การรักษา - มะเร็ง
A Decade of Cancer Care
According to the Veterinary Cancer Society, cancer is the main cause of death in 47% of dogs, which is about the same rate as humans. There are over 100 types of cancers in dogs.
Since 2009 we've been running Headrock Dogs Rescue during which time we've cared for too many old dogs with terminal cancer. For us, the most important aspect of treating cancer is pain control. We endeavour to give our dogs the best quality of life possible during their cancer illness and sometimes it can be hard knowing that their lives will end soon.
Natural Remedies
As we are upcountry in Thailand, we don’t have access to sophisticated treatments. We’ve often been advised against radiography or chemotherapy and to give our dogs the best palliative care we can. We’ve taken the natural therapy route with cancer diets containing lots of antioxidants specifically designed to help delay the cancer's progress. We also use oils such as CBD, primrose, coconut and fish oils together with turmeric and honey to dress the tumours. The dogs we’ve treated have all enjoyed a good quality of life until the cancer is too advanced. Then we have to say a very sad goodbye.
Tracking Malignancy in Canine Tumors
It’s not until we treat a tumour which we can’t eradicate that the possibility of it being malignant is questioned. As the nearest animal hospital that can perform biopsies is 500ks away in Bangkok, we can only observe carefully to see if more tumours appear. When they do we can be confident they’re malignant.
Osteosacoma
One old Temple dog we treated for a range of different illnesses from blood parasites which she recovered from but was also limping. We treated her for arthritis for a couple of months taking her for regular vet visits. When her condition didn’t improve we took her 100ks for an ultrasound examination which highlighted the mass. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and her leg was amputated in a bid to save her but sadly the tumour eventually went into her lungs.
Cancer of the Ear Canal
Cancers of the ear most commonly start with skin cancer in the ear or skin on the outer ear. The most common type is squamous cell carcinoma.
Gark a street dog developed a serious ear infection which became cancerous. He had a major operation to remove the lining of his outer ear down his ear canal. Sadly it didn't save his life although he lived for 6 months after his operation.
Below are some of the dogs we sadly miss whom we had to say goodbye to. Only 2 dogs died naturally from their cancer.
Angel Love – Melanoma
Birthday – Melanoma
Maud – Osteosarcoma
Gloria - Lymphoma
Riley - Pancreatic
Sen Yai - Nasal Cancer
Boonchai - Lymphoma
Gark - Ear Canal Cancer
RIP all you sweet ones.