Ask the Vet About Cancer in Dogs and Cats
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While efforts are made to answer all questions as quickly as possible, if an immediate answer is required or if your pet is in need of urgent or emergency care, contact your pet's veterinarian immediately.
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
You will receive an answer from Dr. Lindsay and our vet/tech team as soon as possible, usually the same day.
All answers are provided for informational or educational purposes only, and are intended to be a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise and professional judgment of your pet's veterinarian.
It may be necessary to consult your pet's veterinarian regarding the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your pet's symptoms or medical condition.
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While efforts are made to answer all questions as quickly as possible, if an immediate answer is required or if your pet is in need of urgent or emergency care, contact your pet's veterinarian immediately.
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While efforts are made to answer all questions as quickly as possible, if an immediate answer is required or if your pet is in need of urgent or emergency care, contact your pet's veterinarian immediately.
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My senior dog has advanced muscle cancer. He licks his tumors almost constantly. Is there anything I can do to alleviate this? He still has an appetite and gets around fine. When do I know it’s time to euthanize?
Hey! I am sorry to read this. When a dog is uncomfortable due to bleeding tumors that are infected, smell, oozing puss and blood and invasive over large areas of their body where surgical intervention is not possible or there are too many tumors- it is acceptable to euthanize. When dogs are geriatric, over 8-9 Years old, cannot walk, sleep most of the day or have dementia it is acceptable to euthanize. There is no wrong answer if an owner is questioning if it is time. Owners know their pets best and if they seem like they are suffering to you, then you are the best judge and they probably are and it is time to put them to sleep. This is the hardest thing for all pet lovers. I hope this helped! Dr. Lindsay Butzer
Okay so Michael has had cancer for almost a year now they had him for dead last December. It's almost a year. Since his diagnosis he has gotten ginormous. Any advice on reducing his weight? I make every meal for him of chicken and green beans.
It's hard for me to help make a plan for him without knowing more (is the cancer in remission? what did his last bloodwork look like? Are you seeing fluid build-up secondary to the cancer or fat? etc.) so your veterinarian is definitely the best one to ask about this.
Good evening, my dog has terminal cancer and is no longer receiving chemo or radiation and is on half a dose of prednisone. Is it safe to give him his monthly dose of trifexis?
Probably but your veterinarian is the best one to ask because it can upset their stomachs.
Hello, My cat Coco has oral squamous cell carcinoma. He takes Buprenorphine twice daily. Should a cat that is unable to eat take this drug? Thank you. Linda
I would need to know a lot more about him to really give you good advice so your veterinarian is definitely the best one to ask but, in general, Buprenorphine doesn't have to be given with food.
Hello, Coco has Squamous Cell Carcinoma under his tongue. He has trouble eating. He is on Buprenex for pain. Piroxicam shrinks tumors. In your opinion which would benefit Coco the best? Thanks. Linda Luongo
If you have to choose, I would lean toward Buprenex because cats don't tolerate NSAIDs like Piroxicam well. If he has entirely normal bloodwork, he may be able to tolerate low dosages of both.
Hello, Our cat Bitsy has intestinal cancer. She is 16 and weighs 5 lbs. She has been on 2 1/2 mg. of Prednisolone for 3 days. I stopped it because she did better without it. Was it safe for me to this? Thank you. Linda & Joseph Luongo
We usually like to taper them off of steroids, rather than stopping cold turkey - but if she has only taken it for 3 days, it may be ok - talk to your veterinarian about tapering and using a lower dosage maybe.
Would surgery to remove Bitsy's intestinal tumor be an option? She is 16 and weighs 5 lbs. Thank you. Linda
I would need a LOT more information to really properly advise you: I would need to see all of her bloodwork, x-rays and ultrasounds, any pathology reports, etc. so consult your veterinarian, who has access to all of that, for the best advice.
Dog has a big mammary gland that keeps getting bigger everyday I read that if you inject calcium chloride and alchol soltion into it its supposed to shrink the mass
No - that is definitely incorrect. Please don't do that. You filed this under "cancer" so yes, that needs to be ruled out by your veterinarian.
I thank my car has a mass on his chest the side of a half a lemon
Masses can be benign, malignant and everything in between. It is impossible to tell, just by looking at a mass, what kind of cells it contains. Have your veterinarian check it out - they will usually do a "fine needle aspirate" - a little mini-biopsy where they stick a small needle in it and suck some cells out and either look at it right there in their office or send it off to a pathologist. Then you can make a plan for it - if it is definitely benign, your veterinarian may recommend doing nothing.
Availability of macivet for dog cancer
Contact the company directly for availability of their product. Here is their contact information: https://www.ab-science.com/masivet/about-masivet/
My cat takes liquid chlorambucil and we have some left over. It has now expired. How do I properly dispose of this? We have never never run into this before because normally we never get to the point where it expires.
Since I refer my cancer patients to veterinary oncologists, I never prescribe this, so I'm not a good person to ask. Ask whomever prescribed the medication.
Have a cat with a slowly growing spot in their eye - want to find out how serious this is, and if there's anything I can do. I have pictures of the progression
There is no way to upload pictures through our platform. Even if you could, it would be more ideal for a veterinarian to get a live, 3D view of it so seeing your veterinarian is ideal. There are platforms where you can upload pictures for veterinarians to review but they charge a small fee - like JustAnswer.com.
My shih tzu finished chop therapy for lymphoma in July she has been doing great. Last week she needed to be boarded and get vaccinated rabies bordatella and one other. Yesterday I picked her up and she has a swollen lymph node the size of an almond under her jaw side of neck. Could this be a side effect of the vaccine or has the lymphoma returned?
It is probably not from the vaccine - especially if it is "under her jaw side of neck". Have your veterinarian recheck her and they will aspirate it to see.
Can a prostecomy (partial or complete removal of prostrate gland in neutered small breed dog be done in a dog in very good health. I am not completely sure it is cancer and my pet has no other issues.
Yes, potentially but a specialist would have to do it - often found at your nearest veterinary school or a specialty practice - this is not routinely done in regular private practices.
Does CBD Oil interact with Prednisone?
Probably not significantly that we know of but the studies are all still kind of new and every dogs situation is unique (what kind of cancer you are treating exactly, other health problems, age, weight, amount of prednisone taking, what bloodwork looks like, etc etc.) so consult your veterinarian to see if adding CBD oil might be right for your dog.
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