Articles by Demian Dressler, DVM
Why Is There No Standard of Care?
I was recently sent an interesting question from a reader about the right way to deal with a lump. The question revolved around standard veterinary practices upon finding an external mass in a dog. Is it correct to simply monitor and wait for a cancer to grow before doing something about it? Good question! The…
Read MoreWhy We Need To Think Outside the Box
The world’s tallest dog is a now a cancer patient. I recently came across this story, from a local news website in California. Gibson is a Great Dane, weighing in at a whopping 170 lbs. Gibson is presently 7 years old, which is definitely a senior citizen for a dog of this breed. Recall that…
Read MoreI Can See The End, But I Am Not Ready
In so many ways this is a sad post. The end of life with your friend, family member, your companion. After all the time together. Systemic or aggessive cancers like lymphosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma, Grade 3 mast cell tumors, and others usually lead in the same direction. This direction is the departure of your loved dog.…
Read MoreNew Ways To Boost Immunity
I recently received a question about a product called Beres Drops, named after the designer, Joszef Beres. This is a liquid which is designed to deliver adequate amounts of trace minerals in a favorable form. In a discussion of cancer, the most relevant aspect of these drops are the effects on the immune system. This…
Read MoreHow Long Does My Dog Have?
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. …
Read MoreWhat Is The Best Supplement for Dog Cancer?
We are faced with some hard choices when in a war against dog cancer. The truth is, as dog lovers, often we feel pretty undergunned and overwhelmed, with choices that range from not-so-great to downright awful. One of the difficulties many have is the choice among the supplements discussed in this blog or in The…
Read MoreCan I give supplements with Chemotherapy?
In the world of dog cancer, we find ourselves in a war where we can be under-gunned. I must confess that when I look at this statement, I find myself wondering whether it is healthy. To think about dealing with malignancies as a war? Perhaps this analogy is too violent, too antagonistic, too contrary. The…
Read MoreEverything is overwhelming…
Many dog lovers, especially those of you who just received the news that your dog has cancer, feel very overwhelmed. This is very common and completely natural. So many questions arise. How did this happen? Where did the cancer come from? Why wasn’t this picked up before? Is it the food? Vaccines? Chemicals? What do…
Read MoreBut my vet has not heard of this….
Dear dog lovers, I have been deluged with comments that some vets out there, maybe even most, have not heard of many of the approaches to dealing with cancer that are beyond surgery, chemo and radiation. As a consequence, there seems to be a large “black box” as to what to do, how to arrive…
Read MoreNeoplasene as a Dog Cancer Treatment
I received a question recently asking if I had heard of Neoplasene, so I thought I should post about it. Neoplasene is derived from bloodroot, an old herb used by native Americans. The stuff works but can be a bit much for an average dog lover to deal with. Read on. It is delivered to…
Read MoreChronic Morphine May Worsen Dog Cancer
Well, in this post I want to give the readers some cutting edge new developments in dog cancer pain control. For decades, morphine has been a good old standard in pain control, both in dog and human medicine. Many oncologists and veterinarians involved in treating dogs afflicted with cancer use morphine to help these patients.…
Read MoreDog Tumor Surgery and Anesthetics
In the last post we looked at why surgery ends up often being a good option for malignant dog tumors. Of course, this is a simple answer, but it may not be all that simple in reality. Why? Well, aside from the cost-benefit considerations, surgery itself varies from vet to vet. I have worked with…
Read MoreABC News Story on Cancer Research on Dogs
A news story worth watching…
Read MoreDog Tumor Surgery: It Matters
Many dogs afflicted with cancer face a surgery. In spite of how far we have come in medical science, our most reliable way of getting rid of canine cancer is still a bit old fashioned: cut it out. Indeed, most of the time surgical removal is the treatment of choice for tumor cure in the…
Read MoreIs it for me or for my dog?
