dog daily photo – a quick note on mast cell tumors
By goodbear
Tags: animals, cancer, canine health, dogs, mast cell tumors, pets, photography, poodles, vizslas
Category: animals, daily photo, dogs, pets, photo blog, photography, pure breds
i hate writing this post. i started it last night and have deleted it twice since then. but here goes:
i’ll just spit it out. two of our friends (dog friends) were diagnosed with mast cell tumors last week. both were only 3 years old and both have appeared regularly on my blogs. young sweet girls.
ditta, pictured above, just had surgery the day before this shot was taken. her tumor started as a tiny bump under the skin on her bum. a week later, by the time of their vet appointment, it had already increased rapidly.
i haven’t heard what grade the tumor was yet, but i did learn they may not have gotten it all. our other friend is dear coco. our poodle buddy. her tumor appeared to be a spider bite a couple months ago. it grew. then it shrank and almost disappeared. for a while it just looked like the residual of a bug bite. (we have some nasty critters here in the southwest that bite and sting)
both of these dogs are young and healthy and cherished.
i am posting this because i love these dogs and am concerned for them. but i also wanted to provide links for you, just in case you haven’t heard of these tumors before. it might be good to learn about them before you ever need to.
i am also posting this to mention just one more thing i love about dogs: they never worry about their health or their future.
i worry too much. i worry for my dogs’ health, my friends’ dog health, our collective vet bills. and i know worrying can make you sick. my dogs worry about cats. cody bear worries about dogs, pickles worries how long it takes me and cody bear to return. i love them for their ability to live in the moment, for their way of trusting me to take care of them. (oh…and….my cat? she doesn’t worry about ANYTHING)
ditta and coco are trusting their people to take care of them, and those people are. they have been.
anyway, here are some links:
http://www.caninecancerawareness.org/html/CanineCancerMastCell.html
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1638&aid=461
http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1998/winter/cmcts.shtml
i wish good health to you and your pets!
7 Responses to “dog daily photo – a quick note on mast cell tumors”
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My old dog Spunky had a very similar bite/bump last fall on his hind quarters. We were sure it was a mast cell. It turned out to be demodedic mange caused by a lyme disease weakened immune system. Several months later and over $7000, Spunky is recovering but the mange seems to be back. It is a frustrating and ugly condition that is very uncomfortable for the poor dog. I can empathize how you worry – about your dog, the vet bills, everything. It is beyond even bothering to worry because all I could do was just keep treating him. My vet did give me a break on his daily (for 30 days) Ivermectin shots and that helped a lot. I just wish he would recover! : (
hi miriam,
thanks for finding the blog. so sorry to hear about spunky’s mange. it sounds so uncomfortable!
you’re right about just having to keep treating him. and at least your vet is helping out a bit.
what kind of dog is spunky?
Poor pups. One time Tucker had a bump on his leg that the vet thought was some sort of rapid-growing mast cell (which he didn’t tell us before the biopsy because he knew we would freak out), but it turned out to just be a weird form of roundworm. So we were lucky.
Demodectic mange is what Dennis had when we rescued him (I’m sure Goodbear remembers the old pictures of him). Fortunately he doesn’t appear to have an underlying immune condition, but was just severely neglected and undernourished.
Thank you for sharing this info, and thanks for the links. I know it is hard but it does help others in the same situation. How are the dogs doing?
I have a 9-year-old yellow lab named Rosie with 2 Mast Cell Tumors. She had surgery but did not get it all. She just started on the new drug, Palladia, which is the first FDA approved drug for canines, and it is specifically for Mast Cell Cancer and it is free until the end of the year. Rosie’s blog is http://rosiesroad.wordpress.com.
This really hits home and I was wondering how these dogs are doing today.. about a month ago my viszla Buddy presented with what appeared to be a wart I watched it and then he went for his rabies shot today and I had the vet check out the “wart” on his ear. well turns out that there are Mast cells present and buddy is going to have part of his ear surgically removed on tuesday.. Buddy like the dogs you have mentioned is young as well he just turned five in November. I am very scared that this is not going to go well I dont want to loose my beloved dog! and my kids will be heart broken my oldest has grown up with the dog.
I hope the out comes were good for your friends dogs as well .
hi tiffany.
thanks for swinging by the blog. i’m sorry your viszla buddy was diagnosed with mast cells.
i am glad i can tell you that BOTH ditta and coco are doing great! i hope the same happens with buddy.
they go in for their frequent checkups, but no problems so far.
please keep me posted on buddy!
I am happy to report that the biopsy came back and Buddy is going to be just fine. The mast cells in his ear were not cancerous and he needs no further treatment. such a relief!
I am also glad to hear that ditta and coca are doing well also.