Dog Lovers & Experience w/(dog) Lung Cancer?

[loveshak22]

My dog has recently been diagnosed with thyroid cancer that has metastisized to his lung. They thought it had metastisized to his lymphnodes as well but they were clear, but swollen and hard (reactive).

I thought I'd pop on here and see if anyone else has experience with this diagnosis and could share their treatment choices and how the disease progressed in your pup? I say pup but my furbaby is 13 y/o in December. He's had a great, healthy life for the most part but I knew (sadly ) time with him was getting shorter even before this diagnosis.

I started him on palladia, given the advice of my oncologist and primary vet and he seems to be tolerating it so far, but if anyone has experience with palladia I'd love to hear that as well. It's so expensive and it sounds like the max it usually helps is 10 months? He's been on the meds since mid-August. He eats well and still wants to play several times a day. But he does seem to sleep much deeper and is starting to lose fur like crazy (but not getting bald spots or anything). He also has some discoloration of his nose and around his mouth, which I read is a common side effect. And he hasn't had any GI issues with the meds so that's good!

His cancer diagnosis was early August and they were worried that it would be aggressive given his thyroid tumor is pretty small to already have metastisized to the lungs. But at his 1-month check up on the palladia everything has stayed stable - there wasn't an increase in the size or number of tumors.

I know that nobody can answer what will happen next, or how long until he isn't doing so well, but I thought hearing other people's experiences would help!

Thanks, in advance, for sharing!

 

[Christine]

I don't have any experience with thyroid cancer in dogs (only humans as I've had thyroid cancer myself). Remember that thyroid cancer in the lung is still thyroid cancer and not Lung Cancer (just looking at the wording on your thread title). Not sure what types of thyroid cancers dogs get, but in humans it's not uncommon for certain types to have an affinity to spread to the lungs even if the cancer is a very latent type, which thyroid cancer mostly is. Again, I can only speak to how thyroid cancer is treated in humans and, oftentimes, it's a very slow growing/moving cancer. Hopefully it's not aggressive. I've know people with very small thyroid cancers also have it show up in the lung for some reason. Hopefully with this treatment, the thyroid cancer will remain stable so that your dog can have a normal life span.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Sorry for your bad news, I hope your dog does well on the treatment.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Dog lover and human nurse here. Have not personally experienced cancer in the lung with any of my dogs but have had several other types of cancer with them, as well as taken care of thousands of people with lung diseases, including cancer. I’m sorry to hear of the diagnosis. I‘m glad that the medication seems to be working (and it’s good they have that to offer today). At some point, you might expect to see a general slowing down of things like walking and eating, and more sleeping, etc. Pain could occur. There could be some confusion as either a medication effect, progression of the disease to other organs like the brain, or a combination of many body processes like blood gases being compromised from the lung disease along with the metastasis, etc. So whatever time he is well, enjoy and appreciate it. Do the fun things he loves to do, as he can. He may have less stamina and need to take frequent rests. He could be at risk for respiratory infection so if anyone is sick, try to protect him. Now is the time to spoil him, too. Disease spreads from one place to the other via the lymph channels. If it was there, it could be anywhere in the body - metastasis is ultimately what living beings with cancer pass from. Even with medication, there can be progression. Let’s hope he has many good days left, though. It’s such a hard thing to go through. Hugs.

 

[loveshak22]

I don't have any experience with thyroid cancer in dogs (only humans as I've had thyroid cancer myself). Remember that thyroid cancer in the lung is still thyroid cancer and not Lung Cancer (just looking at the wording on your thread title). Not sure what types of thyroid cancers dogs get, but in humans it's not uncommon for certain types to have an affinity to spread to the lungs even if the cancer is a very latent type, which thyroid cancer mostly is. Again, I can only speak to how thyroid cancer is treated in humans and, oftentimes, it's a very slow growing/moving cancer. Hopefully it's not aggressive. I've know people with very small thyroid cancers also have it show up in the lung for some reason. Hopefully with this treatment, the thyroid cancer will remain stable so that your dog can have a normal life span.

