QUESTION

Tina (my dog) walks round in circles and in Feb this year the vet told us that it is most probably a brain tumour and that she may only have a week to a month to live. Now being May she is on two tablets a day. She is not as bright as she used to be but I am worried that she is in any pain. She has a small lump on the top of her head and small spot type growths at the side of her eye and ear. Was wondering if there is any hope for her and what would be best for her. There is no 100% proof that she has a brain tumour, but I am worried about her. Your advice would be most helpful. Thankyou.

Samantha Kerr

ANSWER

Dear Samantha,
Steroids whilst widely used for brain conditions seldom do very much in the longer term to help. The only way of definitely seeing a brain tumour is to look at having a MRI or CT scan done. The most common tumour of the brain in the boxer as far as I am aware is one called a meningioma which grows from the meninges surrounding the brain and causes problems due to increased pressure within the brain. These lesions can often be removed surgically but at a lot of expense and with many potential problems. I would be looking into use of things to improve brain function such as vivitonin or feeding on Hills B/d and supplementation of Vit E and EPA to see if you can get improvement. Meningiomas are often slow growing but eventually lead to other neurological signs developing and from what I have seen in the past the dogs then become epileptic. We have previously sent cases like this to Cranmore Referrals near Chester who have given us a lot of help but they do work out costly often running into over a thousand pounds before surgery.

Paul Wilson