Lymphoma three months after vacination

German Shepherd Lover

I had to put my beautiful 8 year old German Shepherd down after his fight with Lymphoma. I live in Maryland and at the same time, the Baltimore City Police department had several German Shepherds with the same disease. I am in no way trying to place blame but merely trying to find possible causes. My dog was given a clean bill of health in September and had his normal vacinnations.
Has anyone else that has had a dog that contracted Lymphoma had his vacinations within the last three months ?
I understand this is a rare disease but all of the sudden I see many cases as I question the quality of the vacination.
If anyone can direct me to any other forums that may have more people to question I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you....

mhowd

My dog Chelsea was at the vet back in Setember for her routine physical/vaccines and everything was fine until November 14th - the vet diagnosed her with a urinary tract infection/kidney infection and put her her on Zeniquin an antiobiotic. I wrote to the forum back then as I thought my dog was having some type of allergy to the drug and as the days went on, she was then diganosed with Lymphoma. Very aggressive type - mass on her liver, speen and tumors behind her eyes. My vet told me that chemo probably would not work, so I have her on prednisone and am just enjoying each day I have with her. This past Friday, I noticed a dramatic change in her behavior - she is not having trouble getting up and walking, and is loosing control of her bladder. I feel that I only have a fews days left - it's difficult.

I've heard more and more stories of Lymphoma and agree with you - I want to know what caused this and why more and more of our pets are dying from it. If you find anything out, let me know. I live in York County, PA, not far from Baltimore (I actually commute to work to Baltimore from PA). I wonder if it is something in this area (Maryland/Pennsylvania)?

German Shepherd Lover

Hi mhowd, I read your story about Chelsea and I hope you can keep your dog as comfortable as possible. I know how hard it is, as well as the emotional roller coaster you are on with it's highs and lows. Dogs don't deserve this miserable disease.

I find it interesting that you had you dog vacinated in September the same month that I did, and you are in York County and I am in Baltimore County which borders York Co, and your got sick at around the same time mine did and ended up with lymphoma.

I have seen some information that now says we are over vacinating our dogs at the every year frequency and over loading them with antigens.

Due to liabity issues I doubt the vets or the pharmceutical companies will help in discovering any links that may possibly exist but I am hoping more people that have seen this disease may have more information to add and they will share it with us.

Thanks for your post, I really can feel for you and your dog.

mhowd

Thanks - I feel that I may have to make the decision to put Chelsea down in the next day or so. I've been up with her since 3am this morning trying to keep her settled. She's now beginning to pant more and more, although she does seem to be able to sleep comfortably in intervals.

You are correct - this is a terrible disease and I also am now wondering if we are giving our pets too many vaccines. Certainly vets and the pharmaceutical companies would never admit that - how would they be able to make all their money if we didn't constantly take our pets to them.

Right now, I'm not too happy with my vet - I went there this morning to get Chelsea's prednisone refilled and wanted to talk to the vet assistant to tell her what Chelsea's symptoms are right now and to also let her know how Chelsea has gone downhill in the past few days and the receptionist went in the back, and then a few minutes later came back out to me and told me that the vet said "Chelsea will stop eating and that is how you will know it is time". That's not even what I wanted to ask - I simply wanted to talk to someone - I can certainly understand they may be busy (although the office was totally empty), but I find it hard to believe that no one could take 5 minutes to talk to me. Especially when I hear laughing coming from the back - perhaps I'm just a little emotional right now.

cshellenberger

Lymphoma is a cancer and is NOT contagious. It often doesn't show ANY signs until it is too late.

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German Shepherd Lover

mhowd, I am sorry you had such a lousy experience at your Vet. I will have to say that my Vet(s) were extremely sympathetic as well as all of his/her helpers. The vets where I went gave my dog a couple of injections of a slow release as well as a faster acting steroid and had him on antibiotics as well. I then gave him predisone as needed to try to keep his appetite going and give him a lift. It eventually stopped working to the point that the dog could not maintain his balance and strenght. The dog gave it his all to try to eat and do everything for us as he did his whole life but had no meat on his bones what-so-ever. It was a chore to find an area with any muscle for an injection.

When the time came for me to have my dog put down, they were extremely accommodating and did it in the back of my SUV so in my mind I didn't have to make the dog walk in for his final time. I was there with him even though it was extremely hard.

I again can really understand your sadness and know what you are going through.

I can't blame the Vets for giving vacinnations as recommended but I feel that we are subjecting dogs to possibly too many antigens due to the current yearly doses. I have found some web-sites that say that some vets are concerned about the frequency being to often.


To: Schellenberger

I am very aware that the Lymphoma is a cancer and hopefully not contagious but I still, in my feeble mind, can't understand how a dog can go in for a check-up, get a clean bill of health, have a recommendation of having him neutered, his teeth clean as a whistle without ever being cleaned, receive comments about how heathy he is as well as at the perfect weight and still looks like a young puppy...........go to a case of lymphoma and a sick, sick, dog in a matter of months just after receiving his annual vacinations. I guess it was just coincidental and I am grasping at straws but I feel if there is any correlation others may be able to benefit from it. I guess it shows why maybe a dog should have a blood test at yearly visits to possible see something before it is too late? Again, this is in no way trying to fault anyone or industry, but merely find any simularities that may exist in like cases.

