Amanalee

So my 6 yo toy fox terrier just diagnosed with Mast Cell Tumor, we have surgery next week. Just looking for other people who have experienced the same?

Kellie

so sorry to hear that. where is the tumor located? my cody was diagnosed in april with MCT. biopsy came back as stage II grade III (a very agressive strain). at surgery it had not mestastisized to the spleen/liver and no sign in the lymph nodes. the vet got a clean margin on the tumor and we started chemo as soon as he was healed from surgery (3 months on vinblastine). i am happy to say that he was diagnosed as cancer free in July . there is a lot of great info on here so check out the different areas. for cody, he was on a grain free diet (taste of the wild), the budwig protocol of cottage cheese and flaxseed oil, NuVet plus tabs, omega 3 fish oils and all the organic fruits and veggies he woudl eat. best of luck and stay positive and give your dog all the love and attention you can.
kellie

Amanalee

It's on his paw so getting a clean margin doesn't look great. Vet said she likes to get 2 cm around and now - Buddy is only 13 pounds, there is no way to get this on his paw. I'm hoping for good results. He's been on steriods and benadryl for past 2 weeks to help shrink it - and this has worked so far before the surgery next Tuesday. He also had kidney problems (stones) so he's on a special stone diet and i also cook him lean turkey, cauliflower and peas & green beans. Diet is difficult with his kidneys which are calcium based stones so alot of things are out. I have some fish oil I haven't tried but i guess I will. He's shedding ALOT lately - you think this could be related at all? He's 6 years old - and has always had allergic reactions to things, now from my reading on MCT I think maybe it is related. I have a sister dog who is 2 years younger, same parents different litters - now i'm worried about her too.

Benpaws

Dear Friend,

Glad you found this wonderful site where people have invaluable information to pass on.

Our Benny had Mast Cell Tumour Cancer and I found the very first little lump in 2006 just prior to his 4th birthday. We took him immediately to the vet and nothing was done at that time. He just said to keep an eye on it in case it got bigger. It did grow and back to the vet in August. Nothing was done until November and surgery was performed. It came back as Stage 2 and no chemo or radiation was ever recommended to us. The surgeon did not get clean margins.

Immediately I searched the internet and so did our son and I downloaded Ted's book, found a girl who was extremely knowledgable about all kinds of cancers in dogs having lost her own golden retriever to lymphoma at age 6 and started a fund raising group to look into the causes of canine cancer. She had studied for years under a 6th generation Chinese herbalist. This site became available in October 2008 and I was the 2nd to join.

We got Benny on a grain free special diet full of herbs and antioxidants, he always had filtered water, high protein, Budwig Protocol cottage cheese blended with organic flaxseed oil, wild salmon oil capsules, Co Q-10 capsule, Essiac tea twice daily, Reishi mushroom pill,wheat grass oil and lots of organic vegetables which we steamed and organic and free-range meats such as chicken, venison, bison etc. We added turmeric to his meats which is a spice high in antioxidants.

Benny was cancer free for 8 months and then another lump returned in the same area and for 9 more months he had a good quality of life and enjoyed his meals. We lost him to this dreadful disease on April 2nd, 2009 , three months before his 7th birthday. We will miss him forever.

In the latter stage of the disease Benny was put on a small dose of prednisone which caused weight gain but also one tumour completely disappeared and we were hopeful for a short window of time.

I hope you have good luck with your little terrier and that the chemo works positively and you will get full remission which a few of our members have already had.

In our case I blame the vets for their negligence and wrote a letter following Benny's death. They actually answered and admitted they should have biopsied the first lump and Benny would have had less invasive surgery and be alive today. They said he was the youngest patient they ever had to die of MCT. Little consolation to us. Perhaps chemo would have saved Benny's life but we cannot go back. God Bless you on this journey.

Blessings,
Joanne & Shadow

Kellie

yes, getting a clean margin on the paw can be difficult. luckily for cody his was on his side so the vet could get a wide margin. has the vet mentioned radiation? we didn't do it with cody since he had clean margins.

cody has also had VERY bad allergies and i wonder as well about the MCT causing it. but his allergies started when we moved from the west coast to the east coast and i had allergy testing done on him and he is very allergic to a lot of the grasses and plants on the east coast. and he started the allergies long before the tumor. so not sure if his allergies are related or not. but they did get really bad right before he was diagnosed so i think recently the MCT did make his allergies even worse.

Amanalee

Thank you so much for your story about Benny. I think there is alot to be said about special diets helping. Since I have Buddy on this kidney diet that I basically make 80% of - it has helped tremendously.

Vet said they want to remove it, or as much of it as they can first, and then send it to pathology. The benadryl & steriods have helped shrink it back down so I think that's positive. She is also going to aspriate his lymphnodes to test while he's under and he has 3 fatty tumors on his belly that she is also going to aspirate. At this point I tell myself until I get a pathology report - I just don't know. I know she won't be able to get clean margins due to it's location. Buddy has always had allergic reactions to his vaccines for example, and other random times and I do think the two are related in my readings, however my vet says no. He's been on the benadryl & steriods for almost 2 weeks now. I had taken him to the vet for his monthly kidney check and while I was there mentioned this bump on his foot. She took a needle biopsy said it was a fluid cyst and to call if it swelled or changed size or anything. About 2 weeks later one day his foot was really swollen - I just assumed it needed to be drained or something and it was at that time (course my regular vet was on vacation) that the visiting vet said it looked like MCT to him. That it would characteristically swell like that after being "handled" and to see if benadryl/steriods worked and if so then that too was indicative of MCT. So it all worked and has shrank before surgery. Now I'm just concerned. I guess I have to wait and see the pathology report. How long does that take?

Amanalee

Also BENPAWS mentioned a book and a website?

Benpaws

This is the website I meant which Ted Schneck started. The book is Ted's book on MARTY THE WONDER DOG.

You could contact him where it says at the bottom of this page: "contact us." Or you can contact Ted directly at: Ted Schneck (Curing Canine C...
E-mail Address(es):
ted@curing-canine-cancer.com

His book is available online with lots of terrific advice in it re: cancer in dogs.

Blessings,
Joanne & shadow

Amanalee

Thank you I will look into it.

Patenaude

BENPAWS...may I ask what kind of a dog Benny was? Was interested if any certain breed(s) were prone to certain cancers.