Just like us, our pets can also be affected by
cancer and getting a diagnosis can be both terrifying and a relief at the same
time... The relief comes from having a reason why your pet has been unwell
but of course it’s also a very upsetting and distressing time too. What does it mean? What are the treatment
options? How long do I have left with my pet, are all likely questions to be
rushing through your mind as you try to comprehend what the vet is saying to
you.
It’s our job as Vets, Nurses & Receptionists
to support you and your pet through the road ahead, whatever that may
entail.
A diagnosis of neoplasia (cancer) doesn’t always
mean your pet has a poor outlook, there are certain types that can be held at
bay for many years or sometimes even cured... each particular type is different and so
requires individual understanding.
Ryan’s story starts back in October 2013 when
his owners noticed that the glands in his neck were enlarged. These were Ryan’s submandibular lymph nodes
and when the vet examined him further she found that his lymph nodes near his
shoulders (pre-scapular) and at the back of his knees (popliteals) were also
enlarged. You may have found yourself
saying that your “glands are swollen” in your neck when you have a cold and these
are our lymph nodes. Their job is to
deal with infectious material. So when they’re all enlarged like
Ryan’s were, we start to worry that something may be going on throughout his
entire body that is overwhelming his immune system.
It was decided by the vet and Ryan’s owners that
he would have a biopsy taken from one of the lymph nodes to be sent to the lab
for microscopic examination. So, the next
day, Ryan came in for his surgery under general anaesthesia. Five days later, we had the results back,
it was lymphoma (lymphosarcoma). This is
a cancer of the white blood cells, so whereas a lump may be diagnosed as cancerous and
removal may be curative, with lymphoma it’s not quite the same.
Ryan would need to have chemotherapy in order to
stop the cancer from progressing and hopefully to get him into remission. How successful chemotherapy would be depends on what type of lymphoma Ryan had. One type is of B-cell origin and the other
T-cell. We had our fingers crossed that
it would be of B-cell origin as unfortunately the prognosis for lymphoma of
T-cell origin is very poor. The lab had
already started the process to determine this but it would take a little more
time, so it was decided that Ryan would start chemotherapy as soon as possible
in the hope we got the result we wanted.
On the 25th October 2013 Ryan had his
first treatment. With chemotherapy it’s really important to protect owners
and clinical staff from the negative effect of the drugs used. These drugs do not hunt out cancerous cells,
instead they kill all fast growing cells so there’s a negative side to them
that we don’t want to be exposed to.
For this reason Ryan's faeces needed to be double bagged, his urine washed away in the garden and saliva contact needed to be
prevented. For these reasons it may be
that a family with small children would be advised against chemotherapy for one
of their pets due to the high risk it poses to humans. As you can see from the pictures from one of
Ryan’s treatments we are very well “suited & booted” to ensure we do not
come into contact with the drugs ourselves.
Two days after his first treatment we heard from
the lab that they knew which type of lymphoma Ryan had… it was B-Cell… thank
goodness. Ryan’s treatment plan would
now consist of the following;
- Weekly chemotherapy for the first 8 weeks
- Then every 2 weeks until he went into remission (this would hopefully be around the 6 month mark)
- Once in remission he would need maintenance treatments every 3 weeks
- After 12 months Ryan would drop to maintenance treatments once every 4 weeks
- Ryan would also be having oral medications at home as part of his chemotherapy regime.
Unlike humans it isn’t possible to “cure” pets
that have lymphoma but it is possible for patients in remission to live a
normal & happy life. Ryan initially
had vomiting and diarrhoea at the start of his treatment regime but soon
recovered and has since had no complications.
Treatment of this type of illness varies between
each patient, it depends on the type of neoplasia a patient has and whether
remission is possible. Where this is not
likely to occur, it is our job to make them comfortable and pain free for as
long as possible by trying to slow down the spread of the neoplasia and
treating symptoms as they occur. We get
to know these patients VERY well and when the time comes that they are taken
away from us or the decision is made to let them go, we grieve with the owners
as if they were our own. Thankfully for
Ryan, his owners and us this isn’t the case for him… he still has plenty of
life in him yet and we love him to pieces.
Ryan having his IV catheter placed which will be used to deliver his chemotherapy drugs
Here you can see that we have attached a giving set to his catheter... this is so that we can run IV fluids through at the same time. The drugs used are very dangerous and can even lead to the need for amputations if given outside of the vein so the fluids ensure we can check the catheter is 100% perfect before giving the drug.
An extra precaution we take is to cover all entry points with a damp swab as extra cover for any drug that might escape the closed circuit or squirt back on administration (See below also)
Ryan having a cuddle with Reanne after his treatment
We hope you've enjoyed reading this post and that we've answered some of the questions you may have had about treating neoplasia in our pets.
A special thank you to Ryan's owners for letting us share his story and of course a huge thank you to Ryan himself for being an amazing patient every step of the way... we love you Ryan :)
