Cancerous Tumour in the spinal cord??

[rottie40]

Has anyone had any experience of a tumour in the spinal cord??
We took my beloved Piper to a Neuro Specialist yesterday where she had an MRI and CT scan which diagnosed an inoperable tumour in her spine. We are all in shock because my vet had some ideas but never did any of us consider this.
I would be interested to know if anyone has had such a diagnosis, what your experiences have been and any alternative remedies used?? I have been to collect steroids etc from the vet today to try to stop the tumour growing. I so hate steroids but feel I have no choice.
Unless of course anyone out there knows differently
Thanking you in anticipation

[hokisteph5]

Based on the name you gave to your thread, this thread's listed as one similar in nature (at the bottom of the screen).

[Lblomme]

Rottie40-
My rottie was a year and 4 months last week. He was suffering from a Spinal Tumor, that the first vet we went to thought was a pulled muscle, the second vet thought it was a pinched nerve, then finally we were not seeing any results. We went to the University of Minnesota St.Paul campus to the small animal hospital. There they said they were almost sure it was an infection, and the predisone the second vet gave us, made it worse. Knowing this we left him for the night only to get a call in the morning that the x-rays came back with no sign of an infection. And that an MRI, or CT scan was needed to move forward, we then got a phone call with terrible news. Our puppy had a spinal tumor. The vet said they could not remove it, and it would grow back. Then we had to make a decision to either put him down or go with surgery for him to only come out with pain and to have only a short life of 6-9 months. Which is unfair. I didn't want to lose him, and didn't want him to be in pain. We are not selfish people, so we put him to sleep. I wish that we would have brought him in first to this place, and not 3rd. His tumor was cancer, so be careful. Our baby showed signs like when we pet him, his back end would go down. Then it got so bad to were his back legs were extremly weak and could barely stand. Then the night before we brought him to the third vet, he was so weak, he yiped and made very sad faces. Apparently there was nothing the vet coul ddo for us, hopefully you caught this very, very soon. I hope and pray for you. We will be getting our results from the vet in the next few weeks. I would like to know how your visits go and how your baby is doing. I'm sorry, and I hope that it gets better and stops growing. When we put our baby on steriods, he lost muscle mass but always ate. So make sure that isn't happening with yours. Keep us posted. I'm very interested.
I hope this helps, at least a little.
Best of luck!

[Sheenagirl]

Sadly for us, yes, Sheena had a tumor on her spine. I copied my post and will paste below what I wrote previously in the Rainbow Bridge forum:

Sheena had gotten another UTI back around Thanksgiving for which the antibiotics did get rid of the infection but caused nausea, as she wasn't eating as well. I noticed she was getting weaker - you could see it in her back legs wobbling as she walked. She did have arthritis in her spine above her tail so I thought she needed something more than the Zubrin so our vet wanted to try prednisone instead of Zubrin. Sheena was on the pred for about a week. On Saturday (early am) Dec. 9th she wanted to go outside - it was dark - before I could turn on the flashlight I heard a dragging sound on the carpet but when the light came on Sheena seemed to be walking wobbly but weak. When I woke up Saturday morning Sheena could not move her back legs - she seemed paralyzed in her rear end. We took her to the ER and the vet took xrays - which did not show anything that would have caused the paralysis. Vet said it was possibly a slipped disc in her mid spine area or a tumor/cancer in her spine. Sheena stayed at the vets for a week to keep her immobile to see if her spine would start to heal. She still was unable to walk so we brought her home to take care of her. We wanted to give Sheena every chance to get better. But she wasn't getting any better - she was getting weaker even though she was eating a lot better. Sheena developed a fever of 102 3/10 to 102 8/10. Vet gave her an antibiotic injection in or near her spine in case there was an infection in the spine - he told us if her fever did not go down by the next morning then we were looking at something more serious (tumor/cancer). The fever was still there the next morning and she was breathing heavier. We knew she felt bad. It was Friday, Dec 22nd, and we knew we had done all we could and could not let her suffer any longer.

To answer your question - none of the meds we gave Sheena changed her paralysis and she continued getting worse.

