GSD having hepatitis

[cosmin_teuton Cub Find all posts View Profile Close cosmin_teuton]

Not 100% sure

Hi

So I went for the biopsy of one of the lymph node by aspiration (cytology). First opinion was: no leukemia, no lymphone but some type of cancer (tumor) was present in his organism. So I went for a hi-q radiography (the whole body). No changes were detected.
So I took 2 days off from office put the dog in my car and drove for 800km to a University Clinic. Three more cytologic exams were performed and compared to the initial one. Althought it looked the same the Morphopathologist Specialist doc said that although there were some atypical cells he cannot pronounce himself whether it was cancer or not.
He put my dog on a cure of combined antibiotic and prednisone for 5 days and his lyph node decreased by 20-30% in the third day. On Monday some other specialist will take a look at the cytology's exam and give a feed back.
So right now I'm in the situation that I don't know whether is cancer or not...
If it proves to be I will most probably take him through chemo no matter the expenses.
I'm praying still for some good news as I cannot imagine our life without him.

Best wishes
Cosmin

[petsalive Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close petsalive]

Hi Cosmin,

What a wonderful 'dad' you are!!!!!

I am so happy they put him on prednisone to shrink his lymph nodes (he must be more comfortable now) but I hope they gave him enough antibiotics to 'cover' the decrease in his ability to fight off infection that the prednisone *might* cause.

Here is my 'gut feeling'. I do NOT think your dog has cancer. I DO think he has some kind of infection that is causing his lymph nodes to be inflamed. That is their purpose - to help fight infection and when they cannot do it they become enlarged. Perhaps he has an undetected inner ear infection that he showed no signs of until the lymph nodes swelled. Make SURE they check for that AND a badly infected tooth (German Shepherds often break their teeth chewing on things). The problem with specialists (animal AND human) is that they usually look no further than their 'specialty' so while the oncologists and radiologists are looking for malignancies they may miss the obvious which can be something as minor as an ear infection.

Do not be afraid to ask them to check those things out.

Looking at his picture I see a lot of LIFE in his eyes and his attitude. I pray that I am right and that he will be fine in spite of these 'bumps in the road'.

Sara

[kerryclair Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kerryclair]

please continue to keep us posted. He is a sweetheart.

[cosmin_teuton Cub Find all posts View Profile Close cosmin_teuton]

Bad news

Hello

I have no good news! The cytology seems to prove that the cancer exist in the form of lymphona. The good news is that it is not the normal aggresive form but a more moderate one.
As I cannot pull the plug on a dog that is very much active and loving I will walk with him through the chemo, no matter what it takes. Some say that due to the lymphona's form it might go into remission without coming back from it, but once again I don't want to begin with false hopes.

Bye
Cosmin

PS: What is very sad that we were planning to go with him on the seaside for our holiday (900km away) but I guess that has to be postponed now.

[kerryclair Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kerryclair]

Maybe not (postponement). If it is anything like my dogs chemo, it is just once a week that he has to go. So you can get it done and then head out. I barely noticed any difference at ALL in my dog. He was still happy and active etc....so you might be able to get his chemo and go ahead on your vacation with him!

[cosmin_teuton Cub Find all posts View Profile Close cosmin_teuton]

More delay

I decided to wait a while before beginning the chemo as my dog (Hamann) is not coping very well with its pancreatic insufficiency. He lost again about 1 kg in about 2 weeks so he's now very thin. He used to be 40kg so he lost almost 25% of his body mass.
I will try a more in depth treatment of his pancreatic insufficiency by using a new and more powerfull digestive enzyme (Kreon) and also feed him pig's pancreas.
I'm trying all of these because in the status that he is I'm not sure that he will survive the powerfull chemo that is needed for first lymphoma induction. And by the way I'm not convinced that he has lymphona. The signs began in April this year and if he had lymphoma from that time he'll be dead several times.
The sad thing is that I've consulted in all 9 vets about his condition so you'll understand my totally frustration about this.

Best regards to you and your pets
Cosmin

[cosmin_teuton Cub Find all posts View Profile Close cosmin_teuton]

Hello Sara

Can you please tell me your dog that has pancreatic insufficiency how many times per day he gets his meal. I recently read on "Merck Veterinary Bible" that I should feed my dog at least 3 times per day small food quantities together with the pancreatic enzymes.
Sadly in Europe pancrezyme is not available for now but I think now I've managed to get a better treatment that I was using (switched on Kreon).
Also some vet told me that Hill's I/D which is intended for pancreatic insufficiency will make him lose weight so I'm thinking to switch him on some "Lamb and Rice" highly digestible food. The thing with "veterinary prescription food" is that they are pretty low on protein (not good) and low on fat (which is good).

