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Hi everyone, I would like to tell you about our journey with Trini and her diagnosis of Mast cell Cancer. Trini is a five year old bully breed pitbull mix. She is white and gray, about 65 pounds. I will post a picture of her and her tumor later.
Several months ago Trini had a growth on her behind which to my untrained eye looked very close to her anal glands. She also was scooting her bum on the ground. I took her to the vet.
The vet did a needle biopsy and it was determined that Trini had Mast cell cancer. Also, the location of the tumor makes surgery out of the question. We were referred to an oncologist about 30 miles away.
What is mast cell cancer you may ask? Here is a brief description:
A mast cell is a type of white blood cell that is found in many tissues of the body. Mast cells are allergy cells and play a role in the allergic response. When exposed to allergens (substances that stimulate allergies), mast cells release chemicals and compounds, a process called degranulation. One of these compounds is histamine. Histamine is most commonly known for causing itchiness, sneezing, and runny eyes and nose - the common symptoms of allergies. But when histamine (and the other compounds) are released in excessive amounts (with mass degranulation), they can cause full-body effects, including anaphylaxis, a serious, life-threatening allergic reaction.
definition from VCA website:
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/mast-cell-tumors-in-dogs
Our vet sent all Trini's medical inormation to the oncologist so prior to Trini's appointment we were to give Trini the following drugs:
Prednisone to shrink the tumor
Benadryl to stop the itching
Pepcide to keep her tummy from being upset
The oncologist recommended Electrochemotherapy
Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a local treatment for cancer using a combination of chemotherapy and electric pulse therapy which increases the antitumor effect of the chemotherapy drugs.
Your pet is put under anesthesia for this procedure.
So this can get expensive.
We took her for her first treatment. It took forever and when Trini was given back to us she was out of it and cried all of the way home. Three weeks later we went for a follow up and the lump was still there but smaller. Four weeks later we took her for her second treatment. This one did not take as long. She was lucid and did not cry on the way home.
The thing that I find so perplexing about this whole thing is that they don't know if they have gotten all of the cancer or not. The only way to know for sure is to do a biopsy and Trini's cancer is in an inoperable location.
We have decided that we are not going to put Trini through this procedure again and what will be will be.
As for Trini, she has no idea that she has cancer. She is her same happy, crazy, fence jumping self and that is how we want her to remain. If the cancer gets worse or shows up in other places we will deal with it at that time.
Thank you for reading. I hope that this post helps others.
Odie (Carmen)
Several months ago Trini had a growth on her behind which to my untrained eye looked very close to her anal glands. She also was scooting her bum on the ground. I took her to the vet.
The vet did a needle biopsy and it was determined that Trini had Mast cell cancer. Also, the location of the tumor makes surgery out of the question. We were referred to an oncologist about 30 miles away.
What is mast cell cancer you may ask? Here is a brief description:
A mast cell is a type of white blood cell that is found in many tissues of the body. Mast cells are allergy cells and play a role in the allergic response. When exposed to allergens (substances that stimulate allergies), mast cells release chemicals and compounds, a process called degranulation. One of these compounds is histamine. Histamine is most commonly known for causing itchiness, sneezing, and runny eyes and nose - the common symptoms of allergies. But when histamine (and the other compounds) are released in excessive amounts (with mass degranulation), they can cause full-body effects, including anaphylaxis, a serious, life-threatening allergic reaction.
definition from VCA website:
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/mast-cell-tumors-in-dogs
Our vet sent all Trini's medical inormation to the oncologist so prior to Trini's appointment we were to give Trini the following drugs:
Prednisone to shrink the tumor
Benadryl to stop the itching
Pepcide to keep her tummy from being upset
The oncologist recommended Electrochemotherapy
Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a local treatment for cancer using a combination of chemotherapy and electric pulse therapy which increases the antitumor effect of the chemotherapy drugs.
Your pet is put under anesthesia for this procedure.
So this can get expensive.
We took her for her first treatment. It took forever and when Trini was given back to us she was out of it and cried all of the way home. Three weeks later we went for a follow up and the lump was still there but smaller. Four weeks later we took her for her second treatment. This one did not take as long. She was lucid and did not cry on the way home.
The thing that I find so perplexing about this whole thing is that they don't know if they have gotten all of the cancer or not. The only way to know for sure is to do a biopsy and Trini's cancer is in an inoperable location.
We have decided that we are not going to put Trini through this procedure again and what will be will be.
As for Trini, she has no idea that she has cancer. She is her same happy, crazy, fence jumping self and that is how we want her to remain. If the cancer gets worse or shows up in other places we will deal with it at that time.
Thank you for reading. I hope that this post helps others.
Odie (Carmen)
