Question:
My dog Shade has been the love of my life and I feel blessed to have her. She was diagnosed in May with a very aggressive and untreatable oral cancer. Up until now her blood work, xrays and exams have been clear, but the cancer has now spread to her lymph nodes. I feel so helpless knowing that I will have to watch as she deteriorates and I can't do anything to stop it. I have been spoiling her rotten since I found out, and honestly she has always lead a priviledged life I have taken her to 3 vets, all gave the same opinion, it is just a matter of time and any treatment would merely prolong her death and cause her great pain. She is still eating and walking with us twice a day on the beach. I am looking for any action I can take to help improve her quality of life or to slow the growth of her cancer. I would also like to hear everyone elses experiences with cancer and what I can expect... Thanks everyone

Answer:
I am sorry that you and your friend have to go through this...

Have you looked into finding a holistic vet that may be able to suggest some natural supplements for Shade?

What I do know about cancer is that it likes sugar... So I would avoid giving that to Shade... I do not know what you are feeding her and it may not be a good time to change her food, even if it does contain sugar so that is one reason why I would suggest a holistic vet.

Vitamin C supplements may also help. I am not sure what is the maximum a dog can have... that is something that you would need to know, but Vitamin C does a lot of things that many are not aware of and may help.

for humans COQ10 is also great for helping those with cancer. Again, I cannot say if this would help with http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/13199.cfmdogs, but I think it would be worth looking into.

I have a couple of sites that may help...

http://www.holisticanimalmedicines.com/

http://www.haileybell.homestead.com/

Check out the last article on this page:

http://www.prevention.com/article/0,...53-1-P,00.html

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I heard of someone whose doggie had colon cancer and after his surgery she put him on a vegan diet. Doggies are carnivores by nature though so this was a pretty drastic step.

But sugar and dairy are two of the things that feed a cancer. And vitamin C and green leafy veggies are two of the things that help your body fight disease.

I hope that you're able to find what works to give your boy a good quality of life and that he isn't in pain. And stay in close touch with your vet. Dogs are excelllent at hiding how much pain they're in. I know you dont want your baby to suffer so be very watchful.

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Shredy,I have no advice to give ,was just admiring Shade's picture,she's beautiful and I am very sorry you and Shade have to go through this.
You were blessed with a wonderful friend and she is very fortunate to have a wonderful,caring owner

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I'm so sorry about Shade. I wasn't sure I could answer this,very difficult for me right now.See,I'm loosing my Daisy (10 yr old golden) to cancer.Time is running out.The thing you could do is change her diet.I have to give Daisy some special food for her condition,Medi-Cal Fibre (can food) and she gets some sardines too.We never know how much time they have,all I can tell you is cherish every day like it was the last.I hope Shade stays healthy for a looooong time.

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Thank you for your advice. I talked to her long time vet and he reccomended science diet n/d. This is suppossed to be a diet (neoplasia diet) that doesn't feed the cancer and he says it is still palllatable. She is really picky so hopefully she'll eat it I will look into a holistic vet for some other options too. I appreciate all your kind words. I'm sure I will know when the time is right to let go, but I am not the type of person to stand by and do nothing in the meantime. She is happy this morning, laying on top of my feet and we are going to go for a walk now. Have a great day everyone.

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I looked into a holistic vet also when Joey was sick. We ended up finding an animal chiropractor who came to the house. In the end it didn't prolong his life but he got relief from those adjustments. And if it eased his pain it was well worth it.

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Aww Frenchy,we have not heard from you for a while,but that's understandable, to you and Daisy

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Thanks Chico2,I did come here this week,I needed to be silly for awhile...

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I'm sorry you're going through this. :(

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I'm very sorry... .... you must be going through such a hard time right now.

I've also heard that cancer feeds on sugar. you may want to limit her sugar intake (not just refined sugar, but also carbs like bread and rice and stuff)
I know one person who prolonged her dog's life (way past the expectations of her vet) by putting him on a raw diet. Raw isn't for everyone though...
http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_d...specific.shtml

Please keep us posted, sending you lots of pawsitive thoughts.

Answer:
So sorry to hear about Shade.

One of my last two huskies had intestinal cancer and had a four inch tumour removed and his intestines stretched and sewn back together. His vet said the prognosis was 8 to 10 months.

She suggested giving him buffered Vitamin C (Ester C) and Vitamin E which I did. I also decided to give him a product called Flor-Essence. It's one of those health food things that make claims to "cure" cancer. I figured what did I have to lose and my vet agreed.

My husky lived for 22 months after his operation and that's because I decided it was his time to go to the bridge. I am not endorsing any products. I am only relaying my experience.

