Now I'm hoping that this will not be needed but just in case, and while I've got a clear head and some sense tonight, I'm going to ask.

I had to run Opi in to the vets earlier.  She was breathing very hard, pain in her abdomen.  Initially I thought bloat but the vet said no.  He's done a preliminary ultrasound and he's pretty certain she's got a mass in there, possibly pressing on her diaphragm :-(  We'll know for sure on Friday when the ultrasound expert vet scans her properly.

Obviously I'm hoping it isn't that, or if it is, it's removable and that's that.

Realistically though, I want to get myself aware of all the options now while I'm still thinking straight, if it is that and we need to fight it.

She's already on turmeric, I've switched her over to raw food (partly to ease the pressure, I didn't want to give her kibble that might then swell up a bit in her stomach but also for the nutrition) and I have good quality coconut oil.

I've heard of the (I think) cv-247 diet, can anyone give me any info on that?  And any other supplements etc that might help.  My friend is quite knowledgeable in the natural treatments area so she's going to help but I figure the more brains I pick, the better!

My collie has been on CV247 treatment for nearly 6 months following the diagnosis of a brain tumour.

CV247 is in pill form, two separate tablets. On paper my girl had around 3 months but even now at 6 months later you wouldn't know there is anything wrong with her, she it totally symptomless.

She takes:

CV247
Reishi (a mushroom powder with anti-inflammatory properties)
Apocaps
5mg of prednisone - keeping in mind that the lowest end of the recommended dosage for my dog is 17mg for cancer treatment, this dose is really tiny.

Apocaps is a popular holistic anti-tumour treatment which is worth looking into if you have to.
She also takes Dr Udo's Choice Greens for the mineral boost, brewer's yeast for b vits, cold pressed salmon oil and natural vitamin e to counteract the depletive effect of salmon oil on vit e.

My girl went for a consultation with holistic vet Nick Thompson for all of this. I can't recommend him highly enough and if you can get to a consultation if that time comes then do it! It was a long trip for me but now everything is done by post and over the phone and they are just fantastic. Not sure exactly what else you want to know so if you have any more specific questions I can try to answer :)

Really hope you don't need to know any of this though :) everything crossed for you and Opi.

Edited to add: also check out the Dog Cancer Survival Guide, a book full of excellent information, and I should also add that a raw diet is a big part of my Chili's treatment too.

Jess

Oh hell, really hope Opi is ok :(

Jess, does the CV247 have to be given alongside a specific diet ?.
I seem to remember when it first came out there was a very set diet, just wondered if that was still the case.

Celli, I suspect you are referring to the diet plan that John Carter recommended alongside CV247 when he developed it. You can easily find it if you google, but I wrote out Chili's diet to discuss with Nick (your bog standard 80:10:10 raw plus some supplements I listed) and he was more than happy, with the only adjustment being to add blended fruit and veg which I have since, and seeds and nuts which I admit I rarely remember to do.

A raw diet, organic if you can (I rarely can) will 'do' just fine alongside CV247 therapy :)

> On paper my girl had around 3 months but even now at 6 months later you wouldn't know there is anything wrong with her, she it totally symptomless

That is absolutely incredible.

Thanks Jess, that's handy to know :)

I don't want to hijack Nikita's post and wish her well with Opi but do want to say my girl has mammary tumours so this link to a holistic vet is amazing.

Positive power to the internet. Thank you.

Don't worry setterlover :-)

Well, not good news :-(  Lots of fluid round her heart, but the heart itself is fine.

Looks like a tumour on one liver lobe, and the membranes in the chest cavity are thickened, which could be inflammation but could also be small tumours spread from the liver, or possibly even separate ones :-(

Diuretics and steroids for now to reduce inflammation if it is that, and to try and shift the fluid.  If we can get that shifted and once the insurance have accepted the claim, then we'll be looking at a biopsy on the liver to determine the type of tumour and the best way forward.

Sh1t.

Ah so sorry it wasn't better news :( fingers crossed its as straight forward as it can be and they can help her.

Oh no, I am sorry , keeping everything crossed for as good an outcome as possible .

Very sorry Nikita :(

Hope that the treatment helps Opi x

Well.  It's been a bit of a rollercoaster so far and we're only on day 4!

On wednesday she went from 100% fine to that hard breathing/grunting state within half an hour.
On Thursday, she was very grunty, not too happy but still eating and wagging her tail and so on.
Friday morning she left some of her breakfast - totally unlike her.  She was very grunty, grunting with every very hard breath when she was laid down.
Friday evening she refused her food, but did take her pills in some cheese.  Utterly miserable now, very sore (but most of that will have been from the ultrasound so I did expect it).  HUGE puddle within a half hour of the scan and the diuretic injection she had there.
This morning, she refused her food again but again, took her pills in cheese, and she had some sliced ham and a few bits of sausage.  Didn't want any more after that, and still not very happy.  Just lying in the lounge looking miserable - normally she's following me around, wanting to go out if the others are but I've really had to coax her the last few days.

When I popped home from grooming at 11am, she was a bit brighter - she came to see me when I walked in, which she hadn't done for the day or two before, wagging tail again and she asked for some food.  Only had a couple of mouthfuls, but a start.  Had a bit of a go at a kong too.

