AHT Case Studies- Vogue Ellison
Vogue came into our lives as the result of an appeal in our local newspaper for people willing to look after brood bitches for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (GDBA). We had never had a dog before and it suited us to have a dog to treat as our own but with all the back up and guidance coming from GDBA. We had Vogue at 13 months when she had been puppy walked and chosen to breed due to temperament, good hips, eyes etc.
It was love at first sight and over the next twelve months Vogue became a very important member of our family. She then had her first litter of 7 puppies in April 2003, which we kept for 6 weeks until they went off to be puppy walked. In March 2004 she had her second litter of 5 puppies and once again they all went off to be puppy walked.
All went well until October 2004 when two days after she had been in season I noticed a golf ball sized lump on her shoulder, which seemed to have appeared overnight. Immediately I took her to our local vet where they arranged to have it removed and tested. At this point we were not too worried, after all she was a 3 year-old, active, healthy dog. A few days later we got the result that Vogue had an intermediate to high grade mast cell tumour which was serious and that although the lump had been removed the surrounding area would have to be treated. Our local vet felt it would be best to refer her to the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket.
Within a couple of weeks we had an appointment to see Suzanne Murphy, one of the veterinary oncologists at the Animal Health Trust. Sue Price from GDBA and myself took Vogue to see her. Suzanne decided to have the lump retested due to the uncertainty of the grade. After re-grading it was decided that the tumour was more likely to be an intermediate grade tumour. Although intermediate grade mast cell tumours carry a better prognosis still in our eyes this was a nightmare, our dog had cancer and it may not be curable.
Suzanne then discussed with us at length the options available to us with all the potential benefits as well as possible side-effects. I was very worried about putting Vogue through Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy as I thought it would have the same side effects as it does in humans. After going through the options with GDBA we decided that we would start chemotherapy and radiotherapy on Vogue at the same time and give her the best possible chance, on the condition that we could stop treatment at any time if she became distressed. Friends and relatives questioned our decision and were worried about putting Vogue through all of this treatment but we wanted to give her a chance.
At this time we met Alison Hayes, another of the veterinary oncologists at the Trust who took over her treatment and so started many weeks of taking Vogue to Newmarket on a Wednesday for chemotherapy. We left Vogue each week in the care of Ali Williams a qualified veterinary nurse working in the oncology unit at the Animal Health Trust. On Thursdays, Vogue then travelled to Cambridge where the AHT has access to Cambridge Vet School’s radiotherapy facility.
Vogue took it all really well and apart from the shaved legs, shoulder, and stomach no one would have known that she was ill. She still ran around with all the other dogs on our long walks and went to agility and training classes. We treated her as we always had done. As the weeks went by Alison constantly updated us on what to look out for and what to do if she was not well and we were waiting for something to happen. We could not believe that she could keep so well. In February 2005 she had her last dose of vinblastine, not having had to miss any treatments because of low blood counts and not having been ill at all.
In mid-April 2005 Vogue went back to AHT for further routine tests, including chest X-rays and an ultrasound scan, thankfully there is no sign of the cancer coming back.
We do not regret our decision for one moment and cannot thank Alison, Suzanne and Ali for taking care of her so well.
Jackie Ellison
