[Jennie933]

Hi!

I am new to this forum and hoping that you all will be able to me. I'm apologizing in advance for what will probably be a very long post. My beloved dog Ruben started throwing up undigested food intermittantly almost two weeks ago (Thursday). Ruben did not vomit all weekend but on MOnday vomiting returned so we took hi, to the vet. I should mention that Ruben has always been a chronic vomiter (approx. 1x/week)...however this was usually do to him nibbling on grass/house plants and was only bile. On the first trip to the vet they did an xray, blood work & fecal test. Fecal test came back negative, xray showed gastric wall appearred mildly thickened & irregular (vet said should look like a "c" and Ruben's looked like a "j") and what appearred to be possibly "poorly defined interstitial infiltrates" in his left lung. The presence of a foreign body was ruled out. One day later we received a message from the vet that his blood work came back fine with the exception of a slight elevation in Creatinine (liver enzyme). The vet prescribed two medications (metrenidasole & metoclapramide (sp?)). This particular vet (practice has several) recommened a barium test, as she felt Ruben may have a motility issue causes inflammation in his small intestine. Ruben vomited once Tuesday and then 3-4 times Wednesday.....this promted another visit to the vet on Thursday when an ultrasound was performed. Ultrasound results showed liver mildly enlarged, several gastrointestinal lymph nodes moderately enlarged and stomach wall (pyloric region) appearred irregular and thickened. The day after the ultrasound the vet (diff. one) told us that this is highly concerning for lymphoma....but did also mention that it could be Inflammed Bowel Disease. She suggested we have abiopsy performed to confirmed this diagnosis. We of course were devastated at the mention of Cancer....Ruben is our child and I have done nothing but cry for the past week.

We decided to seek out a second opinion and called our previous vet who we love. (the only reason we ever switched is because she moved to a diff. practicwe that was pretty far for us). I had the records sent to her and she reviewed them. She stated that while lymphoma was a possibility...it was also worst case scenario and she felt it could be a number of other things (including IBD/gastrointestinal issue) she also suggested the biopsy. We scheduled the biopsy with her for tomorrow.

Since last Wed. when Ruben's vmoting was at its worst we have been feeding him boiled chicken and rice he has only vomited 2 times (and only bile...not food). He remains energetic, although he has lost some weight due to not being able to eat his dog food, treats....etc. However, one thing I have noticed is that his pooping has decreased in frequency. The consistency is fine (although it looks dark black in spots) but he only goes one small nugget midday whereas he used to poop one time in morning and one time in evening. He is also eating alot less and only chicken and rice so could this cause this?

I guess I am just looking for opinions of people who have had similar situations/circumstances. My husband and I are absolutely devastated...I can't eat or sleep and have been crying for a week straight because I just want to make the right decision for Ruben. Would Ruben be improving if he did have lymphoma? Couldn't IBD present similar symptoms and do you think we are just fooling ourselves by trying to remain optimistic? I feel terrible about putting him through an invasive surgery simply for diagnosis but the vet has told us there is not other way (endoscopy might not get a sufficiant sample and the only way to diagnose IBD OR lymphoma would be a biopsy). Ruben also comes with me to the barn where i ride horses so maybe he managed to pick up a parasite or something? Or maybe he has some kind of infection or motility problem in his intestines? I just want this to all be a bad dream.

 

[Willowy]

Has the vet tested for Leptospirosis? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/leptospirosis_g.htm

I hope he feels better soon!

 

[spotted nikes]

Has the vet tested for Leptospirosis? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/leptospirosis_g.htm

I hope he feels better soon!

Ditto the Lepto test.

 

[Jennie933]

Thank you so much for your feedback. I did a bit of research on leptospirosis. Ruben has many of the symptoms associated with some sort of bacterial infection.......it would also make a lot of sense, as I always have him at the barn with me where he comes in contact with many different types of animals (horses, pigs, chickens, goats). The vet ran a complete blood count on him, as well as a fecal and urine analysis and all came back negative. Would lepto have shown up on these tests? My vet is definately considering a bacterial infection or parasite. She prescribed another round of dewormer and is hoping a bacterial infection would show up on the biopsy. I will give her a call this afternoon and ask her specifically about the lepto.

