Help Your Dog Fight Cancer

Author of Help Your Dog Fight Cancer In 1992, I adopted an 18-month-old Siberian Husky called Max at the local SPCA. Anyone who has ever lived with a Siberian will tell you that they are more than a bundle of trouble. He was willful and ornery, smart and demanding. His primary objective in life is to escape and run free. The name Max didn’t fit the dog. In the weeks following the adoption, Max’s constant efforts to escape and run free earned him the name Bullet (as in faster than a speeding…). In July 2000, when he was 9 years old, Bullet was diagnosed with lymphoma.  I was shocked to learn that my dog had cancer. He had chemotherapy and I learned all I could about caring for a dog with cancer. I put together a great diet and home care regimen for him. Bullet was in a very small percentage of dogs to survive the disease. Bullet’s chemotherapy vet, Paolo Porzio, used to go for hikes with us. He sent his patients with lymphoma to me to learn what I was doing for Bullet. It was at Dr. Porzio’s urging that I wrote the book Help Your Dog Fight Cancer.

Dogs Can Survive Cancer

Dogs with lymphoma generally survive 12-18 months, if the chemo protocol works. In November 2002, at the age of 11, Bullet was declared a lymphoma survivor. He had survived more than 2 years. I was amazed, relieved, and so happy. For a minute I believed that now he would survive forever. I sort of forgot that even though a dog can survive cancer, he will still be taken away at some point. I remembered then that my Bullet’s story would eventually come to an end, no matter what. But when he had congestive heart failure, I remembered. Tests showed that he had dilated cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation, and the prognosis was six months to a year survival. Bullet endured another congestive heart failure episode in April 2003 and another in August 2003. He did not respond to the usual cardiac meds. I wound up getting FDA approval to import a medicine not yet approved in the U.S., and it kept him with me for an extra two years.
After a 4-year and 4-month remission from lymphoma, a 2-year survival with a deadly heart condition and 5 congestive heart failure episodes, Bullet’s vets named him “the Magic Bullet.”
Eventually, the Magic Bullet ran out of magic tricks and Bullet’s Story came to an end. He proved that dogs can survive cancer, but we could no longer avoid the inevitable. On November 20, 2004, at almost 14 years old, Bullet’s kidneys failed and he went to the Rainbow Bridge, still cancer-free. Bullet was one shining moment that graced my life for 12 years, 2 months and a day. Bullet’s legacy is the Magic Bullet Fund. I ran this nonprofit for 20 years, and provided financial assistance to 920 people who had dogs with cancer but could not afford treatment costs.
It has been years since my sweet Bullet went to the Rainbow Bridge, although it seems like yesterday that I held him in my arms. Bullet is my guardian angel, my inspiration and my hero.

Every day I whisper to him,

“My sweet precious boy, I’m still holding you.”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Don’t be shy! Anyone who loves your dog might loan or give you funds for your dog’s treatments.

Ask nicely, and don't ever be angry or argumentative if they say they cannot help you.

ASK YOUR CLINIC

Is there a clinic fund to help clients struggling to pay for treatments?

Can you pay over time?

Can you use CareCredit or ScratchPay?

APPLY TO NONPROFITS

Apply to nonprofits for help toward treatment fees. Use the list of nonprofits here.

Only apply to a few! Your clinic has to fill in forms for each one you apply to.