Dog Forums community,
I wanted to take a quick minute to just warn you all of the danger of Mast Cell cancer in dogs and share our terrible experience. This past summer was the most heartbreaking and traumatizing few weeks of our lives, as we lost our ACD, who had only just turned 7 years old, to ultra aggressive mast cell cancer. It breaks my heart to even see my username.
To those unfamiliar, mast cell cancer is a highly aggressive form of cancer in dogs that is largely tied to the histamine production in your dog. Veterinarians do not know what specifically causes it, but they do know that it is tied to the histamine allergic response. it has a tendency to form on the inner thigh, leg, groin or foreleg "armpit" area and is characterized by hard lumps and redness on the skin and surrounding areas of the tumor.
I have spent the past few months researching this horror, and based on what I've seen and collected from textbooks, articles, blogs and direct conversations with veterinarians throughout the country, it would seem that dogs who are prone to severe allergies have a much higher chance of developing mast cell cancer. In our case, our ACD dealt with severe ear allergies her entire life, which came to a head over the past 18 months, worsening to a point we had never seen before.
Lesson to be learned: DON'T IGNORE LUMPS.
I will forever blame myself for the death of my dog. I fully believe that it is my fault, that I did not act in enough time, and that I waited too long. I have to live with this knowledge and it is killing me every day. She died in June, and several times a week, all these months later, I still grieve.
It started out with what I thought was a sebaceous cyst. So common...and every dog I ever had in my life up until this point had developed sebaceous cysts at one point or another, usually at about the age our ACD was. I paid it no mind. It was small...big enough to be noticed, but small compared to the average sebaceous cyst most of my dogs in the past have had...it was barely the size of a golf ball.
When I noticed it I examined it...it was hard but had some give, and she didn't seem to mind it. Her eating habits were normal, activity level was normal and she seemed just fine.
4 days after I noticed the golf ball, it had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.
I rushed her to the vet and a sample was taken. The vet told me that there was a mass at the bottom of the fluid pocket. It was small, but it was there. She biopsied it, and 48 hours later I received a call at work that resulted in me having to shut the door to my office and bury my face in my hands so I could cry it out. I was told it was definitely cancerous and that I would need to see a specialist right away, but it was an especially aggressive type of cancer.
We took her to the specialist a few days later where a small procedure was performed. they completely drained the fluid pocket and took a large sample of the tumor. It came back as stage 2 mast cell cancer with evidence of metastasis. We had her in for surgery 2 days later, where it was discovered that there was another tumor in her groin we hadn't even seen or felt. That was a stage 2 tumor. It was completely removed. We discovered during the surgery that the original tumor was stage 3, and could not be completely removed.
She spent 8 days recovering in the hospital. For the first 3 days, we were told that the drainage from the operation site was "good" because it was "productive." By day four, we were told that the continued draining was "not good" because it should have stopped by that point.
We had her home a few days later. I took her to an oncologist at the vet, who proceeded to tell me that based on results, the tumor was stage 3 metastasized which is the equivalent of advanced stage 4 in a human. There was no evidence of spread anywhere else in the body, which was good, but it showed aggressive growth around the area that it was based in. The oncologist offered to treat her but told us it would likely not produce results. The best option we were given was amputation. I declined, thinking that if the cancer already spread, then there could have been a fragment they missed, and we would put our dog through torture for nothing. We discussed radiation and chemo and were going to return to consult in another week.
Desperate, I turned to homeopathic remedies after speaking with a veterinarian in North Carolina who had specialized in treating mast cell with homeopathic remedies showing outstanding results. Barely another week went by however, and we returned home from a day out to find the dogs' room covered in blood. The tumor aggressively returned, swelled and burst. I rushed her to the hospital, where they told me exactly what I was expecting - we had to put her down. I brought her back home to say goodbye and will never forget the way my 5 year old daughter's face shattered at the news. It haunts me still.
We said goodbye that night. My wife and I brought her back to the hospital as my parents came to stay with our daughter. We held her in our arms (after giving her a last meal - Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, courtesy of Wendy's) as the vet put her down. I don't remember how the time passed but we were in there for almost 45 minutes after, just crying over our poor baby. Five months later and my heart is a crater still.
As I said...I blame myself. I should've taken her in the moment I saw the initial tumor. Would the 4 days have made a difference? Was it already growing aggressively and out of sight? Maybe, but I will always blame myself for her death. Not even 7 years old. She turned 7 a week before she succumbed to the cancer. My wife still laments that she never got to make her the annual dinner we always give her on her birthday - roast beef (not a whole haunch, just a few slices).
Don't be a fool like me. DON'T IGNORE LUMPS. If your dog is allergy prone, get it screened regularly. Every vet I spoke to that specialized in oncology/cancer/surgery told me the same thing - dogs with severe allergies tend to get mast cell cancer at higher rates than those dogs that do not...and they still do not know why.
Our other dog, a beagle, has more than filled the void in our hearts. She was heartbroken for several days after we lost our ACD...I'll never forget the way she jumped up to smell the bloody blanket we brought home from the vet, and then slowly walked away and laid in a corner for over 2 days. She changed significantly in that time and has been more affectionate than ever (she's practically a cat the way she climbs all over us).
Just wanted to share. The warning signs are very few...the vet insists there was nothing I could've done, that I couldn't possibly have known and that the tumor had probably been growing undetected for months...but I will always, always blame myself for this.
