One of my sweet furbabies may have a mast cell tumor in his abdomen.... Vet thinks we got it early.
Yes, Swot. This is the type of cancer Dolly had. Let me tell you our experience.
She got a growth. We were not so quick to catch it. She got another. They were removed and biopsed. Malignant. Mast cell tumors. By that time she had gotten a couple more. It did not look good. There were multiple sites. The doctor did not have a whole lot of hope.
There are stages and grades. To determine the exact stage and grade combo required another biopsy. My decision was to put the money towards the medication, rather than another surgery.
Stage III does not typically respond to medication. I remember that.
To me there was little point in another biopsy because I knew I was committed to the medication which I describe below. And to remove the growths would not have helped because she kept sprouting more growths.
I knew also that I did not want her to go through Chemo or Radiation. So, our course was clear.
This medication has no side effects that I saw. At least in Dolly.
She had been very weak at first, from the Cancer. She got ringworm, her immune system was so depleted. And she was depressed.
Right away she rebounded. Energetic. Optimistic. Playing. Eating. We had also got her a new playmate, so that helped.
The medication is new. Just a year or two old, I think. It is expensive. She stayed on it 4 months I think. All the tumors disappeared except one. The one that remained shriveled up but did not disappear.
There have been no new tumors. Once I thought the old one grew, but it seems to have not.
11 months after stopping the medication she is happy, seems healthy and optimistic. They say if they make it one year the prognosis is very good to live a normal lifespan. That would be nice.
For me it was worth it for her to have this one good year. And maybe we can have some more. She is not even 6. Boxers are very prone to this type of cancer.
The medication Dolly took was called Kinavet. There is another medication that is similar. Online it is $150 a bottle (better through the Vet) which for a little dog would probably be enough for the entire month. The dosage is by weight. Dolly is 50 pounds. So it cost us about $360 a month.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
PS if the doctor says your baby can benefit from this, I, for one, think it is a miracle drug.