Full Spectrum Cancer Care

If you're facing dog cancer and you feel overwhelmed, there's a good reason for that: it's overwhelming. There is a lot of information to sort through and understand, and it's not always easy to get it from veterinarians. Full Spectrum Cancer Care is an approach pioneered by Dr. Demian Dressler, author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, that includes conventional approaches like surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, but also many other strategies from other medical traditions that have been shown to have value for dogs with cancer.

The following articles were written by The Dog Cancer Vet Team to introduce you to some of the most important aspects of his method of understanding and treating dog cancer. We hope you find them helpful.

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The Inflammatory Diet and Cancer

It turns out that modern changes in our dog’s diets may have a link to cancer development. It is now known that cancer needs inflammation to start, and to get worse. Inflammation is the process where body parts get red, swollen and painful. If we get an injury, inflammation happens as the first step in…

Latest on Dog Food and Cancer

Is there a link between dog food an cancer? Many feel the answer is yes, and there is evidence to support this link. Today’s post will look at some of the newest thinking on dog food and cancer. First of all, a dog’s wild diet is quite different from that of a modern, commercial diet. …

Metronomic Chemotherapy

Traditional chemotherapy is moving in a new direction. In the past, chemotherapy used a strategy called Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD). Simply put, this is giving the highest dose a patient can handle, ideally without an unacceptable risk of side effects. The reason this strategy is used in cancer medicine is that the drugs we have…

Cerenia. Dog with toy laying under covers on bed.

Cerenia: An Option for Dogs with Vomiting

Cerenia can really help with dogs who are vomiting or getting nauseous. Ask your vet!

Calcium Tablets May Contain Carcinogenic Lead

Does calcium matter to a dog with cancer? How about carcinogenic lead? Many dog lovers are feeding their dog The Dog Cancer Diet in The Guide, with very good results. A dog with cancer has a unique metabolism that is totally different from a dog with no cancer. With this in mind, it is clear…

What is Treatment Plan Analysis?

Imagine you want to spend some time somewhere. Maybe the mountains, maybe the city…it is time for a trip. There are many ways to get there. Perhaps having as much time as possible there is your main goal. Maybe you drive at breakneck speed to get there, wasting no time, and extend your time there…

Does Massage for Dogs with Cancer Do Anything?

Life quality is a major part of dealing with canine cancer. Since cancer is a disease that impacts a loved dog’s quality of life, it makes sense that we should pay attention to it. Treatments designed to kill cancer cells are not enough. One of the overlooked areas in conventional veterinary medicine is that of…

Magnesium and Dog Cancer

The strategy of Full Spectrum Care is used in the Dog Cancer Survival Guide to take advantage of anything that is safe and effective to get an edge on dog cancer. This means we have to look not only at chemo, radiation and surgery, but also on all those other things that might help a…

Bone Tumors and Doxcycline

Osteosarcoma, and other types of canine bone cancer, can be especially hard for a dog lover to cope with. Not only are most of these cancers very malignant, but often they require major surgeries to help deal with the immediate crisis. Once the decision is made and the surgery performed, we are faced with cancer…

Surgery and Supplements: Bleeding Risks

All herbs and supplements are safe because they are natural, right? Wrong. The word “natural” seems to mean harmless. No side effects. Non toxic. But this simply is false information. Anything in the body, no matter what it is, can create a harmful. effect. Drinking too much water, seen with swine sometimes, can give seizures. …

Help Metastasis with Flax Lignans

In the world of Full Spectrum care for dog cancer, we try to look for anything that gives us an edge. This edge could be related to survival, life quality, decreasing treatment side effects, or finding something that just works better than the old way. This is a major goal of The Dog Cancer Survival…

Dog Cancer Clinical Trials

These days really seem like “ruff” times for many. Bad economy, emotional strain, and a lot of general hardship. If you have a dog diagnosed with cancer, but you cannot afford expensive treatments, what can you do? There are several different options in The Dog Cancer Survival Guide. I know that not everyone can afford…

New Approaches to Squamous Cell Cancer

A cancer we see in from time to time veterinary hospitals is called squamous cell carcinoma. Even though it is not as common as other cancers in dogs, for any dog lover coping with this diagnosis, it is a huge issue. These cancers are not fun. First of all, especially in advanced cases, they are…

Dog Food: Is There A Cancer Risk?

Naturally, when we talk about the cause of cancer, diet is brought up. Many will immediately poo-poo the notion that what is eaten can have an impact on cancer development. It is amazing. Watch the condemnation without investigation. On the other hand, many feel there is a link, and there is evidence to support that…

Dog Cancer: Does Acupuncture Make It Worse?

There are few up to speed clinicians these days that will argue acupuncture is hocus pocus in cancer medicine. If they do, the rest of us will point to this paper, and this one, and this one..and those are just a few. Now, Western clinicians are accepting that acupuncture does good things for pain, nausea,…

Dog Cancer diet: Higher Protein Bad For Kidneys?

Time to bust another myth. How many of you have heard that “protein is hard on the kidneys?” Well everyone, it is time for a reality check! This matters quite a bit for dogs with cancer. Most of us with some interest in nutrition agree that there is sound logic that a high protein, moderate…

Intestinal Cancer and Curcumin for Dogs

Dogs will occasionally get tumors involving the stomach and intestine. Not as commonly as humans do, but we see it nonetheless. And for those dealing canine cancer, it does not matter how common one or another cancer is if your dog has it! One of the approaches used to help these cancers are certain chemotherapy…

Making Time for Full Spectrum Dog Cancer Care

There is a big difference between coming up with an idea to do something, and doing it. We humans are very good at deciding that we should do. The problem is that many times we sort of lose track of this focus, and don’t totally follow through. This is a very important issue when it…

Mirtazapine for Dog Cancer

Dear Dog Lovers, A newer drug is being used frequently lately, and I would like to make sure everyone dealing with a canine cancer diagnosis has heard of it. This medication may help some dogs out there, so let’s keep everyone up to date. The drug is mirtazapine, also called Remeron. Now granted, many of…

Neoplasine Update

Full Spectrum Cancer Care is a way of thinking about treatment for a disease that goes beyond what is conventional. This idea was put forth to try to help normal people get an edge on canine cancer. When we are faced with a problem that lacks real solutions, it is time to start thinking outside…