My 18 Month old German Shepherd dx with Oral Fibrosarcoma

My 18 Month old German Shepherd dx with Oral Fibrosarcoma

by Joanne
(Mooresville, NC)

Two weeks ago, Oct 15th, we noticed Sasha bleeding from her mouth and noticed a large lump in her upper back jaw. The following day I took her to the vet and 3 days later the site was biopsied. The result was a fibrosarcoma.

I have scheduled an appt with an oncologist vet and scheduled a CT scan and couldn't get in soon enough. The appt is next week and is difficult to wait as it appears to be getting larger. Nothing I read is very good. One article said the prognosis is good with a possible 1-2 year life expectancy following treatment. This is good??

I have found general information but little feedback about actual stories of pet owners and their experiences with this particular diagnosis. Anything positive? I know I will get the vet's point of view at my appt but was hoping to get more information and advice from personal experiences.

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My 18 Month old German Shepherd dx with Oral Fibrosarcoma

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Mar 06, 2012
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Mouth tumor
by: andrew

I'm sorry to hear about your losses. I'm dreading mine. Just to let others know and hopefully learn the signs I have posted my story below on how I came to learn about this type of cancer.

I have a 6 year old German Shepherd - Maximus. I had noticed a rather rough texture to his gum line in Sept/Oct. 2011 and thought a teeth cleaning would help. I took him in Nov to have his teeth and yearly vaccines. The vet looked at his mouth and said it was just an irritation and that a cleaning would help.

I got his teeth cleaned in Dec 2011 and noticed that the irritated gum line was now swelling in Jan. I took him in late January to have it examined and it came back as Fibrosarcoma.

The next week - now in Feb 2012 - I got a CT scan and it involved over 3/4 of his upper mouth and crossed the nasal cavity line.

Vets offered surgery to remove but informed it would be very aggressive and chemo would only reduced the pain (at $5000 per treatment).
I opted to let Max enjoy his remaining days with his teeth vs. the 3-4 weeks of recovery and possibly not surviving such an aggressive procedure.

It's been 1 month since his diagnosis and he is still all German Shepherd but the tumor has grown on the outside of his left muzzle from 1/2 a golf ball to a full golf ball plus 1/2 and is closer to his left eye socket bone. It's sensitive but he still chews the occasional bone. Doctors said he had months since his initial diagnosis - hard to believe seeing how energetic he is.

Currently his meds are Tramadol to help with the pain.

I'll try to give update but bottomline on this - check your dog's teeth and gum line. Vets don't always know the signs. If you suspect anything always assume the worse and hope for the best. I learned with my dog that German Shepherds are at the TOP OF THE LIST with this type of cancer.

Dec 10, 2010
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Vizsla follow up on Fibrosarcoma
by: Anonymous

Thank you for telling me your story about Sasha. The location of the tumor sounds very similar to my Vizsla's tumor. I really did not know what to expect, now I have a better idea. We have had a few episodes in the past few weeks where her mouth has bled alot. She seems a little more uncomfortable which we are managing but she has quite an appetite and still loves to run. I will let you know how things go in the next few weeks/months.

Dec 08, 2010
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18 month old German Shepherd
by: Smita

Hi,

So sorry to hear about your loss. I totally understand how you feel. We just lost our 10 year old shih tzu daughter Ruby to liver and pancreatic cancer on November 10, 2010. She was the love of my life.

You and your family are in my thoughts and prayer.

Smita

Dec 04, 2010
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Fibrosarcoma
by: Anonymous

You mentioned your Cocka-poo was losing weight. I also noticed Sasha was more hungry than usual and I would feed her more than her usual daily intake. Because of the cancer, sometimes their metabolism rate will increase. This may be a reason for the loss in weight... not sure. Maybe increasing your pet's intake... maybe the usual amounts at the time of feedings and smaller amount in between so it's not too much at one time - if you haven't already ask your vet about this.

Good luck and God bless.

Dec 04, 2010
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Fibrosarcoma
by: follow up on Sasha

I am so sorry to hear of your 7 year old Vizsia and 15 year old Cocka-poo.

Unfortunately with dogs under 2 years of age this form is most aggressive. The vet told us a few months, research I have come across stated 1-3 months. For older dogs although the prognosis is not good I have read 7 months without surgery and up to 1 year with surgery and treatment.

I think that's very hard to say because once the cancer is surgically removed but if not all is removed, the research indicates that it grows even more aggressively. Unfortunately the vet and all the research I read regarding young dogs was correct. Sasha passed yesterday - 12/3/10. Exactly 7 weeks from the day I found her tumor.

During those 7 weeks I researched this until I couldn't find anything more to read. Nothing you read can tell you when or answer all the questions you have. The most helpful information was the information I read about other pet owners and their experience.

Sasha's tumor, located in the back upper portion of her mouth grew forward in her mouth as well as back and filled the back of her mouth. I could't believe how large this had grown. It never interfered with her eating which surprised me and the night before we went on our 2 1/2 mile brisk walk. Although her breathing at times was raspy from the tumor for the past 3 weeks, she never seemed to display any stress. But that night she began licking herself all over constantly and could tell she was heavily salivating which was an indication of nausea and she started to whine some and appeared like she wanted to get sick. I had contacted the vet and was informed it was now starting to press on the gag reflex.

Yesterday morning her breathing was fine as usual at rest but with some exertion. It was more raspy, although still didn't seem to cause her stress but she was still displaying signs of nausea. I had called and made the appt with the vet to bring her in to put her down and still wondering if she could possibly have another few good days but before her appt, she began to gag horribly and it was very frightening. She was trying to get this tumor out of her mouth. I knew then I had made the right decision. But how I miss her...she was my baby girl now that my only daughter is in college and will wait to tell her until after her finals. I know each oral tumor will be different and every pet will respond differently but I hope some of this information will help some of you out there.

Nov 23, 2010
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Oral Fibroscarcoma
by: Anonymous

Hi, my 15 year old cocka-poo has fibroscarcoma, discovered in September and was surgically removed from his mouth. 3 months later it was back, last week it was removed again and pathology confirmed the deadly cancer.

Because he is 15, I will not pursue radiation as the prognosis is poor anyway. he has been on a raw diet since he was 10 but I've noticed that he is losing about 2 pounds a week, not sure it's related but he eats everything I give him.

I am sorry that you have to experience this with such a young dog. I am heartbroken knowing that I will lose mine soon but take comfort in the fact that he made it to 15. I plan on having the growth surgically removed until that's not an option, though it is expensive.

He's such a lively dog if it wasn't for the bad mouth odor you'd never think he was terminally sick. Does anyone have an idea of how long they may live after diagnosis?

Nov 09, 2010
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Experiencing the Same Prognosis
by: Anonymous

I am very sorry to hear your news. My vizsla has also been diagnosed with an Oral Fibrosarcoma in the top mandible. She is only 7 years old.

We first noticed it the end of June the beginning of July and confirmed towards the end of July. For the same reasons surgery was not an option. We are treating her palatively with Metacam and Cyclophosphamide. She has slowed down a little since her diagnosis but she still appears to be feeling okay despite her mouth being a mess. I am happy she is still eating.

Nov 04, 2010
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Following the visit to the vet
by: Anonymous

Unfortunately the results from the vet were not very good. Surgery was not recommended due to the size and location of the tumor and because of how aggressive it was, if removed, would reoccur. I can't believe how quickly this mass has grown in such a brief period. The vet said she rarely sees this but with dogs this young with a tumor this aggressive, they live for only a few months after being diagnosed. It's so heartbreaking. We are trying a new medication Palladia in an effort to slow the tumor growth and will just take it a day at a time.

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