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Mast Cell Tumors in Dogs or Cats

Anonymous

Long story short, I found a lump in my dog's ear flap back in early 2012 which the vet said it was nothing and should go away on its own. Well, it went away and came back, numerous times so the vet really could not see anything anytime . Finally, the lump came back again in Oct 2013 which the vet aspirated, saw cells indicative of a mast cell tumor and surgically removed the mass soon after. The biospy report came back as low level grade 2 with a mitotic index of 0 which is not bad, but they did not get clear margins.

The vet could not really say much about how long my dog has left to live and up to now has been thriving. I have noticed in the past couple of weeks her appetite has not been the greatest so I added cooked chicken to the menu and she has been eating eagerly.

However, this past Saturday evening, it looked as if she was having a severe allergic reaction. That same ear was very inflamed, she was scratching it incessantly, heavy panting, could not get comfortable, drank a whole bowl of water as I was getting ready to get her to an emergency vet and threw up twice. The vet there said it was probably a bee sting and did not think her MCT came back. No puncture wound was seen so I have my doubts. I am giving her benadryl and pepcid. Waiting to see if the inflammation recedes. My dog's vet has the report from the emergency vet and wants to take a wait and see approach for now.

I feel at this point I don't know what to do as the vet does not know what to expect because there is not a whole lot that he can predict may happen. My baby is almost 10 and I do not want to subject her to any chemo or radiation(ear and head). I have a few friends in the neighborhood who said it was a mistake to subject their dogs to chemo and should have just made their dogs more comfortable in the end. (One died during chemo where the drs claimed she should make a full recovery, the other died over the weekend after 2 failed attempts at chemo and the dog could not eat or drink anything anymore)

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20 replies

Latest reply was from texstyle

JAileen

Veteran

I'm sorry your dog has cancer. We had a 14 YO dog that was going on 5 mile walks one week, and stopped eating the next week. After xrays, the vet said she was "riddled with tumors". The vet thought doing chemo, etc., was a crazy idea, given her advanced age. She was a darling, rascally member of our family.

Jane

Veteran

Thinking of you and your beautiful dog.

rachylou

Veteran

I saw on the net or something that cancer is the number one killer now in cats and dogs. Lilypup had a melanoma on her cheek that was removed last year. I call her melanoma head and exhort her not to die, but after the whole surgery experience - if it ever comes back and needs more than a single surgery... I think it would be better to let nature take its course, and focus on comfort. I just don't know. Death is a part of life. If it's a matter of making the death just longer and more tortuous, I just don't know about that.

Anonymous

I am so sorry about your pup. My cat had a MCT on his upper leg for several years, but it never caused any problems. He did eventually pass on, but it was from a stroke. I agree with you on the chemo, I wouldn't put a pet of mine through that.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I agree to forego further traditional medical treatments, other than trying to make sure your pup gets optimal nutrition and many people say to add tumeric and probiotics to the diet. You could try a vet prescribed anti-inflammatory.

Lugols Iodine applied to the area regularly (multiple times per day) is recommended by alternative health sites (I use Lugols for various things myself - you can add drops to water to drink). It is orange of course but once it absorbs it doesn't stain (it seems to absorb within 30 mins. or so).

Warm castor oil packs applied to the area are supposed to be helpful both for pain and for healing.

Best wishes for your pup - she has a great pet mom.

Summer

Veteran

I have no advice for you, but just wanted to send good wishes for a positive outcome for your lovely dog. It's so hard to see our furry friends suffer.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

It's absolutely awful when our doggies suffer. For me, it's up there with the worse pain in the world. I am sooo sorry that your doggie isn't well. I know how hard that is, and wish you the best.

If I were in your shoes - and FWIW to you - I wouldn't make any decisions about further treatment for your sweet doggie until I had gone to a couple of specialists and got a lot more information. Dogs react very differently to treatments, and specialists know much more than regular vets and ER doctors. It would personally give me peace of mind knowing that I had covered what I could and was within our means for our doggie.

Most importantly though, is your doggie more comfortable now? Her ear feeling better? Sending healing thoughts.

