[Stanley E]

Our 10 year old Rottweiler whose organs were all sound based on ultra sounds a year ago, suddenly developed a fist sized cancerous tumor on his spleen. Removed the spleen, but he died passed away 6 weeks later. Was on Acana Duck dry food plus yogurt, pumpkin, twinlabs liquid collagen, and apple cider vinegar for over five years. Does anyone connect any of these to carcinoma?

[wendeyzee]

Hi Stanley, I don’t really have an answer to your question but just wanted to tell you i’m really sorry for the loss of your dog, we bond so closely with our dogs they become our family and I know how painful it is! It sounds like you fed him well, there are so many questions about processed dog foods and really just so many other variables as well. I wish you some comfort at this time.
Wendey

[Stanley E]

I appreciate your warm thoughts. Toby was born in our house. He weighed 6oz when he was born. We had his mom. He was healthy as a horse until he suddenly developed a tumor when he was ten. It tears me up that he went so suddenly.

[wendeyzee]

I can relate, our first two German shepherds pasted away two weeks apart two winters ago, we had a male and a female, the day we found out the male had a massive tumor on his spleen that night our female had a stomach torsion (flipped stomach) we got her to emergency and it was to long we had to put her to sleep, my heart was broken. Our male hung in there for another two weeks which i think he did for us, he knew we were grieving.

We now have 2 more gsds and i have been really doing a ton of research on dog food and it overwhelming and maddening, I change them around some but i’m always wondering if this one is a good one, short of making my own i’m never really sure, so ill keep up the research and love them to pieces while they are on this earth with me as i did the other two. I do feel for you!
Blessings and best regards,
Wendey

[Jenn H]

I’m very sorry for your loss.
It sounds like he had a hemangiosarcoma. It’s a very very very sneaky disease. My 8 y/o GSD died from a hemangiosarcoma on his right aorta. And I have 2 friends who had dogs with it on their spleen as well.
The thing about this cancer is usually the bleeding of it that kills them, not the actual cancer cells.
SHEP (my 8 y/o) was being managed very well by the holistic treatment. It was the anesthesia that he had to have to be tapped that his heart couldn’t take.
My first friend whose boxer mix had this was put down a few days after diagnosis. I think he would’ve had a better outcome if she had a better vet and/or sought out a second opinion.
My other friend’s Rhodesian Ridgeback lived for years with his. She fed him a low carb high protein diet. Mainly dehydrated raw. He had to take Pepcid. She never did the surgery because of his age.
It’s a disease more commonly found in some breeds than others. GSDs tend to have it on right aorta. Having the niece of my dog who passed I am in constant fear that she will have the same fate.
My sympathies are with you. I know how devastating it is to lose a dog. Especially so suddenly.

[Laura M]

Sounds to me like you took extremely good care of your dog. I don’t think with cancer you can pinpoint any specific “thing” that we did or didn’t do in most cases, but we do like to blame ourselves, don’t we? I think some breeds are predisposed to these horrible things. I had a Beagle die of thyroid cancer and then very shortly after another diagnosed with lymphoma. They have been fed well (although some would disagree because I used dry and canned) and given the best vet care – minimal vaccines, etc. I am so sorry for your loss, but I would sincerely doubt it was something you did in caring for them. I wish you peace and good memories.

[srrice]

In my view a dog has a genetic predisposition to cancer. We all know of dogs living to 16 plus years fed on grocery store kibble. If we feed our dogs carefully and provide regular vet care etc., we are doing all we can to keep them healthy.

[Jenn H]

Wendeyzee your situation is eerily similar to mine when I lost my 2 boys. The first from torsion. I took him to the vet immediately, but that emergency vet was a quack and wasn’t doing anything to help. I literally had to break into the back area & “steal” him back. Took him to another emergency vet. 3 hrs later. (Still don’t know how he hung on that long.) He survived the surgery, but kept coding afterward. We had to let him go.
A few months later my other guy was diagnosed w/HSA. He didn’t wake up from the anesthesia. Honestly if I had to choose a way for my animals to go that’s it. Just go to sleep happy and not wake up. The vet did CPR for 45 min. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her to stop even tho I knew. My husband showed up and told her no more. He was my baby boy. They were almost 11 and just barely 8 respectfully. (SHEP is my avatar.) How could I go home to my 2 girls a second time empty handed???
I’m grateful a part of SHEP is still here. His niece is will turn 8 in April. My biggest fear is she will have the same diagnosis some day. She’s my best little friend. It’s been ages since I’ve had a GSD live to a respectable age of 13+. Sometimes I almost feel like feeding them crap food maybe wasn’t so bad. Those are the dogs that lived to see old age.
From what I have learned about cancer diets is high protein, low carb. Good luck finding any premade. Grain free tend to have even more carbs than with grain. Go figure.
There is a DNA test for this cancer I think. But I already know it’s a possibility with my baby girl.
I’ve been told it’s basically 50/50 if a dog gets cancer or not. If that holds true then statistically 1 of my girls would get it. This is a thought I try to block every time it pops in my head. I’d rather it be me. Let all bad things happen to me. Never them.

[wendeyzee]

Hi Jenn, I’m very sorry to hear of your loss, for some of us our bond to our dogs is very intense and so painful to lose them! The thing about dog food is it has changed so much over the last 20 years as with human food with the introduction of GMOs, also inferior ingredients and processing, clearly there are companies out there that are more willing to be transparent about these things which certainly does improve the quality of the food (as well as the price) and better your chances for a healthier dog. I do agree that some dogs are more predisposed to cancer than others, so i guess we’ll just do the best we can armed with the information available to give our best friends a great life. Best wishes to you and your shepherds!
Wendey

[Jenn H]

Wendy that was an incredibly kind response.
Admittedly I sometimes get discouraged and angry when I think about the lifestyles and feeding of the dogs we had growing up and how hearty and healthy they were compared to the dogs I’ve had as an adult.
The dogs I had growing up ate food from the market and lived outside pretty much 24/7/365 and all but 2 lived on the east coast. (Not my choice. They would’ve lived inside and come everywhere with me. They were never just pets/working dogs in my mind.)
Now we know more about nutrition and treat our dogs as family and appreciate the truly wonderful beings they are.
I spend hours every week looking for the exact right food, treats, supplements, activities, etc to extend their life with quality, health and happiness. Sometimes it seems all for not.
Eventually I come to my senses and know that it’s all worth it and to stop fretting and enjoy them now.

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