Supplements For Dogs Fighting Cancer
Vet recommended supplements to complement cancer therapies and help dogs fighting cancer.
The word in itself incites fear, but when the vet utters “cancer” in relation to your dog, it can be heart stopping. Unfortunately, many dog parents will hear them in their pet’s lifetimes. “It is estimated that one in four dogs will develop cancer, so it is very common,” says Dr. Danny Joffe, DVM, DABVP, emeritus at VCA Canada in Calgary, AB. “In dogs over 10 years of age, 50 percent of dogs will develop cancer, but it is important to note that some of these cancers are benign or are very manageable.”
Surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation are common approaches for dogs who need treatment. But for various reasons, they’re not a fit for everyone and every dog. Whether you’re taking a palliative approach to your dog’s cancer or looking for a complementary therapy, supplements are worth exploring with your vet.
Dr. Cindy Kneebone, DVM, of the East York Animal Clinic and Holistic Centre is a veterinarian who also holds diplomas in homeopathy, Chinese herbal medicine, and veterinary acupuncture. She has had patients with long remissions— greater than five years for three types of cancers—without the use of chemotherapy.
“In my experience, the best outcomes involve a combination of conventional and alternative medicine,” says Dr. Katherine Kramer, DVM, DABVP, and medical director of the VCA-Canada Vancouver
Animal Wellness Hospital. “There are numerous supplements that can help boost the immune system and help ameliorate the side effects of conventional cancer therapy. If conventional medicine is not an option, then natural supplements can often be used as palliative therapy.
“Most of my practice consists of geriatric patients, which unfortunately means a large number of cancer cases,” she says. She often recommends supplements to complement the path of action taken by pet parents, and she sees results. “A majority of my cancer patients typically exceed their expected life span, sometimes by only a few months but sometimes by a year or more,” she says.
Supplements can also help with the side effects of chemotherapy. “Dogs typically do better with chemotherapy than humans but side effects are still common,” she says. Supplements can help with that, she
says, but you need to talk to your vet, “Like anything, supplements can have side effects and interact with medications, especially chemotherapy agents,” she says. “It is extremely important to discuss these supplements with your veterinarian before giving them to your pet. Ideally, anti-cancer supplements should be started before a patient develops cancer.” She also notes that “the topic of supplements can be controversial since many natural supplements have not been thoroughly studied in dogs and there is not a lot of regulation or quality control in some products.”
Dr. Joffe agrees that while supplements can complement cancer therapies, on their own, they do not supress the cancer. “They can help a pet deal with side effects of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgery,” he says. “That is, these products can be adjunct therapy.”
That’s what Denise Tupman of Terrace, B.C. was thinking. In February 2019, her eight-year-old Border Collie, Rook, had blood in his urine and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. “My vet gave him 10 months at most and I just couldn’t believe that he was sick when, other than the bleeding, he seemed fine,” says Denise. “I was devastated with the diagnosis.” He was put on Piroxicam as a chemotherapy and Zentonil for liver support. Wanting to do more, Denise has given him chaga since the diagnosis after receiving recommendations from many people.
Chaga mushroom, a type of fungus that grows mainly on the bark of birch trees in cold climates including northern Canada and Alaska, happens to be harvested and processed just 45 minutes from where Denise lives, in Kitimat, B.C. “There’s lots in the woods around here,” she says.
“From what I have read, there are lots of antioxidants in chaga,” continues Denise, who buys it in liquid form. “It’s also supposed to be a stimulant for the immune system. It is marketed for people, but there is so much anecdotal info on use for dogs that they end up selling a lot to people with dogs. I give Rook a dose (one tablespoon in his food in the morning) and then give myself a dose too.”