My Chow Woody had a tumor removed from the back of his tongue. Pathology stated it was a poorly differentiated melonoma, and microscopic cells were found out to margins of the excision. They expect it to return or metastisize, but no other sites of involvement have been identified and Woody acts and looks like half of his 10 years of age.

I've started him on Ojibwa extract, IP-6, Inositol and Beta/Glucan. Anybody have any ideas for me, like recommending other suppliments?

The vet stated neither chemo nor radiation works for this type of cancer. Should I go to a holistic vet, or will my herbal approach be just as good? An acupuncturist friend of mine stated animal acupuncture was usually for arthritic conditions and pointed me to the extract. Woody's mother died age five of liver cancer, consequently I have always tried to avoid flea dips and dry food preserved with other than Vitamin E formulas. I've always mixed dry with canned Pedigree or Mighty Dog or Pets Marts Award.

I am now considering going to purely human-grade foods. I diluted the extract (5 drops in the dropper) with water and squirted it in his throat. This works but is not his idea of a good time. I mixed 10 drops with milk last night and he lapped it up fine. The IP-6 and Beta/Glutan are in capsules and I pour them on his food and mix in. We have two other dogs in the house so I can't just add ojibwa extract to the general water bowl and know Woody is receiving his dose.

Anyway I would welcome any input. As I said, the vet states nothing works for this kind of cancer except surgery. Thanks for your time,

Doug & Woody.

Jan replies...

Personally I would not use the extract, get or make the real tea and give him a good bit of it. Our Pet FAQ goes into detail about buying bottled essiac or making your own from bulk herbs or a dry mix. There is not really much relationship between price and quality, expensive is not always better.

Extract is made by soaking raw herbs in alcohol without any brewing involved. I don't think that is good for the dog and it is hard to know what the dose really ought to be because the potency of extracts can vary widely. Also, I do not think slippery elm can develop properly in an extract, in my opinion.

I heartily agree that you should go to foods with only human grade ingredients. I happen to think pet foods are responsible for many of the cancers we are seeing in our pets, I can't prove it of course. But I won't feed mine anything that isn't human grade -- if the claim is made it is literally impossible to tell, you have to just do the best you can.

You could try the flax seed oil + cottage cheese remedy described on the Supplements page. I wish you good luck with Woody in his situation with an aggressive cancer, I would try as many things as possible that he can tolerate.

Last week my 12 year old golden, Sadie was diagnosed with liver cancer that has effected 80-90% of her liver. It has diplaced her stomach cadually and causing her to have inappetance and naseau. She also had a slight infection cause unknown possibly due to the cancer process as stated by the vet. He recommended chemo as our only resort but my lovey soon-to-be husband has read many success stories from the use of essiac. So at the moment Sadie has been taking three doses of 2oz. essiac along with her usual medication of Thyrosyn (which she takes for under active thyroid .3mg twice a day). The vet also put her on Amoxicillian and Flagyl to fight the infection and a anti-nausea called Reglan. My concern is how do these medications effect her liver and with us treating her with essiac?

Please help we must do all we can for her and make her as comfortable as possible. She is with one of us, myself or Nathan, every day. I take her to work and some days she goes with Nathan. We love her so and are DEVASTATED!

Jan replies...

Hello Tricia,
I am so sorry about your Sadie but I don't know the answer. I don't think there is any reason to think essiac would make her condition worse and it might help recover her appetite. I would certainly use it as it might help and might let her live longer.

I think Flagyl can be hard to tolerate, Reglan is supposed to reduce nausea. I have both my Danes on it sporadically, they both have digestive problems. I hope you are getting the generic, metoclopramide, and not the name brand, this is a case where the generic is astonishingly less expensive.

I found this list of Flagyl side effects on a Crohn's disease page:
Flagyl (Metronidazole) Common Side Effects -- diarrhea, dizziness or lightheadedness, headache, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, stomach pain or cramps.

Since she already has a stomach problem maybe you could ask your vet if there is another antibiotic she could take instead.

I wish you good luck.

I've been giving Essiac tea for over 2 1/2 years now to my Sheltie who has cancer. I just happened on your website today and thought you'd like to know that Essiac is working wonders for yet another cancer-dog. It's part of a program of nutritional supplements I give Sander, who has had no chemo, surgery or radiation.

Sander has a malignant fibrous histiocytoma in his mouth, and was given a 6 week to 6 month diagnosis in late September 1998, when the cancer was diagnosed. Obviously, the vets reckoned without the effects of a strengthened immune system, good nutrition, and a determined dog-owner team!

If you'd like to meet Sander, who will be celebrating his 10th birthday next week, his web page is here: http://rhallenbeck.tripod.com/sander.html

By the way, Sander loves Essiac tea and drinks it twice a day, full strength, from a little porcelain 'tea bowl' we use just for that. He slurps it right down, so apparently the taste is quite pleasant to him.

Best--
Connie (and Sander the WonderPup)

Jan replies...

That is a great story Connie, thank you for sending it!

Giant schnauzer, 8 years old, diagnosed T cell lymphoma. Suggested treatment: new growths to be removed (one large size of dime and raised and may have as many as seven small ones since last operation on5/11/01. To start chemo (Lomustine) Tuesday. Vet is to start with blood test and give 8 pills once every 6 weeks with blood test before and after to see about the red and white cell count going down. Another alterntive? He is still eating and stools are firm. Giving him flax seed oil with cottage cheese, vitamins, enzymes and flower essence combo, just started these this last week. Lesions itch. Eyes watering and now a thicker mucus type. Sneezing. Nose not cold. Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jan replies...

I am very sorry about your boy.

