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Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: October 25th, 2019
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Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
While we have no apocaps, thought I would give Boston turmeric, which is in the apocaps. Gave him 4 of the 750 mg capsules last night. We usually give him cottage cheese and flaxseed oil too (Budwig diet for cancer), and sardines with omega 3, etc. Is it okay to give things that thin the blood? Was it not a good thing to do to give a big dose of turmeric last night? Is the aim not to give anything that thins the blood? When a human has blood clots they get blood thinners – I know that dogs and humans can not have this right before surgery though as they will bleed more. Omega 3 oil is good to fight cancer but it is also a blood thinner. Rights or wrongs of giving these things to Boston, please?
Hello Dr Dressler.
Our Black Lab/Rottie Boston,.age 9.5 yrs has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma with metastasis to liver. Took him to specialists for second opinion and they determined this was the diagnosis. We opted not to have surgery due to the predicted outcome of short life span. Also due to the fact that the surgeon said he would make it through the surgery but concerned about how the other organs would act post surgery, like the brain, etc. We want his quality of life to be as good as it can be, and were concerned about his last days/months being in recovery from surgery. Have started K9 immunity plus yesterday and think it is helping. Have ordered Yunnan Baiyao to help stop hemorrhaging. He takes arnica and china (homeopathic) from our vet to help slow down bleeding. He had a fantastic day yesterday, swimming, walking, and he is still eating and drinking. His warm swollen belly went down yesterday (from hemorrhaging) but then last night it swelled up again and was warm to touch. Maybe we could try a belly wrap with elastic bandage in hope it might stop the bleeding? We want to get the apocaps from amazon but they don’t ship to Canada and wondering if there is a way I can get them sent to me ? I have American friends so might have to resort to having them get them and then forwarding to me by courier, as I need them asap as in yesterday. When we took him to the specialist not long ago he was deemed stable, no arrhythmia, and he is a big strong boy. Wondering if we have done the right thing in not getting the surgery. I asked the specialist could the tumours on the liver be benign , something dogs get with old age, and she said no, they know the difference. She said there is a floating tumour as well, maybe on the liver,and I believe there are a couple of tumours on the liver. So mad with our vet ( a new vet cos our old one retired). About 2 mths ago he swallowed a whole bag of greenies and then became ill, eating only half of his meal, etc. I was going to take him to emerg but she said to wait till the morning as he was not vomiting so no blockage. Next day she did blood tests and xray and said she saw undigested food (greenies) and there was some fluid that concerned her. But then when the blood tests came back normal except for white cell count up, she treated him for pancreatitis with antibiotics. He improved but then started going off his food again and his tummy swelled. Took him in to vet and she said it is terminal, hemangiosarcoma. We hoped when we took him to the specialists they would operate and tell us that he had a hematoma or some other benign situation with the spleen, and the liver tumours would turn out to be from old age. I understand the only way they know for sure it is cancer is with surgery and pathology. Dogs have been euthanized and later when an autopsy was done it was determined they had a benign situation with both the spleen and the liver. Just hope we have done the right thing choosing no surgery. My email address is mariontlindsay@gmail.com – Hoping u can tell me how to get apocaps asap shipped to Canada. Thanks. – Marion
Hello. In early September 2012 my 11 year old dog as diagnosed with TCC (bladder cancer). The tumor was on the apex so surgery was recommended. On September 25th she had surgery to remove the tumor. Unfortunately, when the biopsy results came back the margins were not clean – there were microscopic cancer cells seen and it was a high grade tumor with a high risk of spreading. I met with an oncologist and I opted for piroxicam and the metronomic chemo treatment using leukeran. Within 5 weeks the tumor was growing back so we switched to vinblastine. After 4 treatments the tumor had significantly shrunk so we were about to go to every other week when she developed an infection. Copious amount of drinking, wouldn’t eat, I could see she didn’t feel well etc etc. This began the SAME day as chemo (Thursday) so I reported it to the oncologist. That was the same day he told me her white blood cell count was ‘great’ – he even used the term ‘normal’ and was all psyched about it. I can see why it was so high – because she had a bad infection brewing BEFORE he even gave her the chemo. Anyhow, when I reported to him that she was