Mast Cell Tumors in Beagles
Answered by: Kerry Hackett
Question from: Cheryl Felix
Posted on: June 14, 2006

Our very sweet 9 year old female beagle had surgery in November ‘05 for mast cell tumors. One was removed from her shoulder area and several from her abdomen/groin area. The groin tumor had a grade III marker (highest). She recovered well from her surgery and at the time had ultrasound of her abdomen and liver biopsy with no evidence of spread.

She has recently developed more tumor sites, groin and chest wall. Our vet advises only surgery and we have a sense of hesitancy. She also had bloody diarrhea which lasted about three days recently and was put on antibiotics and responded well. It is difficult to know if this is due to her tumor recurrence or not. What advice would you be willing to share with us at this time regarding these circumstances?

It is difficult to be able to respond to your question without a full case history or seeing the bloodwork done on your dog as the latter would have shown whether there was an infection or whether the tumour has returned. First, I would urge you to see a qualified practitioner who works with both animals and herbs. Second, a good, homemade diet helps strengthen a body generally. Please see the work of Richard Pitcairn, "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats", "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and "The Barf Diet" by Ian Billinghurst for further details and recipes. Third, general immune-building herbs such as Astragulus membranaceous and Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) have been employed in situtaions such as this, but your very best bet will be to have a programme set up specifically to suit your dog as an individual with her entire health history in mind.

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