How Long Does My Dog Have?
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: January 10th, 2019
It is very important to do what we can to avoid ongoing depression when trying to cope with cancer in our dogs. Ongoing depression is exhausting, steals our reserves, and clouds judgment.
It decreases your dog’s chances of good life quality during a life with cancer. Yes, your ongoing depression.
Please do not misunderstand me. There are many legitimate reasons for guardians of dogs with cancer to be depressed.
Here are some of these reasons:
Take a look at median survival times with conventional care (chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery):
- Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen: median survival time after spleen removal without chemo is about 2 months, and with chemo is up to 6 months.
- Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the bladder: median survival time on piroxicam alone is about 6 months.
- Melanoma of the toes: following removal of the affected toe, this cancer will take the life of half the patients within a year, assuming there is no evidence for spread at the time of surgery.
- Lymphosarcoma: patients receiving the Wisconsin chemo protocol have a median survival of roughly 6-10 months.
(For more specific data on median survival times with different cancers and protocols, see The Dog Cancer Survival Guide.)
So there is every reason to have sadness. But….continued sadness is not helpful to you or to your dog. After experiencing the grief, it is time for an expectation analysis. Time to organize yourself and move forward.
Suppose your dog was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma, and seems to be having good overall life quality 6 months later. Guess what? This is very good news! Median life expectancy with chemo being 6-10 months, about half the dogs with lympho have passed away in as little as 6 months after being diagnosed.
And that is with chemotherapy!
If you have a dog with lympho and your dog is doing well 6 months after diagnosis, you are already beating the curve, since median survival is as low as 6 months in some cases with the chemo.
Get a copy of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide for more helpful information and tools
What if your dog has lympho and is on pred only? Median survival for those dogs is roughly 2 or 3 months. So you are ahead of the game if your dog has good life quality 2 months after diagnosis.
If you were to look at some of the other statistics above, you can see that if you had a dog who underwent spleen removal 8 weeks ago, is not on chemo, and is still maintaining, you are beating the odds. This is very, very good news. This is successful treatment!
An integration of these statistics in one’s mind allows for a realistic picture of where we stand with conventional cancer care.
We really must take into account how short these survival times are in our expectations! We need to redefine success in malignant cancer management.
An understanding of these figures also tells us how we are doing with the addition of our “outside the box” treatments discussed here and in The Guide.
Once we get past the grim reality of these numbers, we can alter our expectations and begin appreciation with gratitude.
The practice of gratitude for each of these days, realizing the odds, is they key to avoiding continued sadness.
Best to all of you,
Dr D
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.
My 9 year old precious Maltese, has just be diagoised with Oral Malignant Melanoma. Stage 1. Should I put her through Chemo and radiation, as well as the immunization shot? I don’t want her to suffer needlessly with these treatments, only to have her die in a couple months. She is acting normal right now. Please help. The doctors want to start treatment on Tuesday.
Susan,
please read and really consider the following post:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/the-most-important-question-in-dog-cancer-care/
You also need to gather data about survival times and odds related to side effects or adverse reactions. Suffering needlessly may or may not be a part of your dog’s future. It is time for more information gathering from those providing the treatments so you can, with a clear mindset, be your dog’s number one health care advocate. You may want to read the e-book I wrote to help in this process too.
Best,
Dr D
Hi-
Camden passed away yesterday. She fought hard, but the cancerous tumor on her spleen caused her to hemorrhage for the third time in a month. She went quietly and at home. Good luck to all of you fighting cancer with your dogs.
Hello Dr. Dressler. We have a 9 year old Siberian Husky that has been diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma that first manifested itself on her tonsil. We had it excised approx. 2 months ago. Prior to the surgery, Abbie’s breath was very foul and it was great, almost puppy-like immediately following the surgery. I don’t know whether to attribute this to the antibiotics she was given or to the removal of the tumor. Following the tissue biopsy and diagnosis, we discussed various treatment options with our Vet who has been very supportive of our decision to not put her through chemo and radiation treatment.
Instead, we have put her on a diet of cooked chicken / beef mixed into a “special sauce” of cottage cheese blended with organic flax seed oil w/ Lignans (2:1) which is called a “Budwig Protocol” for human cancer victims. She eats approximately 1 to 2 cups of the oil/cottage cheese mix daily. We supplement this diet with twice daily “Hoxsey-Like” formula elixer (1.5 ml each); 20 barley grass pills (340 mg each)spread thoughout the day; an Essiac vegi-cap; 500 mg Bromelain; beta Glucan (700 mg); Potassium Gluconate (550 mg); Ester C (500 mg); Heart Plus Caplet; IP 6 & Inositol and a Krill Oil Caplet.
To date, Abbie has been doing quite well. She shows no outward signs of illness and appears and acts like quite a healthy and happy girl. She still enjoys playing with our other dog ( 4 year old Boxer) and acts normally, although her breath is not as sweet as immediately following the surgery. It’s nowhere near as foul as prior to her surgery however.
Anyway, we are contemplating the addition of some Graviola to the above mix and would appreciate your comments or recommendation regarding its use.
Thanks in Advance
Tim & Darla
Hi,
I’ve been reading the posts here with interest. My 12y/o lab has a growth near the bottom of her spleen and bleeding in her abdomen. Almost 3 weeks ago I took her in for acupuncture and mentioned her distended abdomen. My vet did an ultrasound, lung and heart xrays, and blood work.She is anemic and the growth which is fairly small seems to be at the bottom of the spleen. The only way to know is surgery of course. I wasn’t ready to potentially lose her on the table. He said odds were 50/50. I started her on Yunnan Baiyou because I had some and knew it was good for clotting. I’ve been giving one-4x a day. What dose are you recommending? Every day I struggle with whether or not to do the surgery but feel very concerned about the anemia. It is so hard to just watch her gradually deteriorate. Is there something I can give her to help the anemia? I was also wondering about wrapping the abdomen-is this a good idea? I’m starting to think about trying the surgery but feel so worried about the anemia.I just don’t see how she could survive it being anemic-am I off on this? At this point she still eats but only salmon, meat,and a little canned food. Thanks for any input!