Just an update on Ruben's surgery......he did really well! He is home with me recovering now. The vet said that her findings were pretty consistent with the ultrasound........his stomach was extremely thickened and one of his lymph nodes was "really angry". She removed most of the one lymph node, but said his metastatic nodes (which are a little further down his GI tract) are a little swollen too, but she thinks this might just be result of all the vomiting. She said that the tissue all looks really healthy and took to the sutures really well.....just irritated because of all the vomiting. She also found part of his small intestine was not laying corectly....she said it wasn't twisted, but almost. It had even turned purple, almost blue in color. When she adjusted that section of his intestine it immediately turned pink and healthy again....she said this is a really good sign. Of course she cannot rule out cancer until she gets the biopsy results back, but my husband and I are holding onto hope for now....but it is going to be a long 7-10 days : (

Thank you for your feedback and please keep your fingers crossed for my baby!

 

[spotted nikes]

Sending Rueben Good Wishes from Texas.

Please keep us updated on how he is doing.

There is a specific test for Lepto. (Do the blood test...The urine test isn't reliable).

 

[Jennie933]

Thank you for all the well wishes. Biopsy results came in today....positive for gastrointestinal lymphoma : ( I don't even know what to do.....I am devastated...and currently sitting in my office crying. Does anyone have any experience with this disease (I Understand it is a pretty rare form of lymphoma). We have an appointment with an oncologist that my vet recomended....but I'm also wondering about a homeopathic approach. The last thing I want is for Ruben to suffer any more than he has to.

 

[I<3Animals]

Hi, our male lab at 5 years old was diagnosed with late stage, the highest grade lymphoma. It started in his skin, moved throughout his whole body, he stopped eating had vomiting and by the time it was diagnosed it had invaded his bone marrow. We only thought he had a fungal infection of his skin, but when a lab (especially Rolly) stopped eating we knew something had to be wrong. I just want you to know that the vets told us all of our options, either just symptom treatment (prednisone) with probably a month with him, one drug chemotherapy (slightly more expensive, some side effects possible) 4 - 6 months, or multi-drug chemotherapy probably through a veterinary oncologist (thousands of dollars) maybe up to a year remission. We opted for the one drug chemo and the prednisone. We tried cytoxan first, with some success. Then we tried lomoustine (which they had to get from the human hospital), and he is still alive a year and two months later, the lymphoma seems to be in remission, but we just discovered he has some kidney issues. The prednisone seemed to give him quite a few side effects and he doesn't seem to benefit from it that much. The chemo didn't really have any noticeable effects until it started working! Right now he is sleeping here with me on my bed snoring. I think it is worth a try, you know your dog best and what type of side effects he would tolerate. Once Rolly got his appetite back we could not be happier, he spent the summer fishing, swimming, running and playing. Dogs tend to tolerate chemotherapy better than humans, but the homeopathic route might be interesting and worthwhile as well. Wishing you the best of luck and strength in this hard time.

 

[drmjhamilton]

If your vet thinks hour dogue may have lymphoma a consultation with a veterinary oncologist may be a good idea. In addion there is a study going on regarding lymphoma in the dogue de bordeaux.
http://www.ddbs.org/Health/Lymphoma Study.htm

 

[Pai]

I lost my second childhood dog to Lymphoma. He was only 4 or 5, a lab mix. It was very hard. We tried to wait as long as we could before putting him to sleep, but he was just wasting away before our eyes. I don't know if Chemo was even an option back then (around 13 years ago). It's a terrible disease. Bordeaux are prone to it, unfortunately.

 

[eastcoastwesty]

I just did some research, you said you are interested in a homeopathic treatment? Try supplementing vitamins C and E. People have had dogs with bad cancer and one month to live, and they gave their dogs these vitamins. The dogs had recovered in two weeks! These vitamins boost your dog's immune system so it can get rid of the cancer itself. Both vitamins also have strong anti-cancer properties. Buy human tablets, and for E, give the amount suggested for adult humans. For C, feed to "bowel tolerance". This means start with 1/2 tablet, then one tablet, increasing the amount every day until he gets a little diarrhea or gas. This indicates the body is geting more C than it needs. Reduce to the previous dose. Every week up the dose again, to make sure his needs have not changed. I know everyone says dogs make their own C, and they do, but it is not enough when the dog has cancer. You may also want to look around and see if you find a holistic vet in your area. They treat the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms. They also usually use less invasive, painful treatments, as well as the fact that natural remedies don't have side effects, intoxicate the liver, or make their hair fall out or cause behavior changes! Hope this helps!