Emily K

(website)

Veteran

I'm sorry to hear this news about your doggie and I hope you receive the best possible prognosis for her.

carter

I'm so sorry your dog's having such a tough time. In the same position, I would switch my dog to a strict ketogenic diet immediately. The body science is growing everyday showing that cancer cells can't live in the absence of glucose.

http://moderndogmagazine.com/a.....ncer/96194

http://www.theinternetpetvet.c.....at-cancer/

https://www.carnivora.ca/html/...../index.cfm

http://www.ketopetsanctuary.com/

Nebraskim

Veteran

I am sorry about your darling pet. Our late and beloved pug Bing Bing had several mast cell tumors. The first one cropped up when she was about 11. We kept having them removed because they were clearly very itchy and bothersome to her. She lived for a little more than 2 years and had high quality of life during that time. She was pretty game til the end, enjoying food, short walks, car rides, playing with visitors and other activities common for an elderly dog. She seemed to just really slow down the last week and we chose to have her euthanized when it was apparent she was near the end; she would have passed on her own probably within 24 hours but we chose to end her suffering. It is so very hard to love a dog so very much and see them suffer. My one solace -- although I occasionally do breast self exams, I never really knew what to feel for. And then one day, when I was petting her, I felt that first lump on her. Now I know what to look for in myself. So Thank you darling Bing Bing for that gift. (I've never felt a lump on me, but at least I know what to feel for now.)

Sisi

Veteran

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear this. Maybe you could take her to a vet specialized in dog tumors and ask for another opinion ? Poor little thing. I hope that everything will go well. You and doggie are in my thoughts. Hugs xxx.

Anonymous

Thank you everyone with your kind words and compassion. The swelling in the ear has diminished, but I know it won't ever go away. The benadryl and pepcid and helping. She is eating, but just not playful as she used to be. Used to be she would run to the door when she heard the garage door. The past couple of weeks she would barely lift her head.

I have seen signs in her the past few months of slowing down, not really playful except for the rare outburst of energy which lasts a minute or two.

I had tried changing her diet in the past to grain free, but she truly did not do well with that. (tried a few different brands). She has not lost weight which is good and is eating as long as I embellish her food (she eats Canidae) with cooked chicken or scrambled egg, otherwise she just walks past her food bowl.

I am checking her regularly for ticks and she gets her flea/tick meds. A ton of ticks this season - pulled one off my arm after she came in last night while I was holding her and found one on the couch after our morning walk today. I keep a towel on the sofa otherwise I would never see the little buggers.

When I got home from the store this morning, she was just lying on the stairs. I began to vacuum and she just retreated to her bed, while in the past she would just follow me around as I was vacuuming. It is just sad to see such a decline.

Emily K

(website)

Veteran

Because you mention ticks...have you checked for tick-borne illness? Also, my dog has a lot of health issues due to genetic auto-inflammatory disease. I think we may be fighting some of the same health battles for our pets. Mine does poorly because she is not excited about food and tends toward IBD-like symptoms. But, she does really well on Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw dog food. I choose the Duck Duck Goose for her as I think is a less inflammatory option. When she was super, super sick last year (six weeks! and near daily time at the vets's for IV treatment), it was the only thing she would eat--and I tried just about everything available at Mud Bay. I rehydrate it by crumbling the patties and stirring them up with water.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Aw, I'm sorry your dog is hurting! It's so hard when we are only able to do so much for them.

My pug Sophie has had a MCT on one of her hind legs for a couple of years now. It is in a spot where the vet said it would be almost impossible to get clean margins, so we opted not to remove it, as Sophie was already a senior dog and MCT's can be very slow-growing. My vet had the philosophy that sometimes messing with the tumor can aggravate it more than letting it be, if it is not growing aggressively.

Sophie is now 14 and sometimes the tumor seems inflamed and other times it settles down a bit. We give her a half Benadryl twice a day at mealtimes, and I think that helps (MCT's are histamine-sensitive). She is a bit wobbly in her hind end anyway in her advanced age, and she never worries at it or licks it, so I'm not sure how much it bothers her. I have a feeling that she has internal tumors as well, but for now, she eats enthusiastically (in fact, she's a more insistent beggar than she ever has been!) and seems happy even in her limited ability to walk and play. She doesn't hear so well anymore either. I figure if she loses the ability to walk and still seems otherwise happy, we'll get one of those little carts for her. But I count every day that she's still here as another blessing because I know her time is limited. It's the sad part of having furry family members, knowing that their life spans are only a fraction of our own.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

Not sure if you have the option but it seems counter productive to give her flea & tick "meds" as they are usually very toxic.

