researching cancer diets, particularly for osteosarcoma.

All the best. Remember that a good life has quality, not quantitiy. : (

[Nina&Bill]

I am so very sorry for you:( . I lost my girl Smidgen to osteosarcoma last year. I hate this disease!

Speak to your vet about options. Depending on the location of the tumor there's an oncologist at the Animal Medical Center in NYC that has had a degree of success in removing the affected bone & grafting in another piece from a donor in lieu of amputating the entire limb. Smidgen's tumor was located in such a place that this operation was not possible or I would have jumped at it. Something similar may be available at the hospitals near you...maybe Tufts?

You could also look into holistic treatment.

Good luck. I hope that you have many more years with your best friend.

Nina

[Sharon Marples]

I don't have anything to offer for advice but wanted you to know that I am so sorry for his diagnosis. Do a search of the forums for this disease and I'm sure you will find out a lot of information.

Good luck and cherish the quality time you can give him for the future.

[RottiMomCT]

Our 9-10 yr old rottie girl was diagnosed with Osteo on May 1st. On May 8th, her front right leg was amputated - all the way up and including the shoulder joint. She has lost some weight (which she needed to do!) and is a much happier dog.

She had follow up x-rays in mid July andthere are a few small spots on her lungs that we are keeping an eye on. We are unable to afford chemo or other treatments, so for now we manage what little pain she has (arthritis, controlled/managed with Glucosamine/Chondroitin) and do our nest to keep her happy.

When her time comes, the vet will comes to the house so as to make the transition less stressfull for her (she hates the vets office, but loves the vet!!).

Do a search for "canine Osteosarcoma' using google or another search engine...there is a ton of info out there.

My thoughts are with you...keep the faith, don't let your dog see you cry (too often) and cherish every moment you have...smile at the good stuff and tough out the bad stuff together.

[chivas]

I have tons of information on osteosarcoma and treating it holistically and I also have some info on artemisinin.
But first of all , Rimadyl does NOT work for treating the pain of osteosarcoma. Ask your vet to prescribe PIROXICAM, it works MUCH better and also has some tumor fighting abilities.
I treated my girl, Chivas for osteo last year. She did not survive this horrible cancer but did much better then all 4 of her vets thought she would, I treated her holistically with traditional pain relief. I also have some very good info on the "NAVY PROTOCOL".
You can do a search on my name and see what all I have posted or I can send you info directly. Respond back and let me know.
My prayers are with you and dont delay, osteo is a very aggresive cancer.
Kim

[SLI]

Our 8 1/2 yr old boy was diagnoses with osteosarcoma 15 mo. ago. He had a limb sparing surgery where 1/3 of his front ulna was resected to remove the tumor. We did not do any chemo. He recovered very nicely from the surgery and is still cancer free from that cancer. He has since developed complications from an enlarged prostate and diskospondylitis. He was neutered after 6 mo. of being cancer free. The first of June I found an abdominal tumor and my heart just sank. The vet thinks it is hemangiosarcoma which is also very aggressive probably brought on from his stressed immune system. The survival rate with surgery is only 90 days. I have researched Artemisin for a year. The recommended dose is 1mg/Kg.a day up to 5mg/kg a day per Dr. Lai, UW. I felt that we have no more options because he will not have any more surgery. He weighs over 100# so he is getting 100mg 2xday. So far he has been on it for one month, off for a week and then back on. Within 7 days the tumor shrank and I really have to palpate deeply in his abdomen to feel any signs of it. His diskospondylitis has also improved. My vet was very interested and he now has 3 other clients on it with some amazing results. One dog was to be PTS because the osteo pain was so great. Within a week the dog was again enjoying life. Side effects are realtively rare. We have cherished every moment with our boy and against all odds he is still, here, enjoying life, eating well and above all playing with all of his giant toys. He still has that sparkle in his eyes. I will keep him on this schedule as long as I can.

