Sunday, September 3, 2017

Next day was Sunday.

Everyone got up early.

We took Sparky for a walk. He looked completely normal and healthy. How little could we see and know from appearances and how different the real situation was!

After the walk, I started discussing with my wife about what to do next. It was clear that cancer is not curable (my mom died because of it some years back; chemotherapy helped somewhat but did as much good as bad for her) but still maybe there were other things that we could try for Sparky.

The vet mentioned that the cancer likes a lot carbohydrates so we should avoid feeding him anything with wheat, maize, rice and potatoes. What was the name of the diet he mentioned? High protein diet. Meaning meat. This is what we would do then. No more rice, no more canned food, nothing else than beef meat, either fried in the pad with no oil or boiled. He lost around 5 kgs in the last 2 weeks so we should feed him well to regain the weight.


What else could we do?


First, what exactly was lymphoma?

I did a few searches on the internet and these were the results:

"Lymphoma in dogs is a common cancer of lymphocytes. Between 15% and 20% of malignant tumors in dogs are lymphomas. Lymphomas can occur in the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, and other organs. The cancer can be aggressive and if left untreated, can lead to a high mortality. Treatment with chemotherapy has been very successful, adding months and occasionally years to the dog's life.

Which dogs are at risk for developing lymphoma?
Lymphoma primarily affects middle age to older dogs. There does not appear to be a sex predilection. Golden retrievers, boxers, bullmastiffs, basset hounds, Saint Bernards, Scottish terriers, Airedales, and bulldogs appear to be at increased risk of developing lymphomas. Only 10% to 20% of dogs are clinically ill when diagnosed; the majority are brought to the veterinarian because of recently identified swellings or lumps.

Why do dogs develop lymphoma?
While we understand how lymphomas form, we still do not understand why. In cats, there appears to be a strong link between some forms of lymphoma and infection with feline leukemia virus, however, in dogs such a link is not apparent. At the same time, some authors have hinted at a possible genetic correlation, but further studies need to be performed to determine the exact risk factors involved in canine lymphoma. Dogs who have a suppressed immune system appear to be at increased risk."

It looked like a lot of dogs got lymphoma so the disease was not rare at all. Also, it affected middle age to older dogs. And it affected dogs with suppressed immune system.

This summer, same with the previous years, Sparky had his usual issues with hot spots. We found once in a while patches of red skin under his coat which made him uncomfortable. It could be because of an allergy (probably seasonal and related to something from outside as he did not have hot spots in the spring, fall or winter), because he scratches too much or some other reason.

Could the hot spot situation, which this summer seemed worse than the previous year's, be related to the lymphoma? I did not have a clue.


What else was there for Sparky?


I googled for a while about what other people did for their dogs in similar situations. Some people used supplements like K9 Immunity and Apocaps and, even if the feedback was sometimes negative, it seemed to work for many dogs.

So I bought one box of each to give it a try. Why not? It may help Sparky or not, but without trying, we could not know.

Sparky slept today a lot and also wanted to go out every few hours for peeing. But otherwise, he looked calm, in good mood and happy to see everyone again at home.





Sparky (the little one) playing with daddy