Maybe some alternatives here? They said that
cedar oil works well on both fleas and ticks

and gave this product:
http://www.wondercide.com/natu.....ogs-evolv/#

Here is the site...
http://vitalanimal.com/non-toxic-flea-control/

Anonymous

Took my dog to the vet yesterday afternoon as the tumor started to itch and she started to scratch again which is not good. Gave her another benadryl before we went to the vet. The vet examined the ear and said that it was not an insect bite/sting as the emergency vet concluded.

He did think it was odd that the MCT should return 3 1/2 yrs after it was removed, but concluded that the mass is large and because it is causing itchiness that it is in all likelihood a MCT. My DH and I told him we do not want to do anymore surgery on her and he agreed because of the location of the MCT (base of ear) and the size that he would have to remove a great deal of tissue and perhaps might have to remove the entire ear.

Emily K: it took me a while to find food that my dog loved and thrived on. She has done so well on Canidae that when I tried other foods she turned her nose up and always went back to Canidae happily.

Janet: so sorry to hear about your Sophie, but she knows she is loved. And yes it is so hard knowing pets have such limited time with us. I have had many cats growing up and each one died from a variety of issues. The one cat that I thought would never live long was the one who defied all odds and live to a ripe old age of 20.

Texstyle: because of where we live I do rely on flea and tick topical meds. A few of the neighbors with pets went the holistic route and a good number of their pets contracted lyme disease . There are a lot of farms near me and parks and therefore a lot of deer and other wildlife (bear roamed through our back yard a couple of days ago and ate my strawberries).

So doing prednisone twice a day for 7 days and then weaning off and stopping on day 14, in hopes of reducing the inflammation. Continuing the benadryl 2x's a day and pepcid once a day and cortisone cream on the lump when needed. Right now she seems comfortable, even let me chase her around the house playing "Keep Away" then jumped onto the sofa to sleep. Still eating well, drinking water, but does not want to go on walks (only to do her business) and does not jump up to greet when the garage door opens. As long as she still seems happy and content we will proceed with what is working.

JenniferAnne

I also just found out my 8 yr-old dog has a mast cell tumor after an odd (for her) vomiting incident which I was sure was due to eating sticks etc. in the yard/some sort of blockage. Turned out there is a mast cell tumor in her abdomen, is cancerous and might be on a lymph node, they cannot quite tell. She is now on prednisone, and the oncologist thinks she has less than 6 months. For now, she has recovered from the incident and seems as well as I've ever seen her, appetite great (even before Pred), taking walks, happy about life, seems comfortable. She has a recheck in a couple months, but I feel constantly on my guard now, eyeballing her to see how she is every minute. I feel heartbroken and exhausted. You are not alone.

Anonymous

JenniferAnne, so sorry to hear this about your precious baby. Up to a few years ago, I had never heard of mast cell tumors in pets and I had over 10 cats (not at one time) growing up. I joined a facebook group called: Pet Parents of Mast Cell Tumor Dogs and have gotten some great info there. Check it out if you get a chance.

Her tumor has shrunk quite a bit since she started the prednisone last week. I am worried about what will happen once I stop. She is still not quite herself, but better than a week ago. Saturday, we took her out to her favorite place to sniff all she wanted and explore. I swear she was smiling the whole time!

Style Fan

Veteran

I am very sorry to hear about your dear doggie. It is so difficult to see a pet suffer.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I came across something I wasn't aware of before so I thought I'd share just in case. There is a product with the ingredient Acemannan from aloe vera that is supposed to have kinds of anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory aspects. I did some quick research and it looks promising. A company makes a gel for pets called Carravet.

Maybe this could help the tumour.

https://naturesfarmacy.com/can.....d-gel.html