If you have 8 new lumps in three weeks it seems like surgical removal might be exciting the cancer. Perhaps you could talk to your vet about doing the chemo and leaving the lumps? Surgery is pretty stressful and the chemo will be too. It seems like a lot to ask your dog to go through at once. I don't know if you have to remove the lumps to have any hope of the chemo being effective, if so I would sure grill your vet very hard about what the expected outcome of all of this treatment is, other than a large payment to his pocket. Is he indicating to you a likely cure of this cancer? Does he think the treatment may extend your dog's life by a significant amount of time? How comfortable will he be during that time? I guess what I am suggesting to you is that the likely outcome needs to be worth the stress you are going to put him through. If these lumps are removed and you get more of them in another three weeks are you going to remove those also?

It is a very personal decision to make, and there is no wrong answer. But you should be the one who makes it based on all the info you can get, it shouldn't be something you do because the vet says so.

When you say "flower essence" do you mean Flor-Essence? If so, that is an 8 - herb essiac version and it is a good one but there are others equally as good that are much less costly. If nothing else, essiac tea will probably help make the chemo easier for him to tolerate. If you decide not to do the chemo it will also at least help him feel better and keep his appetite. In that case, I would give a much larger dose than recommended by the essiac directions.

The other things sound good if he is not allergic to them. Does he have a history of food allergies? Some of what you are seeing could be the body flushing toxins, but it seems too soon for that if you just started giving the remedies last week.

A tea of chickweed might soothe the itching lesions. Applied externally. I like to mix chickweed with cleavers, it makes a very good healing combination for the skin.

If you can find a holistic vet you might be able to find some alternative therapies and have some help. There might be another way to let him live the same amount of time but perhaps feel better while he is doing it. There is a State location list of holistic vets at http://www.altvetmed.com/ahvmadir.html.

I sure do wish you luck, please let me know how he does.

I have a ten year old Scottish Terrior diagnosed with Oral Melanoma last October. The lump is on the upper right jaw which is now about the size of a large peach pit. I have been giving her raw food and flax oil with the cottage cheese. I also give her multi vitamins and MGN-3 to boost her immune system. The lump is growing slowly. I have not yet found the remedy to stop its growth and hopefully kill the cancer. I was told by the vet last october she had maybe 3 months as oral melanoma is very aggressive and nothing could be done. Well, nine months later and she is doing wonderfully but I REALLY want to find something to KILL THIS CANCER. Any thoughts, suggestions please...

Thanks, Kathleen

Jan replies...

It sounds like you have done really well with your girl. Unfortunately, I don't think we have figured out how to obliterate most cancers yet. But sometimes we can slow them a lot and add good quality time. I think that is a accomplishing a lot.

Perhaps you could find a holistic vet to help you. There is a list of them by state here: http://www.altvetmed.com/ahvmadir.html. It is really easier if you have help.

If you can't find a holistic vet within reach, some of them will do telephone consulting. And barring that, I would certainly add essiac to what you are already doing. You might also give her red clover and blue violet, mixed 1/2 and 1/2. You should only add one thing at a time so if you get a negative reaction you know which thing caused it.

I hope your little one has a long life still with you.

I have a 13 yr. old Austalian Shepherd with liver cancer, the worst one of the cancers. Her specialist says it is the agressive one. She had exploratory and it seemed to be confined to the liver area. She started her first chemo shot this week and is doing very well. Specialist feels she has about a year to live, give or take. Would there be any benefits to putting some essiac tea in her drinking water?

Jan Replies...

There might be benefit to giving essiac tea to your Aussie. I would give it to her separate from her drinking water so you know how much she is getting. It might help her suffer less from side effects of chemo. It usually improves the appetite. I would start with a 1/2 ounce twice a day and work up to an ounce. Or even start with 1/4 ounce and work up.

I have a 10 year old Pit Bull named Tessa, and a 13 month old Pit Bull name Jamie. Currently they are both in perfect health. I would like to keep them both healthy for as long as possible. I was told that this treatment would help. I read alot about essiac tea and it seems that most people use this only after being diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease. Is that a prerequsite?

Jan Replies...

Tell me about everything you feed your dogs. Although essiac tea seems be a powerful support for the immune system, I am inclined to say that general health ought to be promoted by a really good diet and essiac ought to be saved for when you need it.

If you have been feeding your older girl with "grocery store" dog food for 10 years, if I were you I would look into a really good diet for her, and of course the young one too -- that's why I wanted more information on what you are feeding them.

I have a 11 year old golden retriever which has been diagnosed with cancer. A friend told me about "essiac" which I started using right away. Originally the vet told us he only had 90 days to live. I would like to know if I have to give this tea forever, or do you stop after a limited time? I can not find any information in regard to lenght of treatment anywhere. Please reply soon, since my dog has been on the tea for 3 months.

Jan Replies...

How is he doing and what kind of cancer does he have? Most of the time if a vet says an animal has three months to live, it is a pretty bad cancer. If your boy is still feeling good he has already been helped. If you are giving him a commercial bottled essiac tea or using a commercial dry mix, you can save a lot of money by getting the individual dry herbs and mixing/brewing it up yourself.

In another 3 months if he is still doing well, you might want the vet to check him again. If there is no cancer you could reduce the dose to something like 1 or 2 teaspoons a day (5 days on, 2 days off) as a "preventative dose". I have to tell you that complete absence of cancer is not very likely to happen, although it does once in awhile.

As for pets (and people) taking essiac tea "forever", Rene Caisse, the originator of it, did not do this. She gave her human patients measured doses for a specific number of days or weeks, and reduced it to a "preventative" level if there was marked improvement, but there is no record of her making arrangements so her patients could "take it forever".

Is essiac tea the only alternative you are using? There are other supplements and remedies that are worth trying.

I sure wish you well, and I hope he is feeling great. I know it is a really hard thing to cope with a pet's cancer, but it is worth it.

Jan