That's true that it is thyroid cancer, but I'm just stuck on the lung cancer because that seemed to be what concerned the vets most. Thankfully the thyroid cancer isn't affecting his thyroid function and isn't too large to be uncomfortable now (hopefully it stays that way). But the vet said lung cancer can be painful for dogs as it it gets worse so that's where I worry most - but as a thyroid cancer that metastisized I hope it is slow and that's a good way to think about it overall.

Thank you for the well-wishes! I just want my boy to be comfy as long as possible as he's already in his senior years. His sister passed in January 2020 at almost 14. Her kidneys eventually gave out on her. I think it's just hard with any animal as they age. It's so hard losing our furbabies no matter what the cause I suppose.

 

[loveshak22]

Sorry for your bad news, I hope your dog does well on the treatment.

Thank you ❤

Dog lover and human nurse here. Have not personally experienced cancer in the lung with any of my dogs but have had several other types of cancer with them, as well as taken care of thousands of people with lung diseases, including cancer. I’m sorry to hear of the diagnosis. I‘m glad that the medication seems to be working (and it’s good they have that to offer today). At some point, you might expect to see a general slowing down of things like walking and eating, and more sleeping, etc. Pain could occur. There could be some confusion as either a medication effect, progression of the disease to other organs like the brain, or a combination of many body processes like blood gases being compromised from the lung disease along with the metastasis, etc. So whatever time he is well, enjoy and appreciate it. Do the fun things he loves to do, as he can. He may have less stamina and need to take frequent rests. He could be at risk for respiratory infection so if anyone is sick, try to protect him. Now is the time to spoil him, too. Disease spreads from one place to the other via the lymph channels. If it was there, it could be anywhere in the body - metastasis is ultimately what living beings with cancer pass from. Even with medication, there can be progression. Let’s hope he has many good days left, though. It’s such a hard thing to go through. Hugs.

Thank you for this info and the kind words! It's helpful to know what to look for and expect through all of this. I just hate not knowing the timing of everything and he can't tell me when he is hurting - although I know there are signs with panting and not being able to get comfortable (restlessness when trying to sleep) - any other signs I'm missing? I'm such a planner and this, like many events in life, is just a wait and see. The vet said on average without treatment dogs with metastisized cancer to the lungs could live 3 months and on average if the meds work they could help for about 10. And those are just averages and my boy could live longer but it's just hard thinking about having the lesser amount of time and worrying that he could just go down hill any minute one day!

Your advice is the best and what I should be focusing on - making him happy and comfortable and spending time with him as much as I can. I know that matters more than trying to figure out how long he'll be doing well. And thanks for the tip on respiratory infections - I had no clue! I think it just is also hard because his sister was losing mobility and having kidney issues as she got older but then just one night everything gave out on her and she couldn't move her back legs (or really move much at all). I was able to make her comfortable in the bed with me and held her all night wrapped in a blanket before I took her to the vet the next morning (just typing this is making my eyes water). So I think I get more fixated with trying to plan how this will play out for him thinking about his sister and how hard it was when it was her time - and how it was just like a snap of the fingers when the time came.

Anyway, now I'm rambling some. It's just so wonderfully amazing and terribly sad loving and caring for senior dogs/pets.

Thank you again everyone for commenting and caring, and the hugs ❤

On a side note, thank you @Pea-n-Me for what you do as a nurse! While it's off topic from this thread, I've also had parents with chronic health conditions and in and out of hospitals and the work nurses do day in and day out is amazing. And a kind nurse means so much to a patient and their family!

 

[Christine]

That's true that it is thyroid cancer, but I'm just stuck on the lung cancer because that seemed to be what concerned the vets most. Thankfully the thyroid cancer isn't affecting his thyroid function and isn't too large to be uncomfortable now (hopefully it stays that way). But the vet said lung cancer can be painful for dogs as it it gets worse so that's where I worry most - but as a thyroid cancer that metastisized I hope it is slow and that's a good way to think about it overall.

