So sorry to hear your news Emma
I had a Border Collie who was diagnosed as having a well differenciated mast cell. The tumour was at the bottom of her front leg. The tumour was caught early, removed and sent away for lab tests. My BC was then put on a very strong course of prednisolone, 6 tablets daily for 2 weeks. We eventually got the dose down to 1 tablet every other day. We were told that it was highly unlikely the tumour would return but to keep a close watch and to keep her on the preds for life just incase. The dose was so low that there were no side effects.
2 years later I noticed the lump had returned. It was removed and sent away for tests. This time we were told the lump had returned more aggressively and that the best option would be to increase the dose of preds and have radiotherapy. We made several trips to the vet school in Cambridge and the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket. She was given radiotherapy, one blast each week for 4 weeks, she was given an anaesethic each time which was quickly reversed and 10 mins later she would be up on her feet and would walk quite happily back to the car. There didn't appear to be any side effects.
The radiotherapy did not work and we were told that the only option would be aputation. Not a nice thought but she was so active and happy we decided to look into it. She had all the necessary test done and we were advised that the cancer had not spread into her lymph nodes and so if the leg were to be amputated right up to the shoulder she could live for quite a number of years. We went ahead and amputated and she was a changed dog. She was even happier than before which made me think that the tumour had possibly been causing her some discomfort. She would go on walks, chasing her ball etc. and basically had a new lease of life.
Unfortunately this didn't last long, 4 months later the cancer returned this time so aggresively that the area became ulcerated. We did give her some homeopathic treatment from a different vet to our norm (can't remember the name but it may have been thuja), this definately helped and probably gave her about 2 months of comfort but then before she got too bad we made the decision to have her put to sleep.
I'm sorry my story doesn't have a happy ending. The link Leigh provided is excellent but I have to say that my BC seemed to be an exception to the norm however I strongly agree that mast cell tumours are
very unpredictable. The specialists at the AHT were excellent and so if you were looking for a second opinion I would definately recommend them. I saw a Dr Susan North and she really knew her stuff. The route I went down was very expensive, I didn't have insurance and ended up spending over £2K but I felt I had to try everything.
I wish you lots of luck and as people have already mentioned there are other dogs which have managed a lot better than my BC did.
Poor Emma - is it possible for the vet to remove it? Our old Barti had a mast cell tumour removed when he was about 4 or 5 years old, and lived a super life until he died just after Christmas.
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