The International Association of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care has just recently released their updated Animal Hospice Guidelines.  While the document is geared towards animal health professionals, I wanted to include a link to this paper for those who are interested in learning more about the field of animal hospice.  If your current veterinarian is not well-practiced in hospice and palliative care, please feel to pass these guidelines along to him/her.  Animal hospice is still in its infancy in the US, so I believe it is important to spread the word amongst as many practicing veterinarians as possible.

Of particular interest to dog parents like you and me, is Section III, “Pain, suffering, well­being, and quality of life in the animal hospice and palliative  care patient.”  Of particular note was the information on Quality of Life Assessment, and this excerpt:

“They encourage us to ask “what is important to this animal in his  or her life?” and to remember that each individual animal has unique likes and dislikes. For  example, loss of mobility might negatively impact a dog who loves to play ball and Frisbee  more significantly that it would a dog whose favorite activity is sleeping in a sunny spot  under a window. Individual animals also have unique capacities to adapt to change. A  disabled animal may continue to enjoy his or her favorite activities if creatively modified to  fit the animal’s condition. A disabled animal may also develop “new” favorite activities.”

This made me reflect on my recent experience with Scooby.  Scooby was a dog who lived to eat.  He enjoyed going on walks, being close to his people and getting his massages.  At the end, when Scooby no longer wanted food, could not even stand to go for a walk without assistance and did not seem to register touch or he presence of our family very well, I knew that this was not the quality of life deserving of my sweet boy.  It was undignified that he could not defecate, except when lying down, and that sometimes, even with assistance to get out to urinate, he struggled and was unbalanced anyway.  This was how I knew that his quality of life had degraded to the point where I could not let him continue on this path.

In the end, Scooby was at home, where he loved to be, surrounded by the people who loved him most in the world, and even a few people who did not know him that well, but recognized how special he was.  He passed peacefully and simply, in a way that honored him.  I am proud that we could give that to him.

I first wrote about Aisha in my post on November 18, 2013.  CityDog magazine now has Aisha’s story on their website.  Since the article was published, Aisha has passed away, but her memory lives on, not only in the heart of Helen Anne, but also in the hearts of everyone who met her.  Aisha was a sweet, old soul.

I am honored to participate in a memorial service that Helen Anne is holding this weekend on a ferry in the Puget Sound.  It will be especially difficult because it has just been over a month now since we lost Scooby.  There is not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him.  What a special pup he was.

For everyone out there who has lost a special canine friend, may our grief be as brief as possible and replaced with the memory of the love and joy we shared together.  If only we could have more time together.

Next week, on Thursday, April 10th, I will be giving a webinar on “Canine Cancer Insights:  A Holistic and Balanced Approach.”  Details on how to join the webinar can be found here.  You can earn CEUs from this webinar.  On Saturday, April 26, consider attending the Asheville Angel Pets Conference.  While I will not be able to attend the event, my books will be included in the raffle.  Information about my book will be included in each giveaway bag as well.

For those of you who have lost beloved pets, consider sending your pet’s name and photo for inclusion in the United Pet Honoring Memorial Ceremony, to be held on National Pet Day, April 11th, 2014 to info@pethonoring.com.  This event is open to everyone all over the world.  I have already submitted Scooby’s name and photo and he is prominently in view on the main site here.  It has been almost three weeks and I still cannot believe he is gone.

As I continue to research and learn more about canine cancer, I wanted to share a blog I read by Drs. Demian Dressler and Susan Ettinger.  In their latest post, they discuss the benefits of luteolin for fighting canine cancer.  Luteolin is a flavonoid that is found in plants — think of the thin, red skin that surrounds peanuts, for example.  Here are some of the benefits they outline:

• Enhances the process of apoptosis that is hindered in cancer cells
• Helps reduce cancer tumor size
• Delays tumor development
• Increases tumor sensitivity to cancer chemotherapy drugs

For those not familiar with apoptosis, this is also called “cell death,” and is the process by which cells naturally die off.  If cells for some reason don’t die off and continue to grow, they become a potential breeding ground for cancer to develop.

If you are interested in adding luteolin to your dog’s diet, I would recommend consulting your veterinarian for appropriate brands and doses for your individual situation.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that we had to let our beloved chocolate Labrador Retriever, Scooby Doo, go last week.  My hiatus from this site over the past one and a half months has been due to my focus on Scooby, as he began his slow decline on January 15 of this year.  The first sign was his refusal of his normal breakfast that morning.  For Scooby, this was highly unusual, as he was a dog that devoted his life to the discovery of food.  Luckily, because I am now always prepared for such occasions, I grabbed a can of “Hunk of Beef” and Scooby happily gobbled that up.  The next few mealtimes were not significant, but shortly thereafter, I found that I had to switch to wet dog foods, which were the only food that Scooby seemed interested in.  There were many days that I fed him by hand from the bowl.  Other days, I would just hold the bowl up for him, making sure that he (and not our other dog, Apollo) ate it.

