Question:
Wow, where do I start, just got the bad news yesterday about Jasper our 15 year old lab mix, the symptoms of increased urination and defecation turned out to be prostate cancer.

The vet is not optimistic at all, and with all the different options there is little chance for a cure, he mentioned chemo, radiation and surgery to remove the prostate, and they will only buy him time not a cure. At this point we have decided to go ahead with an ultrasound and biopsy, doc says it will help to know exactly the type it is before we move on.

My wife and I decided to just let it run it's course and medicate him as needed. We lost our last lab to cancer which we treated vigorously, and lost him anyway, always felt that it was a mistake, poor dog suffered for so long with all the treatments.

I guess our question is, what are the non surgical options AND what can we expect in the next 6 months, has anyone gone this route? Vet said that anti-inflamatories will help along with antibitics....

This is a tough decision, we are open to all advice.

Thanks

Ron W.

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I don't have any advice, but I do want to say that I am very sorry to hear about what you are going through:(

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Thanks for caring...

Ron W.

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I have no advice to offer, but my sympathies are with you.

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I'm so sorry for your dog's diagnosis. Good luck! Sorry, I have no advice either.

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I'm sorry your dog has cancer.

I have never had any experience with any pets who had cancer, but my best friends Wheton terrier just passed away earlier this year from cancer. I'm not sure precisely what her family did to help their dog, but I know that alongside traditional treatment, they also saw a holistic vet who recommended a raw food diet and alternative healing techniques. It seemed to really help their dog along and their traditional vet (who is also my dogs vet) mentioned that he saw noticable changes in their dog, energy wise. It gave them a little bit of extra time with him, and it gave him a bit more strength to handle the conventional treatments he was going through. I know that this particular holistic vet clinic is also a holistic people clinic (husband and wife team), so maybe if there arn't any holistic vets in the area, a holistic people doctor may have some ideas too.

good luck!

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I will ask my vet about Holistic help in the area, never really thougth about it, thanks..

Ron W.

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I'm so sorry. I don't have any advice, but we're going through something similar with our 11 year old husky X. He hasn't been diagosed yet, but we're pretty sure we know what we're dealing with. He's also had hip displaysia since he was a puppy, so we're just keeping him comfortable now..it probably won't be much more than a few weeks.

I would go for the supportive therapy and keep your dog as comfortable and happy as possible. I remember when our last dog was put down. She had incontinence problems that we were treating successfully..and then she was diagnosed with a cancer in her shoulder. She ran around and played like a puppy the day we had her euthanized...but I hate to see them suffer. It's so hard to let them go and you always second guess yourself, but I'd so much rather let them go sooner rather than later and spare them as much pain as possible.

I don't know where you live, but there were a couple of good articles in the Toronto Star this past weekend regarding this subject. You could probably find the archives on their website at www.thestar.ca if you're interested.

Good luck with Jasper.

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I'm so sorry. I lost my Daisy to cancer in September. After 2 operations, it came back, I didn't want to out her thru chimo and stuff like that, she was 11 years old (golden) she lost her appetite real fast so I fed her sardines,cooked ground beef and rice. I gave her baby food (the meat ones in little jars) too. Keep looking for his quality of life, when they don't have any left,even if we would like to hang on to them, it's time to say goodbye. Good luck and keep us posted.

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