Full Spectrum Cancer Care
Full Spectrum Cancer Care is the approach taken by the authors of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide. In Full Spectrum cancer care, we embrace any method that has been shown to help dogs with cancer, regardless of its source.
Low Dose Chemotherapy and Cancer
Over the last few years, there has been much work in attempting to improve canine cancer treatment. One strategy has been to use lower, continuous doses of oral chemotherapy drugs. The goal in this is to lessen chemotherapy toxicity, reduce trips to the oncologist for IV injections (the medications are pills), and hopefully gaining life…
Read ArticleLandmark Study Confirms Cancer is Top Cause of Dog Death
A study done in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine backs up the fact that canine cancer is now the number one cause of death in dogs. Data from 74,556 dogs over 20 years (1984-2004) were analyzed. This data was archived for the National Cancer Foundation’s Veterinary Medical Database and then surveyed. 27 veterinary hospitals…
Read ArticleGraviola Not Recommended For Dog Cancer
Graviola (Annona muricata) is a tropical tree that has been touted as a useful cancer supplement. It is also called corossol or soursop. Graviola does have medical potential and is used as a medicine in certain parts of the world. The fruit is also commonly eaten. The problem is that Graviola contains both medical compounds…
Read ArticleGuardian Versus Dog Lover in Dog Cancer
There is a big difference between loving a dog and being a dog guardian. Guardianship implies being a protector. There is vigilance, resourcefulness, and problem solving mixed with love. Being a dog lover is just enjoying your relationship with your dog. Guardianship is required for dealing with canine cancer. Being a dog lover is not…
Read ArticleInnovations in Dog Cancer Care
Cancer may be the toughest adversary in medicine today. When a dog lover is faced with a dog cancer diagnosis, one of the most common questions is, “Are there any other options?” Many guardians are urgently looking for options beyond what seems to exist in conventional medical care today. For this reason, The Dog Cancer…
Read ArticleWhen Infection Looks Like Cancer
Many times cancer can be misdiagnosed as infection in dogs. How does this happen? Cancer diagnosis is not as strait forward as it may seem. The reason for this is that we do not always have a simple test for internal cancers. The standard of care in testing for cancer is a biopsy. To get…
Read ArticleCarcinoma of the Anal Sac, part 2
In the last post, anal sac carcinoma was discussed, including diagnosing these malignant tumors in the dog. In this post, we will cover more on treatments and some data concerning outcomes. If a guardian is coping with a diagnosis of canine anal sac carcinoma, often major questions arise soon after the news is received. Chemotherapy? …
Read ArticleCritical Question when Weighing Dog Cancer Chemotherapy Options
Many Guardians are faced with difficult decisions when facing a dog cancer diagnosis. One of the toughest is whether to choose a treatment that seems more aggressive than others. A guardian should first get an idea of whether the expectation of the treatment is worse than the treatment. Many times dogs receiving chemotherapy treatment do…
Read ArticleChubby Golden Retriever Has Less Cancer Protection
I was talking to one of my clients today in the exam room. She owns an awesome Golden Retriever named Baloo. Like his namesake in the movie “The Jungle Book,” Baloo is happy, friendly, goofy and….chubby. I started telling Baloo’s owner about the cancer rate in the breed. It is estimated that around 2/3…
Read ArticleWhat is a scar revision?