My prayers are with you. Please keep us posted.

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words cannot describe what u are going thru and no matter what i say it wont take the hurt away but he and you are in my thoughts and prayers.

a couple of yeares ago we adopted two puppies that were found dumped at a dump in ganado (rez in az). they were named lily(lab mix) and willow(dont know what she was but was beautiful). to make a long story short willows breath became stinky. rotten smell sometimes. she had no plaque. no sores. nothing. vet couldnt find anything. about 1 month later she had what i thought was an abcess. went in and they did an emegerncy dental and took the tooth and biopysed some tissue. a couple of days later we got the news. she had cancer. i dont remember the exact name. we went the next day to the cancer specialist. she said she had never seen that type of cancer in such a young dog. in fact she hadnt seen it at all.

we started chemo right away. we couldnt afford radiation our credit wasnt good enough (sucks when they look at it like that...life/credit) within three weeks she was gone. weve always supplemented our animals with holistic stuff evryday. we always use food thats humane grade ingrdieants. maybe she would have lived if we could have done radiation? i dont know. she didnt even live to see her first birthday.

but i do know this. at the beginning i told her that she had to let me know when it was time. i cried and i cried holding her. than i stopped and i told her that i'd be strong and not cry in front of her, id be strong for her. and i was. i watched her mouth in less than 24hrs go from a bad looking sore to what looked like rotten meat. ye she still was willing to stick around looking at her mouth i knew it would be cruel to keep her like that. so i told her that it was time for her to go, that i didnt want her to be in any pain any more. i made the appointment. we got a sedation shot first so we could take our time and etc. we were all there. one of our dogs came with us and some of my friends and all of our family. than when we were ready we called the vet and he came and gave the shot. i cried so hard. its not like she had alot of time here. someone wanted her dead thats why they dropped her off at a dump. thats all i could think of.

later that night i swear on my honor that i was laying down and there was a jump on the bed. there were no dogs, cats or anything else. i felt her. i know she was there. a month later to the day the lady that i had adopted willow from (blackhat humane society) emailed me. omg she was exstatic. she sent me a pic. she had just rescued two dogs froma guy who wanted them dead if they didnt come and get them. he said "they are ugly like coyote". they were sisters. one looked just like willow. i adopted them both. named them vesta and luna. i still cry about willow. but i know that she is ina better place free of pain. and i know that she sent those two to me because i was so devestated.

im not telling you this story to make you feel bad. but as humans the one thing we can do is to help them cross. they will stick around for us sometimes when they shouldnt. all u can do is to love him and tell him to let u know when its time. if u do that and u listen u will know. that is the hardest thing to do but its the MOST LOVING THING YOU CAN DO!!! DONT EVER FORGET THAT!!! he will ALWAYS BE WITH YOU!!! someday soon or later another will come into your life. it takes special people to rescue, adopt and care for animals. it takes someone even more special to put themseleves thru that again!!! animals deserve it. shade is lucky to have you. please remember that he will always be with you. animals are more accepting than you relize. im speaking from expireance. i hope that you find thsi post comforting and not mean spirited. it comes from my heart. i do know what you are going thru and i am so sorry. i truely am. u can email at anytime if u want. sometimes that helps. shade and you are in my thoughs.
with Much LOVE,
Trudi and Cheyenne

Answer:
Thanks for everyone's support. I will do everything I can to give her a good life, and I know she will tell me when she is ready to go. I hope she has alot more time left. I know all of you have been through this before and there are those animals that touch your life in a special way, she means the world to me and I am grateful to have had her in my life. I only hope that I have given her even close to what she has given me. Thanks again for all your kind words.

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These are some links that were shared with me when we were researching canine cancer for one of the Berners we had in our care. She didn't make it very long but she was comfortable and happy until the end. Hope it helps.
http://www.healthy-pet.com
http://www.acvim.org
http://http://www.cvsangelcare.com
http://www.animalcancerinstitute.com
http://www.amcny.org
http://www.avma.org
http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/cancer
http://www.gcvs.com/oncology
http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu
http://www.perseusfoundation.org
http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu
http://www.vetcancersociety.org

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I am very sorry to hear about your dog's illness, but its great that you are seeking ways to try and help him. The only thing I can suggest is NONI JUICE. This a 100% juice that you can buy at health food stores or on the internet. I have seen it do miracles in my family for cancer, it actually shrank tumors and the doctors could not believe the scans. Since it is a juice, I assume it is safe for dogs, but you might want to check with your vet. If anyone who reads this knows someone with cancer, I recommend this product. I wish you all the best.

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