Thank you for the well-wishes! I just want my boy to be comfy as long as possible as he's already in his senior years. His sister passed in January 2020 at almost 14. Her kidneys eventually gave out on her. I think it's just hard with any animal as they age. It's so hard losing our furbabies no matter what the cause I suppose.

Hi there! Yeah, I only wanted to clarify that it's "thyroid cancer of lung" because that is a different beast that "lung cancer in the lungs" and behaves differently and that was meant as a positive!

I hear you on the aging dogs. I've had most of my dogs live to between 14-18 years old. My dog Paisley, who passed in 2018, just made it to her 18th birthday. There was always something going on with her and it gets really hard. I've had two dogs die of kidney failure (elderly though). One was chronic kidney failure where we had to do subcutaneous fluids for about 2 years and the other passed from acute failure which was very quick. It's all so heartbreaking. I wish our pets could be with us a LOT longer than they are.

 

[cvjw]

My black lab had lung cancer. We found out when she started coughing so hard she could barely catch her breath. She had been totally normal beforehand. Her regular vet sent us to a specialist, who put her on oxy for quality of life and didn’t recommend any other treatment.

I had a terrible time finding a pharmacy that would fill her oxy prescription. She was supposed to take multiple pills per day. They worked wonders on her. She lived another 6 months of normal, happy life. When the terrible coughing returned, we had her out to sleep.

 

[lovin'fl]

Sorry to hear about your pupper. Cancer is such a B!

Not thyroid or lung, but we had a dog with lymphoma and some other type as well in July 2014. She was a mixed breed and just 9. She had a hard swollen lymph node on her neck so we took her in and they took aspirate to see if it was lymphoma. They poked her and took a needle of stuff like 4 times and saw no cancer cells. So they said she probably had some infection on that side of her face....like tooth or gum or something. So they put her on strong antibiotic and the node went back to normal.

Then, about 10 months later, I let her out back to potty and noticed her scooting her bottom all over and saw blood. I looked closely and there was some bloody mass hanging out. Took her to vet who stopped me in lobby and sent me out to emergency vet. She said it looked like prolapsed rectum.

We get to ER vet and they said it was a tumor. They wanted to remove. So they did some blood work and Xray for pre-surgery and noticed her lymph nodes in her abdomen were enlarged. They took biopsy and it was lymphoma. But they said rectal tumor was another type as it usually isn't from lymphoma on the rectum like thay. So they wanted to remove the rectal tumor and send her to oncologist for chemo. But the rectal tumor was a type that likely would come back. And they could not guarantee much more life on chemo. Could be 3 months or 2 years. But would cost thousands of $$. Surgery would have been 3K and chemo was like 5-10K. Just wild.

We opted to use steroids (prednisone I believe) which would only help one of the 2 cancers...the lymphoma. They said if the rectal tumor was from the lymphoma (which was rare) that it would shrink. It didn't shrink (they never biopsied that tumor, don't know why since it was right there hanging off, but they thought it was not the lymphoma but a carcenoma). But she didn't tolerate the steroids. She threw up bile and slept and trembled. So we made the decision to euthanize. Think it was a month from diagnoses.

Hopefully you will get some time to come to terms and say goodbye. Make the best of the time and give yummy treats and let doggo enjoy all the things they like (sleeping on the couch, going for a car ride, getting a burger from drive thru, etc). Hugs to you and your pooch!

 

[loveshak22]

Hi there! Yeah, I only wanted to clarify that it's "thyroid cancer of lung" because that is a different beast that "lung cancer in the lungs" and behaves differently and that was meant as a positive!

I hear you on the aging dogs. I've had most of my dogs live to between 14-18 years old. My dog Paisley, who passed in 2018, just made it to her 18th birthday. There was always something going on with her and it gets really hard. I've had two dogs die of kidney failure (elderly though). One was chronic kidney failure where we had to do subcutaneous fluids for about 2 years and the other passed from acute failure which was very quick. It's all so heartbreaking. I wish our pets could be with us a LOT longer than they are.

