¿Funciona la quimioterapia en perros con cáncer? | #Storytime de Tara🐕 y Rosa🌹

Today I'm going to tell you a beautiful story of overcoming difficulties from my friend Rosa and my little Tarita, whom I love very much. Hello, I'm Carlos, a clinical veterinarian in small animals. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. Possibly one of the most difficult moments I have in the exercise of my profession is when I have to give bad news in the office. But you can understand that this moment is especially hard when I'm giving this bad news to someone I know and love very much, as is the case with Rosa. Rosa is a friend of mine whom I met working at another veterinary center when she was an assistant and I was working there as a veterinarian. Well, in that hospital, the truth is that we spent a lot of time together. And logically, when you work a long time with someone, a beautiful friendship is forged that we still maintain. And the truth is that I am very grateful for that opportunity because I have met Carlos and I have met a handful of others who are like brothers talking about dogs.

Well, apart from Rosa, I also knew many other people with whom I still have a very close relationship. They were all like family to me because I saw them more than I saw my own family. I hope you see me. Tara is Rosa's life partner. She's a German shepherd dog that she's been with for a long time.

She's 10 years old. Her name is Atarazana. We call her Tara. I'm not going to explain why. Where does that name come from? It's been a very long story. She's very obedient, she's very good natured, like her mother. But Tara was diagnosed with anal gland cancer. And although it was very hard news, Rosa hasn't given up at any time. The story I'm going to tell you today starts about five months ago. Rosa called me one day and told me that her dog Tara was looking quite bad and that it all started really quickly. It started during the summer holidays when we left her with a dog sitter. One of the times we went to visit her, she was having trouble getting up off the floor. And we thought that because the guy was taking her to the beach, she was playing with other dogs and she was used to being a couch potato, so to speak. Even though she's a bit of a pain, we thought she might have a bit of muscle soreness. She had hurt her leg. I didn't want to pay any attention to was towards the end of the week when we picked her up and the caretaker who was keeping an eye on her told us that he had noticed that in the last few days she was drinking a lot of water and that she was constantly doing homework. And it's true that she had tripped on the stairs. That same day, we took her to the beach to end our vacation with her. And she kept falling down on her hind legs as if something was pushing her down. And that's when I got really scared. A week later, she was still falling down on her hind legs. She couldn't stand up. And that's when we came to you. Carlo, I have a problem. Please help me, for God's sake. At first, because of what Rosa told me, we started to think it was simply due to ailments of age. But we did tests on her, and in the end, what we discovered was a tumor. It was cancer. Cancer occurs in the body when a cell begins to multiply without any type of control. And a group of cells is generated that we can consider immortal because they continue to multiply more and more and more and end up causing a series of clinical signs like the ones Tara had. In that case, I guess I don't have to say much about this because unfortunately, many of us have been affected by it or know someone who has. Well, just like it happens to people, it also happens to dogs and cats and animals in general. I had no idea. You see, I knew about the human issue because it's the second time I've gone through this at home, right? It was with a relative, with my dad, and now it's happening with my dog. It's true that it's hard because there are so many tests. So it's that uncertainty that causes you discomfort in the moment. They tell you, uh, there's something here that shouldn't be there. Your world collapses. Mine collapsed. And you know it. Because I called you. I don't think I could even talk. What you think is that it's going to go away? You're going to be left without it? That's the first thought. And the second is because I haven't seen it before.

What things can you see in your dog that should worry you? If you notice that your dog has some type of strange behavior that starts to catch your attention, don't let too much time go by. If you see a large or small lump on your pet's body, you have to go to the vet so they can tell you what it could be. But in case you don't know, not all cancers have to be a tumor. A tumor is simply when those cells that are multiplying stay in one place and A lump forms, but they are not always going to be visible. Or they may be lumps, as happened in Tara's case.