I wanted to take a quick minute to just warn you all of the danger of Mast Cell cancer in dogs and share our terrible experience. This past summer was the most heartbreaking and traumatizing few weeks of our lives, as we lost our ACD, who had only just turned 7 years old, to ultra aggressive mast cell cancer. It breaks my heart to even see my username.
To those unfamiliar, mast cell cancer is a highly aggressive form of cancer in dogs that is largely tied to the histamine production in your dog. Veterinarians do not know what specifically causes it, but they do know that it is tied to the histamine allergic response. it has a tendency to form on the inner thigh, leg, groin or foreleg "armpit" area and is characterized by hard lumps and redness on the skin and surrounding areas of the tumor.
I have spent the past few months researching this horror, and based on what I've seen and collected from textbooks, articles, blogs and direct conversations with veterinarians throughout the country, it would seem that dogs who are prone to severe allergies have a much higher chance of developing mast cell cancer. In our case, our ACD dealt with severe ear allergies her entire life, which came to a head over the past 18 months, worsening to a point we had never seen before.
Lesson to be learned: DON'T IGNORE LUMPS.
I will forever blame myself for the death of my dog. I fully believe that it is my fault, that I did not act in enough time, and that I waited too long. I have to live with this knowledge and it is killing me every day. She died in June, and several times a week, all these months later, I still grieve.
It started out with what I thought was a sebaceous cyst. So common...and every dog I ever had in my life up until this point had developed sebaceous cysts at one point or another, usually at about the age our ACD was. I paid it no mind. It was small...big enough to be noticed, but small compared to the average sebaceous cyst most of my dogs in the past have had...it was barely the size of a golf ball.
When I noticed it I examined it...it was hard but had some give, and she didn't seem to mind it. Her eating habits were normal, activity level was normal and she seemed just fine.
4 days after I noticed the golf ball, it had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.
I rushed her to the vet and a sample was taken. The vet told me that there was a mass at the bottom of the fluid pocket. It was small, but it was there. She biopsied it, and 48 hours later I received a call at work that resulted in me having to shut the door to my office and bury my face in my hands so I could cry it out. I was told it was definitely cancerous and that I would need to see a specialist right away, but it was an especially aggressive type of cancer.
We took her to the specialist a few days later where a small procedure was performed. they completely drained the fluid pocket and took a large sample of the tumor. It came back as stage 2 mast cell cancer with evidence of metastasis. We had her in for surgery 2 days later, where it was discovered that there was another tumor in her groin we hadn't even seen or felt. That was a stage 2 tumor. It was completely removed. We discovered during the surgery that the original tumor was stage 3, and could not be completely removed.
She spent 8 days recovering in the hospital. For the first 3 days, we were told that the drainage from the operation site was "good" because it was "productive." By day four, we were told that the continued draining was "not good" because it should have stopped by that point.
We had her home a few days later. I took her to an oncologist at the vet, who proceeded to tell me that based on results, the tumor was stage 3 metastasized which is the equivalent of advanced stage 4 in a human. There was no evidence of spread anywhere else in the body, which was good, but it showed aggressive growth around the area that it was based in. The oncologist offered to treat her but told us it would likely not produce results. The best option we were given was amputation. I declined, thinking that if the cancer already spread, then there could have been a fragment they missed, and we would put our dog through torture for nothing. We discussed radiation and chemo and were going to return to consult in another week.
Desperate, I turned to homeopathic remedies after speaking with a veterinarian in North Carolina who had specialized in treating mast cell with homeopathic remedies showing outstanding results. Barely another week went by however, and we returned home from a day out to find the dogs' room covered in blood. The tumor aggressively returned, swelled and burst. I rushed her to the hospital, where they told me exactly what I was expecting - we had to put her down. I brought her back home to say goodbye and will never forget the way my 5 year old daughter's face shattered at the news. It haunts me still.
We said goodbye that night. My wife and I brought her back to the hospital as my parents came to stay with our daughter. We held her in our arms (after giving her a last meal - Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, courtesy of Wendy's) as the vet put her down. I don't remember how the time passed but we were in there for almost 45 minutes after, just crying over our poor baby. Five months later and my heart is a crater still.
As I said...I blame myself. I should've taken her in the moment I saw the initial tumor. Would the 4 days have made a difference? Was it already growing aggressively and out of sight? Maybe, but I will always blame myself for her death. Not even 7 years old. She turned 7 a week before she succumbed to the cancer. My wife still laments that she never got to make her the annual dinner we always give her on her birthday - roast beef (not a whole haunch, just a few slices).
Don't be a fool like me. DON'T IGNORE LUMPS. If your dog is allergy prone, get it screened regularly. Every vet I spoke to that specialized in oncology/cancer/surgery told me the same thing - dogs with severe allergies tend to get mast cell cancer at higher rates than those dogs that do not...and they still do not know why.
Our other dog, a beagle, has more than filled the void in our hearts. She was heartbroken for several days after we lost our ACD...I'll never forget the way she jumped up to smell the bloody blanket we brought home from the vet, and then slowly walked away and laid in a corner for over 2 days. She changed significantly in that time and has been more affectionate than ever (she's practically a cat the way she climbs all over us).
Just wanted to share. The warning signs are very few...the vet insists there was nothing I could've done, that I couldn't possibly have known and that the tumor had probably been growing undetected for months...but I will always, always blame myself for this.