Thanks.

cshellenberger

The same way a human can get the disease and not have it discovered until serious illness has set in. Cancer can be semidormant in the body and suddenly due to whatever factors just explode in reproduction in a matter of weeks. The fact is most vet checks don't do the type of blood tests needed to detect cancer. Bone Lymphomas can show up and be mistaken for other diseases or even an injury, but you have to LOOK for it. By the time a dog starts limping it's too late, the cancer has already done major damage and all you can do is keep the dog comfortable. Internal cancers are just as bad as dogs often don't let on they are sick until they can't hide it any more. I understand where you are coming from, I lost a Boxer to a brain lesion, he just started air snapping, getting a dazed look and growling. We did an MRI and there it was. He had been nuetered and had a check up a month before. Taz was only 10 mos old when we put him down. I was devestated and angry.

As far as vaccinations, I have a cat that I have titered because his breed is susceptable to vaccine lymphomas. After he developed a large lump at his rabies vaccination site I was advised to do this. Fortunatly he is an indoor only cat so possible exposure to disease is minimal.

German Shepherd Lover

You may want to check out this link Carla:

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/vacc...vacctiters.htm

You certainly are helping educate me in the vaccination procedures.


I agree with you about dormant cancers but wonder if the immune system is weakened due to unneeded antigens introduced into the sytem by unneccesary vaccinations.

I still have to wonder why in a small geograhic area we are seeing so many cases of Lymphoma? Maybe it's the water from all of the fuel leaks from gas stations? Well water and gasoline additives.... We have had two Exxon Stations withing 4 miles of our home completely shut down because of fuel leaks and contaminated wells in the past 4 years.

German Shepherd Lover

I also found another link that is very interesting.. Please read !

http://vetmedicine.about.com/library.../aa060702a.htm

cshellenberger

THAT is a distinct possibilty also! At least as possible as the link to vaccinations. I your are having a doubt about vaccinating your dogs after the initial 1st year sets, find a vet that will run titers. These are often acceptable to licencing authorities.

German Shepherd Lover

More and more information keeps surfacing about how we may be over vaccinating our pets.

Just think about it, we are never required to have another chicken pox or polio vaccination after the initial vaccinations are performed. The immune system gets all fouled up with vaccinations and they weaken it . Moral to my story is... I will never vaccinate my dog on a yearly basis again. He was healthy until his last series of shots and I truley believe they made his immune system unable to resist the lymphoma any longer. Then he was dead......... The end.

teddysteatime

I am new to the forum and recently rescued my dog Brant a sheep/poodle mix. My heart goes out to all of you dealing with this lymphoma issue. It seems that the commonality you all share were the vaccinations. Being a nurse, I know that for humans all vaccines are given a lot number and this is recorded in the patient's chart. Should there be an issue with patients developing anything or if the pharm company has a concern the lot number is there for the pharm company to investigate. Perhaps the vaccination batch was tainted and was not manufactured under the strickest of controls. You all seem to live in reasonable proximity to one another which could make this a possiblity. This could be a long shot, but perhaps your answer is there.

The other reason I entered this forum was to ask opinions on essential oils in treating Ticks and fleas, hearing that products such as Frontline etc, are causing the highest rate of cancers in dogs. These products are so toxic, I know the dog owners who use these oils swear by them, just looking for more feedback.

dream2long

[quote=German Shepherd Lover;23445]More and more information keeps surfacing about how we may be over vaccinating our pets.

Just think about it, we are never required to have another chicken pox or polio vaccination after the initial vaccinations are performed. The immune system gets all fouled up with vaccinations and they weaken it . Moral to my story is... I will never vaccinate my dog on a yearly basis again. He was healthy until his last series of shots and I truley believe they made his immune system unable to resist the lymphoma any longer. Then he was dead......... The end.[/QUOTE

OOPs, see below.

German Shepherd Lover

Hi dream2long, I'm sorry about your loss.

I will always have my dogs vaccinated with the first series of vaccinations and the rabies as per the law. The vaccinations that I am most concerned about are the ones that are duplicated on yearly basis. It is the re-vaccinatiing for the same diseases that I question the frequency of the "boosters" or what ever the terminlogy may be. I will always get my dogs vaccinated as puppies as recommended but will most likely alter the time line for the re-vaccinations to four year increments instead of yearly.
At this point I am without a dog and will do much more research before I make my own determination how and when to re-vaccinate.

Like you, I was extremely angry when my dog was diagnosed with Lymphoma but have since then spent an enormous time reading about immune systems and how vaccines work. The Veterinarians have been through many, many years of education and I can't even try to question their wisdom and knowledge but like all things we can all have our own opinions.

I don't know if the vaccinations had anything to do with the death of my dog and will probably never know. The reason I started this thread was to see if any others had simular cases. Thank you for your input....

dream2long

Have to vent, thank you for letting me!!

