My Saint Bernard has advanced lymphoma. Should I treat or consider euthanasia?

Hi there. I am sorry that Cain is having this issue. When clients cannot afford to do the long course of chemotherapy the next best option is to do high doses of oral steroids (prednisone) which is extremely inexpensive. A dog his size would it would probably only cost you $20 or less a month to do this. Did your vet not offer you this option? The prednisone will not cure the lymphoma but it will certainly slow the course of disease. It will reduce the swelling of the lymph nodes for sure. This may only help for a few months but it is better than no treatment. If you are not going to do any treatment at all the best option is humane euthanasia so that Cain does not suffer. Really, I think you and Cain will be very happy with steroid therapy. Please call your vet back and ask about this option. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Lymphoma is in fact a cancer. This is typically treated with chemotherapy. There are many chemotherapy options that can be considered such as a multi agent protocol called CHOP. There are other chemotherapeutic medications that can be considered depending on what your veterinarian has available. In general, chemotherapy is well-tolerated in dogs when done appropriately. If not able to proceed with chemotherapy, there are other options like prednisone therapy alone which in itself can help dogs with lymphoma though for a very short amount of time. The prognosis with chemotherapy varies and depends on the type of lymphoma he has (B-cell vs. T-cell) and the treatment chosen. The prognosis varies between 6 to 12 months with chemotherapy and about 2 months on just prednisone. Please feel free to request a consultation with me if you have more specific questions. Good luck!

I'm so sorry to hear this. Whether or not to do chemotherapy/radiation is a personal choice. It is completely up to you. If you have the financial means to do so and the dog is in good health otherwise then I see no reason no to do so. If the dog is very ill and/or you do not have the finances then you may elect not to pursue this treatment. Again, it is a personal choice. I suggest you consult a veterinary oncologist to get more information on the specific type of cancer he has and what the prognosis is. Even with chemotherapy and radiation sometimes the survival rate is still very low. Answers to those questions are best done by an oncologist. I hope this helps. Best wishes.

I am so sorry for this sad news. I would call your vet and see if they can give her any fluids to help hydrate her and get her started on an appetite stimulate. They could also possibly give her an infection of cerenia or Zofran which are great to help with nausea and vomiting. Unfortunately, she may need something to help with the nausea so she feels better and more willing to eat and drink. If you can figure out a way to make her eat and get the pred in her, it will make her feel better. The vet may even have an injectable form of prednisone or some other type of steroid that could be beneficial if you can't get the oral type in her. If these things don't work and you don't want to take her to an oncologist, then I would conisder her quality of life and euthanasia may be the best option for her. I hope this helps and I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. Hang in there!

I am so very sorry to hear about Lucy. It is always heartbreaking to get this news. If you cannot afford chemotherapy I would discuss the possibility of treating with just prednisone (a steroid) alone. This can provide temporary improvement in some pets and is not expensive. As far as how long she has left, it really can vary by dog. I have seen some decline very rapidly after diagnosis, within a week or two. That is the more rare case. Others on prednisone may live for another several months, and occasionally we will have one live 6 months or longer. The average is about 2 months. You can read more about the disease at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=575

I am so sorry to hear of Brooke’s diagnosis. Other than some good old TLC (tender loving care), I would hold off on giving any medications until you are told to do so by the oncologist, because a lot of medications may interfere with your treatment options moving forward. 20 days is an awfully long time to wait; you may want to call and ask if you can be on a list to call if they have a cancellation, or call around and see if you can get in somewhere else sooner. You can also ask your family veterinarian if they have an oncologist they can call to try to help you expedite the process. Again I’m so sorry to hear of Brooke’s diagnosis, but lymphoma does tend to respond quite well to chemotherapy, and usually the treatment is well tolerated. I wish you and Brooke the best of luck. Fight the good fight, Brooke!!

I hate to hear that about Lennon. It’s so tough when they have multiple health concerns. I do agree that you should find out if he has lymphoma or not. This will at least allow you to make informed decisions and to understand an appropriate prognosis and timeline as to what you should expect. There are several ways to diagnose lymphoma and one common and very easy way to do it is with a aspiration of the lumps. This procedure is virtually painless and does not require sedation or stitches. It can generally diagnose lymphoma but is not 100%. Once you know if there is lymphoma present or not, you must decide if putting Lennon through chemotherapy makes sense for you and for him. There is no wrong or right answer to this question. The main thing is you will not let Lennon suffer and realize that without chemotherapy, he will succomb to his illness a lot faster. I hope this helps to point yiunin the right direction and that you found it helpful. Please feel free to post any additional questions.