bladder cancer- Angelica's experience

[frontierrots]

I put this in a separate thread so not to hijack the other one.

I have recently gotten a good many inquiries about bladder cancer so have put together an email/post with our experiences to help others.. hopefully

In November of 1999 Angelica broke into the storage closet in the entranceway and destroyed a bottle of windshield washer fluid, consuming some andthus was on medication for minor possible antifreeze poisoning (windshield washer fluid has a minute amount of antifreeze and is minimally toxic). She then had UTI's twice that summer. September of 2000 Angelica, then almost 9, had an emergency Pyometra spay. The following March 2001 she was VERY ill for a couple weeks with a mystery ailment. She was hospitalized for 5 days. High fever, high white cell count, vomiting, diarrhea etc. If she had not already been spayed the vets would have said Pyometra. The final guess was uterine stump pyometra where an infection settles in the remains of the uterine stump. Angelica had a couple more UTI's this summer also.

Over the winter of 2000/2001 she had a couple more UTI's

When she was first diagnosed (May 2001) with Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, she could only pee in drips- 1 drop at a time of bloody urine- and at first we thought she had another UTI and tried 1 week of antibiotics to no avail, so we sent off urine for a full exam and culture which is when we discovered the TCC. (HUGE clumps of TCC cells were in the urine and combined with her symptoms came the dianosis) Within 2 days of starting Piroxicam she could pee normally and still can. We opted for no surgery or surgical biopsy based on my research and discussions with others with afflicted dogs and with cancer researchers. TCC spreads like mold spores when touched or cut and thus is a poor type to perform such things on. Also normally bladder cancer is at the part of the bladder away from the outlet and if surgery is performed that portion of the bladder is removed (and many dogs become urine incontinent after surgery). Angelica's is at the exit of the bladder, and thus not eligable for surgery unless we removed most of the bladder and made her 100% incontinent.

We tried Chinese herbs with Gel (started about 1 week post diagnosis), but they made her very very sick as did Kibble, kibble she'd been eating for a good long time.

About 1 month after diagnosis I thought she was dying. Bloody vomit, bloody poop, blood oozing from her vagina, etc.. For several days she was this ill and we seriously considered putting her down.

We made some life changes and she got better and has been doing great ever since,albeit slowly because she is ancient for a Rott (average lifespan is
about 8.5 years and Gel is currently 13 years old tomorrow!)

The average life span of a dog post diagnosis being treated with Piroxicam is 6 months with some living 12 months and a few living longer. Angelica is not 2 years and 6 months post diagnosis

MOST dogs have had the TCC quite awhile before showing any signs. We
guess that Gel had hers for at least 12 months prior based on her past
history of crystals and UTIs (which we had attributed to her accidental
ingestion of windsheild washer fluid 2 years prior)

Angelica is 75-78 lbs

After he death's door illness a month after diagnosis Gel was eating/taking daily

AM:
15 min before meal she gets 1 tablespoon Ultraclear Plus mixed with a
bit of water (available through http://www.illnessisoptional.com )
Then we mix together
1/2 cup ground beef
1/3 can Innova
1000 mg vit C
2 Cranberry capsules dumped into food
10000 IU Vit A
200 IU vit E
1 Nutribiotic plus capsule (also available through illnessisoptional)
mixed with a bit of warm water

PM:
1 hour before hand she gets 1 Sucralfate pill (prescription med to keep
the Piroxicam from eating her stomach)
Then 15 min before meal she gets 2 tablespoons Ultraclear Plus mixed
with a bit of water
Then we mix together
1/2 cup ground beef
1/3 can Innova
1000 mg vit C
2 cranberry capsules dumped into food
1/2 human multi with no colors added
followed by 10 mg Piroxicam and a slice of bread (her treat)

In April of 2003 we changed her from the ground beef to Bravo prepared raw beef (meat, ground bone & veggies)8 oz am and 6 oz pm and 1/4 can Innova.

This month (Nov 2004) we are changing to less Innova canned and adding some Innova EVO in an effort to reduce carbs further and so far she is tolerating it well.

She gets no vaccines at all except Rabies. No chemicals applied or
ingested

Some of the websites I have printed out

from the pub med website http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi
articles # PMID: 11809678
PMID: 7653891
PMID: 7983623
PMID: 1733554

From Gooddog Magazine (you have to register first but it's free)
http://www.gooddogmagazine.com/bladdercancer9907.htm

The following are good/great items but are on incredibly temperamental websites. One day they work and then for weeks they don't. Not sure why

http://www.medvet-cves.com/Articles/TCC.htm
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/vcs/Peop/c...ddercancer.htm
http://www.vrcc.com/library/disease/canurin.htm
http://www.treshanley.com/CIC/cancertypes.html
http://www.maristavet.com/html/body_sucralfate.html
http://www.biochem.wustl.edu/~sydney/rennie.html

[macho rottie]

WOW! Thank you for sharing all that information.

[jas'smom]

Thanks so much for all your research and work putting this together. You are amazing!!!!

[rms78645]

Wow. So, was it trial and error on how to feed her and what supplements?

[Ilovemypuppy]

Thanks for making all this great information available....much appreciated !

[MontanaRott]

Diane, thank you for this! I have a Pug with a history of UTI, crystals, bloody urine,and this gives me information to use and draw from, should we see changes.

[frontierrots]

Originally Posted by rms78645

Wow. So, was it trial and error on how to feed her and what supplements?

When she was diagnosed we obtained info from the holistic vet and Mary Wulff Tilford on supplements for dogs with cancer. The Ultraclear plus is a protein powder with amino acids etc in it. It's a human product and the Holistic vet uses it for lots of different cases

The Nutribiotic capsules plus is another human product containing grapefruit seed extract, artemisa and Echinachia. It helps keep her immune system up and UTI's away as does the cranberry capsules and C

As far as food. Kibble was a no go, it made her puke. Even 1 piece. She had to eat something so we started with just meat and no supplements and worked our way up. We added the Innova canned for variety and more nutrition. In the last 20 months she has started being able to eat biscuits and some kibble as treats so that is why when the EVO came out we decided to give it a try, not as a large part but as a portion.

She has a few bad days every month or so, but on average she is in better shape then she was in the months right before her diagnosis. She kills toys and plays tug with Bea and even trots so she is doing much better than anyone ever dreamed so we are happy even though we know theses times cannot live forever