Yes and the clarification helped! Thank you!!!

Wow - 18 is amazing! Your dogs lived good, long and I'm sure happy, lives! I've heard if they live long enough it is the kidneys that more than likely will get them, which is what got his older sister in January 2020. I agree - I wish they could be with us much, much longer!

 

[loveshak22]

My black lab had lung cancer. We found out when she started coughing so hard she could barely catch her breath. She had been totally normal beforehand. Her regular vet sent us to a specialist, who put her on oxy for quality of life and didn’t recommend any other treatment.

I had a terrible time finding a pharmacy that would fill her oxy prescription. She was supposed to take multiple pills per day. They worked wonders on her. She lived another 6 months of normal, happy life. When the terrible coughing returned, we had her out to sleep.

They offered palladia but I really struggled starting my dog on it, given he was having very few symptoms from the cancer so why give him something that could make him feel bad to help him live longer, but uncomfortable. But both vets said it will make him more comfortable if he can tolerate the meds and if he can't we can stop it. He seemed to be tolerating it o.k. but this weekend I've noticed lesions and blisters on his stomach and under his tail and his hair loss is insane. So I'm going to check in with the vet tomorrow. I feel like they will want to keep treating the symptoms but at what point do I say let's stop the meds that are making him so uncomfortable and let the cancer run its course? He might not live as long but if he has a better quality of life and is more comfortable that seems the better way for him. I wish he could talk! These symptoms may still be better than the pain from the lung cancer growing quickly - but that sounds like why they gave you the oxy! I have gabapentin that I give him as needed but if it gets I am sure we'll need more.

Thank you for sharing your experience! My boy is coughing some but it hasn't gotten horrible yet. He definitely pants more which makes me think he's uncomfortable. But he still eats like a champ! LOL!

 

[loveshak22]

Sorry to hear about your pupper. Cancer is such a B!

Not thyroid or lung, but we had a dog with lymphoma and some other type as well in July 2014. She was a mixed breed and just 9. She had a hard swollen lymph node on her neck so we took her in and they took aspirate to see if it was lymphoma. They poked her and took a needle of stuff like 4 times and saw no cancer cells. So they said she probably had some infection on that side of her face....like tooth or gum or something. So they put her on strong antibiotic and the node went back to normal.

Then, about 10 months later, I let her out back to potty and noticed her scooting her bottom all over and saw blood. I looked closely and there was some bloody mass hanging out. Took her to vet who stopped me in lobby and sent me out to emergency vet. She said it looked like prolapsed rectum.

We get to ER vet and they said it was a tumor. They wanted to remove. So they did some blood work and Xray for pre-surgery and noticed her lymph nodes in her abdomen were enlarged. They took biopsy and it was lymphoma. But they said rectal tumor was another type as it usually isn't from lymphoma on the rectum like thay. So they wanted to remove the rectal tumor and send her to oncologist for chemo. But the rectal tumor was a type that likely would come back. And they could not guarantee much more life on chemo. Could be 3 months or 2 years. But would cost thousands of $$. Surgery would have been 3K and chemo was like 5-10K. Just wild.

We opted to use steroids (prednisone I believe) which would only help one of the 2 cancers...the lymphoma. They said if the rectal tumor was from the lymphoma (which was rare) that it would shrink. It didn't shrink (they never biopsied that tumor, don't know why since it was right there hanging off, but they thought it was not the lymphoma but a carcenoma). But she didn't tolerate the steroids. She threw up bile and slept and trembled. So we made the decision to euthanize. Think it was a month from diagnoses.

Hopefully you will get some time to come to terms and say goodbye. Make the best of the time and give yummy treats and let doggo enjoy all the things they like (sleeping on the couch, going for a car ride, getting a burger from drive thru, etc). Hugs to you and your pooch!

Thank you for sharing your story - your poor girl! That sounds painful having the rectal tumor and I understand your choice there! An expensive surgery where the tumor may still come back isn't a good option, plus the pain and stress to your furbaby!