I pinched a tin of the brand new meat from Nature's Menu to try with her, just offered it and she's wolfed it down :-D  She is SO much happier tonight, still breathing a little fast but nowhere near as hard as before.  Almost no grunting now, waggy and happy :-)

I know it's early days still but I am so thrilled with the improvement just in 24 hours of starting her meds, especially with how fast she went downhill beforehand.  Onwards and upwards :-D

Poor girl, at least she's feeling better.
It's such a worry, I've been in your shoes so many times (((((hugs)))))

Oh poor Opi :(

Dogs are so stoical, they hide their pain so well and of course they are programmed to eat and survive whatever.

So sorry it wasn't better news.

Milk Thistle is very good at supporting the liver.  Denes have excellent factsheets and the information might help you to support Opi.  Any of the Denes products can be used at the same time conventional medicines prescribed by your vet.  Wishing you and Opi well.

http://denes.co.uk/advice/fact-sheets/liver-disease

Thank you so much for the help guys.  Sadly I'm just not going to have a chance to fight this - she has gone downhill again very quickly,  she's swollen more than before and in quite a lot of pain.  I got some tramadol from the vet yesterday for her and it has helped a little but not much, she's not eating at all and she's just fed up.  Whatever it is on her liver and causing the fluid, it is downright vicious and it's just spread/grown too fast for us to battle it.

The vet is coming out at lunchtime today to help her on her way.

So sad to read this post - it takes me back to the (far too) many various cancers we've had with our hounds, albeit in old age and I tend to think they have to 'go' from something.    I'm going to keep in mind the treatment suggested here, but would say that from our experience, once it hits, and spreads, as the metabolism in the dog is so much faster than with us, it may not take long for the final decision needing to be made.   Having said that, we had one with lymphoma (I found a lump in his neck and fine needle aspiration on his hind glands came back positive).   Given he was into his 13th year, good for a Basset, and was, other than the lump, perfectly fine, we all decided to let him be and nature to take its course.   He lived on for another good 6 months (to the point I went into complete denial as he was unchanged) before his system just crashed.   Our vet gave him a shot to see if he'd pick up, but he didn't and we had to let him go.

At the vet surgery we were using at the time, they have a homeopathic vet (in addition to conventional surgery) and she started another of our Bassets who had oral cancer - a very tiny but very aggressive tumour but I'm not convinced it did anything ....... it was removed, but another bigger and equally aggressive tumour developed so we had to let him go - he was 12.   That vet was clearly as upset as we were that he couldn't do anything for him other than give him peace when it was clearly time.    His sister was on Tramadol at the end too - all that did was zonk her out.

You have my every sympathy!!

I must say the vet has been lovely - last week was the first time I've seen him (newbie), and he did his utmost to get the best plan of action, talking to two senior vets to do it.  Yesterday, when I took her in for the tramadol, I lost it as I went out of the consult room and had to dash straight into the next empty one and both he and the vet student with him (who has been on two of Opi's appointments and I think she was struggling not go get upset in the consultation too) came looking for me, almost in a panic that he'd dropped a bombshell I hadn't expected - I did reassure him I had expected it, it's just that I've had less than a week to get my head round the idea of losing a dog who literally the day before she fell ill, I was telling my dad was the picture of health and for a dog much younger than her 10 years.  I've lost a dog faster - Soli went from running around to dead in seconds when she had her heart attack - but I did have 15 months to get used to the idea that that could happen at any moment.  Opi has never been anything but healthy so it's really hitting me hard.

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I went through the same with 2 different dogs in the space of 10 months, one almost 13 and one almost 11, so not really old. Happy, healthy and full of life one minute and on death's door the next. I do think it's easier, although never easy, if you have time to prepare for the inevitable, but when it happens so suddenly it's awful. Thinking of you at this sad time. x

She's gone :-(

Remy, I am so relieved to say, hasn't batted an eyelid so far and he has seen her (I'm taking her to the crematorium tomorrow morning).  I think it's helped having so many dogs join us since I just had him and her, he has close bonds with some of the other girls and I think it's distanced him and Opi a little bit.  They were always close still, but not like they were when they were younger.

Willow is a bit confused though - she adored Opi and has been struggling to understand why Opi isn't grumbling at her when she wiggles at her :-(

So sorry x

:( just so sorry to hear of your loss. At least she will never know a long suffering end, the only real solace you can take from a quick deterioration :( Thinking of you x

I'm so sorry for you loss xx
Run free Opi x

Hell, I am so so sorry, rest well Opi xxx

I must say when you were describing her symptoms they were near identical to how Ben went, but I didn't like to say.
He was fine one minute, then suddenly showed signs of being in pain whilst eating his dinner, I thought at first he had bloat too.
His breathing got steadily worse, x rays showed tiny tumours right through both lungs, steroids helped for a wee while, but it was too much for him.
He had two weeks before he was pts at home.

Hi nikita, im so sorry about Opi, any loss of our dogs is hard but its harder still when its so sudden. My heart goes out to you, having recently lost my Tyra suddenly after only 2 days illness, I know the shock and pain you will be in. : ((

My thoughts are with you. ( ive just realised, when you mentioned Soli, that I know you from DP, and I know your dogs were very lucky to have you as their mum.)

Nikita,

So sorry for your loss and so quickly too, that is very hard to bear. Take care.

Thank you for your kind words everyone.

Bebe, who are you on DP?  Always nice to see a familiar face :-)

Nikita, have only just come back to this thread and seen your sad news and just wanted to say how sorry I was to read of Opi's passing. RIP