Dog w/Hermangio, Desperate for Answers

[Marcella]

My sweet ll.5yo Emberlee, beagle/lhdoxiemix, is very ill. She stopped eating about a month ago, vet did bloodwork, which indicated infection/inflammation, vet thought it was her teeth. I felt like something else was wrong, felt hardness in her ab and breathing seemed off. Vet did not detect anything so I reticently scheduled a dental, 2 molars and several loose teeth were pulled. She was on Clindamycin for 8 days prior and started back on afterwards but did poorly both times, not eating and did not bounce back after the dental. I took her off the antibiotic after a few days and took her to a vet who had ultrasound, he said it appeared to be a tumor on her spleen, suspected hermangio. She was anemic through all of this. I can give you abnormal blood values if needed.
Am devastated and trying to make her comfortable, not wishing to do surgery. I hate that a definitive diagnosis does not appear to be possible without exploratory surgery. She is lethargic and not eating well, have her on Yunnan Baiyao, Turkey Tail and BiZhongYiQiWan. Not sure if any of it is helping her but then she has only been on one for a few days, two only a couple days. Thank you for any advise you can offer to help me with my beloved Emberlee.

[Linda]

Marcella – first of all, deep breath. You are really going through SO much with your Emberlee (love the name). Please send the blood work – I am not the one that will look it over, but there are those here that will.

Did the vet mention AIHA? Please stay with us – you will get help, advice and an ear to vent. Everyone here has dealt with near death with our dogs/cats – and we are here for you and Emberlee, 100%. It!s our pay-it-forward. The people on this forum literally saved my dog , Sadie. They have literally dedicated any free moment they have to those in need.

Let’s start slow – I know you are overwhelmed. So, this all started a month ago? Okay, send us any and all information you can. There is a separate post on this site. Click ‘Urgent Advice’ where you can either scan a document (and download) and send or, better yet, have your vet e-mail the test results to you, save and then download at ‘Urgent Advice’. You paid for these tests, the results are YOURS.

Don’t for one minute – give up. We’re with you.

Love, Linda and hanging-in-here Sadie

[Vally]

Marcella, you must be so very worried for your girl. I don’t know anything about this diagnosis, but I know it is very serious. I think what you’re doing is absolutely right. Feed her whatever she seems able to eat and keep her comfortable.

Post the blood tests if you can. Patrice and Sheena are brilliant understanding them and helping us to understand them.

Everyone here understands how much we love our pets and everyone understands the worry we all go through – probably more than most other people. You’re very very welcome here and I know everyone will do everything they can to help support you.

Prayers for you and your girl.
Love Vally & Bingo

[admin]

Hi Marcella.

I’m so sorry that you and your Emberlee are going through such a frightening time. Like Vally, I’m afraid I don’t know a lot about hemangiosarcoma, although I have read a little about it previously on a blog from an owner.
Please do post any information you have, and we will do our best to support and advise you. You are doing a wonderful job right now of keeping her comfortable and loving her.

With very best wishes, Mary & Mable x

[admin]

Hi Marcella

So glad you’ve joined us here. I can’t pretend to be an expert on haemangiosarcoma, but my dear little Millie (a very sweet little lurcher) had this, but she was getting old (14). She had no symptoms until secondaries affected her heart (pericardial effusion) & her breathing became laboured. This was the ONLY symptom she had. She really was fit & well up until then & I promise you was not in any pain whatsoever. Sadly, the vets found the problem with the spleen much too late to be able to do anything about it & with the secondaries, it was not good news. They reckoned she must have had this cancer for a long time & I felt guilty about that, even though there was nothing to make me think she was ill. I think you could be in the more fortunate position of picking it up early. Although it can be very serious, it can also be treated if in the early stages.

If it were me, I would try & find a specialist Vet hospital or university teaching hospital who could do more scans – surgery & chemotherapy can be useful for treatment. I found this for you – I’m afraid it doesn’t make good reading for the advanced stages.
http://www.vetinfo.com/dencyclopedia/dehemsarcoma.html#b
HOWEVER Please, please look at this one because you can take courage that Emberlee could have surgery & chemotherapy.
http://www.wearethecure.org/the-road-from-despair-to-hope.

