As well as dog cancer treatment information like a deep dive into medicinal mushrooms, this fall Dog Cancer Answers will also feature some True Tail stories about real-life dogs and their cancer journeys and more question and answer episodes from listeners like you.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

Dog Cancer Support

Dog Cancer News

Petco Love

About Today’s Guest, Molly Jacobson:

Molly Jacobson is a writer. She is also the editor of the best-selling animal health book The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. A lifelong dog lover and self-professed health nerd, she is all too familiar with dog cancer. She has been supporting readers of Dr. Dressler’s website and book since the beginning. Molly earned a BA from Tufts University, and after a career in bookselling and book publishing attended The Swedish Institute to become a licensed massage therapist in New York State.

LinkedIn

Other Links:

To join the private Facebook group for readers of Dr. Dressler’s book “The Dog Cancer Survival Guide,” go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/dogcancersupport/ 

Dog Cancer Answers is a Maui Media production in association with Dog Podcast Network

This episode is sponsored by the best-selling animal health book The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity by Dr. Demian Dressler and Dr. Susan Ettinger. Available everywhere fine books are sold.

Have a guest you think would be great for our show? Contact our producers at DogCancerAnswers.com

Have an inspiring True Tail about your own dog’s cancer journey you think would help other dog lovers? Share your true tail with our producers.

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200 www.dogcanceransers.com.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit: www.dogcancernews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen in to learn how the OncoK9 blood test by PetDx uses next-generation sequencing to determine if your apparently healthy dog has cancer DNA floating around in her body. While this test won’t give you a diagnosis, it can be used as a screening test to find cancer before it causes symptoms of illness, letting you get a head start on treatment for your dog.

This simple blood draw is one of the newest tools for dog lovers to use to battle canine cancer.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

PetDx

PetDx Pet Parents Info Page

CANDiD Study

OncoK9 Clinic Locator

OncoK9 Cancer SAFE™ Tool

Dog Cancer Support

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Andi Flory:

Dr. Flory is a specialist in medical oncology with nearly two decades of experience practicing and publishing in the areas of early cancer diagnosis, treatments, trials, and novel diagnostic test evaluation. A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in oncology, Dr. Flory graduated from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and completed additional training at Florida Veterinary Specialists and Cancer Treatment Center in Tampa, Florida, and Cornell University.

In 2019, she treated a small dog named Poppy for pancreatic cancer. Poppy lost her battle with the disease, but left an indelible mark on Dr. Flory, leading her to a newfound passion for cancer genomics. Soon after, Dr. Grosu tapped Dr. Flory to launch PetDx and serve as its first chief medical officer.

Prior to PetDx, most recently she co-directed the oncology internship and served as a medical oncologist at Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego. Dr. Flory founded the medical oncology service at a sister hospital, Veterinary Specialty Hospital - North County. Prior to that she was a staff oncologist, resident advisor and co-chief of the oncology department at The Animal Medical Center in New York City. She has served as a principal investigator for national and international multi-site clinical investigational studies. 

Dr. Flory is constantly expanding her knowledge in cutting-edge areas of veterinary medicine. She holds a certificate in genomics from The Johns Hopkins University along with certificates in cancer genomics and precision oncology, and genetic testing and sequencing technologies from Harvard Medical School. In addition, Dr. Flory is a skilled lecturer. An avid snowboarder and passionate foodie, when not keeping up with two preschoolers, Dr. Flory loves to travel, spend time with her husband, sons, their cat Mochi, and dog Cheyenne.

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen in to get a sneak peek at some of our upcoming episodes (hint: next week’s interview is a game-changer for dog cancer screening!) plus to hear about some of the resources available online.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

Dog Cancer Support

Dog Cancer News

About Today’s Guest, Molly Jacobson:

Molly Jacobson is a writer. She is also the editor of the best-selling animal health book The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. A lifelong dog lover and self-professed health nerd, she is all too familiar with dog cancer. She has been supporting readers of Dr. Dressler’s website and book since the beginning. Molly earned a BA from Tufts University, and after a career in bookselling and book publishing attended The Swedish Institute to become a licensed massage therapist in New York State.

LinkedIn

Other Links:

To join the private Facebook group for readers of Dr. Dressler’s book “The Dog Cancer Survival Guide,” go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/dogcancersupport/ 

Dog Cancer Answers is a Maui Media production in association with Dog Podcast Network

This episode is sponsored by the best-selling animal health book The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity by Dr. Demian Dressler and Dr. Susan Ettinger. Available everywhere fine books are sold.

Have a guest you think would be great for our show? Contact our producers at DogCancerAnswers.com

Have an inspiring True Tail about your own dog’s cancer journey you think would help other dog lovers? Share your true tail with our producers.

