Pet Health Community

Dear Sarah822,

These are great questions and let's see if other owners have some feedback for you. Ask the oncologist these questions as well. Mast cell tumors can spread if we don't control them and radiation can be very helpful. I am not a cancer specialist so the oncologist has the best information on success rate, etc.

I will tell you tho that because our pets live much shorter than we do, we really don't want them to have any side effects/bad days, etc. if we can avoid it. This is another great question to ask the oncologist but quality of life for our cancer pets is hugely important when making treatment decisions...for the family veterinarian/oncologist as well as for the owner.

Please share your experience with us.

Dr. Sandy

Hello; I am a veterinarian with over 25 years of experience in vaccine induced disease. The mast cells tumors are foremost those found as a result of rabies vaccinations. They can appear at the injection site or as a black needle tract from the vaccine administration or even as they have obviously taken place in your dog, between the toes or other very highly influential immune acupuncture points. I see often the mumbo jumbo vaccines with modified live viurs, dead virus and bacterins for Leptospirosis vaccines cause round cell tumors, mast cell tumors even coming out on the spleen channel on the face on the same side these pups received vaccines. Vaccines are knonw to tbe the number one way to get cancer! The WHO established the fact that the adjuvants in vaccine are grade 3 out of 4 with 4 being the most carcinogenic in the IARC of 1999. No doubt unecessary and unsafe, dangerous vaccines are the etiology of this cancer. This is one reason Dr. Dennis Macy a Veterinary Oncologist is backing the Veterinary Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. This is the only vaccine mandatory, the rabies and this is also why so many are working so hard to get the illogical unscientific rabies laws on the books REPEALED, CHANGED and for their to be immediate RABIES WAIVORS for overly vaccinated individuals.Many dogs and cats are suffering more than a dysregulatation of the immune system from unwarranted vaccines they are suffering in their helath so that the public helath in the community will now be AT RISK. Vaccines are the pathway to cancer and have not been proven to lower infectious disease, where are those studies? Where are the studies even proving they do not cause cancer,genetic mutations, teratogenicity. Your dog must seek help from a special veterinarian, a VACCINE INDUCED DISEASE LITERATE DOCTOR. read more at MARK OF THE BEAST HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT or at www.dr-jordan.com There are plenty of pictures of vaccine damaged animals in the gallery.To Protect your pet (and your children) become proactive in understanding the consequences of vaccination. Chronic disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, allergies, asthma,ezchema,anaphylaxis and atopy all are the result of vaccine administration. Vaccine LITERACY right now right away!

Thank you, Dr. Sandy, for your reply, I agree with you 100% that the quality of life for our pets should be the most important concern, I absolutely don't want to see my dog suffer unnecessarily. We had a visit with our vet this morning and my dog's stitches are healing very nicely. Our vet also talked about his own dog gone through radiation therapy without any side effects, I guess it all depends on the location of the tumor, since my dog's is on a foot, there shouldn't be any discomfort. The cost is very high but a dog is a member of the family so that's no object. Right now we're just waiting for the stitches to be removed in a week, in the meantime our vet is going to discuss with an oncologist about this case.

As for pmjpm's claim that mast cells tumors have been caused by rabies vaccinations, I don't know what to think? Is this an legitimate claim? In the state I live in, it's against the law not to have your dogs vaccinated.

Thanks Sarah822,

I really appreciate your follow up and glad that your veterinarian shared their experience with radiation.

I personally have not had expierence with rabies vaccination causing mast cell disease. As with any medication, there can be side effects and in veterinary medicine we do limit vaccinations to those that the pet requires depending on its age and exposure. Without vaccination, we would see more parvo virus and distemper. And rabies is a signficant problem in many areas and the vaccination is important. If there is a record of reaction, we may check titers instead of boostering. Some of the vaccines last a long time. But for so many, many pets vaccinated, side effects are still rare.
Vaccination does play an important role in limiting infectious disease in our pets, and in ourselves.

But I do respect differing opinions.

As you mentioned, pets are definitely members of our family. I just paid a fee to have our cat Bill treated for hyperthyroidism with radioactive iodine even though he often upsets me with his peeing around the house when he is upset. But I love him dearly and it is nice to see him feeling better.

Please share your experiences as I am sure there are other pet owners out there who have similar questions and would benefit from input.

Dr. Sandy

Dear Sarah822,
My 6 year old Papillion was diagnosed with a mast cell tumor in his front left paw in March of 2009. We were at a loss when we found out...we went to a couple different vets that didn't help much....and left us feeling hopeless. Then we discovered the oncology department/vet teaching hospital at Mizzou University and met Dr. Bommorito who handled Rascal's case. THEY ARE AMAZING!! We decided to move forward with the surgery but since it was in his paw we knew that we would not be able to get clean margins so we followed up with Radiation the day after the surgery...5 days a week for 20 treatments. They also took out his lymph node and radiated it as well. He did well with both the surgery and the radiation. But you have to be extremely diligent. My mom and dad kept him through the radiation b/c we live in Texas 9 hours from Mizzou. He had to be kept off that paw at all times so it didn't get infected or have his paw pads fall off (which I understand to be extremely painful). After all that we began a chemo cocktail. Rascal has been doing great...up until recently. We discovered that his back paw is swollen and he has been chewing it...we have an appt Friday. Hopefully it will be something else...but Mast Cell is on our minds. I wish you the best of luck and please message me if you have any questions.

Hi, my older dog developed a mast cell tumor 4 weeks
after a rabies vaccination, not at the site of the injection
but on the same side of the body (in the back leg). It
grew rapidly and this week we had to euthanize her. I am
just trying to find out what could have happened, I'm not
going to sue anybody. Could it have been caused that
fast from the vaccine? Are there different types of
rabies vaccines, ones that might be safer? Any information
with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
Karen S.

Karen,

I'm so sorry for your loss. Over the years I'd had to euthanize many of my pets so I know how heart wrenching it is to go through. The only good thing out of it is that your beloved dog is no longer suffering. Incidentally, I've always told my husband that I wish I could go that way when the time comes.

As for what caused the mast cell tumor, I personally don't think it's related to the rabies vaccination, but maybe someone else would be able to shed some light on this subject.

Oh, on a happier note, my dog, the Boston Terrier, is still alive and kicking. We ended up deciding not to seek any treatment after the removal of the tumor. And it has been 3 years since her surgery, I'm happy to say that she is as healthy and playful as ever, knock on wood.

Sometimes I did wonder if the lab test was wrong to begin with but I chose not to question our veterinarian and just be happy with the outcome.