My Lab has Mast Cell Tumors

My Lab has Mast Cell Tumors

by Dora Meulman
(Gastonia NC)

My dog Duke an English born Lab has had skin allergies since we moved to NC 7 years ago. He is now 10.5 years old and has many nasty Mast Cell Tumors probably stage 3. I haved decided not to put him through Chemo or Radiation.

Currently the worst tumors are on his left ear, left front and back legs with many smaller tumors scattered on the trunk and right ear.

Last Oct. his skin allergies got worse; he was scratching constantly and his skin looked pink. Interesting when I would pet him or touch him I would get a raised rash on my arms. When I reported this to the Vet he thought I was crazy. By Feb the tumors started to appear, some became ulcerated and infected. We started him on a course of antibiotics.

My allergies to Duke got worse and I would start wheezing when I cleaned his many wounds; again the Vet thinks I'm a nut.

I changed his diet, eliminated grains and started giving him raw meat and vegitables. I changed his dried kibble regularly, currently on Blue Winderness Salmon.

In addition, I give him Cod Liver Oil, probiotics, Hyroxyzine 50mg X 3 day plus occasionally Benadryl, prednisone 20mg/day but I'm titrating that now to 10mg/day, 4LIFE TRANSFER FACTOR plus X 4 tabs day.

His skin allergies are much better, his coat is healthier and he hardly scratches. Best I'm no longer allergic to my dog. The turmors are still there but they don't seem to bother him as much. As long as he is happy we will continue on this course. I would love to heal these ulcerated tumors but being an ICU nurse I'm realistic.

I would love to hear from others. Any suggestion or help would be appreciated.

Dora

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My Lab has Mast Cell Tumors

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Nov 29, 2010
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Question for May 2010
by: tina

Did May feed her dog just the canned salmon ... One can twice daily? Would this be enough for a full size retriever? Would love to try it. Thanks.

Oct 23, 2010
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Canine Mast Cell Tumors
by: May

Our golden, age 11, developed festering recurrent mast cell tumors on her limbs and chest. The tumors were sprouting everywhere and growing so rapidly as if overnight.

Three surgeries later the vet said she wouldn't keep operating and referred us for radiation/chemo. Neither looked promising and the specialist was less than enthusiastic about treating her.

A desperate Google search led me to putting her on an all canned salmon diet (one can Wild Alaskan Salmon with 2 fish oil capsules twice a day). The tumors regressed within a week and there has been no recurrence at all for 6 months! She is alert, active and happy.

After two months she began to hate the plain salmon so I hesitatingly added raw organic beef patties to the canned salmon and mixed it all up. She eats this with gusto and still no recurrence.

Aug 10, 2010
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mast cell tumors
by: Regina

Hi Dora,

Your story caught my eye so, I thought I would write to you.

I also have a lab with Mast cell Tumors, and I am a NICU nurse. My dog Bruno is 11.5 and has had 2 surgeries since last November. After his 2nd surgery my regular vet started him on prednisone as it acts as a chemo agent when given in high doses. Well, he didn't tolerate it very well and started to have GI problems and lost a lot of weight. I couldn't bare to see him waste away so we decided as long as he was happy we would just let things be. He took 100mg Benadryl TID, 20mg of Pepcid BID, along with fish oil and water soluble Vit.E.

In July, he got 2 large ulcerated tumors on his left side. I made him wear a T-shirt all the time because the tumors would itch and he would constantly lick at them. I consulted an Oncology Vet, the vet gave him several injections of a steroid right into the tumors and they have completely dried up and healed. We started the CCNU treatments and so far so good. I have also added Curcumin and IP-6 as supplements to his diet.

The oncologist told me that the cancer isn't what causes death, it's the histamine that is released from the tumors causes stomach ulcers and that's what causes death. So keeping them on antihistamines is imperative.

I believe that the steroid injections really helped heal the tumors quickly, maybe they would help your dog. I would love to hear how yours is doing.

May 26, 2010
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Duke Dog
by: Dora

Thank you Debbie for your comment. I hope Cally stays well and continues to enjoy life. It has been very enlightening reading various blogs and sites about cancer in pets on the web, I've learned a lot. I wish I had known all this 10 years ago when Duke was a pup. I am going to try adding cottage cheese to his diet to increase the fat content as cancer cells don't grow on fat like they do on carbohydrates or protein. I already give him cod liver oil [he loves it] because he dislikes flax seed oil which was suggested in the cancer diet. I have been giving him Transfer Factor for 3 weeks - it has been noted to increase NK [natural killer] cells and improve the function of the immune system. I believe it has helped. I purchased the canine formula first but I changed him to the human grade to give him a larger dose without the yeast that is in the canine formula. There is a lot of information on the web but I'll give you this little video link that's well done. This is not considered a drug but a supplement. I also started taking the recommended dose and it's helped my asthma/allergy symptoms. Be advised it's not cheap $55 bottle/60 capsules ouch! Nor has it cured him yet but I'm hopeful for the future....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRnuwTDR1og

Dora and Duke Dog

May 26, 2010
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cancer
by: Debbie

Hi Dora,

Cally has lung cancer and I am doing very similar to you with her. I have also added AHCC - a mushroom complex capsule to her food each day as this is a good supplement for anything cancerous. Like you I am a realist and Cally is improving and so long as she is happy and relatively pain free I will not put her through chemo or surgery. Cally is 9 and never been ill in her life.
She is precious to us and whilst we have 7 others she is unique and needs all out support. Research on www.dogcancer.net these people are very good and we are currently using some of their products. I am in England... products not so easily available here as in the States unfortunately...

Kind regards,

Debbie & Cally

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