itegoa Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Does anyone know what Australia quarantine's view is on importing dogs with a mast cell tumour? One of our dogs has recently been diagnosed with a mast cell tumour. It's on one his front legs, and it's size is roughly that of big toe (a little smaller). The vet has advised us it will be difficult to operate/remove due it's location and also because of the dog's age (he's 13.5 years old). We were given another option called Masivet, and anti-cancer drug. It's not guaranteed success though, and is very expensive (roughly £500 per month for a long time, including regular tests and visits to the vet). We have decided that we're not going to treat it due to both cost and his age (he also has other lumps on his body and some may be MCT's, some not). It might seem insane to others, but we'd like to try and take him to Australia with us in 12 months time. Fully aware of the fact that he'll be 14.5 years old by then and the tumour will have grown a bit, also he may not actually be with us any longer - but we have to plan incase he still is here and living a happy(ish) life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Sorry deleting as just noticed it is the Petair site. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itegoa Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 Sorry deleting as just noticed it is the Petair site. Sorry. Ah yeah, should have posted to general Pets forum. Can admin please move across? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 No worries - moved to pets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Roberto Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 tough choices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I don't know for sure but I'm pretty sure Quarantine is intended to prevent diseases like Rabies from getting into Australia, ie diseases which can spread and pose a risk to Australian animals or humans. If a dog has cancer, I wouldn't have thought that would preclude it from coming in the usual way. But I don't know for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itegoa Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 I don't know for sure but I'm pretty sure Quarantine is intended to prevent diseases like Rabies from getting into Australia, ie diseases which can spread and pose a risk to Australian animals or humans. If a dog has cancer, I wouldn't have thought that would preclude it from coming in the usual way. But I don't know for sure. My thoughts too PC, but need to know for sure I know quarantine is $149/night min. 10 nights. It wouldn't be good if they demanded he stay in for an extra 20 nights which would work out an extra $3K, or even worse if they say he doesn't pass quarantine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobPetairUK Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 The Australia quarantine service wont bother one jot about a mast cell tumour except to advise you that "you know you have an old dog and you know there are risks with the flight etc etc". And they wont keep him in for an extra 20 days. 12 months is a long time for an older dog with a mast cell tumour, so my advice would be to get the rabies work done so that at least it is done and he can travel if he can and then leave the final decision until around 8-12 weeks before the flight. You want to leave any decision until as late as possible, but at least if you have the rabies work done then you will have the choice. Tough choices indeed, but you have got a bit of time to get things all planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itegoa Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 The Australia quarantine service wont bother one jot about a mast cell tumour except to advise you that "you know you have an old dog and you know there are risks with the flight etc etc". And they wont keep him in for an extra 20 days.12 months is a long time for an older dog with a mast cell tumour, so my advice would be to get the rabies work done so that at least it is done and he can travel if he can and then leave the final decision until around 8-12 weeks before the flight. You want to leave any decision until as late as possible, but at least if you have the rabies work done then you will have the choice. Tough choices indeed, but you have got a bit of time to get things all planned. Thanks, Bob. Rabies jabs were done a couple of months ago, and had the RNAT test which came back good, and RNAT declaration has been filled in by the government vet, so we have that part out of the way. Both dogs are eligible to import to Oz (after the 180 day wait) mid-September 2015. As you say, at least we have a choice closer to the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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