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Managing-rectal-tumors-in-dogs

Managing Rectal Tumors in Dogs │ Rewind with Dr. Dressler and Dr. Ettinger


Summary

Has your dog been diagnosed with a perianal or an anal sac tumor? Has it left you feeling overwhelmed with unanswered questions? If this sounds like you, you’re in luck because this week’s episode features Dr. Demian Dressler and Dr. Sue Ettinger, as they share their experience and expert knowledge behind the causes of rectal tumors, how to diagnose them, as well as how your veterinarian or veterinary oncologist will help you devise a plan to best attack them.


Episode Notes

This week’s episode features the authors of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, Dr. Demian Dressler and Dr. Sue Ettinger in one of our most watched and searched for episodes in the history of Dog Cancer Answers. You will hear some of Dr. Dressler and Dr. Ettinger’s explanations about the common types of tumors they see in their patients, what causes them, what are the signs and symptoms you and your veterinarian should be looking for, and of course, advise about some of the different ways that these kinds of tumors can be managed through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, diet, and nutritional supplementation.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Show:

The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity by Dr. Demian Dressler and Dr. Sue Ettinger.

Podcast link to the Exam Room Series: Perianal and Anal Sac Tumors episode w/ Dr. Demian Dressler https://dogcanceranswers.com/exam-room-series-perianal-and-anal-sac-tumors-dr-demian-dressler/

YouTube link to the Exam Room Series: Perianal and Anal Sac Tumors episode w/ Dr. Demian Dressler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocw36qfINyI

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/cancer-type/perianal-and-anal-sac-tumors/carcinoma-of-the-anal-gland/ by Dr. Demian Dressler

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/cancer-type/perianal-and-anal-sac-tumors/carcinoma-of-the-anal-sac-part-2/ by Dr. Demian Dressler

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/cancer-type/perianal-and-anal-sac-tumors/checking-your-dog-for-anal-gland-cancer/ by Sue Harper, AHC, DAH, MHAO, Animal Health Consultant

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/cancer-causes/spayneuter-and-the-association-with-cancer-in-dogs-part-one/ by Dr. Sue Ettinger

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/cancer-causes/spayneuter-and-the-association-with-cancer-in-dogs-part-two/ by Dr. Sue Ettinger

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/full-spectrum-cancer-care/conventional/chemotherapy/first-dog-cancer-drug-fda-approved-but-not-great/ by Demian Dressler

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/full-spectrum-cancer-care/dog-cancer-diet/calcium-in-dog-cancer/ by Demian Dressler

https://www.dogcancerblog.com/articles/apoptosis/apoptosis-cancer/ by Dr. Demian Dressler

Related Links:

You can reach out to Dr. Demian Dressler directly on his veterinary hospital’s website: https://VetinKihei.com.

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/ 

Follow “The Dog Cancer Survival Guide” on Social Media: 

https://www.youtube.com/dogcancervet
https://www.facebook.com/dogcancer/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dogcancersupport/
https://www.instagram.com/dogcancersurvivalguide/

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Demian Dressler:

Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management. A dynamic educator and speaker, Dr. Dressler is the author of the best-selling animal health book The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity.

Dr. Dressler is the owner of the accredited practice South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University.

“Your dog does NOT have an expiration date, and there are things ALL cancers have in common that you can help fight. Imagine looking back at this time five years from now and not having a single regret.”  - Dr. D

You can find hundreds of articles Dr. D wrote about dog cancer on his immensely popular website: https://www.dogcancerblog.com/meet-the-veterinarians-dr-dressler/

About Today’s Guest, Dr. Sue Ettinger:

Dr. Sue Ettinger is a practicing veterinary cancer specialist, international speaker, book author, and YouTube vlogger (video blogger).  A dynamic and engaging speaker, she was voted the 2019 Western Veterinary Conference Small Animal Continuing Educator of the Year. She is one of approximately 450 board-certified specialists in medical oncology in North America and currently practices at Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Norwalk, Connecticut. She received her veterinary training at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed her residency in medical oncology at the Animal Medical Center in NYC in 2003.

Also known as Dr Sue Cancer Vet®, she is most passionate about raising cancer awareness and has developed “See Something, Do Something, Why Wait? Aspirate.®” to promote early cancer detection and diagnosis.  She is a frequent contributor to Today’s Veterinary Practice, Today’s Veterinary Business, Clinician’s Brief, Veterinary Team Brief, & DVM360.

