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Old January 23rd, 2011, 01:39 PM
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dbg10 dbg10 is offline
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Ajax, Ontario
Posts: 496
Welcome BruceMM I am sorry to hear that your lovely dog has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. I have a dog who also has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma but we have not had the surgery to make the final diagnosis because of his age and health. As Scottiedog said I know that the immune system is compromised when the spleen has been removed and you should be giving a supplement to boost his immune system. I have my puppy on a special diet that I found on the internet. I read all the info I could find and put together a diet that he would eat and could tolerate. Here are a few links for you that I found very useful:

Dog Cancer Diet and Natural Supplements

Nutrition for the Canine Cancer Patient by Dr Gregory Ogilvie DVM Colorado State University

Nutritional Requirements of Dogs and Cats with Cancer, Dept of Oncology Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Veterinary Diet for Dogs with Cancer

Integrative Treatment of Cancer in Dogs and Cancer Diet for Dogs

Dr Dressler's Dog Cancer Survival Guide and Diet The guide costs money which I didn't spend but there is still a lot of info available through his site.
According to his website Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM is apparently known as the "dog cancer vet".

I was most interested in the diet and the supplements because that is the only treatment my boy is getting at the moment. He was given a month to live when he was diagnosed in December and he has passed the one month point now and seems to be doing fairly well. He has his bad days and really good days but he is still with me today.

One thing you should be very careful of when choosing supplements is that the supplement doesn't cause bleeding. As this cancer's symptoms include internal bleeding you definitely don't want to make it worse. I made the mistake of buying 'Red Clover' because it sounded like a good supplement that might help him. Fortunately I read the detailed information about it before I gave it to him that told me that it shouldn't be given to anyone who has bleeding tendencies. There are several out there that they say are effective and I am still experimenting with them to find one he can tolerate and will eat. The first link above has a list of supplements that are recommended in cancer in dogs and it is quite useful. Please make sure you read all the information about each supplement, that's the mistake I made.

The people here in this forum have been extremely helpful to me during my time here. They have had many suggestions since Raggs was diagnosed which have been very helpful especially when I was putting his diet together.

I hope his cancer hasn't spread and you get much more time with him. The fact yours has had his spleen removed should give him much longer than mine was given.

BTW what is your dog's name? I will keep him in my prayers
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R.I.P. Raggs 1997-2012 ; Pepper 1997-2009 ; Tiger 2000 - 2014;
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