Over the course of the past couple of months, I saw Scooby lose strength in his back legs, refuse treats, refuse meals, and towards the end, refuse water.  On the bright side, I saw him enjoy his daily walks, even if that meant only walking a half block, or sometimes even only to the next door neighbor’s lawn.  I thought we were going to lose him in mid-February when I had to take my son to a state robotics competition in Ellensburg, WA and my Mom stayed at our home to watch him.  I saw him bounce back and celebrate his 14th birthday at home with his favorite doggie carob cupcakes.  This is the last time I can remember Scooby being on my bed, back in November:

But then, I saw him not want to move at all.  He’d try to lift himself up, but give up because the exertion was too great.  I no longer saw him wag his tail.  I no longer saw him enjoy meals or treats.  It was my hope that Scooby would choose to pass on his own, but it was not happening and I only saw him grow weaker and more disinterested in what was happening around him.

Scooby had trouble coming into the world.  He was the runt of his litter, and was born 24 hours after all of his littermates.  He was so small that he could not compete with the other puppies when it was time to nurse.  He was handfed from a bottle until he was strong enough to fend for himself.  But from that point on, he was unstoppable.  He lived a pretty great life, not too many trips to the ER, and nothing too serious, until we learned last November of the multiple tumors he had — one 10-inch, melon-sized tumor near his bladder, and others in his liver and spleen.  Fine needle aspirates revealed no cancerous cells, but we know that that is inconclusive.  Because of the location of the tumors and Scooby’s age and other conditions — most seriously, laryngeal paralysis — I did not choose further diagnostics or surgery.

So, in a way, it made sense to me that Scooby might need some help leaving the world as well, as much as it pained me to make that decision.  I think it’s easy — well, easy is a relative term here — when our dogs pass on their own.  They take care of it, so we don’t have to make a decision.  I have always admired those who have had the courage to make the hard call, to recognize prolonged suffering and a low quality of life.  I had hoped I would not be faced with such a hard choice, but yet, that is where I was last week.  On Tuesday morning, I made an appointment with Dr. Barry Rickman, VMD, of Peaceful Companion to come to our home on Thursday afternoon.  Part of me hoped that I wouldn’t need the appointment after all, that Scooby would decide to leave the world of his own accord in the meantime.

But it didn’t happen quite that way.

We did have some lovely time in the sun on Wednesday afternoon, a rare, warm afternoon in this super rainy month of March here in the Pacific Northwest.  Scooby and I lay next to each on the grass, where I secretly hoped that the warming rays of the sun might heal what was happening inside his body.  Here is a picture of Scooby:

My sweet boy died peacefully at home in my arms on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at the age of 14, almost 6 years to the day after his half-brother, Porter, who was the impetus for my book.  I think of them romping around happily with Jasper, our yellow Labrador Retriever-hound mix, who blessed our household for almost a year back in 2009-2010.

Scooby remained at home until we brought him to Precious Pets, a crematory in Auburn, WA.  I lit candles around him, and covered him with the same blanket that covered Porter and Jasper when they passed.  Here he is:

Scooby (and his famous cupcake-eating antics) will be sorely missed.  (He even once checked a kid at our annual Halloween party to get to candy that had fallen from a piñata.)  The pain in my heart is palpable; and there is a piece of me that is now gone forever.  I love you, my sweet Scooby.  May you rest in peace.

I thought I would share some wonderful news I received regarding my book.  It was nominated for a Maxwell Medallion by the Dog Writer’s Association of America in the category of Book — Health and General Care.

Winners will be announced at an awards banquet in New York City this Sunday, February 9th.  I will post the outcome when I find out what happens!

A recent study (October 2013) by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has found a promising new painkiller called substance-p saporin, or SAP. It is a neurotoxin that works by selectively destroying pain-sensing nerves.

In the study, 70 dogs with bone cancer participated.  In each case, the family had chosen not to pursue amputation and chemotherapy, but instead were taking a hospice approach, looking to ensure their dogs had a high quality of life for their remaining time.  Half of the dogs received standard painkillers and half received SAP.  Owners were not told which painkiller had been given to their dog, but were asked to record their dog’s pain levels and activity.  If the owner felt that the painkiller was no longer effective, they were then told which painkiller their dog had received and were offered SAP.

The two UPenn veterinarians who ran the study, Dorothy Cimino Brown and Kimberly Agnello, found that SAP was significantly more effective at pain reduction than the standard painkillers.  In fact, within the first six weeks of the study period, three-quarters of the families whose dogs were given standard painkillers asked to be “unblinded” compared to only one quarter of the families whose dogs were given SAP.