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200 www.dogcanceransers.com.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit: www.dogcancernews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether your dog is a super senior or a gentle geriatric, she is probably going to experience some issues with cognitive decline, mobility limitations, and chronic pain. These aging challenges are compounded if your older dog also has cancer.

Dr. Mary Gardner has tips on how to tell if your dog is a senior vs. geriatric, the vital importance of regular vet care for mature pups, and evaluating your dog’s quality of life. She also goes into signs of chronic pain and how to assist your dog with getting up and moving around more easily.

Our senior dogs are our best buddies, and there are lots of resources that can help us keep them comfortable and happy.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

It’s Never Long Enough: A practical guide to caring for your geriatric dog book - We may earn an affiliate commission if you purchase something through this link.

Help ‘Em Up Harness

Pet Hospice Journal

Grey Muzzle App

Lap of Love

Lap of Love Support Groups

Dog Cancer Support

Related Links:

The Grey Muzzle Organization

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Mary Gardner:

There is nothing better to Dr. Gardner than a dog with a grey muzzle or skinny old cat! Her professional goal is to increase awareness and medical care for the geriatric veterinary patient and to help make the final life stage to be as peaceful as possible, surrounded with dignity and support for all involved.

A University of Florida graduate, she discovered her niche in end of life care and is the co-founder and CIO of Lap of Love which has over 300 veterinarians around the country dedicated to veterinary hospice and euthanasia in the home.

Dr. Gardner and Lap of Love have been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The New York Times, the Associated Press, The Doctors, and numerous professional veterinary publications. She is co-author of the textbook “The Treatment and Care of the Veterinary Patient”, co-author of a children’s activity book focused on saying goodbye to a dog called “Forever Friend”, and the author of a book dedicated to pet owners “It’s Never Long Enough: A practical guide to caring for your geriatric dog”. Dr. Gardner also won VMX Small Animal Speaker of the year in 2020!

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Radiation therapy can sound very scary to many dog lovers. But it can be extremely useful for dog cancer, both to destroy tumors and to provide pain relief.

Jenny Fisher is a veterinary technician specialist in oncology, and has helped many dogs through radiation treatments. She explains all things radiation therapy, from the different treatment types to its best uses and potential side effects.

If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between teletherapy and brachytherapy, why some courses of radiation are short and others long, or what a dog experiences when dropped off for a treatment, this episode is for you.

About Today’s Guest, Jenny Cassibry Fisher:

Jenny has worked in veterinary medicine in some regard for over 25 years, receiving her RVT in 2002 and her VTS (IM-oncology) in 2015. Her clinical experience includes academia, general medicine, and emergency medicine. Jenny serves as the president-elect for the Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians (AIMVT).

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gio called in to our Listener Line about his dog with a mammary mass. Unfortunately, his dog has started to chew on the mass, causing bleeding and more discomfort. To make matters worse, his vet is concerned that it may be too large to completely remove with surgery.

Oncologist Brooke Britton weighs in on the different surgery options for a dog with a large mass, as well as how to protect tumors that are bleeding or that bother your dog. And when it comes to actually getting a surgery done, you might be able to schedule it with your regular vet or you might be better off scheduling with a board-certified specialty surgeon who is experienced with complicated cases.

Listen in to learn more.

Related Links:

American College of Veterinary Surgeons

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Brooke Britton:

Brooke Britton completed her residency training in Medical Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012, and has been in clinical practice in the NYC and Jersey Shore area since that time. She helmed the Brooklyn and Downtown arms of the Oncology Department for BluePearl Veterinary Partners in New York for the past 9 years, and was an active participant in house officer training and clinical trials during her tenure there. She currently serves as a private consultant and maintains an independent clinical practice. Dr. Britton has lectured nationally and authored several peer-reviewed articles. She has particular interest in hematologic malignancies and the metastatic cascade.

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Double board-certified veterinarian Dr. Lauren Trepanier has lost three Boxers to lymphoma, and she’s not letting that slide. She is currently studying the impact of carcinogens caused by environmental pollution on lymphoma in Boxers and transitional cell carcinoma in all dogs.

For lymphoma, the initial study found that Boxers have a higher risk of developing lymphoma if they live within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant, or within two miles of a chemical supplier or active crematorium. Current studies are directly measuring the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and herbicides in the urine of Boxers with lymphoma as well as their levels in the air and tap water in those dogs’ homes. Dr. Trepanier’s lab is also teaming up with the Morris Animal Foundation Golden Retriever Lifetime Study to measure VOCs and herbicides in the urine of Goldens with lymphoma.

For bladder cancer, the initial study found that dogs were at a higher risk of developing bladder cancer if they lived in a county with higher ozone concentrations or higher levels of trihalomethanes in the tap water. They also found that dogs and their owners share similar urinary levels to two carcinogens, with 5-7% of apparently healthy people and dogs having levels high enough to damage their DNA and potentially cause cancer. Current studies are measuring the urinary and household levels of acrolein and arsenic.

