Hi - my older dog today was diagnosed with some sort of fast growing "mass" (a tumor I assume) on or very near her liver. It hasn't been fully determined what exactly she's got going on at this point and I should know more in a few days, but in the meantime, I've been reading that increasing omega-3s is good for a dog with cancer.

Currently she's been getting the normal salmon oil dosage each day (3 pumps) along with vit E capsules. Should I increase that salmon oil amount? If so, how much? Double it? Do I then increase the vit E proportionally at well?

Any advise is greatly appreciated -

You are right about long-chain Omega 3s showing promise in cancer-fighting. As we talk about often here, they fight inflammation and help support the immune system.

Also, they are not the kind of nutrient that feeds cancer.

I would definitely be considering the amount (and I would probably be looking at the EPA and DHA content too).

EPA and DHA have shown to fight cancer in more than one way. They seem to cause cancer-cell death in some kinds of cancer; they reduce a protein that protects some cancer cells; they suppress some epidermal growth factor receptor action associated with some cancers.

Can you tell us (1) what is the measured amount of 3 pumps, and (2) how much E are you giving, and what kind (d-alpha? d-alpha with mixed tocopherols?)? Also, I can better look up stuff when you have an actual diagnosis (benign, malignant, etc.).

How was the mass discovered?




eta
I'm not a health professional.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (12/14/2011 09:35 PM)
Edit reason: eta

Hi Connie - thanks for the help. I currently give both of my dogs "3 pumps" of the Grizzly Salmon Oil (http://grizzlypetproducts.com) per day. Darned if I can figure out how much the measured amount is though - their website doesn't seem to say. Should I squirt 3 pumps into a measuring spoon to find out? Zora weighs about 60lbs, btw.

For Vitamin E, I buy capsules at the local health food store. I give her 400iu each day and it is "d-alpha tocopherol and mixed tocopherols".

She also gets Vit C, Grand Flex glucosamine, MSM, and a few other things, but that's beyond the topic of this discussion (...I think...correct me if I'm wrong!)

We should know more in a day or so once the specialist has had a chance to look at the ultrasound. She had an ultrasound (for unrelated reasons) about 10 months ago, and this thing was apparently not there then, and it sounds like it's pretty big now, so it must be fast growing. She doesn't seem to be in much, if any, discomfort from it at this point though.

We discovered it b/c when she went in for a checkup at the beginning of Nov, her blood work showed her liver enzymes were way up. We started her on some liver medication then and today we did the ultrasound and rechecked her blood. Enzymes are up even higher than before, but the good news is that apparently her liver function currently seems to be good, and unaffected from the "mass".

Which size Grizzly bottle? As I recall, a pump size is different depending on which bottle.

Hi Connie - it's the 32oz bottle

Matt, I didn't forget this .... finishing up a rush job tonight but back on this tomorrow.

No worries Connie! I haven't heard anything from the vet today so hopefully they'll call with some more info tomorrow too

Any results today?

Unfortunately no. I'll have to call tomorrow.

She doesn't seem like she's in any major distress but she's definitely not herself either. She seems tired.

I've upped her calories and added some mackerel in with her raw food last night and this morning. I'm trying to keep her weight and her energy up. A "fast growing mass" has to be a tumor, right? There's nothing else it could be?

Oh - one other thing - as the vet explained it to me, the liver enzymes they are seeing in her blood are from inside the liver... as though the mass is pushing on the liver and causing it to leak (and the leaking has increased in the past 6 weeks). According to the blood results though, the actual functioning of the liver currently seems to be ok and unaffected.

This is an older dog. I have no idea how old because she came to me as a foster almost 2 yrs ago. She has a little greying around the muzzle but not a whole lot. She could be 8, or 10, or even 12 for all I know. She's a spunky dog with a strong spirit and a high threshold of pain. She might be feeling a lot worse than I can tell. She's always been a very enthusiastic eater with a lot of food drive, but I'm worrying more and more about her since the past two days she hasn't finished her breakfast. I was able to get her to eat the rest a few hours later and she's eaten a big dinner each night and has continued to be fairly enthusiastic about her treats. I'm not sure why she'd be losing her appetite in the mornings but maybe I should split her meals into 3 times/day rather than 2.