Leukemia in young GSD - Page 2

I had a male GSD, about 15 years ago, that started acting larthargic at 12 years of age, or so. I took him to the vet and he started doing blood panels(once a day) that were sent to one of the local hospitals for testing and after about 10 days of doing this, they finally agreed it was leukemia. Then they started treating it. Shortly there afterwards(and after $2000 was spent in vet costs), the dog died. I don't remember all of the specifics, but it was not easily diagnosed, as I remember. I did take away one lesson from it, however. I will always give my dogs the best care I can,but I will never get caught up again in trying to keep an animal alive in such a situation. It was selfish on my part, did not do the dog ANY good, just prolonged(maybe) his situation, and a lot of money was needlessly spent. My personal policy now is, when I find a dog is terminal, I do not try to prolong the inevitable. Stephen

Now that my memory is coming back a tad surrounding that episode, I do remember, that everytime they took a blood panel testing, the white cell count got higher and the red cell count got lower(every day). Stephen

I opted to have my dog with lymphosarcoma treated using human chemo drugs. I would never do it again, he was sick for most of the treatment and his remission only held for 6 weeks. The choice then was either another round of chemo or prednisone (which is considered a less aggressive form of chemo when used in this application). He only lived another 4 weeks; time from diagnosis to death was around 7 months, about what is expected when only pred is used. I feel the same as Stephen now where terminal illnesses are concerned and if I had it to do over, I'd treat using the pred only. Before each chemo treatment, the dog's white count is done to determine if he has a sufficient number to withstand the treatment. If not, then another human drug is used to boost the white count and the chemo delayed a few days. Chemo will depress the white count. The cost is horrendous, around $5,000 for a 125 lb dog plus a special diet and supplements and several weekly roundtrips of 150 miles each to the oncologist. That wouldn't be a big factor if the treatment had a chance of being curative which its does not. Dogs do not handle chemo as well as we humans and they do not have the will to fight the side effects. They will lay down and die instead. Therefore, the dosage administered to a dog is not high enough to affect a cure, it's only enough to put them into a temporary remission which may or may not last for months. IMO the oncology vets tend to overstate the prognosis for dogs with leukemia and fail to disclose the fact that the treatment will not be curative and will be on-going if you want to keep your dog alive. Had I know that from the start, I'd never have opted to put my best dog ever through months of treatment and illness from the poison drugs that were put into his system.

Thanks everyone. I found some information about canine babesiosis, and sent it to the owner. She spoke to her veterinarian, who stated that she had heard of it, but never treated it and did not have the injectable treatment for it. I understand this statement due to the geographic location, and the low frequency of this disease. However I told her that I thought that her veterinarian was being lazy, and to please seek another opinion before she made any committment to any treatment. I just did not accept the "finding" of leukemia for a dog this young just from the white blood cell count and red blood cell count done at the veterinarian's office, as it was not take at intervals of a period of time. I also agree that there can be a serious infection somewhere in the dog's body that must be treated immediately with a broad spectrum antibiotic. That is what I really suspect, and of course I can be wrong. Hodie, the dog has been vaccinated for Lyme's Disease, so it is possibly not that, but thanks anyway. I am keeping the owner advised as I recieve more information. I really want her to use another veteriarian. Bob-O

Good advice, Bob-O. This dog at least needs a biopsy assuming the lymph nodes are enlarged. BTW my dog with leukemia did not have a fever or an elevated white count. He was diagnosed by an veterinary oncologist with a needle biopsy of a cervical node. His regular GP vet was not sure. It just doesn't sound like the right diagnosis to me; best to look for a 2nd opinion I think.

Hi Bob-O, Without complete access to the medical records, including lab work done, it is difficult to speculate about the problem. None the less, your advice to have the owner seek a second opinion sounds like a great course to me. From what I know about canine cancers, there would have to be other lab work done, other tests, to be certain of a diagnosis of leukemia. Hopefully, this is not what is going on. And Lyme disease can occur if the vaccination was not adequately administered etc. It might still be worth considering a number of the tick diseases. There are a myriad of infectious agents that could cause the symptoms you noted. Good luck on helping your friend.

I was not able to vist the dog or his owner on this trip, but I was able to speak with her and forward several of the messages from here and private e-mail that was sent to me. I will again be in Tennessee next week, and I asked my wife to bring this male to our kennel so we can take him to a veterinarian who I will direct, if necessary, to make the appropriate test(s). As long as he does not have a communicable disease, I will allow him to stay at our kennel for a few days to several weeks if necessary while we try to cure whatever malady he has, if it is indeed curable. If it is not, I will advise his owner what can be done to prolong his life, provided that his dignity is preserved. But anyway, a big thanks to everyone again, and I'll let everyone know what is the final diagnosis. Bob-O

Bob-O posted on 23 Dec 2006 the following results for this dog: ( cut and pasted from thread: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/70869.html ). I've pasted to the original thread so people can easily find it if searching this topic...hope you don't mind, Bob-O) Some of you may remember my post from August 2006 concerning a young (4+ year old) GSD who recieved a wierd diagnosis for leukemia at this thread: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/bulletins_read/54052.html#54075 The owner visited our home last night, and the dog (after many weeks of taking a broad-spectrum antibiotic) has recovered fully from an infection, not leukemia, and is the dog he was before he became ill. His proper weight has returned, and he again enjoys eating, drinking, and being a real horse's behind. This is good news that I thought I should share and I appreciate all of the advice (especially from you Hodie) given in this post, as I was a full state away and could not be there with the owner when this "diagnosis" was made. I provided her with a link to this messagebaord where she could see the comments and use these for some direction. If there is any moral to this story, it is to be diligent when you search a veterinarian for the proper care of your dog, and to not wait until you have a dog who is sicker than you may think. This story has a happy ending. Thank you, everyone, Bob-O

Wonderful! It is a happy ending.

Diane, that is a good idea that you had. Thanks for doing that. Bob-O