Canine Leukemia and what to expect?
For a little bit of history:
We got my dog (corgi mix) back in 2000 as a foster dog. She was pregnant, and we guessed she was 2 years old. She gave birth to 6 healthy pups (who were given up for adoption) and we kept the momma. We had her spayed as soon as allowed. After that, she lived a healthy bouncy life with no problems.
On a routine checkup, the vet felt something in her belly (maybe a tumor, maybe something else) and suggested we do surgery to remove it. Turns out, it was a foreign object--a surgical towel left in by our Humane Society that did the spay (thanks a bunch -_- ). But she recovered from that as well.
Now, she's lived a good long life and she went with out other dog for a routine check up. Since she's old (13ish) the vet decided to do some bloodwork. Unfortunately, her white blood cell count was at 150...I was told the normal was 1.5. (I know nothing of technical things regarding animals) Either way, the vet was very confident that our girl has canine leukemia.
There are two types of leukemia, acute leukemia (being the more aggressive) and chronic leukemia (which is much slower and dogs can live with it). The vet believes she has chronic leukemia. The also offered to do chest x-rays, bone marrow tests (or whatever), and tests on her spleen, but we honestly don't see the purpose in wasting our money for them to just confirm what we already know. Even then, we won't subject an old dog to chemotherapy, when she'd still only have a max of 3 years of life left anyway. She has not displayed any out-of-the-ordinary behavior. Her appetite is GREAT and she sleeps a lot--sounds like a regular old dog to me.
My question then is this: Does anyone on here have a dog with either type of leukemia? What should we expect with chronic leukemia? We were also told leukemia in dogs is rare...should we attempt to find another cause of her white blood cells?
Any personal information regarding canine leukemia would be appreciated...I can look up other stuff on Google myself. Thanks!
Hey I'm really glad 2 out of three people so far just told me to look somewhere else....was hoping for personal stuff, but thanks anyway.
Berner Sennenhund, second link was useful, thank you. (no sarcasm, that link made the most sense)
- Nicole
not sure through. go on youtube or speak search for people dealing with the same problem. aww doggie
- Berner Sennenhund
Some really good info on leukemia in dogs..
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/waikart/index.php
http://www.gsdhelp.info/cancer/lymphocyticleukemia.html
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/lymphocytic_leukemia.html
- amccoy1962
I had a little Fox Terrier that went very pale one day, took her to the vet right away, and after several tests, she was diagnosed with chronic leukemia, a anti immune disorder. I trusted my vet who discouraged me from doing all the usual treatment, he said that although she was only 5 years old, he would never put a dog thru it. What he did prescribed was Prendezone, twice a day hoping she would eventually go into remission. Well, after three months later, and doubled her weight from the steroids she indeed went into remission, and had a beautiful life until she was 14 and had a flare up, a big flare up, and I held her while the vet euthanized her.
Now, I can't tell you what's it's going to happen to your dog, and as uncaring it may sound, she lived a long life, don't put her thru a bunch of pain and misery, and have her suffer now. Just keep her for as long as she has quality of life, and then let her go.
One of the dogs that I had rescued and then adopted out, few months after adoption she ended up with cancer of the salivary glands. The owner took her to a cancer specialist, I was around a lot during the treatment, and I wished I never see a dog suffer like she did. A month and $ 10,000 later, she passed away, but not before she wagged her tail for me one last time.
I'll keep you in my prayers!
Leukemia — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, risk factors, treatment of this blood-related cancer.
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