Regards
Cosmin

[petsalive Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close petsalive]

Please send me your mailing address and I will send you the pancrezyme. I checked with my vet and he will cover the prescription.

We feed Iams mini chunks and we feed twice a day. The pancrezyme breaks it down so there is no need for prescription food. Generally I find that over the long term dogs get tired of lamb and rice (if your dog eats it that is fine but if he takes a 'dislike' to it you can safely switch to Iams mini chunks.

I wouldn't feed him more than twice a day (too much for his intestines to handle until he perks up a bit). I would start out giving him 2 1/2 C each feeding. Sprinkle the pancrezyme on his food, add warm water and stir it completely. About 10 minutes later stir it again. EVERY piece of food needs to be 'broken down' by the pancrezyme in order for it to work 100%. Five minutes later stir it again and give it to him. It will be 'mushy' but that is ok - he WILL get used to it.

Make sure you give him NOTHING else during the day - even one dog biscuit if not 'treated' with pancrezyme will undo all the good the medication has done. That means NO treats at all - EVER - no cheese, no rawhide (it gets eaten and goes through the intestines) NO pigs ears, no veggies - NOTHING.

I will order the pancrezyme today so please send your address ASAP

[kerryclair Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kerryclair]

Please make sure you do not post your address here - make sure you PRIVATE MESSAGE Sara with it...

That is really nice of you Sara.

[cosmin_teuton Cub Find all posts View Profile Close cosmin_teuton]

Hello

First week of chemo just went by without any major problems. Although Hamann is a little bit "quiet" everything seems ok. He still plays and does all the things he's supposed to.
So 1 down, 5-6 weeks to go.

Bye
Cosmin

[petsalive Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close petsalive]

Hello Cosmin

Good News that he is tolerating the chemo well!

I have ordered the pancrezyme and it should be here today or tomorrow at which point I will mail it to you. Will let you know when it is mailed. I hope it doesn't take too long to get to you.

Sara

[ritabooker Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ritabooker]

Best of luck to you a Hamann. Keep us posted.

[cosmin_teuton Cub Find all posts View Profile Close cosmin_teuton]

Hi

The 2nd week of chemo went by without any worries. He's doing quite well.
However a problem still bothers me. Since the lymph nodes begun swalling he started to wheeze like something was bothering his breathing.
After beginning the chemo and also administering Prednysone everything went back to normal so we thought that because of the lymph nodes pushing again his windpipe the breathing was problematic.
But now, after 2 weeks of chemo, and reduced dose of Prednysone his breathing problems returned and also our concerns. I also did a chest and neck radiography and a faringian flora analysis without finding any problems.
The vet suggested to re-increase the Prednysone dose again for one week but I'm kind of reluctant to do so because I'm not 100% sure that the main cause of his breathing problems it's the cancer.
Has anyone experienced something like this or has some experiences using Prednysone for a long time?

Thanks
Cosmin

PS: In the beginning when we were wainting for the analysis to prove cancer we've administered him some antibiotics (amoxicilin) with Prednysone to easy his breathing problems. The response was instantly and now I'm beginning to think that he responded to the antibiotics and not to Prednysone. The anoying thing is the the vets have no clear idea why his breathing problems returned because right now the lymph node are smaller because of the cemo. :( Apparently there is no additional infection in his organism...

[petsalive Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close petsalive]

Call your vet and ask him for amoxicillin again. It IS possible that there is a low grade infection going on in his lungs and it is even possible that the swelling of the lymph nodes was his own bodies attempt to fight it. There should be no reason at all that the vet wouldn't give you more antibiotics - every time we have given chemo to one of the dogs here the vet has ALWAYS covered them with amoxi or something similar as the chemo represses the immune system and makes any 'small' infection more likely to be a problem.

Call him today if you can - you are probably correct. and even if you are not the antibiotics cannot hurt him at all.

Sara

[ritabooker Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ritabooker]

Agree with petsalive. When our dobilab, Booker, was on Prednysone for a tumor on her heart, she was also on an antibiotic.

Best wishes and luck to you and your GSD.