I need some help. The test came back today for the light dog in my avatar. Smokey is his name. He is still active, just caught a lion on the 4th.  Lymph nodes are visibly swollen. Weight seems to be holding. Appetite is normal. I cleaned all poop away from his area and will be monitoring that.

How long do we have with him?  We are leaving for a week on the 14th, thinking about getting him put down on the 13th. I don't want to have our house sitters have to deal with that.

Thanks for the help.

It is very subjective  and there really isn't an expected course of the disease or even a clear time frame. Here is a recent  thread on canine lymphoms.
I'll be keeping your pup in my thoughts.

lymphoma

Thanks for that but linky no worky.

Nevermind.  I found the thread.

IM sent.

Replied. Thank you. Will talk to the vet Monday.

Lymphoma is not necessarily an immediate death sentence. My dog went through two rounds of chemo and actually beat the lymphoma, although that is unusual. More normally you'll get 3-6 months of remission after the first 6 month round of chemo. And dog chemo is not like people chemo. They may feel a little sick from time to time, but it's nothing like what people put themselves through. It is expensive, though.

Chemo is out for us. 250 miles one way every 2 weeks plus the cost. I am not broke, I love my my dog, but I am not going to take out a second mortgage on him either. No way we can afford it. I have several other lion hounds right next to him that need attention too.  They need hunted and I can't let their development suffer because of a fucked up disease in one of them. Pisses me off no less, but I have to be a realist also. The reality is that it is a death sentence for him, no matter how much I hate to admit it.

At least give the prednisone a shot.  It's cheap and can at a minimum give you a few more months with him of with a decent quality of life especially with other dogs around keeping him going. Good luck at the vet on Monday.

We got him started this evening on prednisone.  Will see how much time that buys him.

Worth a shot you know. FWIW......our vet was charging us $26 a bottle with 40 pills but Walgreens did it for $12 for the same dosage/quantity.  Good luck and enjoy the remaining time with your buddy.

My experience has been a month, maybe two.  Keep in mind one thing:  After the prednisone stops working, and they start to crash, they can crash hard and fast.  So, here is my unpleasant advice:  Be prepared to have your pup put to sleep either BEFORE they crash, or be prepared to do it very quickly once they start to crash.

It sucks, and sucks hard.  I helped my debilitated mother through a very similar situation with her dog, whom I also loved very much.  IIRC, we planned on one month, and had the euthanasia date set already.  It just so happened that he started to crash just the day before, so our timing was not terribly off.  Having them put to sleep while they still feel good can be even more emotionally taxing, but IMHO, it's a usually a more selfless thing to do than keep them around to suffer.

My condolences and sympathy, it's a tough situation to be in, no matter how it goes.  

Mine got an extra 2 1/2 months that were decent and your right. When the crash that crash hard and fast.

Best of luck with your pup; enjoy every day to your fullest and make sure he knows every day is that special!

My last two canine lymphoma patients lasted 6 weeks and 9 weeks post diagnosis and "treatment" with prednisone.

Cschelk2 DVM

We had him put down today. He seemed to be in a bit of pain and the lymph nodes wee coming back. We have to leave for a week and I did not want the house sitters to have to deal with that. Better off this way.

R.I.P. Smokey. 5/10/09 - 10/13/14.

Thanks. It was a tough morning. I cried like a baby. My wife actually had to talk to the vet tech because I was such a mess. Raised him since he was 6 weeks old.

Bright side is we found out that my wife is having a girl later in the day.

Sorry for your loss.