This research is not only important for dogs, but for humans as well.  Eventually, SAP may be used for us, too.

Welcome to 2014!  I hope you are all having a great year.  Now that the holidays are over, I’d like to get back to our regular blog posting schedule.

A few of you have asked whether there are financial resources available to families who are facing canine cancer.  I have found a couple of resources for you.  The first is the Riedel & Cody Fund, which is a public 501(c)3 charity providing support for people whose beloved pets are suffering with cancer.  The Fund was created in memory of Riedel, a Bernese Mountain Dog, and Cody, a Rottweiler, who waged their own heroic battles against cancer.  You can learn more about their organization at http://riedelcody.org/our-story.  Membership is free and provides you with access to all areas of their website.

What does the Riedel & Cody Fund offer?  A lot.  They provide support, resources and treatment funding for people whose pets have cancer.  Consider filling out a financial aid application if your household income is below $50,000.  Regardless, become a member and get access to their online resources and community forums.

Another possibility for those located in the state of Massachusetts is Fairy DogParents at http://fairydogparents.org/.  Fairy DogParents is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that helps prevent dogs from being surrendered to shelters.  They provide assistance with food, medical and general wellness needs of qualified dog recipients in Massachusetts.  If you live in the state of Massachusetts and you are facing canine cancer with your beloved dog, Fairy DogParents might be able to help you keep your dog.

If you know of any other organizations that provide similar services, please let me know, so that I can add their information to this post.

Yes, November is National Pet Cancer Awareness Month.  And even though it is the end of the month now, my hope is that we can extend this awareness throughout the rest of the year, too.  The latest statistic I have seen from the National Canine Cancer Foundation is that one out of every three dogs will get cancer, and of those, 50% will die.  Some breeds have an even greater risk of death, such as Golden Retrievers at 75%.

That is why I feel so strongly about being prepared for cancer.  Being prepared does not mean that your dog will get cancer; it only means that you will know what you need to do to help your dog if they do get cancer.  Having been totally unprepared the first time one of my dogs was diagnosed with cancer, and also having been totally prepared the second time one of my dogs was diagnosed with cancer, I speak from experience.  It was a much smoother experience when I knew what to expect and what actions I needed to take.

I wish I had been more prepared the first time.

My wish for every dog owner is to be prepared for cancer, regardless of how difficult it might be to think about or how busy you are today.  You will be so grateful later if you are not caught entirely off guard and if you have a plan in place.

It was my pleasure to finally meet Aisha, a 13 year old pit bull who was rescued by a dear friend of mine and fellow Pasado’s Safe Haven volunteer, Helen Anne.  It was shortly after learning about my book that Helen Anne discovered that Aisha had cancer, a synovial sarcoma tumor on her leg.  As with many of us who have received cancer diagnoses for our beloved dogs, Helen Anne was overwhelmed and saddened when she learned the news.  And in Aisha’s case, she has health complications that prevent her from having surgery to amputate her left hind leg where the tumor is located.  Aisha has COPD, which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In this disease, the bronchi, or tubes that pass air between the lungs and the trachea, are constantly inflamed.  COPD would make the surgery very risky and her veterinarian advised against taking this risk.  Helen Anne has taken a hospice path instead, relying on both her personal support network and The AHELP Project as a local resource to learn about hospice alternatives.

I very much wanted to meet Aisha, a dog who once suffered under the hands of a ruthless abuser until she was rescued by an organization called Collar of Hope.  Although her abuser served four months in jail, it was not long enough to repent for the incomprehensible way that she was treated.  For two years, Aisha has lived a wonderful live with Helen Anne since her rehabilitation and has never shown aggression to any other animals or humans during this time.  The name, Aisha, was given to her by her rescuers, and means, “She Who Lives.”  She has such a strong will to live and I wanted to meet this beautiful dog.  The minute Aisha came over to greet me, I was immediately moved by her sweet nature and strong will.  She was no longer able to put weight on her left hind leg, which she holds up and only occasionally uses to provide a little extra balance when needed.  While she has learned to compensate for the lack of use of this limb, it is clear that there are side effects, such as tightness in her neck and shoulder areas.  The day that I met Aisha, she was scheduled for an in-home acupuncture treatment, administered by Dr. Sara Hopkins of Compassion 4 Paws, whom Helen Anne was thrilled to find, after talking to almost a dozen veterinarians about the possibility of house call visits.  If you would like to learn more about Dr. Sara Hopkins, I have added her information to the Resources page.

If you are interested in learning more about Aisha and Helen Anne, you can visit Aisha’s Facebook page.  And if you are so inclined to send a donation on her behalf, please do.  I have contributed to her fund, as I fully support what Helen Anne is doing and I want her to be able to provide the best treatment possible for Aisha during this time.