Canine Cancer Care For a Dog
Posted by admin in Cancer Care on August 8, 2010
The number of dogs being diagnosed with cancer today is increasing. As in humans there are various treatments that can be provided to your pet to help slow down this diseases growth. Along with chemotherapy the vet may choose to carry out surgery or prescribe medication. But along with these you need to ensure that you are providing your pet with the right canine cancer care.
Through providing your pet with the right care it could ensure that the life your dog has left will be a happy one. In this article we look at some ways to help with the care of your pet should they be diagnosed with canine cancer.
- Management Of Pain – All forms of canine cancer can cause pain in the animal and some with some forms the pain is very severe. In order to manage it effectively you need to work on ways that will actually prevent it from happening. It is best not to use conventional pain relief medications as well as being addictive they only provide instant relief from the pain. Where the pain is localized you are far better of using a local anaesthesia which your vet may well prescribe to you.
- Prevent Your Dog From Becoming Dehydrated – Unfortunately when a dog is being treated for canine cancer there is a great risk of the treatment causing side effects such as vomiting and nausea. Therefore you need to enquire of your vet what you can provide your pet with that will help to reduce this in your dog and so ensuring that they don’t become dehydrated. If your dog becomes too dehydrated their body won’t be able to cope and can lead to other organs within the body becoming damaged.
Prognosis And Treatment of Dog Lymphoma, Depending on The Disease Stage
Posted by admin in Lymphoma in Dogs on August 6, 2010
There is a wide variety of cancer types and there are also a lot of causes that could be responsible. Genetics play their own role in this area. Diagnosing dog lymphoma is possible with the help of a biopsy done on the organs or lymph nodes. In some cases, they will also have to do a needle aspiration on the lymph node. If you want to look for other types of cancer, you can use the analysis of blood, ultrasounds, biopsy of the bone marrow and x-rays to reveal their location. If you want to know the prognosis and the treatment, you first need to know at which stage is the disease.
In the beginning, only a small number of cells are affected in lymphoma cases and detecting the cause is not possible. At this point, you should just treat it. You should focus on a good quality life with long survival target when you do that. If the disease is detected from the beginning, there is a good chance that he will recover and the cancer will not show up again. About half of the dogs that have lymphoma can get into remission. If the dog isn’t treated, he will live around two months from the moment he is diagnosed.
Treating your dog should be done with the help of a veterinarian oncologist, so that the treatment is as effective as possible. This treatment consists of vincristine, cyclophosphamide, L-asparaginase, prednisone and doxorubicin. In some cases, they will also use lomustine, chlorambucil, mitroxantrone and cytosine arabinoside during the treatment. In most cases, dogs will not suffer from complications during the chemotherapy treatment. However, in around 7% of the cases, the dogs will have to be hospitalized because of the side effects. But, as I said, in most cases they don’t suffer during chemotherapy. Ask your vet for more information on this. Read the rest of this entry »