Comments on: Epitheliotropic Lymphoma In Dogs

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 06:04:35 +0000

Our Labbie was diagnosed with EL about six months ago, but she’s had multiple tumors surgically removed for a year now. She has been on high doses of Prednisone and the effects are awful, although it did initially help with decreasing the size of the lesions. She now has no strength in her back legs, her lesions have ulcerated, and her muscles are wasting away. Her head is just skin and bone. Our vet says she’s lasted longer than any of the other dogs he’s seen with this disease – he’s only seen five cases in his 30 years of practice. We’ve decided to put her sleep next week as she’s just declining. I’m heartbroken.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 22:07:16 +0000

In reply to Dona. Hi Don. Your story sounds fairly standard, and I would therefore expect that the diagnosis is correct. There’s always a chance that pathologists are wrong, but it would happen less than one percent of the time.

By: Dona

Dona — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:44:12 +0000

My 9 years old pup has been diagnosed with it (biopsy) – and I am heartbroken but somehow still hope they were wrong…. He developed “skin tags” last year, one of them was oozing non stop and bleeding and didn’t heal. He had surgery to remove it approx 11 months ago. He developed scabs all over his abdomen shortly after. Obviously, it was identified as allergies, then as bacteria, then he had antibiotics and prednisone, then we stopped the prednisone and they got much worse, affecting other areas. Altogether, it took approx half an year from the development of scabs to the biopsy and diagnosis. Now that we went through the biopsy and we know what he has, he has been given Prednisone again and the scabs healed, he eats like a horse, jumps around, plays with his toys, chases cats and seems absolutely fine…?! He drinks and pees a lot, but then this was the case before when he was on Prednisone. Other than that, he seems absolutely fine. Is this normal, 11 months after the first lesion? Is there any chance that he actually doesn’t have it – or by some miracle he has a variant with a very slow development?! I may hope against hope here, but he’s really doing very well – and doesn’t have any discomfort anymore.

By: Ana R

Ana R — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 15:44:32 +0000

In reply to Dawn. Hi Dawn, it has been a while but asking is worth a shot to ask here. My senior lady is going through this journey like a champ. Yesterday I cleaned up one of her scabs which was leaking when pressed and it was red underneath, today the little layer of discharge from the skin has started to crystalize a little and it is a little shiny/wet in the center of the lesion. I am not sure how to go about cleaning or treating these red lesions, if anything should/could be applied to soothe. Is this where you apply the comfrey ointment? I am just looking to see what I can apply to soothe the red lesions a bit if possible, she is not itchy and I am thankful for that grace.

By: James

James — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 04:19:29 +0000

In reply to Andrew.

Hi Andrew, my recently diagnosed 11yo Mini Foxy boy has Cutaneous Epitheliotropic Lymphoma and so far only one skin lesion and a nearby lymph gland and an ultrasound indicates it hasn’t spread to other sites, though could be microscopic. I always said I wouldn’t put a dog through chemo because they won’t know why they are feeling so badly from the side effects. But my vet (and Dr Google) told me the chemo doses for dogs are much lower than humans as the aim is not to cure it but to reduce symptoms and extend life by months, or even a year. Which for a dog who is 11 even an extra 6 months of good quality life is a lot. For him and me.
I think this is worth pointing out to people whose dog has just been diagnosed with a cancer and they are weighing up the options, trying to do what is best for their dog, who has no understanding of the condition or treatment. I’ve opted to go with surgery + chemo.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 04 May 2023 13:20:26 +0000

In reply to Merrill Speers. Why would you give him back to the breeder? Love him as your own. Make the breeder aware of the diagnosis.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 18:25:04 +0000

In reply to Merrill Speers. Hi Merrill. Unless the disease is different in puppies, it is a relentless horror, and if you can talk to the breeder that would be very wise. This tragic event fits with my complaints about the rate of cancer in the breed that you can see here.

By: Merrill Speers

Merrill Speers — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 14:08:26 +0000

I have a 4 month old golden just diagnosed with EL. He had an eyelid tumor removed by an ophthalmologist and biopsy done. With a growing puppy do you suspect this disease will move faster in his body? I have had him 4 weeks today and wondering if I should give him back to breeder or need to understand what to expect.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 23:55:24 +0000

In reply to Karen. I’m so sorry to hear! My dogginjust got diagnosed with EL. Which kind of vet prescribed roacutain?

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 24 Nov 2022 13:57:42 +0000

My 10 yr old goldie was diagnosed with this early this year and was treated with roacutain because we caught it so early, it’s worked great and she’s been fine now they are progressing and we’re really not sure that chemo is the way to go as what she would have to go through we feel wouldn’t be fair on her