Judy,
surgery is your best chance for both increased survival and possible cure. Get a skilled vet or a board certified surgeon. Transfusion before surgery is standard when you have severe anemia before surgery.
See the blog post on yunnan baiyao:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/chinese-herb-for-bleeding-dog-cancers/
best,
Dr D
Shawn M. will you please contact me about what you are feeding Camden? My dog has the same type of cancer. Could you email me at kasue1954@yahoo.com ? It lets less spam through. Karen and Janie
I wanted to add that the vet wasn’t very optomistic about the use of predizone. She said if I chose Chemo, no predizone. Surgery, other than biopsy wasn’t mentioned at all and I assume that had to do with the fact that there are quite a few spots on the lung. I told her that I was not going to put an 11 year old dog through chemo, but she did not recommend the predizone. It seems it was chemo and morphine or morphine. I took the morphine. My head is spinning with wondering what to do. Would predizone actually be helpful?
My 11 year old boxer just had x rays that show an abdominal mass and spoting on the lungs. I never got any clear answers from the vet regarding how long he’s got with us. We love him very much but decided that we were not going to operate or do chemotherapy. Right now, the vet has given us morphine. This was yesterday and I am still tryng to wrap my mind around the fact that on Monday he was his old self and now he is dying.
Moose again….
I had to take him back to the vet for a lesion of some sort on his abdomen. It is (was) about the size of a quarter; it appeared almost like a little piece of skin had peeled back/scraped off somehow. The big problem was that he wouldn’t stop licking it. The vet removed it and sent it in for histopathology because he didn’t like the way it looked and said it didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen before (he’s been a vet for a very LONG time). My concern is that, even if this is a cancerous lesion, what–if anything–are my options? He has already been denied chemo and radiation for the liver tumor, so I doubt that they would be willing to do anything for this. (It was the UW Madison vet school that said he was not a good candidate for chemo.) He’s in really good shape otherwise–he’s maintaining his weight, he’s eating, he goes for walks, gets excited when people come over, jumps up on the couch and naps….
Eveyone who has seen him is very suprised–and happy–that he is doing so well. He was diagnosed with this inoperable liver tumor back in June, and he’s been fighting the good fight his long–I’d hate to see all his progress become undone because of this.
So, Dr. Dressler, my question for you is what could I do for him if the news comes back ominous (as I am currently terrified that it will)?
Dr. D-Thanks for responding. Camden is doing very well. We wrapped her abdomen with an ace bandage and a towel for 2 days, as directed by our vet, and her body did absorb the effusion of blood in her abdomen. Since then she has been doing better. In the meantime I have been feverishly scouring the internet for info on canine cancer of the spleen and liver. I have changed her diet to boiled turkey, brown rice, chicken broth, and herbal supplements with her prescription medicine as well. I started her on liquid vitamin e complex for antioxidant benefit to boost her immune system, liquid iron supplement for her anemia, liquid milk thistle to detox her liver, yunnan paiyao capsules to stop the internal bleeding and increase blood circulation, GuiPiTang-GeXiaZhuYaTang to increase blood platelet production, plant derived digestive enzymes to aid in the breakdown of her food properly, and finally 10mg prednisone in the morning and 5mg in the evening. She improves each day and that’s a day more we get to spend great quality of life with her. She was not a candidate for surgery due to the 2 organs that cancer has settled into. Her liver “looks like swiss cheese” with the hemangiosarcoma on it. I was told a transfusion could be an option only if her RBC went up. At the time she was at 18% and going lower. The dr’s didn’t feel she would survive it. So we didn’t risk it. We really thought we were going to have to euthanize her last Tuesday 11/10, but I guess there were other plans for her. We realize we have been lucky. So I am doing the best I can to provide the best care for her as long as she wants it, until the cancer eventually takes over. Which we obviously hope is later than sooner. Hopefully someone else can benefit from the info I have posted here. I think we might have caught the cancer at the right time and help from above.
I am feeling very betrayed by our vet tonight. We started with him because he has advanced equipment for treating arthritis. We had tried every diet and supplement we could find. We absolutely did not want to use NSAIDS. The lazer heat treatments that his office offered did not work either. It was going to be either put her down or try an NSAID. He suggested Metacam. She turned into a new dog. She was herself again. Three months later I took her in because she couldn’t get comfortable lying down. Didn’t seem to be in pain, just uncomfortable. His alternative vet suggested we go back to supplementing the Metacam with Tramadol. Two days later, the dog started having contractions in her side. We rushed her to the vet. We discussed not wanting to put her through surgery if it would only prolong her life for a short while. We insisted on x-rays and ultrasounds of her liver and lungs. The vet was very positive about her having good quality of life for a long time. He had been after me to do something about a very large lipoma. We said since she still had a good future we would do that at the same time. Today we have been telling people about her splenectomy and we get the feedback that there is no way she is going to live more than 3 – 6 months. I specifically told the vet that I didn’t want to put her through a surgery if she was just going to expire in 30 days. He did everything but bald face lie to us to get our money. Why did he encourage the lipoma be taken off when she had such a limited life expectancy? We wouldn’t have even had the splenectomy if we had know how much longer she would live. He knew from the first visit we had that we were prepared to put her down because of bad arthritis. Why would he think we would subject her to major surgery just for 3 – 6 months? I am furious.