Just yesterday I had to have my 6 mo. old Pomeranian/Bichon "Liberty Bella" named in honor of her birth date of July 3, 2006 puppy euthanized She had a 4 to 6cm. large mass "probable lymphoma" tumor extending from her esophagus to stomach and smaller ones wrapped within intestines to the colon. I just had her last puppy shots in series done on Dec. 17, 2005, in Genesee Co., Michigan when she was also spayed. Vet stated that they believe they would have noticed a mass that large a little over a month ago if it had been there during her spay. The breeder and pet seller are saying they've never seen this in any other pup this age, as well as all three vets present during her surgery. She started coughing a little on Monday, vomiting a bit for 24 hrs. Tues - Wed. Figured stomach flu, my other puppy had the flu a few times in the last year and a half since we've had her. But Liberty just didn't get better. Gave her yoghurt on Wednesday to reset her bacteria enzymes. She loved it, but acted like she couldn't eat any more. Few hours later gave her more, same thing. Later got her to eat maybe 1/4 cup of her Iams puppy food with a little marinade on it. Thursday not eating again. Friday took her in, x-ray showed mass but was inconclusive. They were convinced it was a foreign object ingestion. I didn't believe so, we watch her too close, and stated so. They assured me chances were minimal for cancer, on account of her age. They tried to take blood, but it clotted as soon as it came out so they decided she was dehydrated and put fluids sub-que. We gave the go ahead for a possible $1,200 surgery, on this information. When they opened her up this a.m. she had bleeding in her abdomen. Which my EMT sister told me was probably intensified by the fluids they gave her. Vet called with the sad news, all three tried to remove the tumors, but they were not retractable, too involved with the blood vessels and such. I DO BELIEVE WE ARE OVER VACCINATING OUR PETS AND HAVE STATED SO PRIOR TO THIS DEVASTATING TRADGEDY!! The vets guilt you into complying with their exorbitant prices, so they can have large beautiful buildings. When I was a child our animals got their rabies shots and parvo vaccines "maybe". They usually died of natural causes or got lose and hit. But never at 6 months with an adult Cancer! They only charge me $475 in the end and seller is refunding my purchase price, but we searched shelters for over 6 months in several counties for a small puppy for our other small/med. dog. She wants her puppy back, she keeps looking out the window to see where she is, how do you explain death to a young dog. And we want our baby back she was only with us for two and a half months, but we loved our 8 lb. little girl, and I know I would have had her a lot longer without any vaccines! Water wasn't an issue we have a rockwell 200 ft. deep and still filter our pets water, as well as our own! :<

dream2long

Interesting to say the least, although it doesn't touch on heartworm or flea preventative. I have had vets try to foist flea combos on me for my pets. My pets never had fleas beyond the day of their rescues! I gave the one we did have a fleas bath and they were gone first day. So if and when they do ever get a flea again, none in 11 years, I will rethink!! (or not)

As I stated before about the vaccines, my puppy Liberty had several vaccines before we purchased her at four months old. I believe he said over 90 different!! Wow then she still needed one more Lepto puppy. I don't even want to fathom to guess how old she was at the first vaccine.

mrpleasant

I'm very sorry to hear about Chelsea. I'm a new member, and I do feel for you.

About three years ago my dog Ray died from AIHA several months after he received some vaccinations. He was 10. I've learned quite a bit since his death about how vets over vaccinate dogs and cats. I do not know for sure if Ray's immune system malfunction was caused by the vaccinations, but I will never blindly vaccinate again.

I adopted an older Shepherd after Ray died. I've worked with my vet and he is now on board about not over vaccinating. In fact, he now recommends blood titers for all dogs getting older. And, he will submit a good titer and put in writing another year for legal rabies. My dog now is currently 10 and I won't vaccinate him any more. I'll titer until they come negative and by then there is no way I'll risk it. He'll be at the end of his life expectancy so the risk is higher than the reward. He'd be more likely to die from the vaccination.

Society does this kind of thing with people also, but only with pharmaceuticals, not vaccinations.

If anyone is interested, Ray's story is online. http://www.rayskneesurgery.com

German Shepherd Lover

Thanks for the information mrpleasant,

I am surprised at the amount if people I have spoken to since I lost my beautiful shepherd that don't have the vaccinations performed on regular schedules as recommended by many vets. I feel that I must have been living in a cave to be so uninformed and to have been so blindly lead to have my dog continually vaccinated as suggested and to not have any idea I may have been inducing disease and sickness into his body.

I again need to state that I can't prove, nor am I trying to, that my dog's lymphoma was caused by his last vaccinations. I have always looked for things that precede events in life that may have been the cause so this falls right in line in that process.

The dog was given a clean bill of health at the time of vaccination and the only recommendation the vet gave was to think about getting the dog neutered so he wouldn't have prostrate problems develop when he got older. His teeth were remarkably clean and many statements were made about how young he appeared along with how healthy he was.

I am seriously contemplating having my cat titered instead of just poking needles in her for the sake of doing it without really knowing what is necessary. It seems like over-vaccinations should be considered malpractice but I assume the titiering tests may be very expensive and the general public won't go for it so that only leaves shots as the alternative.

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