Dr Sue loves to use social media to help clients and veterinary professionals deal with cancer in pets, including Instagram, her YouTube channel, and her popular Facebook page with over 38,000 fans.

Follow Dr. Sue on the Socials: 

https://www.youtube.com/drsuecancervet 

https://twitter.com/DrSueCancerVet 

https://www.instagram.com/drsuecancervet/ 

https://www.facebook.com/DrSueCancerVet 

 

 

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. Sue Ettinger. Available everywhere fine books are sold.

Listen to this podcast episode for a special discount code.

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.

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.

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

Transcript

>> Dr. Susan Ettinger: So, there are the benign adenomas and then there’s the malignant category. Regardless of whether it’s a benign cancer or malignant cancer, early detection is so key because even these benign tumors can be really challenging if they’re not detected early and they require a big surgery.
>> Narrator: Welcome to Dog Cancer Answers, where we help you help your dog with cancer. Here’s your host, James Jacobson.
>> James Jacobson: Hello friend. Thank you for joining me this week on dog cancer answers with 2021, right around the corner and the ever so dreaded 2020 year, finally coming to an end, we wanted to take a moment to do an end of the year rewind on one of our most watched and listened to episodes in the history of Dog Cancer Answers.
Since this video aired in 2011– and its corresponding audio podcast aired. It has reached over 54,000 dog lovers on the internet who are desperately seeking help and answers about their dog’s cancer. And still in 2020, it continues to be searched for and watched and listened to over and over again in very high volume– which indicates that perianal and anal gland tumors still are affecting too many of our dogs.
So, let’s go ahead and take a listen to this interview with the authors of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide, Dr. Demian Dressler and Dr. Susan Ettinger to hear what they have to say about perianal and anal sac tumors.
One of the types of the cancers that you address in the Dog Cancer Survival Guide are perianal, anal sac cancers, cancers of the rear end. Dr. Dressler, what are the signs and symptoms that you might be looking at if your dog has one of these cancers?
>> Dr. Demian Dressler: Well, these cancers are similar to some other cancers, such as cancers that are current in the mouth and the oral cavity. In that many times, they’re not noticed right off the bat. And this is for, I think, obvious reasons, not too many guardians spend a lot of time inspecting their dogs rear-end. So, most of the time the tumors are either caught later, after they’ve been there for a while and they’ve gotten pretty big or the veterinarian will notice it during the course of a routine physical.
And these tumors they’re gross and they’re right around the rear end. And some of them are benign and some of them are malignant. And it brings up a really important point, which is that veterinarians really need to be doing rectal exams on elderly dogs; both male dogs, and also female dogs, because not all of these tumors are going to be occurring where you can see them with the naked eye. Sometimes they occur deeper and they could be felt with the fingertips as opposed to relying on visual inspection alone.
>> James Jacobson: Dr. Ettinger, what are your thoughts on perianal and anal sac tumors?
>> Dr. Susan Ettinger: Yeah, it’s a umbrella term for a couple of different types of tumors, Dr. Dressler pointed out. And so, there are the benign adenomas, which, you know, regardless of whether it’s a benign cancer, malignant cancer, early detection is so key because even these benign tumors can be really challenging if they’re not detected early and they require a big surgery.
Some of those are actually associated with testosterone levels. So, in some of those big tumors, if the dog is still intact, you can castrate them. And the tumors may resolve completely on their own or at least be smaller and more surgical. And then there’s the malignant category. There’s the anal sac adenocarcinomas and the sebaceous gland adenocarcinomas, and they vary in how aggressive they are in their metastatic pattern.
But it’s definitely one where you want to try to find early and then, you know, primary treatment is going to be surgery. And in some of these cases, you may be looking at chemotherapy. Some cases, radiation may be required as well. So, it can be a mixed bag of treatment options.
There’s also some exciting evidence that Palladia has some anti-cancer properties for this tumor as well. So, some new options out there that could be useful for your pet.
>> James Jacobson: Dr. Dressler, what options do you commonly use and recommend for perianal and anal sac tumors?
>> Dr. Demian Dressler: Right, well, let me bounce back. I forgot to mention something which is kind of interesting. The more malignant types of these cancers secrete a chemical signal in the body. Which can elevate the blood calcium– and this is another pitch for doing early detection testing, especially in dogs that are usually over the age of seven, maybe eight, give or take– something like that.