drinking and not feeling well and I felt she had an infection he told me to keep him posted. Thru the weekend she was getting worse but he didn’t seem concerned since all he told me was to ‘keep him posted’. I complained of her not eating – he said he’d call in an appetite stimulant. I explained to him she didn’t need that – that my dogs eat when they feel well – when they don’t they don’t eat. I know her MO with the chemo (she does get GI issues) but this was NOT it. Now this oncologist is very esteemed and well known.. he SHOULD have known better and been more proactive hearing her symptoms. I thought it was maybe a UTI but what do I know? All I knew was she had an infection and HE should have done something to check her out. She was going downhill and by Monday morning the sutures from her first surgery split open and burst. There was blood all over. I RUSHED her to the vet referral center where she had the original surgery to remove the tumor in September (they also do her chemo there). One vet said the cancer had spread the other said it as an infection. Based on her symptoms for 4 days prior to this I felt it as an infection. However, she was in the vets from 7:45am until I picked her up that day at 6pm and they had not even given her any antibiotics. Her blood work was normal. Urine was good – it showed 1+ blood but everything else was fine. They scoped her (open wound) and told me there was necrotic tissue in there that needed to come out but the surgeon felt the chemo caused the infection and it was just a matter of cleaning that area out an restitching with new tissue. They gave me zenequin and clavamox to give at home but I was appalled at the fact they didn’t give her antibiotics while there for almost 12 hours. Anyhow, her white blood cell count was 11,000 had been running between 2-4k with chemo so that confirmed to me there was an infection. Anyhow, after meeting with 2 different surgeons (who thought it was infection based) I opted to do yet another surgery to clean the suture wound area. They did see an unusual (suspicious) tissue attached to the abdominal wall right behind where the sutures blew out. The board certified (diplomate) surgeon wasn’t sure if it was part of the infection (pre-necrotic tissue) or possibly cancerous so she did a biopsy and we are awaiting results. There was some but not allot of pus and very little nectroic tissue but this was 4 days after she began the above named antibiotics .
I can’t find allot of research material on cancers that seed to the incision so can you, Dr. Dressler or Dr Ettinger give me any info. Everyone basically is saying if it seeded then that wouldn’t be a good thing but no one is saying much more than that. The oncologist said it would be unusual if the vinblastine was shrinking the bladder tumor so well but then have such a major issue with cancer if it had seeded on the incision. He said it wasn’t impossible but he felt it would be rare. But he said if it was it was not a good thing.
I think their consensus is pretty much ‘let her go’ if the biopsy comes back as cancer. I have spent 3.5 months of doing everything I can – traditional and allot of alternative and complementary things. I have spent over $12k in 3+ months and I am resentful that everyone, in-spite of the fact she is healthy and happy so quickly wants to put her down. The reason why I took it this far was everyone told me she could have all this time if we did all this stuff. The oncologist was saying if we got this cancer under control she could have 12-18 months. I had her on piroxicam and she got black stools so we had to take her off of that and she has been on metacam. I am doing vitamins, nutrition, chemo, hands on healing, acupuncture, everything I can do help her. She gets allot of exercise and fresh air (we live in the country and I have an acre fenced in for the dogs). I home cook meals for her. I invested in two water filters – a reverse osmosis and the Zero water filter for when we are not home.. which actually filters as good if not better than the reverse osmosis.
On Monday they gave me the option of euthanizing her when she was at the specialty vet referral center with this open suture issue and infection. I went over to see her (thinking I’d be saying goodbye to her) and she was perky and wanted to go out and when I took her for a walk she was playing and play bowing with me, waging her tail wanting to go play with other dogs, etc etc so NO WAY was I putting her down. She walks back into the vets (she LOVES going to the vets) and begins working the room -saying hello to everyone and wanting pets and kisses. She is a show dog and loves people and going places. I KNOW My dog when she doesn’t feel well and this was not it. When they put us in a room she was knocking at the door for me to open it so she could watch the waiting room area until the vet came in. I didn’t think this we the MO of a dog that needs to be euthanized. She was much better since the infection as draining. When the vet came in she asked me what I had decided to do (did she actually think I was going to euthanize her??). I told her I felt comfortable taking her home and then deciding how to proceed.
