When you hear the words, “your dog has cancer”, there are many questions and decisions that have to be made concerning their treatment. Certain factors will apply to most situations: the dog’s age and overall health, estimating how much quality time remains
When you hear the words, “your dog has cancer”, there are many questions and decisions that have to be made concerning their treatment. Certain factors will apply to most situations: the dog’s age and overall health, estimating how much quality time remains for him, the receptiveness of the dog to treatment, including what you think your companion’s wishes would be, and the personal investment in both time and money that you can devote to his care. The type of cancer, location, and aggressiveness of the tumor are important in answering some of these questions. Since each situation is unique, I will review one of the more common cancers that I see in my practice.
Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) is a dreaded tumor for lovers of large and giant breeds. This tumor is rarely seen in cats but is frequently found in dogs. On average, I will treat twenty dogs and one cat with osteosarcoma each year. Osteosarcoma is most common in large and giant breeds, with 90% of the cases involving dogs weighing over 50 pounds. It occurs most often in the front limbs, secondarily in the rear legs, and occasionally in the skull, spine and pelvic area. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive, fast-growing, and painful condition that generally metastasizes (spreads) to the lungs or less frequently to the brain, spine and other bony locations. The median age for dogs acquiring this tumor is seven years, but my cases have ranged from three years to 14 years at onset. As with other types of cancer, it seems the age at which dogs are aﬀected is getting younger.
Cancer is always unexpected and we are oﬅen shocked when it occurs. Osteosarcoma frequently begins with a simple lameness. It presents like an injury and most veterinarians treat the lameness symptomatically before delving deeper. It may respond to palliative treatment such as using the homeopathic remedies, Arnica montana or Rhus toxicodendron. Anti-inﬂammatories or NSAIDS will also yield temporary relief but the lameness returns. Radiographs are generally diagnostic for these tumors as osteosarcoma has a very characteristic appearance on X-rays exhibiting both bone destruction (lysis) and abnormal bone growth. I do not recommend biopsies with this tumor as they can facilitate metastasis and increase the pain.
Metastasis occurs early in over 95% of cases, even before diagnosis, so amputation is rarely a curative treatment. These tumors can be very painful for dogs even in the early stages, and eventually, pain control becomes extremely diﬃcult with either homeopathic remedies or drugs. At this point, the dog’s quality of life becomes severely compromised from the pain.
I strongly recommend amputation whenever the patient has three other, reasonably good legs and has a body type that can be supported on three legs. (A great reference website for amputees is www.tripaws.com) One has to remember that going from four legs to three legs is much diﬀerent than going from two legs to one!
Dogs with osteosarcoma respond well to homeopathic treatment. Generally, without amputation and homeopathic treatment alone, dogs 