When a veterinarian or oncologist diagnoses canine cancer, often a surgery is done to remove the cancer cells. Surgery remains one of the cornerstones of cancer treatment in dogs. With surgery, if all things go very well, your veterinary surgeon may be able to completely remove the cancer. This may mean a cure is reached,…
Read ArticleA Big Picture Viewpoint
The recent earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan can teach us a lot. I live on Maui. We had a little tsunami damage here from the same quake that has created the horror show in Japan. Now we face the potential of radiation exposure, depending on how the nuclear leak turns out. This is nothing compared…
Read ArticleKidney Supplements For Dog Cancer
Cancer of the kidneys can be very hard, both for you and for your dog. This is actually a rare cancer, so I hope some information here can help. Let’s look at this topic. To understand what happens with cancers of the dog kidney, it is important to understand what the kidneys normally do. Just…
Read ArticleHow Do I know The Right Course of Treatment, part 2
In the last post we looked at the information you need to gather about surgery, chemotherapy and radiation for your dog when deciding on a treatment plan. But as you know, the choices do not stop there. As a Guardian you also need to decide what to do. Since you are your dog’s primary advocate,…
Read ArticleHow Do I know The Right Course of Treatment
The decisions surrounding dog cancer treatment can be complicated. This is not only because of the treatments themselves. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation have multiple steps. Diet and supplements are not necessarily strait forward either. Steps to change a dog’s brain chemistry to a cancer fighting state take some doing as well. Boosting life quality needs…
Read ArticleA Silver Lining in Dog Cancer
This is a blog about dog cancer. As such, you are probably here looking for some advice. Something useful to help this dire predicament you are in with your loved dog. Most often I will write about some outside the box approach to treating your dog’s disease. Maybe a new therapy that is coming up,…
Read ArticleChemosensitizers
We need longer life expectancies in dogs with cancer. When guardians hear the statistics about dog cancer survival, they are often shocked at how grim things sound. And to be honest, they are grim. For this reason, we need to start looking “outside the box” of existing conventional cancer care. This was one of the…
Read ArticleAn Overview of What Else Can I Do?
The most common question I receive is: My dog has cancer. What else can I do? Well, this is a very short question that needs a very long answer. I will do my best to give the big categories here. First, get the data you need. A real guardian needs information to make aware decisions. …
Read ArticleWhy Rescue Chemotherapy Is Not As Good
Cancer cells are really quite amazing, but not in a good way. They have these little pumps in their outer wall (the cell membrane). They go by a couple of different names, but the easiest one to remember is MDR. MDR stands for Multi-Drug Resistance. The reason these pumps are so amazingly bad is that…
Read ArticleSurgery and “Blood Thinning” Drugs and Supplements
The approach in The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, as well as my own personal philosophy concerning problem-solving, is to use what works, regardless of the packaging material. In other words, it makes no difference if the recommendation comes from a conventional (allopathic) vet, or an “alternative” vet, as long as it works, is safe and…
Read ArticleTo Chemo or Not To Chemo?
One of the little known facts about veterinary medicine is that chemotherapy does not cure cancer in dogs, with few exceptions (except transmissible venereal tumor or the very rare lympho or something). I believe that many people are unaware of this fact. So we are left with a treatment modality that has a goal of…
Read ArticleFight Cancer With Local Chemotherapy
Many dog lovers hear grim survival statistics after receiving a dog cancer diagnosis, and it is extremely overwhelming. So much so that they go on a search for new and innovative ways to get better odds, longer survival times, and better life quality. Well, the same thing happened to me! Why settle for stats that…
Read ArticleSigns of Dog Lymph Node Cancer
Many find a bump or a lump on their canine companion at home. The first question is usually, “what is this?” Sometimes the second question is, “Is it a gland or a lymph node?” These are good questions. The reason is that glands, or lymph nodes, become swollen for different reasons. Like in people, infection…
Read ArticleBut Cancer Treatment at My Dog’s Age?
So many guardians post comments on this blog, asking questions that have to do with age and cancer treatment. Let’s look at this topic today. I have an old dog. What is the right choice for cancer treatment? This central question usually can boil down to whether the life quality negative of the treatment is…
Read ArticleDifferent Pain, Different Drugs
In some ways physicians have it easy. An MD can ask a human patient, “Are you in pain?” It’s a bit tougher for us animal lovers. Interestingly, we are in the same boat as pediatricians in this way. We have to go by signs, feelings, intuition in some cases. And sometimes the truth is that…
Read ArticleTreatment Plan Analysis in Real Life
Yesterday, a 13 year old Rottweiler came in to the hospital. She had been limping, and there was a swelling in her front leg, down on the forearm. It was firm and slightly warm to the touch. The area was about 4 inches long. We took X-rays of the sore leg. The films showed a…
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