I took her out of that vet and took her elsewhere because I was tired of hearing every week that the cancer had spread. Two weeks before they told me she has a pericardial effusion and they said the cancer spread to her heart. I had a chest x-ray done it didn’t show any spread nor a pericardial effusion. I had an echo done and there was no cancer, no pericardial effusion and her heart was great for an 11 year old and the cardiologist told me that pericardial effusions don’t generally disappear in a week. They even approved her for that chemo that was hard on the heart, if it was ever needed. Lymph nodes in the chest were normal. All signs were positive. The ultrasound of the abdomen from 4 weeks before showed everything normal no sign of cancer spreading and all lymph nodes were normal. The ultrasound from Monday with this terrible infection – no sign of spread in the abdomen a few of the lymph nodes were enlarged but they said was probably the infection but so far no sign of cancer spreading. Yet everything that happens they tell me the cancer spread and I then spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for testing to show there was no cancer spread. I KNOW one day I will need to deal with the inevitable,and maybe it is now but I would like to have some quality time where I am not always stressed worrying and wondering if I am doing the right thing and then end up spending thousands on testing, etc. Needless to say I have left that vet and feel comfortable with this vet that did the ‘suture wound’ surgery that came very highly recommended by others that I know that also show their dogs.. and she also does work with many rescue breeds. She is compassionate and I feel very good at what she does.
Anyhow, if the biopsy comes back as cancer.. I am not sure what to do. The consensus from that first vet referral center is stop treating and let her go. I will arrange a consult at this new vet with her oncologist to see what he says but I feel I need some facts and info before I do that. I now understand how ‘seeding’ happens. If the cancer has seeded I can’t help but wonder how careful they were during surgery. I also understand that it can compromise the incision but can it be treated? If so what are some of the possible options for treatment? Does it cause infections? She seems happy and her quality of life seems great. I am NOT going to let her suffer if there is no hope. That I can’t do. Infact, I feel like I am at the end of my rope as far as what I can do. I felt like I was having a heart attack thru all this stress.. turns out it was a panic attack. I am a 9-11 survivor and I have some of my own health issues so dealing with all this stress is not good.
Any info or guidance would be helpful. My main concern right now is the incision and to insure that it heals properly. The surgeon said there was only a little pus and very little necrotic tissue when she cleaned it out but that was after 4 days on very strong antibiotics.
Any suggestions and/or info would greatly be appreciated.
Thank you!
Dear Jill
sorry about all this. Ugh.
As to the incision, it would be prudent to get a culture done so you can identify the microbe and select the correct antiobiotic…that’s what I would normally do at any rate. If it comes back as cancer I would start by reading the Guide to get you an overall plan and some additional guidance.
I hope this helps
Dr D
I love your blog so much! It is really helpful and has really helped me take better care of my dogs. I’m looking for good emergency veterinarians in Gilbert. If anyone knows of a good clinic please let me know. Thanks!
Dr Demian Dressler
I wrote to you earlier regarding my 12 yr old English Springer Spaniel who has been diagnosed with nasal cavity cancer. She had her first symptom one year ago and after a referral to an oncologist, ct scan and biopsy she was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma. I decided against radiation treatment due to the side effects, primarily blindness. You recommended Apocaps and I have ordered them. You also recommended an immune supplement. I would like to know which kind? You mentioned neoplasene and high dose Vit C. There is a holistic vet near me who uses neoplasene and I’m considering making an appt with her. However, I have read mixed reviews regarding this treatment. One review cited a side effect where their dog acted as though he was burning up inside and another which stated their dog had to be taken off of it due to severe diarhea. Could you please address the side effects of neoplasene. Is it compatible with Apocaps, Vit C and the high dose of Vit C you mentioned. My dog will turn 13 on the 30th (her life expectancy) and I don’t want her discomfort to be from a side effects that I have imposed on her but would like her to be as comfortable as possible. At the same time it would be wonderful if the cancer could be arrested. Right now her quality of life is very good and she still looks like a puppy dispite the progression of her cancer.
Thank you,
Nancy
Dear Nancy,
beta glucan suppements including K-9 immunity are the ones I usually reach for. You need to use an anti-emetic with neoplasene to help with the vomiting issue. i usually use mirtazapine. i do combine the two but use lower doses of each (half label) when i do so. I have no problem combining these with high dose Vit C. Please discuss with your vet, as always. Side effects are always possible, and nasal tumors can be tough. I would start everything slowly in this case, staging each to start every 7-10 days or so to assess for intolerances.
Best,
Dr D
Sorry I forgot to say it’s in her nasal cavity.
My 7 yr old pekingese, Abbey, was just diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, well differentiated. An option I am looking at is palliative radiation with metronomic chemotherapy using chlorambucil. Abbey wears a diaper some of the time so we’ve been told the chlorambucil is the best choice because of that. Do you know much about or can you point me in the direction of some studies with these therapies? Your book came in the mail the day before her diagnosis.