Those life expectancy ranges is what I think is so hard when making decisions. 3 mos or two years, but what is most likely? I know vets can't answer that but it's hard not to try if you think you can give your dog another two years....but really, is that realistic?

I love your idea to spoil him! Although I have had to cut back some! After the initial diagnosis I gave him so many treats and pup cups he gained like 5 pounds! And I figured that's not going to help his hip pain so now it's a little more moderated treats and lots and lots of pets!

Thanks for the encouragement! You all have been great to 'listen' and share experiences!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thank you ❤



Thank you for this info and the kind words! It's helpful to know what to look for and expect through all of this. I just hate not knowing the timing of everything and he can't tell me when he is hurting - although I know there are signs with panting and not being able to get comfortable (restlessness when trying to sleep) - any other signs I'm missing? I'm such a planner and this, like many events in life, is just a wait and see. The vet said on average without treatment dogs with metastisized cancer to the lungs could live 3 months and on average if the meds work they could help for about 10. And those are just averages and my boy could live longer but it's just hard thinking about having the lesser amount of time and worrying that he could just go down hill any minute one day!

Your advice is the best and what I should be focusing on - making him happy and comfortable and spending time with him as much as I can. I know that matters more than trying to figure out how long he'll be doing well. And thanks for the tip on respiratory infections - I had no clue! I think it just is also hard because his sister was losing mobility and having kidney issues as she got older but then just one night everything gave out on her and she couldn't move her back legs (or really move much at all). I was able to make her comfortable in the bed with me and held her all night wrapped in a blanket before I took her to the vet the next morning (just typing this is making my eyes water). So I think I get more fixated with trying to plan how this will play out for him thinking about his sister and how hard it was when it was her time - and how it was just like a snap of the fingers when the time came.

Anyway, now I'm rambling some. It's just so wonderfully amazing and terribly sad loving and caring for senior dogs/pets.

Thank you again everyone for commenting and caring, and the hugs ❤

On a side note, thank you @Pea-n-Me for what you do as a nurse! While it's off topic from this thread, I've also had parents with chronic health conditions and in and out of hospitals and the work nurses do day in and day out is amazing. And a kind nurse means so much to a patient and their family!

Thank you for your sweet thoughts about nurses. ❤ Especially when you’re going through this difficult time with your dogs - and your parents, it sounds like.

We had a brother/sister pair, too. It was hard at the end. One was somewhat sudden. Like one day she was falling over (brain tumor we didn’t know she had) and that day we had to make the decision. I was a mess. I was in cancer treatment at the time, and losing my hair to boot. The brother lived for a while longer, but couldn’t walk. It was hard to make the decision with him. I loved them both so much. The vets were really great. It’s been hard losing every dog we’ve had.

It is hard to know when the right time is. You’re right, if only they could tell us! There’s a poem I like that I’ll post at the end of this post, it helps me somehow when I’m faced with that decision. I’ve always heard when the pain and discomfort is more than the pleasure in life. Some people don’t wait that long. Others maybe wait too long. It sounds like you have a really good handle on things and whatever decision you make, will be the right one, as it’s made with much love and compassion.

Please keep us updated, and hugs.

Keep this poem handy for when the time is getting close - which I sincerely hope isn’t for a good, long while!

From petloss.com
https://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/friendto.htm

 

[loveshak22]

Thank you for your sweet thoughts about nurses. ❤ Especially when you’re going through this difficult time with your dogs - and your parents, it sounds like.

We had a brother/sister pair, too. It was hard at the end. One was somewhat sudden. Like one day she was falling over (brain tumor we didn’t know she had) and that day we had to make the decision. I was a mess. I was in cancer treatment at the time, and losing my hair to boot. The brother lived for a while longer, but couldn’t walk. It was hard to make the decision with him. I loved them both so much. The vets were really great. It’s been hard losing every dog we’ve had.

