Pharmaceuticals
Stelfonta for Dogs with Mast Cell Tumors: New Injectable Drug!
Dr. Sue Ettinger, AKA Dr. Sue Cancer Vet, is very happy about this mast cell tumor treatment. Stelfonta is an injectable that may help your dog.
Read Article
Apoptosis for Cancer Cells: Read Chapter 7 To Find Out Why This Tiny, Normal, Natural Body Process Is the Heart of My Approach to Full Spectrum Dog Cancer Care
Apoptosis for cancer cells is a new and logical approach. Cells commit suicide when they are old, deranged or damaged … so why don’t cancer cells?
Read Article
More Melatonin and Dog Cancer
More details on melatonin and dog cancer, including the whys, hows, and how much.
Read Article
Dog Cancer Pain: Acupuncture?
Dog cancer pain: acupuncture? Even if your vet dismisses it, it is more than just a placebo!
Read Article
How to Make Decisions About Dog Cancer Treatments
Overwhelmed and anxious, and unsure how to make decisions about dog cancer treatments? Read this article to find out how to “think like an entrepreneur” and calculate the risk.
Read Article
Is My Dog Dying? Here Are Some Warning Signs and Symptoms
How do you know if your dog is dying? Learn what signs to look for, and how to handle them.
Read Article
Was There Anything Else I Could Have Done?
Was there anything else I could have done? This is an inevitable question we all face. And the answer is always the same.
Read Article
Your Dog Cancer Journal
Keeping a dog cancer journal — even a simple one — can help you and your dog tremendously. It doesn’t have to be fancy or take a long time. If you’ve got a pen, you’re all set.
Read Article
Nobel Prize Winning Research, Once Again, Can Help Your Dog
How does your dog’s internal clock help with dog cancer? 2017’s Nobel Prize can point in an interesting direction. (Hint: Dr. D’s been talking about this for years!)
Read Article
Supplements for Dogs with Cancer
There are dozens of supplements that are supposed to help with cancer. How do you know which ones are worth using with your own dog?
Read Article
Don’t Forget Your Dog at the Veterinarian
When booking a new consultation with me, pet Guardians often ask if it is necessary to bring their dog to the appointment. From their point of view, they are often concerned about the stress of the visit on their pet, or maybe the travel itself. But from my point of view, a consultation without the…
Read Article
Guidelines for Dealing with Your Dog’s Chemotherapy Side Effects
As I’ve discussed in other posts, chemotherapy is very well tolerated in dogs. Yes I know that is hard to believe. I have had family members get chemo and we have all seen it on TV, but happily it’s not like that for dogs. Approximately 80% of dogs do not have side effects at all…
Read Article
Diet and Dogs with Cancer
Dr. Ettinger’s views on diet have changed since she co-authored The Dog Cancer Survival Guide and attended the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Associations’ conference. This is important stuff!
Read Article
DogCancer.TV: Amputation for Dogs with Osteosarcoma Cancer
Dr. Ettinger and Dr. Dressler, co-authors of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, weigh in on amputation as a surgical treatment for dogs with osteosarcoma.
Read Article
Osteosarcoma: when amputation is not an option
In my most recent blog, we discussed amputation for limb osteosarcoma (OSA), the most common local treatment for the primary tumor in the bone. We discussed that amputation is not an easy decision for pet Guardians, even though most older dogs with average, moderate arthritis usually do well on three legs. If my clients are…
Read Article
DogCancer.TV: Cancer Cachexia and Dog Cancer- When Your Dog Won’t Eat
Dr. Dressler and Dr. Ettinger define cancer cachexia and discuss some ideas as to how you may deal with your dog’s loss of appetite and vitality
Read Article
DogCancer.TV: The Full Spectrum Approach to Dog Cancer Care
Dr. Dressler and Dr. Ettinger discuss Full Spectrum Cancer Care and why the willingness to look at any and all available treatments is so important.
Read ArticlePrejudice in Chemo Side Effect Treatment for Dogs
Bias (prejudice) is an important issue in medical treatments being withheld. Some of these treatments may have benefit, and dog cancer is no exception. Managing the side effects of chemotherapy is an important part of cancer care. Chemotherapy is most commonly delivered at the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD). This means the highest doses that the…
Read ArticleOsteosarcoma, Cisplatin and Magnesium
Low magnesium may be a threat for dogs receiving chemotherapy. Magnesium is a mineral in the body that is needed for proper functioning of over 300 different enzyme systems. A study was done on critically ill dogs, and over half were found to have low magnesium. Low magnesium levels increase the risk of toxic reactions…
Read ArticleLymphoma – what you need to know BEFORE you see the oncologist
In my last blog post on lymphoma, I shared that I would personally treat my dog with a multi-agent chemotherapy protocol if she was diagnosed with lymphoma. You will learn a lot about diagnostics and treatment options once you meet an oncologist, so in this blog post, I will share some of the things you…
Read ArticleBetter and Longer: End of Life Care
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine was just published that showed that human cancer patients lived both longer and better with hospice care. Patients with a type of lung cancer lived almost 2 months longer with hospice care than those who did not. Similar trends have been seen with other terminal diseases…
Read ArticleHelp! Found A Lump On The Dog… Now What?
Dr. Demian Dressler, best-selling author of “The Dog Cancer Survival Guide”, explains exactly what to do when you find a lump on your dog.
Read ArticleThe 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…
Read ArticleNew 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…
Read ArticleDiet for Dogs With Mast Cell Tumors
Friends, Today’s post will likely be met with some skepticism from those immersed (and confined) to our Western medical approach. So if this is your framework, please keep an open mind. You will be pleased to know that the information here is taken from little known, but still Western, data banks. I have recently been…
Read ArticleWhy use stomach medication for mast cell tumors?
Many dog lovers are coping with a diagnosis of canine mast cell tumor. Just yesterday afternoon I was removing a very large one from the body wall of Big, a 10 year old, 105 pound, much-loved mixed breed. The day before his surgery, Big started to throw up. He became quite sick, and would not…
Read ArticleChemo side effects: What should I do?
Chemotherapy does have side effects that need to be considered. About 5% of these will require your pet to be hospitalized, on the average, and there is a 1% chance of fatal reactions overall with chemotherapy. Although I have not seen any published data, unpublished estimates on overall risks of any side effect are roughly…
Read ArticleHow Do We Tell If A Loved Dog Is In Pain?
Pain. The very word makes us wince. Same with the word cancer. A friend recently brought up the fact that some of us refer to cancer as “The C-word.” So when we put these together and talk about cancer pain, we have quite a loaded topic on our hands. Before I get into how to…
Read Article