Dear Dawn, here is a link that may help:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22236329
Best,
Dr D
Dear Dr. Dressler, thank you for taking time to help guide as there is just no where to turn for good holistic advice with regards to cancer in dogs. I love Chloe and this is so hard to think about. I’m doing what I can, but I don’t want to overdo wiht too many suppments. Would glutathione help for dogs with cancer? Also, is it possible to give too many “good” supplements? I’m putting Chloe (still not confirmed – but they think lung cancer) on your cancer diet and wondered if you knew anything about Standard Process? I have her on canine immune and canine whole body as well as pneumotrophin which is a human supplement for lungs.
God Bless you for all you do to help those suffering with this terrible disease.
Nancy
Nancy,
there is a whole section in the Dog Cancer Survival Guide which has listed essentially all the supplements and a discussion of which are high priority (so you can pick the few you would like to use) and which are lower priority, and which can be used with other treatments and which cannot. You need to understand what you are doing, and how these things fit together. For example, if you are using Apocaps, artemisinin, or Neoplasene, glutathione would not make any sense because those are prooxidant therapies and glutathione is antioxidant. If you were sticking with a more antioxidant strategy, I’d be leaning towards palladium complex (expensive), flax lignans, and possibly Iv vitamin C.
I would suggest you take some time, educate yourself, and use veterinary guidance when you pick supplements for your dog to be safe and effective.
Best,
Dr D
Hello, my six year old Maltese/Shitzu dog daughter Chloe may have lung cancer. I say “may” as no test yet has come back positive. They found lesions in her lungs but the needle aspiration came back negative. We are getting the cancer test from Webster. Do you know anything about that? Also, if she does have lung cancer, she has had a liver shunt repair and it was successful. All of her liver enzymes are normal for the past three years. Is it ok to give her the Apocaps? I am going crazy right not because I don’t want to believe it’s cancer. How can we be certain? Thank you and God bless you!
Nancy,
We will see what the actual field results are over the next few years as more information is gathered. another method you could use to try to get cells out of the lungs to see what you are dealing with is a bronchoalveolar lavage or a re-aspirate.
A diagnosis is important before you start cancer treatment.
I would start here:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/an-overview-of-what-else-can-i-do/
Best,
Dr D
Dr Dressler,
I have an English Springer Spaniel who will be 13 on Jan 30. She looks and acts much younger and people mistake her for a puppy. She was just diagnosed with nasal cavity cancer. The first sympton that we recognized was a nose bleed from the left side of her nose which lasted for 45 mins on Jan 4. She was seen by her vet the next day. Our vet gave us some ideas as to what could cause it but cancer was not on the top of the list and it was decided to monitor her. She would have a small drop of blood infrequently, sneezing and other signs that we now know were symptoms of the cancer. She was seen by our vet in May for her physical and nothing new was noted. In Oct I took her to see the vet for a little more bleeding from the left side of her nose and we decided to have radiograhs and a biopsy done. The radiograhs showed a mass in the left side of her nasal cavity but the biopsy came back negative. Our vet referred her to an oncologist. We took her and she had a CT scan and biopsy. The CT scan showed a mass on the left side including the area around the eye orbit and some evidence on the right side near the eye. The biopsy came back possitive for adenocarcinoma. We decided that she will have palliative treatment and recieve radiation treatment 1x/wk for 3 weeks. I read your book after the radiograf and I realized that there was a real possibility that she could have cancer. I still didn’t have a difinitive diagnosis. I have started her on Hill’s Prescription ND (I believe that I’ve read that you recommend this for nasal cavity cancer) canned dog food and Bule Buffalo Wilderness, salmon recipe grain free. One half cup of each 2x/day. I also give her yogurt, sardines, brown rice and other supplemental food that you recommend in your book but have not yet started her on your dog food recipe or apocaps since we just recieve the diagnosis this week. She is also on Proin for bladder control and glucosimine. After both biopsies she had a nose bleed that continued dripping for a few hours. The oncologist thought this was due to the anesthesia raising her b/p rather than the biopsy. She requested that I give her yunnan baiyo which I did and will give it to her the night before her first radiation treatment. Her quality of life is so good now that it is had to believe what is going on inside her head. We know that there is no cure for this type of cancer and only want her quality of life to continue as long as possible. Could you please give me advice as to what more we can do for her? I love her so much and want to make sure that I’m making the right decissions for her. She has given me so much.
Thank you in advance.
Nancy
Nancy, this would be a good post for you to read:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/an-overview-of-what-else-can-i-do/
Are you using immune supplements?Apocaps?
Have you discussed oral neoplasene?
Possibly high dose Vit C IV?
I hope this helps
Dr D