PharmAust Ltd

Ruby's Story

Ruby is our 12-year-old, black and tan Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She is just the sweetest, gentle girl.

We got Ruby as a mate for our other Cavalier, Lily. They were inseparable, bringing us so much joy and laughter. Besides loving food and sneaking off to steal some of our cat’s dinner, Ruby just spends her time loving on everyone and snuggling up to me.

Ruby was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma in June 2022 by our local vet at Chelmer Graceville Vets after my daughter Ella found lumps under Ruby’s jaw. She had no other symptoms. This diagnosis was confirmed by Dr Kathleen O’Connell at Animal Referral Hospital (ARH) in Brisbane.

After our consultation and investigation with ARH, I was given two pages of possible treatments. Dr O’Connell discussed the possibility of the Monepantel (MPL) trial over the phone as I was home sick with Covid. I did some research about MPL and found Ryley and Chica’s testimonials which made me feel more comfortable about the trial.

I decided to do the trial as I felt that with her age, pancreatitis issues and thyroid issues, chemotherapy would be too much for Ruby. The Monepantel trial would allow us to have longer with her and with good quality of life, which was very important to me.

So far, our experience on the trial has been very positive. We have been delighted to get an extra four months with Ruby. She still enjoys doing much of what she previously did, albeit a little slower, but she has no health issues since being on the trial and the team at ARH have been wonderful.

Each month that we pop in for her check-up we can’t believe that another month has passed, and we still get to have her in our lives. I try and tell everyone about this trial because I think it is so valuable and is another option that is more cost effective for the average person.

Carrie, Brisbane

Ryley's Story

Ryley is our 5-year-old Border Collie x Kelpie. She is friendly, energetic, loyal, obedient, intelligent and inquisitive. She got her name from the country town where she was born – Rylestone.

Ryley is our companion and the reason why we go for walks or runs, even when we don’t feel like it. She loves chasing waves, playing tug of war with her fluffy and squeaky toys, chewing large bones and burying them around the yard, exploring hidden places and greeting everyone walking past our house by racing up and down the fence line.

Ryley was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma in July 2021 by our local vet. My husband was giving Ryley a pat and noticed a few lumps on her neck. We had also heard her coughing a few times. When we took her to our vet at Burwood Road Veterinary Clinic, we never thought it was anything serious, as she never seemed unwell. She had her usual appetite and energy levels.

We were amazed when our vet said it was lymphoma and that her life expectancy was weeks to months. It was confronting to have that diagnosis. We didn’t want to put her through anything drastic, which would make her more unwell and affect her quality of life. We felt that chemotherapy was not an option as life expectancy is still not much more than 1 year. Our main aim was to hopefully extend her life, but more importantly maintain her quality of life.

We immediately started researching clinical trials and found Dr Sonya Yu (Animal Referral Hospital), who is involved in the MPL Trial. I am a nurse with some experience in clinical trials, so I had a bit of an idea of what I thought would be a suitable trial. This trial guaranteed that she would actually be on the medication – not a placebo – and it didn’t involve an excessive amount of invasive investigations and clinic visits.

The MPL trial has been a positive experience for us. Dr Sonya is fantastic and has been wonderfully supportive to Ryley and us. It’s been easy to give Ryley two tablets a day and fortunately we live quite close to the Animal Referral Hospital, so it’s been easy to take her for the visits.

Our GP vet was also supportive of the trial, and it felt reassuring to do something.

Sharon, Sydney