Testing
New Early Detection Dog Cancer Blood Test Being Developed
If this “rock star” veterinary oncologist has her way, we’ll be able to detect some forms of dog cancer way earlier than we can now. With a blood test!
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How Do You Know If Your Dog Has Cancer for Sure? Read Chapter 9: How We Diagnose and Stage Cancer
How do you know if your dog has cancer? Well, no one can tell by look or feel. You have to test. Learn how veterinarians diagnose and stage cancer.
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Pet Insurance for Dogs with Cancer
Pet insurance for dogs didn’t used to cover cancer costs … but that has changed. Woo hoo!
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Food and Nutrition for Dogs with Mast Cell Tumors
Dr. Dressler’s Dog Cancer Diet is appropriate for most dogs, but dogs with mast cell tumors need a few modifications. Read this if your dog needs a low-histamine diet.
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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…
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How Important Are All Those Expensive Diagnostic Dog Cancer Tests?
You could easily spend over $1,000 just to diagnose your dog’s cancer. Are any of those tests worth it? Which ones?
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Common Dog Cancer Mistake: Doing Too Many Diagnostic Tests Before Seeing the Oncologist
When you first hear your dog has cancer, you may panic and feel that everything must be done, and now. It’s true, cancer is an urgent situation, and it’s a great idea to find out as much information about your dog’s cancer as is possible. But how many diagnostic tests should you have your vet…
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Prednisone for Dogs: When to Start with Lymphoma
Prednisone for dog lymphoma may be recommended. It’s true, it treats lymphoma, and is used a lot in chemo. BUT … using it too soon could be a mistake.
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Primary Lung Tumors, part 2
Unlike people where lung cancer is one of the top five cancers and the leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide, primary lung cancer is very rare in dogs. Dogs are often diagnosed with lung cancer as in incidental finding during a routine geriatric screen. Lung Cancer Symptoms in Dogs Often dogs have NO clinical signs,…
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Uncommon Tumors: Primary Lung Tumors, Part 1
As a boarded oncologist, I see not only the common cancers in dogs like lymphoma, mast cell tumors, osteosarcomas, hemangiosarcomas, and mammary cancers. But I also see the uncommon ones. Recently I have been seeing more of the uncommon tumors, and what’s even strange to me, I am seeing more that one within a few…
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Soil Depletion and Nutrients in Your Dog
Trace minerals and elements have not gotten the attention they deserve for our pets’ health. For example, zinc, selenium and magnesium are all critically important for dogs fighting cancer for many reasons, among them immunity and resistance to drug reactions. One of the reasons this may be problematic is that many ill dogs have low…
Read ArticleIs It Wrong To Treat Dogs for Cancer?
There has been a lot of press and debate lately about the high costs of veterinary medicine. Being in New York, I’m thinking of several NY Times articles. On the front page on April 5th, there was the article “New Treatments to Save a Pet, but Questions About the Costs.” This article highlighted the advances…
Read ArticleGenetic Testing for Cancer Treatments Studied
An article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday discussed genetic testing dogs afflicted with cancer . These tests could help develop individualized treatments for human patients. The good news is that indirectly, our loved dogs will likely benefit from this work. The reason for the research is that in many cases chemotherapy does little to…
Read ArticleNot All Soft Lumps are Lipomas!
Many times dog lovers will be told that their dog’s soft lump is a fatty tumor, and is no problem. The veterinarian is usually thinking about lipomas, benign tumors made of fat that may be genetic in dogs. This information is not always correct, and sometimes the mistake is life threatening. Although it is true…
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 ArticleDiagnosis of Nasal Tumors
Tumors of the nose and sinus in dogs are often difficult to diagnose at first. These tumors are located inside the nasal passages, invisible to the naked eye, at least in the earlier stages. Many times a guardian will notice that their four legged family member starts to sneeze more often. The first thought can…
Read ArticleSigns of Dog Cancer and Decompensation
People are often stunned to find out their dog has cancer. Why? Because cancer seems to hit out of the blue. I often hear “but he’s been fine until the last couple days!” In this article, I’m going to take just a minute to explain why “cancer” seems to happen overnight. (Hint: it’s because of…
Read ArticleWhy Test For Heartworm But Not Cancer?
I was recently thinking about a little problem us veterinary professionals are faced with. We seem to have forgotten about relative risks. A relative risk is simply the risk of something in comparison to something else. Take the risk of cancer versus the risk of heartworm in a dog on heartworm preventative. Now, I am…
Read ArticleWhat I Do in my Veterinary Hospital
Some have wondered what does this guy do, this Dr Dressler? Why does he do this blog anyway? Well, there is a shorter version of the long truth. Since this is a blog post, and I’m told mine are too long anyway, I’ll give you the short version. I spend many hours working as a…
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