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Cavaliers with cancer

clover

New member
Hello friends,
Does anyone have any experience with their cavalier having cancer? We have just been told that our little ten year old Clover has cancer. She had a growth removed from her mouth two weeks ago and it was sent for analysis. Sadly it was not merely an overgrowth of gum as hoped, but a cancerous growth. Our vet has warned us that she could leave us within the next year. We are devastated for she is such a sweet little poppet. Any suggestions to help us help her would be most welcome. By the way, our vet is a trained homoeopath and will be putting her on two remedies shortly. Other than that, we do not know what else to do.
Best wishes Debbie and Steve Scott.:dogwlk:
 
I'm sorry to hear that Clover has cancer :( It's great that you're working with a homepath vet, I know many of them specialize in treating cancer and other diseases on dogs...You should double check on this, but I believe dogs that have cancer should not have any grains. A woman I work with has a Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retreiver who developed cancer at only 2 years old. Her homeopath vet had her immediately put her dog on a raw diet (and some other supplements) and her dog has now been cancer-free for almost a year! If you're willing to look into feeding raw you might want to see how your homeopath vet feels about it. Here's a link to my homeopath vet's website, it talks about the diet for dogs with chronic disease, and specifically cancer:

http://www.charlesloopsdvm.com/chronicdiet.htm

And specifically for dogs with cancer: http://www.charlesloopsdvm.com/cancer.htm

Here are some main points from this section:
This diet supplies the necessary macro nutrients and micro nutrients with a reduced caloric intake. Studies have shown that lowered calorie, balanced, high quality protein diets without excessive, complex carbohydrates aid in treating chronic diseases such as cancer.

Supplements - Strongly Suggested.
~ A multi-vitamin, once daily
~ Fish Oil (molecular distillation), one - five grams EPA + DHA daily (depending on weight)
~ Vitamin C - 500mg if under 50 lbs twice daily / 1000mg if over 50 lbs twice daily
~ Vitamin E - 200 IU's if under 50 lbs once daily / 400 IU's if over 50lbs once daily
~ Arginine - 500mg once or twice daily
~ Grape seed extract / Pycnogenol, approx. 1mg. per lb. body weight, twice daily.
blueseparator.jpg
Supplements - Optional/Additional
~ Astragalus 10+, Chinese Formula. Available in office.
~ Transfer Factor Plus (4life). Order and dosage info on Supplements & Nutrients for Cancer page
 
I'm sorry to hear such sad news. I had a dog growing up who was diagnosed with cancer (in her lymph nodes) and lived two more years after that.

Your girl has lived a long 10 years and that alone is impressive for a Cavalier! Enjoy every minute you have with her...she may live a long time still.
 
Hello friends,
Does anyone have any experience with their cavalier having cancer? We have just been told that our little ten year old Clover has cancer. She had a growth removed from her mouth two weeks ago and it was sent for analysis. Sadly it was not merely an overgrowth of gum as hoped, but a cancerous growth. Our vet has warned us that she could leave us within the next year. We are devastated for she is such a sweet little poppet. Any suggestions to help us help her would be most welcome. By the way, our vet is a trained homoeopath and will be putting her on two remedies shortly. Other than that, we do not know what else to do.
Best wishes Debbie and Steve Scott.:dogwlk:
CathyT, one of our moderators, has a lovely boy cavalier named Jake who is a mouth cancer survivor. She found a surgeon who removed the cancer completely, and Jake has been a healthy boy since then - it has been a few years. Do you have a veterinary college nearby? Whenever I go to Ohio State University Veterinary College for specialists, I meet plenty of people whose dogs are being treated for cancer, so there is hope for your girl.
 
I am very sorry for your diagnosis. Are you only looking at homeopathic treatments? Has your vet explained how far or if it has spread? have you discussed whether conventional medical approaches are possible?

Diet and supplements alone would not be adequate to deal with a cancer diagnosis, but could be helpful as a complementary approach.

Cathy T did indeed have a successful outcome with a growth that was caught early enough for surgery and treatment and I am sure will be able to give you more information about her experience when she sees this thread. :flwr:
 
I am so sorry that you have received such sad news. Like Karlin, I would be asking about what conventional methods may be available. I like to reserve homeopathic treatment for minor things, or as backup to conventional medicine.

I hope that for whatever time is remaining, that Clover has a good quality of life.
 
So sorry to read about your baby. My cocker had a growth in his mouth which was removed, but I was told it was an aggresive type of cancer but he didnt give me any time scale. Enjoy your wonderful girl for whatever time you have together, make everyday a happy and loved one and I do hope she is with you longer than suggested.:)
 
Not a cavalier, but my Benji, a small collie cross had a cancer on his forehead.

At first we thought the slight lump, which suddenly appeared between his eyes, was a bump, caused by catching his face on the corner of the shed, during a mad gallop. However, just by looking, I think the vets knew what it was and a biopsy confirmed. Because of it's location and the fact that the growth extended into his nasal cavity, there was nothing to do but try to slow things down.

He was given a high dose of steroids, which did slow things down (The lump had grown noticably in the short time we waited for test results) but made him put on a massive amount of wait, taking him from a very dainty collie to a dog with the bulk of a sheep.

Despite this, he enjoyed life, though he only had eight months in total. The vet assured me that Benji had no pain and that he would tell me when it was time. We chose to let him go before any pain started and the time was when the size of growth pulled on his eyelids, threatening to make completely closing difficult.

He only had eight months, but they were happy ones. His last morning was spent eating his favourite food, romping in the woods and being allowed to chew upa small branch. It was very sad to let him go, but then I felt a surge of joy that he'd gone, unknowing and before pain.
 
Again, not a cavalier but a golden retriever

Our Saxon at 10 had nose cancer. You could actually see it eating away at his nose. He had radiotherapy and this kept him in remission, he then went on to have a gastric torsion - which again he survived for another 3 years.

Then one day he walked into the shed - it was time.

Please have hope there are many things you can do:xfngr:
 
Just now saw your post (I've been out of town) and want to give you some hope. Jake was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma when he was two years old. We had an excellent board certified surgeon who removed his upper left jaw bone (left one molar in the back and the front pointy tooth, can't think of the proper name, and removed the bone up to his nasal cavity). Here we are 3 1/2 years later to tell you about it!! We didn't need to do any radiation or chemo.....we got very clean margins after the surgery. You would never know he's missing his jawbone unless you opened his mouth and looked at it. And two weeks later he was eating regular food again.

My surgeon did say that the surgery was originally thought to be drastic and extreme because they took so much mouth. But it's been performed more and more with excellent results. We did catch the growth when it was very new (at least new in making a visible appearance).

Please let us know what you hear. And feel free to pm or e-mail me if you have specific questions. I went through a week of he** thinking I was going to lose my boy, we had been given a 6 month prognosis with surgery and radiation until I found our life-saving surgeon.
 
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