Listen in to learn more about these studies, and scroll down to view the recruitment fliers.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

Dr. Trepanier’s Profile at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dog Cancer Support

One Health Alliance

Canine Health Foundation

Golden Retriever Lifetime Study

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Lauren Trepanier:

Dr. Trepanier has 23 years of experience at UW-Madison managing internal medicine cases, training residents, interns, and students, and conducting research on the risks for adverse drug reactions and environmental cancers. She earned her DVM with distinction from Cornell University, completed residency training at the Animal Medical Center in New York, and obtained a PhD in Pharmacology, also at Cornell. Dr. Trepanier is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology and is currently a Professor of Internal Medicine at UW-Madison SVM. More recently, Dr. Trepanier is devoting time to initiatives that engage veterinarians in research as Assistant Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Jules Benson of Nationwide Pet Insurance breaks down the data from their first two white papers on dog cancer – Oodles of Doodles, which compares Poodles and Goldens to Poodle mixes, and Diversity of Risk, which looks at cancer risk in specific breeds and purebred dogs vs. mixed breed dogs. You might be surprised by some of the findings!

The goal of these studies is to one day provide guidelines for cancer screening in specific breeds, and in the meantime, to increase education and owner awareness about which particular cancer(s) they should be on the lookout for in their dog.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

Nationwide Cancer Studies - Diversity of Risk and Oodles of Doodles are the primary ones discussed in this podcast

Nationwide Pet Insurance

VetWatch

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Jules Benson:

Dr. Jules Benson is an experienced executive in the animal health field. Before coming to Nationwide’s pet health insurance unit, he was on the start-up team of a pet health company, and then assisted other veterinary and medical companies as an executive specializing in healthcare marketing and strategy.

A licensed veterinarian, Dr. Benson is a graduate of the University of Liverpool’s school of veterinary medicine. He has been active in conservation efforts in Africa, and he worked in clinical practice before moving into the pet health industry as a leader.

He can speak with insight and experience on animal health industry trends, start-ups, innovation and strategic planning and, of course, on veterinary medicine.

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caller Janet has found that in her breed, checking the anal glands every six months after the dog turns six years old can be really helpful for catching anal gland carcinomas early, and wonders if there are other things that owners can do for other cancers.

Oncologist Brooke Britton discusses the importance of routine wellness visits with your veterinarian, as well as screening tests that can be done once in a while, such as liquid biopsies or taking x-rays. She also emphasizes what we as dog lovers can do at home to pick up any lumps or behavioral changes quickly, track lump growth, and be advocates for our dogs and seek veterinary care promptly to get tumors removed while they are small and before they can spread.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

Nationwide Diversity of Risk white paper

Dog Cancer Support

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Brooke Britton:

Brooke Britton completed her residency training in Medical Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012, and has been in clinical practice in the NYC and Jersey Shore area since that time. She helmed the Brooklyn and Downtown arms of the Oncology Department for BluePearl Veterinary Partners in New York for the past 9 years, and was an active participant in house officer training and clinical trials during her tenure there. She currently serves as a private consultant and maintains an independent clinical practice. Dr. Britton has lectured nationally and authored several peer-reviewed articles. She has particular interest in hematologic malignancies and the metastatic cascade.

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When your dog has cancer, there are a lot more people on her care team than just you and the oncologist. Veterinary technicians – including ones who specialize in oncology – are another layer of medical professionals ready to help your dog.

Jenny Fisher, Registered Veterinary Technician and Veterinary Technician Specialist in Oncology, was the Head Technician in Oncology at Louisiana State for 14 years. Fisher explains what vet techs do in the hospital, the education they have undergone, and the struggles of working in this profession. She also explains why vet techs aren’t called veterinary nurses in the US, and untangles some of the different credentials used in various states.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians

National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America

American Association of Veterinary State Boards

Related Links:

Cancer Treatment Unit at Louisiana State University

How to Meditate With Your Dog (the Maui the dog story)

About Today’s Guest, Jenny Cassibry Fisher:

Jenny has worked in veterinary medicine in some regard for over 25 years, receiving her RVT in 2002 and her VTS (IM-oncology) in 2015. Her clinical experience includes academia, general medicine, and emergency medicine. Jenny serves as the president-elect for the Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians (AIMVT).

LinkedIn

Other Links:

If you would like to ask a dog cancer related question for one of our expert veterinarians to answer on a future Q&A episode, call our Listener Line at 808-868-3200.

Dog Cancer News is a free weekly newsletter that contains useful information designed to help your dog with cancer. To sign up, please visit DogCancerNews.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices