Help Your Dog Fight Cancer

Help Your Dog Fight Cancer
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Read these books
if you have a pet with cancer

2 Important Books for Dog Owners

Help Your Dog Fight Cancer

Empowerment for Dog Owners

ISBN 97809754794-38    258 pages

"Without you and your book, I don't know what I would have done."
"This book is a bible of information that I relied upon time and time again."
"Your book is always close by, I have tabs and highlights on the pages."
"Thank you for your book! I feel so much better prepared to deal with this disease."
"It is only because of your book that I had any idea how to treat Marley."
"Not one person at any vet clinic has answered my questions like your book did."
"It's an incredible resource for those of us who are owned by pets with cancer."
"Your book has helped me understand so much about Canine Cancer."
"Until I read your book, I felt so alone."
"Your book is truly what got me through. I don't know what I would have done without it."
An invaluable resource for providing top-notch care for man's best friend. — Kirkus Reviews
"You answered questions I didn’t know I had, or didn’t know I needed to think about."
"Anyone fighting cancer with their pet should have it as a reference."
"Your information gave us the knowledge to make the decisions we had to make."
"This book gave me the direction I needed to move forward with treatment."
"Your book is fabulous! So much information you need to know if your dog has cancer."
"Your book helped me immensely when I first learned of Molly’s cancer."
"This book was the most honest account of all, about what I was going to face."

Help Your Dog Fight Cancer tells you everything you will need to know, especially things that you won’t learn from your vet or your friends. Readers call this book their “bible” or their “lifeline” while caring for their dog with cancer.

You can participate in making decisions about your dog’s cancer journey! Your vet does not live with your dog, or really know your dog like you do. They don’t know your personal feelings about cancer treatment. They probably don’t know much about your finances.

Your dog Your money Your decisions

Get involved in your dog’s cancer treatment! Your vet will provide guidance and administer the treatments. But you should play a very important role in all decision-making, in addition to providing great anti-cancer home care.

Help Your Dog Fight Cancer will help you become a great advocate for your dog. You will feel confident about helping your dog fight cancer, without the stress and anxiety you feel now. The book has helped thousands of people. It will help you and your dog, too.

Also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Tripawds and Goodreads, AbeBooks…

Empowerment for Dog Owners
Contents
Preface
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So Easy to Love So Hard to Lose

A Bridge to Healing

ISBN 97809754794-14    112 pages, spiral bound

"This is an amazing book! It’s extremely helpful in trying to overcome the death of your pet."
"A friend recommended this book but I hesitated to read it. I was scared of the feelings it might bring up. I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner."
"This book is amazing! I’m in such a fog but you make me think by asking the right questions."
"If you have recently lost a pet or if you know that time is coming, I strongly suggest you read this book!"
"When I feel down, I pull out the book and fill in a page or two. I love this book!"
"This book helped us turn our hurt & sadness into realizing how blessed we were to have 13 years of loving, happy memories."
"Laurie Kaplan provides a shoulder for pet lovers to cry on."
"I saw this book at my dog’s oncology office, and thought it was wonderful. As I have an elderly dog as well, this will be a godsend."
"I wish I had had this book for preceding dogs that have passed on. I highly, highly recommend this book!"
"Kaplan speaks with deep understanding, sympathy and love."
"A beautiful tribute to the bond between human and animal, [this book] is a must read for any pet owner."
"It’s great therapy to write about a beloved pet. It helps to put your feelings into words and then read it."

So Easy to Love So Hard to Lose shows you a new way to think about the loss of your pet. The book will guide you gently through grief and alleviate your pain and sadness.

This book will help you say farewell to your pet gracefully and comfortably. You will see your thoughts and feelings in a new light, with a new awareness that your grief journey is actually the bittersweet last chapter of the wonderful story of you and your pet.

While reading So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose, you will feel as though the author is sitting with you, holding your hand. You will see that your sadness is, in itself, your Bridge to Healing!

When you are finished, this book will be a valuable record of your journey after the loss of your precious pet.

Also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, AbeBooks…

So Easy To Love, So Hard to Lose
Contents
Preface
2 Important Books for Dog Owners
Foreword
finalist-logo
nextgen sticker
book-of-year
Indi Final
Reader Views Award
Indi Book Awards Winner
ForeWord Book of the Year
NextGen Winner
INDI winner
indi sticker

Table of Contents
Help Your Dog Fight Cancer

About Canine Cancer
Causes and Prevention
Early Detection
Lymph Node Locations

Most Common Types
Tumors
Bone Cancers
Cancers of the Blood
Multiple Cancers

First Decisions
What Tests are Needed?
Your Dog’s Cancer Team
Find a Treatment Plan
When Should Treatment Begin?
Could it be a Misdiagnosis?

Your Dog Has Cancer…Now What?
Should Your Dog Have Treatment?
Don’t Believe Everything You Read
Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
Don’t Believe “It’s Just a Dog”
Keep a Journal

Surgery
Curative vs. Palliative
Amputation
Surgery
Pain Control

Radiation Therapy
Lacy’s story
Curative vs. Palliative
Types of Radiation Therapy

Chemotherapy
Traditional Chemotherapy
How Much is Enough?
Intralesional Chemotherapy
Electrochemotherapy
Medical Cautions
Treatment Failure
Chemo Costs

Side Effects
Paraneoplastic Syndromes
Surgery Side Effects
Radiation Side Effects
Chemo (drug-specific)
Chemo (other)
Don’t Panic!

New & Alternative Treatments
Comparative Oncology
Immunotherapy
Vaccine Therapies
BMT for Lymphoma
Other Treatments & Therapies
Alternative Therapies
Clinical Trials

What’s Your Dog Eating? 
About Diet and Cancer
Bullet’s Cancer Diet
Water
Don’t Forget the Treats
Frozen Fishies!

What Else Can You Do?
Don’t Blow a Fuse!
Vitamins and Minerals
Supplements
Organ Support
Bullet’s Supplements

Whole Health Issues
First-Aid Kit

From Warrior to Angel
When Pawspice Begins
When Pawspice Ends
After the Loss

Bullet’s Story 

Appendices
Search the Internet
Join a Support Group!
Vaccination Waiver
Early Warning Signs
Chemotherapy Protocols
Chemotherapy Drugs
Schools of Vet Medicine
Quality of Life Scale
Reading List

Index

Help Your Dog Fight Cancer

Preface

About half of our dogs will have cancer in their lifetimes, yet most dog owners know little or nothing about caring for a dog with cancer. Not long ago, admittedly, there wasn’t much to know. Today, however, treatment for canine cancer is nearly on par with treatment for human cancer, and there is a great deal to know.

If your dog has cancer, you’re undoubtedly asking, “What can I do?” First, you will decide on a medical plan and put it into action. There are many considerations to take into account when choosing a plan, such as which diagnostic tests to allow, which veterinarian(s) to enlist, and which treatment you want your dog to have. There are almost always several treatments available, even when a veterinarian presents only one. This book will help you obtain information you were not given, and help you make the important decisions.

After you decide on a medical plan, you’ll ask, “What else can I do?” The answer is, Lots! Regardless of what type of medical treatment you decide your dog should have (chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, an alternative therapy, or no treatment at all), there is a great deal more that you can do. You’ll manage symptoms and side effects, and revise the treatment plan if necessary. You’ll strengthen your dog’s organs, and bolster his immune system. You’ll help your dog better fight the disease and better tolerate the treatment, to improve his odds for survival.

When Bullet was diagnosed with lymphoma, I wanted to know what typically happens before, during, and after canine cancer treatment, and what else might happen that is not typical. I wanted to know what I should, shouldn’t, could, and might do to help my dog survive. I wanted to know all of this right away, in plain English. I wanted what you are reading right now, I wanted this book!

My experience as an animal writer and medical editor enabled me to delve into volumes of medical literature undaunted by medical lingo. My mission was to become the best advocate I could for Bullet. I also consulted with general practice veterinarians, veterinary oncologists, holistic vets, oncologists in human medicine, and other owners of dogs with cancer. I researched treatment options, pharmaceuticals, supplements, nutraceuticals, diets, alternative treatments, and clinical trials. To find Bullet’s home care regimen, I experimented extensively to find out what worked best.

What I discovered was that the more information I gathered and the more I understood about Bullet’s condition, the more capable I felt of caring for him properly, and the more my anxiety diminished. This was my path to becoming the best advocate for my best friend. Now, I will help you become the best advocate for your dog. As you read, and your knowledge about canine cancer grows, your anxiety will wane. You will become a confident and competent advocate for your dog.

Paolo Porzio, DVM, who administered Bullet’s chemotherapy, urged me repeatedly to write a book that would help other owners of dogs with cancer become knowledgeable and confident advocates. After a year, I resigned my position as editor of Catnip, a publication of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, and set about writing the first edition of this book.

The information in this book was culled from reliable sources, including peer-reviewed veterinary publications and journals, veterinary oncologists, and veterinary school web sites, or is based on my own experiences helping Bullet, and helping 918 [updated] Magic Bullet Fund dogs fight cancer. Through the Fund and in private consultations, I have helped hundreds of owners begin the bittersweet journey of living with and caring for a dog with cancer.

I launched the Magic Bullet Fund in conjunction with the publication of the first edition of this book, in 2004. I founded the Fund to offer financial assistance to people who have a dog with cancer but cannot afford treatment fees. For many families, treatment is available but the costs are prohibitive. How terrible it must be to know that your dog would have a chance to survive if only you could afford treatment. The Fund helped 918 [updated] families provide cancer treatment for their dogs and cats. 

Cancer survival may be a miracle, but for the families in the Magic Bullet Fund, just being able to see their dogs receive treatment is the real miracle. You can see the dogs and their families at themagicbulletfund.org.

All owners are initially overwhelmed, as was I, by the shocking news that their dog has cancer and by the prospect of losing their best friend. There are numerous ways to care for a dog with cancer. Each owner must choose the options that work best for the dog and the family.

This book will provide you with a solid foundation for your battle against canine cancer. You will come away from Help Your Dog Fight Cancer with confidence, prepared to begin the journey and to make informed decisions as your best friend’s best advocate. 

Cancer is a fierce enemy. To fight the good fight, we need all the ammunition we can get. Armed with information and love, you will discover the best possible way to care for your dog through the battle against cancer.

So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose

Table of Contents

Foreword
Author’s Note

SO EASY TO LOVE

The Magical Bond
Embrace the Final Days
End of Life Care

SO HARD TO LOSE

After the Loss
Is it True?
No Regrets
The Emotional Roller Coaster
You’re Not Alone
A Bridge to Healing

Appendices

My Grief Journey
Resources
Pet Loss Support Hotlines
Quality of Life Scale
Reading List
Favorite Poems

Preface

So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose

The loss of a beloved pet is devastating. Can the pain and sadness of pet loss grief be eased by a book? I hope so! My objective is to not write a book that will sit on a shelf with a collection of other such books. This is just evidence that someone looked for help but did not find it.

Remember the saying, “It’s the journey, not the destination”? Prepare to take a journey. I will be your guide. The journey may not be as much fun as a trip to Tahiti, but it will be meaningful, enriching and well worth taking.

This book will help you integrate into your life the experience of loving and losing a pet, without pushing grief away or avoiding it and without neglecting to recognize the real purpose of grief as an opportunity to pay tribute to your pet. This book will show you how to experience the grief journey in a meaningful, positive way, pay tribute to your pet and find the bridge to healing.

Do you want your sadness to vanish so you can feel better right now? If so, you are reading the wrong book! Losing any loved one is painful. That pain is cathartic, healthy and appropriate. It’s a tribute.

It may be possible to sidestep grief, sweep the emotional turmoil under the rug and feel better. Instead, I would like you to take the journey, pay tribute to your pet and turn your grief back into love.

I offer something much more valuable than simply making your sadness go away. I will help you see that while grief hurts, it is also a rite of passage that allows you to pay proper tribute to your pet and help you through your loss in a way that you will value for the rest of your life. Your grief journey is actually the bittersweet last chapter in the long, wonderful story of you and your pet.

This book is a tool to help you on the journey from loss to legacy. It will help you move from despair, anger and unbearable sorrow to a new understanding of the loss as the price we pay for the amazing privilege of experiencing the magical person-pet bond.

The final destination of your journey will be an appreciation of the love you had and the memories you will always have. While reading this book and writing your personal answers to the questions, your sadness will lift. You will feel stronger and less alone. Your grief will become less sad, painful and difficult. It will become an expression of love for your pet.

♥ BULLET

From September 19, 1992 until November 20, 2004, I shared my life with a remarkable Siberian Husky. I found Bullet at my local SPCA when he was 18 months old. His previous caretaker had relinquished him as pay back for running away too many times. I was entranced and intrigued by this dog’s beauty. I was mesmerized by his stare and I was compelled to take him home.

Like Bullet’s previous owner, I was confounded by the Siberian’s favorite game—escape and run. I lost track of how many times I frantically chased him down streets, through woods, over hill and dale, while he had the time of his life watching me try to catch him. As luck—or destiny—would have it, Bullet and I developed a strong and beautiful bond. He became an integral and essential part of my life.