SLI

living with a miracle

[chivas]

That is SOOOOOOOOOOOO Great, SLI. Ever since losing my girl last year to this dreadful cancer, Ive been researching and posting different holistic treatments for dealing with osteosarcoma. I am so glad to see someone with postive news with artemisinin. I took alot of flack from some members on here for my beliefs on holistic treatments and love to see positive results on it. If you can, can you let me know more??? I keep my vets informed on these procedures.
Kim

[Beckysmom]

I am sorry to hear about the osteo Rottot.

But the report on the Artemisinin is very encouraging! Dr Lai was less encouraging when I contacted him, but maybe couldn't be due to experimental nature of the treatment. I hope you who are using it will keep reporting on how it goes and that it may help Rottot too.

[Dianae]

So sorry to hear your sad news. I lost my Rotti boy at 8 years of age. I wish you all the very best.

[rottot]

Thank you one and all for all the responses. The support is greatly appreciated. It sounds like I need to increase the dosage on the Artemisin and will let you know how it goes. I find that about an hour after he's given the pill his respiration really slows down and his paws and feet get much cooler, so I worry about over-doing it. Has anyone noticed anything similiar? He's also getting indigestion and less of an appetite. He's been off dog food for several years now. I never wanted the preservatives, etc., so he's had a diet of brown rice, chicken, hamburg, vegies, etc. We've been giving him extra protein. Kim, please email me info on any diets you've had success with. I welcome the advice. We've also never put any chemicals of any sort in 'his' yard. You can tell by the crab grass. But we never worried about it. If someone will tell me how to add a picture, I'll post one of our Rennie. He's 120 lbs, 29" at the withers (yup, tall for the breed) and an absolute cutie (my unbiased opinion of course!). Thanks again to everyone. I will talk to our vet about PIROXICAM. Both he and the orthopedic surgeon still can't get over the diagnosis. The ortho doctor had seen 3 rots in a 5 day period, all about the same age, all with the same diagnosis, all in the same location (knee end of the femur, back right leg). It's a very scary thing.

[chivas]

I never got the chance to use artemisinin, so I cant comment on it.
You need to get your dog off carbs, cancer feeds on carbs.
Try raw unprocessed meat and low carb veggies. Start him on Vitamin C - start at 500mg daily and up it by 500mg every 2-3 days until you have him at 8000mg daily split into 2 doses, it helps his immune system. Also add B complex daily. I used other herbs but i dont think you need them with artemisinin.
Give him spring or distilled water only. His diet needs to be as free of free radicals as possible. I have alot more info on fighting osteo, I have made it my obsession since losing my most wonderful girl, Chivas. Let me know what you want to know or ask any questions you may have. You cant PM yet, but I can send you my email if you would like.
Kim

[rottot]

Kim, Wow, thanks for the fast response. I'll remove rice from his diet. How about fats? Low fat? I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and hamburg (90% lean), and have added steak now too. What do you recommend for veggies? We feed twice a day, in the morning and again at around 6:30 PM. How about biscuits? Are they off limit also? We give him his Artemisin pill in one of those individual wrapped slices of cheese. He takes it very easily that way. Any ideas on what else we could use? Would a low-fat slice be OK? I don't want him losing weight. Thanks again. He's been getting a multi vitamin supplement but I'll pick up some C and B tomorrow. Let me know if this link works, you can see a pix of him...... http://dogoftheday.com/archive/2001/October/29.html

[chivas]

the fat content is fine, he will need all the help he can to fight off this disease.
Cheese is a carb so be very stingy with it. Try raw beef bones and or freeze dried chicken livers for a treat.
Some good low carb veggies are squash, green beans, broccoli. Or you can get some organic baby food, just make sure everything is as PURE as possible.
I also gave Chivas anti oxidants and found some that were made into a chewy stick like treat.
I wouldnt give any processed dog treats, make your own if you have too. Get some N/D canned food - slice it into cookies and bake them.
Good luck and I will help in any way I can. If you look at my profile, there is a link to Chivas' page, take a look if you would like.
Kim