Articles by Demian Dressler, DVM
The Two Sides of Sunlight in Dog Cancer, part 1
I practice veterinary medicine and surgery in a sunny area. For those of you with a loved dog who gets a lot of sun, you may have wondered about the effects of sun on canine cancer. As with many topics in medicine, there are a couple different things that have to be considered, as it…
Read MoreThe Cost of My Dog’s Life, part 2
In the last post, I blogged on what one can do to deal with the difficult financial issues attached to dog cancer care. In this one, I would like to widen back, to help with some of the more personal issues about the subject. To be sure, the real-world money issue is a basic, real…
Read MoreThe Cost of My Dog’s Life, part 1
If you are a dog lover coping with the diagnosis of dog cancer, at some point you will be forced to deal with costs. In this economic climate, many are faced with heart-wrenching decisions. “I need to choose between my dog’s care and my own.” “I have to pick either paying for my home or…
Read MoreBone Cancer Pain: New Ideas
Many who love a dog with bone cancer need information to make sure pain is managed. Bone cancers are often very painful. Since life quality is so essential for us when making medical choices, we need to always control pain. Bone cancer is often first noticed as a limp. Many times I have had a…
Read MoreImportant Issues in Chemotherapy
The problem with chemotherapy, at least traditional drugs, is that it does not always target just the cancer cells. What I mean by that is the chemo drug may not care if it shuts down a dividing body cell or a dividing cancer cell. Chemotherapy drugs tend, with some exceptions, to go after cells that…
Read MoreChemo 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 Although I have not seen any published data, unpublished estimates on overall risks of any side effect are roughly…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 MoreWhy is Canine Cancer Still Winning? Part 2
After all this work, dog cancer is still often incurable. Why? In this second post on the topic, I would like to look at the flow of information. We need to look at where data is generated. And, as usual, recall the flow of the dollar. Generally, cancer research is the source of the information…
Read MoreWhy is Canine Cancer Still Winning? Part 1
Those who have experienced the frustration and sadness in caring for a dog with cancer may have wondered, “Why is cancer still winning after all this time?” In the last forty years, successes in cancer treatment relative to effort have been pretty meager. Even if one were to spend the average total price tag of…
Read MoreThe Number One Way to Cure Canine Cancer
These days, there is so much information out there about cancer in dogs. Some is good, and some is not that hot. If you dig, you will find enough to make your head spin. You will get the basics from your vet or oncologist. These are what I call The Big Three, and consist of…
Read MoreWhat Is Over-Treatment of Dog Cancer?
Decision-making when faced with a dog cancer diagnosis can be tough. Treatment outcome, age, cost, and side effects all can weigh heavily on the mind of a dog lover. During the first decision-making period, so much has to be weighed. The difficult part in this process is that nothing seems to be for sure. Objective…
Read MoreMy Dog is Acting Fine … And Got Diagnosed With Cancer?!?
If your dog is acting fine, even though she has cancer, there could be a couple of reasons. Read this article to discover what they are.
Read MoreHow 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 MorePreservatives and Cancer: Believe the Hype?
Do preservatives in dog food cause cancer? Good question. Dog lovers seem to divide themselves into two camps. The first camp says, “Well, whatever. Everything causes cancer. I’m not going to worry about it.” Camp two says, “I only feed my dog all-natural food or home-made organic meals. We prefer alkaline water and do not…
Read MoreMore Ideas For Bone Cancer Pain: Pamidronate
I have been getting questions about control of pain for bone cancer in dogs, so I thought this might be a useful post. Life quality is central in any type of cancer treatment plan, and therefore pain control is critical. Osteosarcoma is the number one cancer affecting bone in dogs. It usually affects large or…
Read MoreBenadryl For Dogs With Mast Cell Tumors: How It Can Help
Vets often prescribe Benadryl for mast cell tumors. Why on earth do they do that? Dr. Dressler explains how this common allergy med can help.
Read MoreWhy Would Anyone Choose Chemotherapy?
Very few people overall will opt for chemotherapy for their dogs with cancer. This is interesting, because in human medicine it is widespread. It would seem that fear of life quality loss, expense, side effects, and lack of cure in true malignancy are the main deterrents. However, there are some reasons why some do opt…
Read MoreManageable Challenges and Life Quality
Manageable challenges and life quality: your dog with cancer NEEDS to feel good about himself. Continue to challenge her, to boost her sense of self-esteem!
Read MoreOsteosarcoma and Dog Food Link
Some new information for dogs at risk or afflicted with osteosarcoma is out that I would like to share. Osteosarcoma occurs in both dogs and humans, but is much more common in dogs. It is the number one bone cancer in the canine. A recent study found that eight widespread brands of dog food contained…
Read MoreEnd of Life Care in Dog Cancer
The end of life stage can be very hard on everyone. It often is gut-wrenching to see your dear companion start to say goodbye. Like any weighty decision, sometimes the emotions involved can paralyze our ability to choose. During these times it is so important to gain some clarity by seeking support in counselors, support…
Read MoreHemangiosarcoma, Mammary Cancers and Plastic Link?
Many of you will remember a media stir over BPA, that stuff found in plastic baby bottles that could be hazardous. BPA is Bishenol A. It is found in many different types of plastic. The most common is the clear, hard plastic called polycarbonate. BPA is also found in plastic food and beverage containers, “carbonless”…
Read MoreWhere Do I Begin?
“I am overwhelmed with all the information I am reading to help my dog with cancer.” Does this sound familiar to anyone out there? Most of the readers of this blog are searching for information. Once a true malignancy has developed, the realities can feel utterly unacceptable. This leads to information gathering. Whenever we are…
Read MoreHow Did This Happen?
I came across an article today that caught my attention. In Edinburgh, a 9 year old Rottweiler was found abandoned by it’s owner. He was quite ill, very thin, painful and weak. This Rott had been tied with a leash and left. As if this were not enough, the dog had end-stage cancer. The cancer…
Read MoreA New Look Chemotherapy
The usual way we have used chemotherapy, in both human patients and dogs, brings about toxicity risks that can be frightening for many. This fear is a rational one. The reason that the bad effects of chemotherapy are seen is a bit complex, but stems from what I believe are two main areas. First, the…
Read MoreHelp For Diarrhea In Canine Cancer Patients
I was recently asked by a client about what over the counter product could be used for diarrhea in veterinary patients. There are a number of different items that can be used. Some have interactions with other meds, or possibly side effects that would not be desirable. I told her about one that you might…
Read MoreWhy 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 MoreIs The Hammer The Tool For The Job?
How a flexible and vulnerable mindset can help us identify the problem correctly, and choose the right tool to solve it.
Read MoreAnti-oxidants versus Pro-Oxidants
A reader asked an interesting question recently that I thought would make a good post. The question involved the use of antioxidants, either for dogs with cancer or to help prevent cancer. Lets get an overview to clarify this frequently-muddied picture. A free radical is a reactive molecule that tends to damage cell parts. When…
Read MorePalladia, First Dog Cancer Drug FDA Approved But Not Great
Palladia, the first drug officially approved for use in treating dog cancer has arrived. This was described in the Dog Cancer Survival Guide by it’s pre-market name, SU11654. Now it’s finally ready for release. Palladia, made by Pfizer, has been approved by the FDA. It is expected to be available next year. This drug is…
Read MoreAstragalus: Immune Booster and More
I’d like to share some information taken from Traditional Chinese Medicine. One of the important aspects of full spectrum care to improve cancer outcomes is investigating … even when investigations lead outside the borders of our country. China has a long, well-developed, complex system of medicine. It is very different from what we are used…
Read MoreDo Numbers Matter?
A lover of a dog with cancer needs to come up with an plan that makes sense. The first step in any plan is arming oneself with answers, or data that relates to the situation. There are two basic areas that we need to focus on. The first is what can we do to maintain…
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