My 7 year old black lab was diagnosed with Mast Cell cancer in
September, after a tumor removal turned out to be worse than expected.
The tumor was rated between a 1-2 on a 1 to 3 grade scale; 3 being the
worst. A couple of months after the removal, another large tumor
appeared and was removed. The doctor then prescribed Prednisone - 20 mg
a day. The immediate side effects were increased thirst and hunger. In
addition, my dog stopped shedding and growing hair. She was fine for
several month, though another lump did appear. The lump was removed,
and was found to be a benign fatty growth. One problem that has
recently started was my dog was bleeding after a bowel movement. I got
her x-rays and blood work to see if the cancer has moved inward.
Everything looked fine and her personality is 100%. I took her to two
vets for this, and neither mentioned it as possibly being a side effect
of long term Prednisone use. I did online research and found that
ulcers can appear over time. She had been on it daily for over 7
months. Without consulting a vet, because neither of them seem very
well versed in Prednisone side effects or Mast Cell cancer, I began
weening my dog off Prednisone. I wanted to see if the bleeding would
stop. Well, it has definitely lessened, and the extreme thirst has also
vanished. One big concern now is that my dog is losing her fur at a
rapid pace. She did not shed for months, now it's falling out in piles.
She's got bald pathches showing up everywhere, yet there is no new fur
growth in the areas she had her last surgery, which was over a month
ago. I've planned on putting her back on the Prednison in time, though
changing the dosage to every other day, but I'm now very concerned
about the rapid hair loss and still no growth of new hair. Does anyone
have any ideas or advise about this. The vets I'm dealing with don't
seem to be much help, and I don't have the cash to go for one of the
top of the line doctors.

Thanks.

Scott

I treated Barney for over 5 years with the following for mast cell cancer.
I chose not to treat with prednisone initially due to the side effects along
with the fact that he is a chow hound and the meds would make him even more
hungrier.

Give him Benedryl to help control the histamines that the tumor puts out.
Mast cells put out histamines and can even put a dog into anphalactic shock
if it starts dumping huge amounts into his system that is the reason for the
Benedryl. Barney weighed 60lbs and took 50mg twice a day and also you will
want to give the him cimetadine 100mg twice a day to help with the excess
stomach acid the tumors cause. The two together help keep the tumors in
check and help with stomach issues that can develop.

Barney developed his first tumor at 6 and we had it removed. I kept him in
the Benedry for 4 months two months longer than the vet recommended. Within
4 months of stopping it he developed a fast growing mast cell tumor on his
stomach. It went from the size of a pea to the size of a golf ball in less
than 6 days. My vet thought for sure it had invaded deeper but we caught it
in time. After that I kept him on the Benedryl and the cimetadine daily.
He developed another tumor inside his mouth where it couldnt' be operated on
at the age of 11. We tried treating him with massive amounts of prednisone
since it couldn't be operated on. Eventually the cancer became too much and
spread internally.

The medications didn't stop the mast cell completely but feel it helped get
him a few more years than he wouldn't have other wise had.

The only other advice I can give you is to give him a massage nightly and
check for any new growths. At the first sign of anything get it biopsied
immediately and get it removed if it's mast cell. My vet and I had an
understanding that when I called and said he needed a biopsy that he got in
the next day. We had lots of close calls where the bumps were nothing but
fatty cells but the money was well spent just in case one of them weren't.

Good luck
Celeste