Using Black Salve in Dog Cancer
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: April 13th, 2021
Dear Dog Lovers,
I wanted to touch base with you about some information from the real-life streets of veterinary medicine.
Occasionally I will get a question about the use of “black salve”. This rather ugly looking ointment is in a group of medicinals called the escharotics. An escharotic is a preparation that injures the tissue it is applied to, and creates a scab. A scab is an eschar.
So the idea is you put the stuff on the external cancer, the ointment kills the cells that you presumably want gone, they die, and then slough off.
Most of the black salve preparations contain an “olde-time” active ingredient called bloodroot, or Sanguinaria candensis. This plant contains some mighty strong alkaloids, including one called sanguinarine. This is potent stuff folks. Sanguinarine paralizes a pump in the cancer cell membrane vital to survival, and the cells die.
There is a really significant issue that you need to know before slathering your dog’s skin tumor with sanguinarine-containing goo.
The problem is, although it does a pretty good job of killing cancer cells, it is very tough to tell how far a given cancer has spread into the surrounding neighborhood (around the tumor) before applying black salve. Why does it matter?
The reason this is so critical is that some cancers really spread radically. They send cancer cell sheets out around the visible growth, but these spreading cancer cells are invisible to the naked eye. Guess what happens when they die off (after some potentially severe inflammation and discomfort)?
The dead cancer cells slough, leaving in some cases large swaths of open tissue where the tumor cells used to be. This can sometimes be a nuisance and other times a horror show (warning: graphic).
Bottom line? I would never advise the use of any version of black salve unless it is under the direct supervision of a veterinarian, and even then, use caution. Sometimes things turn out great, but there have been nightmares.
Best to all,
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.
Black salve is very effective treating cancers, as I say from experience. The salve has no effect whatsoever on healthy skin and cells, as demonstrated in my experience. I have had cancers surgically removed from dogs only to have the cancer spread like wildfire, immediately afterwards. That seems to be the general consensus from dog owners.
You didn’t provide an effective treatment either, after advising against the use of black salve. Perhaps you don’t have one.