I remained entranced and intrigued for the 12 years, 2 months and 1 day that Bullet graced my life.

In July, 2000, when Bullet was 9 years old, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, a terminal cancer. I thought I would lose Bullet to cancer. The hoped-for survival for dogs with lymphoma who have chemotherapy is 12 to 18 months, but the Universe smiled on us. Bullet was in a very small percentage of dogs to survive the disease. With chemotherapy, a special homemade diet and a home care regimen that I designed, Bullet lived out his natural life in remission from lymphoma. He survived four years and four months after his diagnosis and was still in remission at the end.

In 2002, Bullet developed a heart condition. The prognosis was 6 months at the outside, but Bullet survived five episodes of congestive heart failure over the next two years. His veterinarians gave him a new nickname: The Magic Bullet. Now, I expected to lose him to heart disease rather than to cancer.

In 2004, at the urging of Bullet’s oncologist, I released the book, Help Your Dog Fight Cancer to help others fight cancer for their dogs as I fought cancer for Bullet. That book has helped more than 20,000 families and their dogs.

That same year, I founded the Magic Bullet Fund, to finance cancer treatment for dogs whose owners could not afford it. For dogs in the Fund, I raise funding to pay for cancer treatments, educate owners about canine cancer and help them make decisions about treatment, side effect remedies and home care. The Magic Bullet Fund helped almost 900 [updated] dogs and cats fight cancer.

And I continued to take care of my own Magic Bullet, my cancer and heart disease survivor, always aware that I might lose him at any time but enjoying every moment he was still with me.

♥ BRUNO

In July of 2000, I brought Bullet to a veterinary clinic for his first chemotherapy treatment. A woman was at the front desk, waiting to settle her bill. After Bullet was taken back for his chemo treatment, the woman caught my eye. She removed a photo album from her purse and showed me pictures of her dog.

The woman proceeded to flip through the album, page by page. ”Here’s Bruno just after he died…. Here he is from another view…. This is Bruno an hour later, after I combed his coat, Bruno with his favorite toys arranged around him, Bruno at the crematorium….” Here is a photo of my shrine for Bruno. Then she told me that Bruno had died several years ago.

At that moment, my sympathy turned to dismay. I thought about the woman long after I left the clinic. Her grief for Bruno had become a gaping wound that remained open for years. Her grief haunted me. I searched the faces of strangers and friends. I wondered who they might have lost and what grief they might be carrying, just below the surface. Were they holding back grief poised to explode at any remote reminder, or was it carefully and deeply buried where it would fester but never be acknowledged or examined?

♥ BULLET’S LEGACY

On November 20, 2004, it was my turn to grieve. At nearly 14 years old, cancer free, Bullet died in my arms. I began to revive him, but stopped. I realized later that Bullet had had a perfect death. If I had revived him, it wouldn’t have been for long and a second death would most likely not have been as perfect.

Through the Magic Bullet Fund, I witness the person-pet bond every day. Upon learning their dog has a terminal disease, owners are shocked and desperate to help their pets survive. We discuss their fears about losing their pet and their profound devotion. When a dog does well in treatment, owners are grateful and optimistic. When a dog doesn’t do well, while owners prepare for the loss, I continue to provide support and guidance. When their cancer-fighting journey is over, their grief journey begins.

Each loss is heart-wrenching, but the magic of the bond is so strong, beautiful and enduring that I know I am lucky to be in its glow every time we lose a Magic Bullet Fund dog. Now, 5 years since Bullet passed, I still honor him every day by offering my book to people who are fighting canine cancer and in my work as administrator for the Magic Bullet Fund.

If had not written a book or founded a charity in his name, I wonder how I would then have honored Bullet. I know I would have found a way.

♥ YOUR PET’S LEGACY

Bruno’s mom and many others relive their grief every day. The text and questions on these pages will lead you through a new way to experience your grief—not by sweeping it under the rug, hiding it or toughing it out, but by embracing it and creating a tribute. Then, you will cherish the memory of your precious pet for the rest of your life.

We each need to find our own way through grief. As you find your way, you will become less focused on the sad end of your pet’s life and more focused on all of the wonderful days you had together. While reading “So Easy to Love, So Hard to Lose,” you will cherish the happy memories every day, and find peaceful joy in having had and lost a very special friend.