Physically, they did not appear to be anything. It was more than anything her behaviors, her disposition was becoming more apathetic and tired. She was panting a lot. And more than anything, it was because she drank a lot of water, urinated a lot. She was already reaching too many liters per day. That's when we said, something is wrong. Something is happening to her. We have to find out what it is. Right, because that apathy and reluctance were getting worse. But then she didn't have any other symptoms, right? She was fine, she ate well, she wanted to go out, she wanted to play. But they were houses where she was different. But the truth is that they don't talk either. We've been with this for several months now, since November, and still she doesn't have any apparent pain. If you touch her in the area, she doesn't complain. When I said that something was supposed to be bothering him, he didn't complain. So of course, at that time, even though it had happened before, we couldn't know what was wrong. Because that's it. That time during the vacation wasn't when something strange happened. And then you blame it on many things. You don't know why. Right now, there are many people who see how the world is falling apart and think that it's the end of their dog's life. But that's not the case, because we can still do many things, such as surgical interventions. If the tumor can be removed, there are treatments that can be given to the dog, such as chemotherapy. For this reason, I recommend that if you are going through this difficult time, you go to a veterinary oncologist so that they can explain to you what the different options are for your dog. Well, after doing the ultrasound, we also did a tag to check what she had. And after they diagnosed us that it was an anal sac tumor, but, well, it was already so big that it even took up space near the bladder, the kidneys, and part of the intestine. So that was a huge mass, so to speak, the rear end of the animal. At that moment, what you have to think, what else can I do? I don't just accept that they tell me all at once. Because if several people tell you, well, you say, okay, there's nothing else to do. She's a roommate. I've been with her for 10 years. She's lived with me through everything. Many good things and many bad things. However, she's always been there by My side. So that's when you say, what else is left for me to do? What's wrong? Who can I go to? And that's when they told me, look, there's a possibility. There's animal oncology. You can go here and maybe this person can tell you what to do. We said, okay, let's see the oncologist and see what she tells us. I was really negative when I told the oncologist, thinking that there was no turning back and that what she was going to tell me was, well, let's try corticosteroids, which will make the animal better for a while until it wants to leave. But nevertheless, the truth is that they treated me wonderfully. The doctor was a person very much like you, very optimistic. Hmm. She tried to see everything from the best perspective. And it was she who told me, you already have the no. Let's try to get a yes, because maybe that yes won't be for life, but you want it to be with you for two more months, three more months. But for it to be okay, sure. Obviously, my answer is always yes, as long as it's okay. So she said, let's try. At the level of the tumor and the area where it is located, surgery is not feasible. What would be done is to give chemotherapy or an oncology treatment to reduce its size. Once it has shrunk, we could consider the possibility of surgery, but given its size, there is very little chance that it will shrink.

Unfortunately, many times after the tests, we have to tell you that the tumor or cancer that your pet may have is not operable. But this is not the end of the world. There are many times when chemotherapy treatment can be given that will greatly improve your pet's quality of life and help it live with you much longer.

Well, that's how all medications are normally given, by milligrams per kilo, depending on the dog. She always takes the same medication. We didn't want to reduce it because we really started with the minimum dose that could be given to her. In this case, she takes three pills three times a week. I put them in her sausage, and she looks fat and opens her mouth wide. It's true that, on the other hand, you say, my dog is going to suffer if I make her suffer, if I prolong this whole process. But then I look at her and she looks fine. I suppose she's like a person, right? If you're in a very bad way, even with all the treatments they give you, you want to fight to be there. Now, if you're not Lying in bed, suffering. Why not fight to keep going until I see her, as I wouldn't want to see myself, I'll keep going. It's bad. It's bad. But what do you do if not. The idea was to reduce the size of the tumor according to the X rays we've done for the assessment when some time has passed. Because it's true that every month you have to do an analysis to see more or less the state the animal is in. Because as we already know, chemotherapy is good on the one hand, and on the other hand, not so much. So for now, it is true that we are playing around with the parameters. Maybe this one is going down this month, but this one is going up. So let's play around for now. We haven't changed the medication. It works, it's going well. The tumor hasn't shrunk, but it has stopped.

The chemotherapy treatment is not aimed at eliminating the tumor because we won't be able to do that. It is aimed at reducing the symptoms that Tara was suffering from and that were causing her quality of life to be very limited. Because chemotherapy is given to people in different doses than it is for pets. But hey, if you can cure it, why don't you give up? No, it's not done. Because when I'm a person, being a person, if they're giving me chemotherapy, they can tell me, no, you have to eat even if you don't feel like it. If your dog stops eating, what do we do if the side effect is going to be so serious that it will affect your dog's quality of life? Well, it doesn't make sense. It's not going to go anywhere.

In the first month, there was already a change, and my fear was, of course, you read the package insert like the one for paracetamol, and you say, I'm not taking it. No. Well, you read the contraindications and you say, I'm going to give this to my dog. Because of course you get the usual stuff, right? Vomiting, diarrhea, the possibility of some bleeding. You end up having a lot of doubts about whether to continue or not after reading it. Unfortunately, chemotherapy treatment can have side effects such as your pet vomiting or having diarrhea or not tolerating the chemotherapy. Because when we do blood tests, they tell us that it can't be given to them because it's affecting them too much. These side effects are, in any case, much less frequent than those that occur in people. It's true that there are days when my dog wakes up and is Listless or sadder, but they are the fewest. What you do have to think about is that those days are going to come and you have to be mentally prepared for the day when you might wake up and be vomiting all day. That's why you have to keep the medication that the vet tells you to in the fridge, put her on a soft diet for a few days and give her more than usual. But there haven't been any major problems that you would say no to. Just maybe vomiting, diarrhea and little else. She's a bit regular, right? But when time goes by, you say, but my dog is fine and my dog plays and my dog goes out. You just have to see her come on.

And on top of all that, you also have to add the cost of the treatment. They tend to be expensive treatments that also have to be applied for a long time.

The treatment, if it's true, as you say, is very expensive, very expensive. But anyway, you try to avoid the little things that you do on the weekend, going out a bit more, the new shoes, the colorful underwear you like. But you try to deprive yourself of many things. But it's worth it to me. It's true that there have been times when I've had to ask my family for a little financial help, right? There's always, mom, mom, for God's sake. I encourage anyone who encounters this problem to always go not just to the vet, who at that moment has told you, look, you have this, okay, great, trust their word. But maybe look for another option. Don't say, oh, well, since she has this, let's put her to sleep because the poor thing is going to suffer. No, you have to look at your animal. Your animal will tell you how it's doing. The fact that you come across this case doesn't mean it's over, but look for another option, another way out, another, until you use them all up. For me, it's been worth it. And it's been worth having Carlos not only as a vet, but as a friend. He's always been very supportive. Oh, my Charlie. Ro where taking Marty Doe home.

Oh, yes. And that's it for today's video. If you liked it, give it a like and share it with everyone. We want to thank Rosa for telling us Terra's story and sharing it with all of you and send you a big hug if you find yourself in these difficult times. Thank you very much for following the Happy Pets and Families channel and we'll see you in the next video. And today we want to greet the people of Peru. Because I know that there are many of you who watch us from there.

And many, many.

For example, Medali Elizabeth also greets us from Peru. Greetings to you, Madali. Greetings also to a new Goka who greets us with her cat Roma. And greetings to you too, Jose. Thank you for the excellent information. Luz Bardales from Peru. Greetings to you too, Luz. To Veronica Munoz, who also thanks us for the information. She says that she has three dogs and that the video on deworming has helped her. Greetings, Veronica. Tawny Sina also sends us greetings from Peru. Greetings to you too, Hani. Roy Mendoza also sends us greetings from Peru. Greetings, Roy. Although Stephanie Garcia didn't quite agree with me because I don't agree with Tomorrow for cats, she also sends me greetings from Peru. Greetings, Stephanie Marinha also greeted us from Peru. Greetings, Corinia Miguel Jesus Bazin Bayard tells us that he is a new subscriber and that he greets us from Peru. He has a dog. Greetings, Miguel Jesus Martin Zapata also greeted us from Peru. Greetings, Martin. Luis Vizcardo, who lives with his cat Leono sends us greetings from Peru. Greetings, Luis. And greetings to your cat Leono. You comment quite often on social media. Chen Guerrero tells us that it's a good video. Greetings from Peru. Greetings to you too, Chen. Cristina Zamio Asoto also sends us a greeting from Peru and leaves us her like a like for you too, Cristina. Katie Samara sends us greetings. Greetings to you too, Katie. And finally, Carmen Garrido also thanks us for the advice I've given her for her Coca Espana and sends us greetings from Peru. Greetings to you, Carmen, and to your cooker too.

These things embarrass me. I'll give Carlo this place.

No, no.

You're the star in your pet's body. Let's see if the cloud goes away. Plus, it's been super fast.

I can't say a bad word. No, I have a good conscience not to say it.

You can say whatever you want.

And this one is big, right? It'll go by quickly, but it's big. Look, the clearing is coming.

Okay, now what we're going to talk about is simply. Don't laugh.

Let's get started. Let's get started.

Dear friends, you're here in Estrella, the Pantoya. Wait, so that wouldn't be right. Oh, oh, oh.

Ah, a bumblebee. I hate wasps.

But he's missing. Dan. Dan. Dan.

You can see me working on that one day.

Let's have some coffee. Okay? It's going away on its own. Let's go.

Come on.

Hello.

I've told the story of T that I'm flying away. Remember to subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. The power went out. Damn cloud.