2020 has been a year, to say the least. In trying times, it’s important to remember the good. And what’s better than beating cancer? As oncology specialists, we have dedicated our lives to treating pets who are battling this disease. Naturally, we love nothing more than helping our patients beat cancer. Thus, we would like to share the stories of these five remarkable cancer survivors to spread a bit of hope and cheer.
Cancer Survivors:
Jenny
Jenny is a nine-year-old female pit bull. In January 2019, her family veterinarian diagnosed her with a splenic hemangiosarcoma. Splenic hemangiosarcoma is an extremely aggressive cancer with a high rate of spread (metastasis). Prior to coming to CARE for treatment, a vet surgically removed Jenny’s spleen. Her parents then brought her to us for chemotherapy. With surgery alone, we projected that she would live two to three more months; with a more assertive treatment plan, we anticipated four to six more months of life. Jenny has defied all odds! It has been a year and a half since her diagnosis and she continues to do great. We are so proud of her!
Marvel
Marvel is an 11-year-old male Labrador. He began his life as a service dog with Guiding Eyes For The Blind, a non-profit group that pairs superbly bred and trained dogs with people who are blind and visually impaired. Currently, he is a retired Explosive Detection K-9 who took 15 trips to Afghanistan and Iraq. While serving his country abroad, Marvel foiled several attempts by Al Qaeda and Isis to kill Americans and their allies. This resulted in a bounty on his head. Stateside, he and his dad served at the Boston Bombing, the NATO SUMMIT and the ink cartridge bombing at the IMF, to name a few.
Marvel loves retirement! He is more spoiled than ever in his golden years. In March of 2019, he was diagnosed with a high-grade mast cell tumor. A veterinarian performed surgery to remove the tumor, but due to the location of the mass, they were unable to remove it all. With no additional treatment, his prognosis was only 6 months. His mom then brought Marvel to CARE. With his mom, we decided the best course of treatment was definitive radiation therapy followed by chemotherapy.
He completed his protocols with flying colors and is cancer free today! Go Marvel!
Marvel
Marvel is an 11-year-old male Labrador. He began his life as a service dog with Guiding Eyes For The Blind, a non-profit group that pairs superbly bred and trained dogs with people who are blind and visually impaired. Currently, he is a retired Explosive Detection K-9 who took 15 trips to Afghanistan and Iraq. While serving his country abroad, Marvel foiled several attempts by Al Qaeda and Isis to kill Americans and their allies. This resulted in a bounty on his head. Stateside, he and his dad served at the Boston Bombing, the NATO SUMMIT and the ink cartridge bombing at the IMF, to name a few.
Marvel loves retirement! He is more spoiled than ever in his golden years. In March of 2019, he was diagnosed with a high-grade mast cell tumor. A veterinarian performed surgery to remove the tumor, but due to the location of the mass, they were unable to remove it all. With no additional treatment, his prognosis was only 6 months. His mom then brought Marvel to CARE. With his mom, we decided the best course of treatment was definitive radiation therapy followed by chemotherapy.
He completed his protocols with flying colors and is cancer free today! Go Marvel!
Enzo
We diagnosed Enzo with malignant melanoma in the summer of 2016. At the time, we performed surgery to remove as much cancer as possible. Since then, we have been administering regular Oncept vaccinations to help boost his immune system to fight against the cancer. Oncept is an innovative canine melanoma immunotherapy treatment. We continue to monitor him very closely, so we get to see sweet Enzo regularly at CARE. Though we had a bit of a scare this past March (luckily, it turned out to be a benign inflammation), Enzo has been cancer-free for almost four years!
Lucy
Little Lucy’s parents initially brought her to CARE in 2016 for an evaluation due to excessive weight loss. Biopsies of her intestines revealed that she had low grade (small cell) lymphoma, which occurs most commonly in the gastrointestinal tract of cats. The behavior of low grade lymphoma differs from large cell lymphoma in that it has a more indolent course; it grows more slowly. The best way to treat this cancer is a variety of chemotherapy drugs. Typically, we administer oral chemotherapy drugs (chlorambucil and prednisolone). Once diagnosed and treatment has begun, cats (on average) live for about another year and a half to two years. Lucy is one tough lady. Not only has she been undergoing treatment for almost four years, but she is now 16 years old. We are so proud of her. We love Lucy!
Lucy
Little Lucy’s parents initially brought her to CARE in 2016 for an evaluation due to excessive weight loss. Biopsies of her intestines revealed that she had low grade (small cell) lymphoma, which occurs most commonly in the gastrointestinal tract of cats. The behavior of low grade lymphoma differs from large cell lymphoma in that it has a more indolent course; it grows more slowly. The best way to treat this cancer is a variety of chemotherapy drugs. Typically, we administer oral chemotherapy drugs (chlorambucil and prednisolone). Once diagnosed and treatment has begun, cats (on average) live for about another year and a half to two years. Lucy is one tough lady. Not only has she been undergoing treatment for almost four years, but she is now 16 years old. We are so proud of her. We love Lucy!
Marley
In 2017, Marley’s parents brought him in for a CT scan to evaluate a soft tissue mass growing in his groin area. The mass was quite sizable (and Marley is such a little guy)! We performed surgery to remove the tumor and he recovered like a champ! He was then diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma. We successfully removed most of the cancer, though it was invasive, and some cancer cells were left behind. To combat the remaining cells, we started him on low dose, oral metronomic chemotherapy. He received this treatment for a year while being monitored for tumor regrowth or spread. Fortunately, the cancer has not returned and Marley is celebrating being cancer-free for three years this July!
Oncologists at CARE
At CARE, we have two oncology specialists. Both board-certified veterinary specialists work tirelessly to improve the quality of life of each patient. