Tonight I spent ten minutes feeding Brody peanut butter on a tongue depressor so I could remove some staples from his chin. 10 days ago he had yet another mass removal. I think we're at four mass removals now, maybe five. Five masses and one ear. At least two of those masses represented dangerous cancers in their early stages, and according to the pathology reports, they are gone. It is one of the things you do when you have a pet, especially a Golden. I do this willingly and gladly, ... Read more »
cancer
Save tons at the vet! How to keep your dog from dying of cancer
As a veterinarian, I've seen lots of cancers: lymphoma. Melanoma. Osteosarcoma. Hemangiosarcoma. Mast cell tumors. Wait, those are just my own dogs I'm talking about. When I factor in my clients, I think I've seen it all. Dogs get cancer, at very high rates: about 50% of senior dogs die of it, if the statistics are to be believed. Why? Well, if you read overly simplified, graphics-intensive websites by people who really don't know what they're talking about, they will tell you that they know ... Read more »
The SHOCKING TRUTH about cancer they don’t want you to know
Cancer. It's scary stuff. Every day, I hear another story of an elderly dog and cat diagnosed with neoplasia, and my heart hurts for those dealing with it. Without a doubt, cancer sucks, and every new breakthrough is a gift. There's lots of theories and evidence pointing to different causes of cancer. Food, say some. Chemicals, say others. Vets peddling food and chemical-laden vaccines, say many. And I'm here to tell you this: They're right. What? Say it ain't so! It's true. I've been ... Read more »
The Secrets to Saving Money at the Vet
Hoo boy, that 20/20 piece sure stirred up some emotions, didn't it? And it's Thanksgiving, a week of gratitude, so I'm going to take a step back and say thank you to all the wonderful readers and colleagues who make writing this worthwhile. In honor of that, I'm going to take a moment and also share with you some of my own veterinary secrets. For the low low price of nothing, I want to explain to you what I believe, based on over a decade now in the field, is the best way to save money at the ... Read more »
Pain, masks, and the longest hike
It's weird how the universe works in parallel sometimes. About 10 days or so ago, I broke my toe. And just so you know I'm not making this up: I really did. Not doing anything heroic, unfortunately. I broke it by running too enthusiastically into an unpacked box that was filled with some as-of-yet unknown substance, probably cement, or maybe iron bars or something. Nonetheless, what I thought was a stubbed toe turned into that mess within a day or so. It's not bad. It's taped up and I can ... Read more »
It’s OK to be angry- the topic I hate to revisit
It was the day after Christmas, which is how these things always seem to go. I looked at the x-ray on the monitor and smushed my lips together at what I saw. "That looks terrible," I say to my friend Kristen, also a veterinarian. She nods glumly. A lytic, destructive bone lesion. Pretty cut and dried for cancer. Survival statistics for cancer depend on a lot of things, but one of the main prognostic indicators is type of cancer. Bone cancers are notoriously nasty and challenging to treat. ... Read more »
Guest Post: Dr Patrick Mahaney Promotes Pet Cancer Awareness Month on petMD
For this hour, another fantastic post from the multi-talented Patrick Mahaney, who in addition to his work on his own site and Teddy Hilton is also now blogging at petMD! Thank you for sharing this great post, Patrick! This article appeared on petMD as part of Dr Mahaney’s The Daily Vet series. The photo is of Quinn, one of my patients who valiantly fought his cancer battle but has since passed on (see Memorial for Quinn the Border Collie Mix). Cancer. The Big C. The Crab. Regardless of ... Read more »
