My dog was just diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He's 13 years old.

Has anyone else ever had a pet with this or know anything about this?

TIA for any help

I don't know anything about it, but I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. Is it treatable? What did the vet say?

My cat died of lymphoma. Sadly, this type of cancer is too common these days. I wonder if it has to do with the shots they get or the food they eat. Do what you can to make your dog comfortable and happy. Unless the tumor is very small and not in a difficult area, please don't subject your dog to more suffering. Too often these tumors grow back, so they've suffered for nothing. My heart bleeds for you because I know exactly what you are going through. You have my deepest sympathy.

Thank you both.

I was reading on the net last night, apparently like anything else, lawns or areas that have pesticides on them can contribute to this, or rather, they have done a study and found that of the reported cases of this disease, most of the people had treated their lawns or homes with herbicides / pesticides.

What this has done so far is discolor his little mouth & nose area. He is a black lab, and he has pink spots in that area & his *lips* are also turning pink.

He is still quite active. The vet calls him a 6 year old in a 13 year old body.

Yesterday the other half took him for what I thought was a consultation only with a specialist from elsewhere who came down to the clinic to meet with people whose pets have been diagnosed with cancer, a Dr. Macy?

They talked to DBF, meanwhile, they treated our dog with chemo. I didn't know that, apparently DBF didn't either cuz he told me they gave him an IV but he said "looks like he doesn't need chemo cuz they didn't mention it!"

As he told me what happened, he said they gave our dog an IV. I told him that was chemo! He somehow thought chemo was done in some kind of a machine....guess he got chemo and xrays mixed up.

He came home with all these pills and a bill for 576.00 and we are supposed to do this all over again next month.

I don't think so. And its not about the money. He is 13 and I love him to pieces, he's our baby, but I think he will be happier living his life out normally, without all this crap. It will only debilitate him and make him sick. I think perhaps Quality of life is more important than Quantity. I can't stand to see him sick.

DBF agrees.....but wants to finish out the pills this month anyway to see if they help him.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHH this is tough!

Ginny, I'm sorry your furbaby is sick. I've never had an animal with this specific condition, although our St. Bernard had bone cancer and we eventually had to put her down. Ooooooohhhhhhhh, it's hard to make decisions for them, isn't it?

(((((((((Ginny)))))))))

Gosh, Ginny, so sorry.

I am so very sorry you are dealing with this extremely hard situation.
Oh Ginny. I'm at a loss for words. This is so hard. I know.

I'm sorry to hear this. FWIW, chemo doesn't seem to make dogs nearly as sick as it does humans, so he probably won't slow down too much from that shot he got.

You're a good dog mom. It's always too soon to let them go.

Thank you all.

You are right Twitchly, after his chemo yesterday, he is up and at 'em...full of energy!

He was up & down last night, a bit restless, so I didn't sleep well, but nothing new...I rarely ever sleep well anyway.

Its like when you have your baby...you hear every noise, its magnified 100 times, and that is how it was last night.

When he wants out, he comes up, pokes me with his big wet nose and up I go to let him out.

Furbabies are so much like children aren't they?

Sorry to hear about your furbaby.

Thank you....we almost lost him last year. He had a tumor on his spleen that was almost 20 lbs!

They removed his spleen, part of his liver & pancreas I think.

He recovered.....but it was tough seeing him this way.

Thankfully, I was home recuperating from a hysterectomy, so I was able to stay home and nurse him through this.

He does seem ok. I am not so sure this is cancer now but I could be wrong.

The color of his skin seems to be going back to normal. It was bright pink, but now it is turning darker and looks like it is going back to black.

I am hoping it was bacterial and that all my prayers & this medicine is helping...maybe I am in denial. I dunno.

I am amazed at his resilience! He had to take 2 radiation pills yesterday, but it has not kept him down or anything!

Twitchly, how did you know that animals are not affected by chemo the way we are?

Makes me wonder if maybe when they use chemo on humans, could they be using too much, therefore making us sick?

My mom has non-hodgkins B-cell lymphoma. Are you sure what they gave him in the IV was "chemo" - Sometimes they use an IV to administer gama-globulin or interferon to boost the immune system - it's not the same as the chemo which kills the cancer cells. Have you called the vet to ask exactly what they gave your dog and what the prognosis and treatment is?

Oh - I just googled searched and read something that said that lymphoma is milder and more slow moving in older dogs, that 85% of dogs treated with chemo go into remission for a year and of those, 25% are completely cured. Also, chemo produces less side effects in dogs than in people. I guess I would try the chemo and see if it worked - if the dog seems to be feeling better and has more energy, then it is helping.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.p...amp;SourceID=42

http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=6
Chemotherapy easier on pets than humans

Sentsa, I don't know anything about the disease you posted, but wanted to say that I'm sorry about your furbaby. I'm sorry.

Wow, I saw this topic and just about fell out of my chair. My best girlfriend was taken off life support last night. She had NH Lymphoma, but had not yet received her test results. Being a nurse, I knew she had it, but never let on. She became ill about 8 months ago, but not ill enough that she couldn't carry on with her daily activities. She had many different tests, had retired from work, and was sure that whatever was making her sick was not cancerous. Last Thursday she went for a cat scan of a new tumor and Friday had a needle biopsy of same. She had rheumatoid arthritis so they were attributing her nodules/tumors to that. I spoke to her on the phone Friday night where they had admitted to the hospital just for observation, and she went into cardiac arrest early the next morning. She was alone and down for at least 15 minutes that they know of so the brain damage was extensive. She never thought she had cancer. This Monday morning, the labs came back for full-blown lymphoma and there were undiscovered tumors everywhere. I am so sad to lose her because we were best friends for almost 30 years, talked every day, did everything best girlfriends do, but I am glad that she didn't know about the cancer, didn't have to go through chemo, radiation and all of that. I am just blown away by the speed of it, the unpreparedness that we are experiencing, everything...........

Gin, I am so sorry about your little fur baby and I hope there is a much better outcome.

Ohhhh Char, I am so sorry to hear that!

Sometimes, maybe its best not to know. Some people are so upset, and rightly so, that they just go into a depression and cease to live.

Your friend lived her life to the fullest. My deepest heartfelt condolences and prayers for everyone affected by her passing. I know this must be hard on you and her friends and family.

{{{{{{ CHAR }}}}}}

Wow Chardkay, I am so sorry. Sending my condolences to you, and healing prayers for your dog scentsablyurs.

I am so sorry to hear about these sick furry friends and human friends. It is heartbreaking. My own beloved kitty Sophie got cancer in 2006 and I had to have her put to sleep. So hard. I am sending all my good wishes and prayers to both of you.