Sometime last week, Koo wrote to me about a rescued stray dog with a black tumour on his tongue:
My neighbors found a stray dog which initially was limping badly after falling into a drain. They are temporarily keeping him inside an empty house with the permission of the owner who has recently sold the house and would be handing over by month end.
We believed he was recently abandoned because he's 'new' in the neighborhood and he's well-fed and quite tame. He has no collar or dog tag. He has been temporarily named as Ronnie.
By today, Ronnie seemed to be limping much lesser and I think he just needed a lot of rest. However, we found a possible reason for his abandonment: there is a huge black tumour at the back of his tongue. You can see it in the pictures I have taken.
The appointment was made for today, to coincide with Goldie's spaying. By the way, Goldie is going to be adopted already! Goldie's adopter did not want Goldie's ear to be notched, so Koo said he would pay the full rate (for pets). For charity rate, all females' ears are notched at our panel vets.
Yesterday, I had already told our vet that we would be bringing in a dog with a black tumour on the tongue and the vet had already cautioned me that tumours in the mouth are never good news.
I still clung on to the hope that it could be something else that is treatable. Maybe it's benign?
Hi Ronnie! He is such a sweet and friendly dog.
And hi there, pretty little lady....(this is Goldie, the Rawang rescue).
Koo and Mr See brought the dogs.
Koo with Ronnie.
Ronnie is so well-built and friendly, I believe he is either a lost or abandoned pet, or perhaps, a well looked-after community dog.
But one look and the vet said it's melanoma. No doubt about it. It's bad news.
Melanoma will eventually turn cancerous. It can be removed by surgery, but it would mean that part of the tongue and mouth would be cut off, and worse of all, it will grow back. Our vet has treated several cases and they have all shown the same pattern. It will grow back.
We asked how much longer Ronnie has before it becomes bad and the suffering and pain set in. The vet said Ronnie may only have about 6 months to 1 year to live. And if he can be given 3 months of quality life, it would be very good. As a vet, his advice was to put Ronnie down when the pain and suffering becomes bad. We understand that vets practise according to their three oaths, one of which is not to allow the animal to suffer.
There was also another case of melanoma in the mouth in a dog where the owner was a scientist himself. He tried everything he could, even using stem cells, but nothing helped. Melanoma is that deadly...eventually.
Since there is no conventional treatment for Ronnie, I told Koo the RetroMAD1 claims to have anti-tumour properties, so perhaps it can be tried. Also, I have been introduced to a probiotics enzyme which has successfully healed certain cancers and other illnesses in humans. I asked if this can be used since probiotics ought to be safe. The vet said both are non-proven supplements, but there is no harm trying.
The vet said Ronnie is quite an old dog. It is hard to estimate his age, but he would put it as above 7 years.
Koo wanted Ronnie to be vaccinated and dewormed, but the vet advised against vaccination. However, the sanctuary that Ronnie will be going to insists on vaccinations, so Koo had no choice. It is in our policies http://www.myanimalcare.org/p/policies.html (18(a)) that we will not sponsor any treatment which may be detrimental to the wellbeing of the animal as advised by our vets, but we understand Koo has no choice. Koo said he will pay for the vaccination.
Koo asked if Ronnie can be neutered as well. Again, this is a requirement by the sanctuary, but the vet said no, he will not put Ronnie under anaesthesia. We hope the sanctuary will spare Ronnie on this, please. He is already an old dog and he has terminal cancer.
Ronnie also has some wounds on the his legs, but these are healing well, so we'll just leave them alone.
Hey Ronnie, you be a brave boy, okay?
I asked the vet what causes melanoma. Nobody knows, he said. It just happens and it can happen to us, too. The moles we have on our body is melanoma, but as long as it does not change shape, colour or size, it is alright.
I felt so sad upon leaving the clinic because there is nothing we can do for Ronnie except for the unconventional treatments that I suggested and the vet said we could try. I felt sad too thinking of what Ronnie may have to endure in the months to come when the tumour turns malignant.
I immediately texted the research scientist of the RetroMAD1 and asked her about Ronnie's case. She said I should check with Dr Tan, and I did. Dr Tan said there is no harm trying.
I have given Dr Tan's contact number to Koo and hope the rescuer will contact Dr Tan directly and get the RetroMAD1 for Ronnie. It's a hope that we have....you'll never know. Miracles do happen. But we must take the initiative and try.
The probiotics enzyme is also available, should the rescuer want to try that as well.
These would be the support that we can provide.
Meanwhile, shall we all pray for Ronnie to be free from pain and suffering, and when it is time to go, if nothing works to cure him, then let him go painlessly and without suffering.
We all have to go one day, and we also wish to go peacefully surrounded with lots of love.
We wish Ronnie the same, and while he is still here, we hope the rescuer and sanctuary will give him lots of love and care.
We will pray for Ronnie's wellbeing.
We are all living on borrowed time, but we can make this time worth living.
Ronnie's vaccination and Goldie's spaying are both sponsored by Koo.
Goldie has already been spayed and has fully woken up from the anaesthesia.
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