And you can see a high blood calcium level, and that can be a flag, in some cases at least, for these types of cancers– for your vet to go on a search and many times they’ll turn up in the rear end.
But back to your question, which had to do with what do we do. So, for the most common benign ones, it’s really important to get your dog neutered later in life, because that will help to limit the regrowth of the adenomas, the most common benign forms. And then in addition to what Dr. Ettinger had pointed out, we want to change to a cancer fighting diet. We want to bring in plant supplements, phytochemicals, which are called apoptogens. Those are certain substances that can help turn on cancer cell suicide– very beneficial in my experience.
Some of these cases will require a stool softeners as a part of the therapy, because sometimes there can be some difficulty evacuating, solid waste and pooping, and we have to pay attention to brain chemistry. We have to pay attention to life quality by deliberately taking steps to decrease stress and improve the life quality of our patients. So, we can have a really good long life together.
>> James Jacobson: Well friends, this may conclude this week’s episode, but the information on perianal and anal sac tumors doesn’t end here, because we have so much for you in our back catalog of previously aired shows. Including an episode, I recorded with Dr. Dressler from September of this year found on your YouTube playlist or in our podcast feed under the name Exam Room Series: Perianal and Anal Sac Tumors. We’ll have a link to that in today’s show-notes.
If you liked Dog Cancer Answers, don’t forget to like us on Facebook and to subscribe to us in YouTube and in Spotify or Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app.
And of course, make sure to check out this week’s show-notes on our website, dogcanceranswers.com. We’ve added many helpful links to articles about what causes these kinds of tumors, as well as advice on some of the full spectrum treatment options that are available to help you manage your dog’s cancer.
We have a message from this week’s sponsor. And then I will give you all the details about how you can call us with your dog cancer question. Stay tuned. We’ll be right back.
We’d like to once again, thank our sponsor, The Dog Cancer Survival Guide book by Demian Dressler and Sue Ettinger. It’s available both online and in brick-and-mortar stores.
And remember getting the book also helps to support this podcast when you get it directly from the publisher, via the website at dogcancerbook.com. And use the promo code “podcast” for 10% off. That is www.dogcancerbook.com.
Did you hear those tones? I know you did. They are here to remind me to remind you that we have veterinarians on call at Dog Cancer Answers on our listener line. If you have questions for one of our dog cancer vets, give us a call and tell us about it. And we’ll make sure that your question is addressed with one of our veterinary experts. And it could be featured on a future episode of Dog Cancer Answers.
The number to call is (808) 868-3200. That is (808) 868-3200. It’s a 24 hour day seven day a week recorded line. So, you can call us anytime with your dog cancer questions again, (808) 868-3200.
Well, that is it for today. Thanks again for joining me this week. Until next time. I’m James Jacobson and from all of us here at Dog Cancer Answers and Dog Podcast Network stay safe and we’ll see you in 2021. Aloha.
>> Narrator: Thank you for listening to Dog Cancer Answers. If you’d like to connect, please visit our website at dogcanceranswers.com or call our listener line at (808) 868-3200.
And here’s a friendly reminder that you probably already know. This podcast is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It’s not meant to take the place of the advice you receive from your dog’s veterinarian.
Only veterinarians who examine your dog can give you veterinary advice or diagnose your dog’s medical condition. Your reliance on the information you hear on this podcast is solely at your own risk. If your dog has a specific health problem, contact your veterinarian.
Also, please keep in mind that veterinary information can change rapidly. Therefore, some information may be out of date. Dog Cancer Answers is a presentation of Maui Media in association with Dog Podcast Network.


Dr. Demian Dressler

DVM

Maui, Hawaii, USA

More Episodes

Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM, is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management. A dynamic educator and speaker, Dr. Dressler is the author of the best-selling animal health book The Dog Cancer Survival Guide.

Dr. Sue Ettinger

DVM, Dip. ACVIM (Oncology)

New York, USA

More Episodes

Dr. Sue Ettinger is a practicing veterinary cancer specialist, international speaker, book author, and vlogger. She is also co-author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide and a passionate advocate of early cancer detection and raising cancer awareness.