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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Ginger to Help Dogs with Cancer

Ginger to help dogs with cancer? YES! This inexpensive, great-smelling, pungent root is great for your dog. Learn why and how to use it.

Help overcome dog food dangers: which oils for cancer??

Rochelle Lesser, who created and manages a great site for Golden Retrievers (and dogs in general), asked about krill oil on a recent post. Here’s the skinny on why I like its cancer-fighting benefits (krill are those tiny shrimp that whales eat). First, krill oil helps offset the omega 6 fatty acid excess I wrote about…

Dog food and cancer: help fight this problem!

In the last post I wrote about one of the issues in most commercial dog foods contributing to dog cancer: omega 6 fatty acid excess. This is a group of fats that are found in large quantities in corn products, vegetable oils, and meat products like tallow and lard, to name a few sources. Dogs…

Food and dog cancer: omega 6 fatty acids

Many people ask me if dog food has something to do with the development of cancer in their pet. Before I devoted my time to studying the topic, I never gave it much thought. Nah, I would say. Dog cancer is mostly genetic, viral, a few carcinogens…who knows? “There is no real cause of cancer”,…

Life Quality in Dog Cancer: Dr Dressler’s Joys of Life Scale

When we are dealing with cancer in our loved dog, especially the bad cases, we immediately enter into a new way of thinking. We start to have thoughts about life quality assessment. We are put in a position where we are in control of life and death (euthanasia) decisions. Sometimes in a very sudden way,…

Pain in Dog Cancer and Life Quality, Part 2

Many times people talk about life quality in pets and pain. “Is my dog in any pain?” is a common question I get at my hospital. To be sure, pain is an important consideration in life quality. Of all the factors that contribute to a bad life, pain may be the most potent. BUT…it is…

Pain in Dog Cancer and Life Quality

Many have concerns their dog may be in pain. And rightfully so, since pain is a definite negative. Pain control is a massive topic all by itself, and it is by no means strait forward. There are different kinds of pain. Sometimes dull, throbbing pain happens in cancers like osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Severe pain in…

Fight Dog Cancer and Depression with Self-Esteem

Learn how to fight dog cancer and depression using esteem-building exercises. They will benefit your dog’s mood AND help fight cancer!

Depression, Stress and Dog Cancer: Let’s Think About It

Are depression stress and dog cancer linked? Let’s take a look.

Immunity and Dog Cancer

Cancer is the ultimate foe in veterinary medicine. It has so many ways of surviving and eluding. One of cancer’s clever survival tricks is avoiding destruction by the body. A dog’s body has many ways of protecting itself. A biggy is the immune system. A dog’s immune system is able to tell what is supposed to…