Decision making when loving a dog with a cancer diagnosis can be tough. Many times we will experience some degree of confusion in decision making. There are many options that are presented. Should I allow chemotherapy? Amputation? Is radiation really worth it? I think that a lot of the difficulty may not actually relate to…
Read MoreOncology and Beyond
I have been getting some questions lately about whether or not I am a board-certified oncologist. Nope, and I do not try to be either. Here’s why: Oncology is our word for the field of cancer medicine. Oncologists spend a good amount of time doing chemo, and have broader interests usually within the additional areas…
Read MoreProblem Solving while having a Dog With Cancer
Lymphosarcoma. Hemangiosarcoma. Osteosarcoma. Mast Cell Tumor. Nasal Tumor. Melanoma. Mammary Cancer. All these words, so harsh, so foreign and scientific. And also, so horrible. Do you love a dog with cancer? How are you dealing with this fact? Upon reflection, some may not even allow the reality to sink in. You are telling me my…
Read MoreMore on Curcumin and Dog Cancer
In the last post, I introduced curcumin, a useful tool against cancer found in turmeric. In this post we will look at some of the effects and practicalities in the use of this remarkable substance. Safety should always be questioned. Curcumin is exceptionally safe when given by mouth. Read more here. One of the complaints…
Read MoreSpice of Life: Curcumin and Dog Cancer
In researching topics for expanded treatments of dog cancer, I have discovered surprises aplenty. Because of the desire for options beyond surgery, chemo and radiation for dog cancer, I chose to look in areas that I would have ignored just a few years back. One of the hottest topics in cancer research right now is…
Read MoreVitamin D and Dog Cancer
Dog lovers will do anything they can to help their dog with a cancer. And you should! This can be one of the hardest times anyone will face. Many times the effort helps, and other times it may not. This, of course, is not due to any ill intention on the part of the dog’s…
Read MoreApoptosis and Dog Cancer
Apoptosis and Cancer … what’s the connection? Every cancer shares six characteristics — and a LACK of apoptosis is one of those characteristics. Every cancer suppresses apoptosis, which is why boosting apoptosis in cancer cells can help.
Read MoreCancer spread, Flax and Dog Cancer
Flax is one of the oldest crops known to man. Even the ancient Egyptians cultivated it extensively. These days, we don’t see it around much, except in health food stores or the supplement shelves in grocery stores. So why am I writing about this stuff? Well, flax has some handy properties that someone who loves…
Read MoreLaser Surgery For Oral Cancer in Dogs
When a dog lover is contemplating a surgery to remove a canine cancer, we should remember there are different ways to do surgeries. Depending on the way the surgery is done, certain things can be improved upon that would otherwise make recovery harder. Some of these are: pain blood loss swelling One of the challenges…
Read MoreLymphosarcoma and Simpler Chemo Options for Dogs
Lymphosarcoma is a cancer of the white blood cells called lymphocytes. It is one of the most common cancers in dogs. The worst kind of cancer is the kind you have to deal with in your dog. I heard that from a lady I saw on a video online a while back and I thought…
Read MoreNew Antioxidant Info For Managing Dog Cancer
Got some new stuff for everyone into vitamins and antioxidants in cancer treatment for their loved dogs. Recall we are talking about cancer treatment, not cancer prevention. These are two different categories gang, with different considerations. You may recall also that the big deal is that there has been concern with free radical scavenging, which…
Read MoreNasal Cancer, in memory of Max the Police Dog
A friend told me about this story. I have not been in the habit of writing about media news in this blog, but this story caught my attention and could be used to expound on nasal tumors in dogs. Max, a Springer spaniel, passed away in Britain due to nasal cancer. He spent his days…
Read MoreWhat I Do in my Veterinary Hospital
Some have wondered what does this guy do, this Dr Dressler? Why does he do this blog anyway? Well, there is a shorter version of the long truth. Since this is a blog post, and I’m told mine are too long anyway, I’ll give you the short version. I spend many hours working as a…
Read MoreBladder and Prostate Cancer: Neutering Male Dogs Increases Risk
Oh man. This is going to make a lot of people in my field angry. Apologies to classmates and veterinarian friends! I came upon a study from the August, 2007 journal Prostate. Probably not what a lot of us would be reading in our spare time, but I am busy with upcoming info products for…
Read MoreDog Cancer and the Malaria Drug Artemisinin
Artemisinin for dogs with cancer? Yup. This herb can help make chemo more effective, and may also target cancer directly.
Read MoreThe first full-spectrum dog cancer book is coming!
Hi Everyone, Due to the demand from dog lovers dealing with a dog cancer diagnosis, I wrote a book on the topic which should, hopefully, be available within 2 weeks. So many people in the midst of this crises scour the internet, looking for some kind of guidance, some way to tip the scales towards…
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