For your Piper - do try the meds - anything you can think of because you never know one just might work to ease her symptoms. You will remember years from now that you did and tried everything you could to help her.

My thoughts and prayers go out for Piper and your family.

[rottie40]

Thanks hokisteph5 for taking time out to find that thread, it is all very daunting. I wont give up without a fight. Piper is in no pain she just has difficulty controlling her front legs

[rottie40]

Lblomme, firstly let me say how very sorry I am for the loss off your dear little puppy, and secondly thankyou for replying to my post when you are obviously in such pain and grief. Pipers tumour is at the base of her neck and at the moment the only symptoms she has is that she has no control over her front legs from the wrist down, and knuckles under therefore scraping her paws?
We started her on Pred 25g, antisepsin & zantac yesterday to try and reduce any swelling and the specialist said IF they are going to work we should see some difference within 48 hours, she is laid at my feet now - bless - will keep you posted

[rottie40]

Hi Jenny,
Thankyou for sharing Sheena's story with me, I am SO sorry she lost her battle against this dreaded illness. I have explained Pipers symptoms etc on the post to Lblomme so i will not bore you with the same stuff. I have lost 2 Rotties to bone cancer, 1 to cancer of the pancreas and now this!!! On a positive note I have my old lady here she is 12 and a half and she was diagnosed with bone cancer 5 years ago - we took her to an animal healer - she laid her hands on her and I think it worked!! Although it probably sounds odd to a lot of people - what did I have to lose? Only money?? I will try anything as the prognosis is so dire. Dont worry though i will not let my Piper suffer I WILL KNOW when she has had enough, thankyou for your support

[rottie40]

Piper has been drinking tons today, I really hate the side effects of steroids, the specialist vet said we should see some improvement in 48 hours - that was on Tues today is \saturday and she is still the same no improvement in her front feet at all, they also said they would have her blood results back by Thur and still no word... I hate waiting

[Buggy]

My Rott Gretchen developed a tumor at the injection site of one of her vaccinations. At first it was thought it would go away, but kept getting bigger and pressed on her spinal cord. Surgery was not an option due to her well advanced age so we tried to aspirate. In the begining when heading out for a walk she would stumble once or twice and later she would just sit in the driveway. Eventually she just couldn't do anything more than sit up. Nothing wrong with her heart or hips and her appetite was great - just that stinking tumor that wasn't cancerous but ended up taking Gretchen's life. I am so sorry you are going through this. I hope for the best and please keep us posted .
Best,

[rottie40]

Thanks for that Buggy. I am so sorry you lost your beloved Gretchen (great name!) Am pleased to report that she is slightly better on her front legs (she too falls over & stumbles) her stance is better too, she had become very stooped at the front and she seems to have straightened up a little. Got her boots today and am gunna try them on her later, I dont think she will be impressed. The vet said they can go back if she doesnt like them which is very kind. The steroids unfortunately are makjing her drink and pee ridiculous volumes

[rottie40]

A quick update on Piper, she has been diagnosed hypothyroid so now on meds for that and doesnt seem to be drinking as much, she seems fine in herself and is much the same as when I last posted here.
The thing that is worrying me is the fact that she seems to have lost weight in this very short space of time, not a drastic amount but I expected her to put weight on with the steroids??

[observer]

Has she actually lost weight, according to the scale? I'm wondering if she is losing some muscle mass due to the effects of the tumor on the nerves coming off the spinal cord.

[rottie40]

Good point Observer
Probably something in that too
Although poor darling has had diarrhoa today dont know if its the meds or the warmth that has suddenly arrived here in East Yorkshire

[rottie40]

Quick update on Piper
I have started to reduce her steroids, 5mg a fortnight!! There is a slight worsening in her front feet which makes me sad, I am thinking that I will not be able torecude by much at all!! I hate what the steroids are doing to her body, she is very thin and has lost all her muscle tone, the vet and I have agreed to take her off the Forthyron for a couple of weeks and see if this make a difference
Will keep you posted

[rottie40]

I would like to thank everyone for there posts regarding my darling Piper who we had put to sleep yesterday she could no longer get up on her front legs and was very confused and we made the agonising decision to end her suffering.
Ours has just begun..............