These articles also mention that the symptoms of AIHA need to be treated too as they become anaemic – we can all help you on that, of course. I am unsure about steroid treatment because of the immuno-suppressant effects – this probably is not appropriate for Emberlee. She may need blood transfusions etc, though. Personally, I would try & keep positive that the tumour seen in the spleen can be successfully removed by surgery – & remember it may not be malignant – time is of the essence & specialist help is always better.

Marcella, please know I am thinking about you & we are all here to help as much as we can. Patrice is more of an expert on this that I am & I bet she has some great advice

Hugs to you & Emberlee from me & my boys. Keep you chin up & be positive that you have caught this early.

Sheena

[admin]

Sorry about the typo’s above!
Sheena

[Marcella]

Thank you, Linda, Mary & Sheena. I am completely overwhelmed for sure.
I am not at all sure she will make it through the weekend. We did not have a good night. Her ab is very distended and she is not breathing well at all.
Here are the abnormal values in the bloodwork that was done about 2 1/2 wks ago, prior to the dental.
WBC 22.7 ref.4.0-15.5 hi
Hemogl. 10.4 ref.12.l-20.3 lo
Hemato. 32 ref.36-60 lo
Neutrophils 16571 ref.2060-10600 hi
Monocyt. 1362 ref.0-840 hi
ALT 10 ref. 12-115 low

Needless to say I was very alarmed that my vet did not do more thorough investigation of what was going on, the dental was not of urgency in this case. Hindsight is great. I have no vets in my area that I have much confidence in. I am almost70, living on SS and whatever else I can garner as an artist, very modest income. The dental alone took quite a chunk (over $700) so I am limited to whatever I can manage to keep her comfortable.
I do not think at this point that she would even be able to withstand the journey elsewhere. It is just breaking my heart beyond measure.
Two months ago Emberlee was running with the wind. I hate this disease. I have lost two other dogs with it, sadly they went fast, almost before I knew what was happening.
I am scared and not all that together at the moment. Thank you for whatever insights you might have.

[admin]

Hi Marcella

My heart goes out to you – it is so difficult to see our beloved pets in distress like this. It is sad your vet does not inspire confidence, especially after the dental charges – that is an awful lot of money for you to find when things are tight. Shocking. I understand how hard it is to find anyone you can trust to treat her properly. Can we help you with that? I am quite happy to look around your area for someone as Emberlee wouldn’t be able to go far. At least they could make her more comfortable.

Her breathing might be helped with some diuretics which are quite inexpensive – Millie was on Furosemide & this made things easier for a while, although it was fluid around her heart (as well as her spleen) that was causing the problem as well. Maybe ask the vet whether diuretics might help Emberlee – for the swelling & her breathing. Is she on any medications at all?

I’ve just read through Emberlee’s bloods & high WBC, high neutrophils & monocytes means a reaction to inflammation/infection, although there can be other reasons too, for example a bone marrow problem, a reaction to certain drugs or even just a very stressful visit to the vet. My guess it’s because of the mass in her spleen though. She is most definitely anaemic, although not dangerously so at the moment. This will also cause her to breathe more heavily because she’s trying to get more oxygen around her body with fewer cells & less haemoglobin to carry it.
Having been through a similar situation myself, you MUST NOT beat yourself up about this. This disease is not easy to diagnose in the early stages. I can only suggest that you contact your vet (even if they aren’t that great) & ask about the possibility of using a diuretic to keep her comfortable for now. I’m sure she would feel much better with that swelling reduced, even though she will need pee more often. I also read about Peroxicam – see below.

I found a Golden Retriever site where many of their members have been through this too – have a look at http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/cancer-information-golden-retrievers/51312-hemangiosarcoma-treated-cyclophosphamide.html
also http://www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/learning-center/professional-monographs/piroxicam-for-veterinary-use.html

I don’t know how else to help you & I don’t know about the expense involved with these drugs over there in the USA. If there is anything else I can do for you, you only have to ask. I hope you will get some comfort from reading the Golden Retriever site postings.
All my best thoughts to you & dear Emberlee
Love
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie