3 Year old dog, with cancer? - Page 3

Guys I'll let you know how the vet determined this as soon as I hear back from them.  

HI, I LOST MY DOG LAST FRİDAY(11.11.11) BECAUSE OF LUNG CANCER.HE WAS A 4,5 YEAR OLD GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG.
WE FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD CANCER TWO WEEKS AGO WHEN HE STOPPED EATING.BUT IT WAS TOO LATE TO SAVE HIM.
HE HAD A BIG TUMOR IN HIS LUNG AND WE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT HAPPENED .EVERYTHING WAS TOO FAST.
MY VETERIAN TOLD ME THAT THE DEATH BECAUSE OF CANCER  ON DOGS İNCREASES OF 80%.BUT THEY COULDN'T FIND ANY REASON.....

 

My 3 year old female had just been confirmed pregnant from a VA Sired litter when she was euthanized because the vet diagnosed her with cancer after she stopped eating one day. An autopsy revealed she did not have cancer at all. What she had was a bacterial infection . What he diagnosed as a cancerous tumor before administering the euthanazia was actually an abcess from a bacterial infection. The loss of a beloved pet and family member is devastating at almost any age...... 

My heart breaks for you all! Especially vomhunterhaus, because it was so unnecessary!! Hugs!!
Debby

oso, in my dog's case the diagnosis was confirmed with a biopsy and lab tests.

In the case of my friends boy he had everything done to him possible, blood workups, biopsy's;  it started a tiny red spot on one of his toes;  and my friend gave him every treatment possible new and old to try to save him except she decided she did not want to amputate his leg so it just spread like wildfire through h is body in a matter of weeks.  Just nothing she did worked for him.  That type of cancer is very fast growing as it basically is in the bloodstream and in the blood vessels that carry the blood to the blood vessels;  just a horrific monsterous type cancer.  Just devastating and extremely fast growing due to it being in the blood stream.  Just nothing that can usually be done except buy a little time to say goodbye;  sometimes you can't even do that.  When you see external signs like this boy's spot on his toe, you can be assured that it is already in the major organs.  The toe is an exit;  probably one of the last places before the dog dies.  HOrrible.  NAn

Probably the most likely type of abdominal cancer that would strike a dog at such a young age (3 yrs) would be lymphoma, which appears to be on the rise in dogs in general.  In the past few years, I've known of no less than 4 GSDs under the age of 7 years who have been taken down by this particular variation of lymphoma.  As for the 'reason why' such a young dog would develop cancer, well, if I had the answer to that I imagine I'd be pursued by both human and veterinary medical research facilities... There are many theories as to why younger patients are found to have serious, aggressive cancers, but for the most part they are all still in the theory stages. 

Good post, hexe.

Today we recieved the devastating news that the vet suspects our 3 month old has renal cancer in his left kidney. He has been hospitalized for the last 2 days for a UTI with blood in the urine. He stopped eating on Sunday, and by monday had bloody urine. We rushed him to the emergency hospital where he was kept for the day and then transfered to another hospital that evening. An ultrasound today of his kidneys revealed a supsicious left kidney, and the fear is cancer. I cant stop crying and would do anything to take the pain away from such a sweet soul. I dont understand, I feed raw and only NOW Grain free puppy kibble. he has never been sick, and my heart is beyond broken its numb.He looks so sad with his collar , IV, and catheter, but he finds the strength to lift his head and kiss us when we go for visits. His tail still wags when he gets kisses back right on his little black nose.  Please keep him in your prayers......God bless

This is extremely important:  has the vet run a test for leptospirosis, as well as the tick-borne diseases?  If not, I'd damn sure request it--they're blood tests, so non-invasive enough that the sample shouldn't overly tax the poor little fellow.  While it's not impossible for a 3 month old to have cancer, it would be extremely unlikely, simply for the fact that cancer doesn't just appear as a fully-formed lesion...it begins with normal cells becoming abnormal due to some triggering stimulus (the exact trigger is known in some cancers, suspected in other types, and still a mystery in yet more types), and those few mutant cells begin to multiply. Being abnormal cells, they tend to be more aggressive than the normal ones, and they tend to multiply faster than normal cells, too--and as more of these cells are created, they'll start having an effect on the body; depending on the type of cancer, they may cluster together to form a lump or bump or spot, or they may spread via the bloodstream and create small areas of disease.  The point being that you generally aren't going to see any signs or symptoms in the initial stages of cancer development...

But when you're talking about a puppy that's only been alive for 90 days, that's *awfully* fast for a neoplasm to develop and begin causing symptoms--I would think that this would almost have to be a cancer that was present while the pup was still in utero for it to be causing such issues so soon in this baby's life.  The abnormal kidney could be a congenital defect or malformation, OTOH, and in that case it wouldn't be odd to start seeing signs at the 3 month mark...in situations like that, the pup's body may be able to function to appear normal until the pup crosses some growth threshold, at which point the demands on the organs exceeds what they can handle.  Again, I can't say that it's impossible for a 3 month old puppy to have some form of cancer that's affected the kidneys, but it's *extremely* uncommon, and sure wouldn't be the first thing that came to mind if I came across this case.

Is the pup in a general practice veterinary hospital, or is he in a veterinary teaching hospital?  If blood testing rules out all infectious possibilities, it might be best to have him hospitalized at the vet school (if there's one in your general area)...

Will certainly keep you and the little guy in my thoughts, and hopefully you'll stop back here in a day or two with a more optimistic update that indicates he picked up something infectious, it's been identified and treatment started for it, and he's turning the corner for the better in his recovery.