It is hard to know when the right time is. You’re right, if only they could tell us! There’s a poem I like that I’ll post at the end of this post, it helps me somehow when I’m faced with that decision. I’ve always heard when the pain and discomfort is more than the pleasure in life. Some people don’t wait that long. Others maybe wait too long. It sounds like you have a really good handle on things and whatever decision you make, will be the right one, as it’s made with much love and compassion.

Please keep us updated, and hugs.

Keep this poem handy for when the time is getting close - which I sincerely hope isn’t for a good, long while!

From petloss.com
https://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/friendto.htm

That poem is so sweet and made my eyes water! And I hope I make the right decisions for my baby! He is doing well now so hopefully he has lots of happy days and time to know when his quality of life becomes an issue.

I've always thought the worst was a sudden issue that forced a decision unexpectedly, like with your dog with the brain cancer! Because it's so sudden you don't feel like you got to say goodbye properly. And especially the mental and physical drain of you battling cancer. I hope you are doing well now and winning that battle!!!

 

[J'aime Paris]

I don't have any experience with this, but wanted to chime in and give my best wishes!
Sounds like you're doing the very best you can for your fur baby, and hopefully you'll have lots of time to continue to love on him and spoil him!!

 

[RogueX]

They offered palladia but I really struggled starting my dog on it, given he was having very few symptoms from the cancer so why give him something that could make him feel bad to help him live longer, but uncomfortable. But both vets said it will make him more comfortable if he can tolerate the meds and if he can't we can stop it. He seemed to be tolerating it o.k. but this weekend I've noticed lesions and blisters on his stomach and under his tail and his hair loss is insane. So I'm going to check in with the vet tomorrow. I feel like they will want to keep treating the symptoms but at what point do I say let's stop the meds that are making him so uncomfortable and let the cancer run its course? He might not live as long but if he has a better quality of life and is more comfortable that seems the better way for him. I wish he could talk! These symptoms may still be better than the pain from the lung cancer growing quickly - but that sounds like why they gave you the oxy! I have gabapentin that I give him as needed but if it gets I am sure we'll need more.

Thank you for sharing your experience! My boy is coughing some but it hasn't gotten horrible yet. He definitely pants more which makes me think he's uncomfortable. But he still eats like a champ! LOL!

Years before I met him, my husband and his family had a spaniel who had lung cancer. His mom couldn't bring herself to put the dog down and did everything she could to make her comfortable, try to ease any pain, etc. From what my husband told me, it was her biggest regret though hearing the extremely labored breathing, the inability to move and the decline of her functions at the end of the dogs life and his mom wishes she had not made her suffer that way.

It's never an easy choice, so use your instincts and give as much love and spoil him while you can.

 

[loveshak22]

I don't have any experience with this, but wanted to chime in and give my best wishes!
Sounds like you're doing the very best you can for your fur baby, and hopefully you'll have lots of time to continue to love on him and spoil him!!

Thank you for the well wishes and encouragement ❤

 

[loveshak22]

Years before I met him, my husband and his family had a spaniel who had lung cancer. His mom couldn't bring herself to put the dog down and did everything she could to make her comfortable, try to ease any pain, etc. From what my husband told me, it was her biggest regret though hearing the extremely labored breathing, the inability to move and the decline of her functions at the end of the dogs life and his mom wishes she had not made her suffer that way.

It's never an easy choice, so use your instincts and give as much love and spoil him while you can.

Thank you for sharing this experience - I am so sensitive to this as my goal isn't to make my boy live longer, but live better! I just want him to be comfortable! Knowing what to expect as he does decline helps me have a rational plan when things get emotionally difficult!

I will keep spoiling him tons! We have our next check up on November 5th and hope it's as good as his last report - no increase in size or #'s of tumors!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

How is he doing? I’d say we need a picture!

 

[loveshak22]

How is he doing? I’d say we need a picture!

He seems to be doing really well! He had some skin issues so had to get some shampoo and cream but he's wanting to play and he's still eating like a champ 90% of the time!

I'd love to share pics!!! The first is Kenji (my furbaby) waiting for his pup cup, the second is with his sweet sister that passed January 2020 and the last one is him hoping I'll throw his toy for him!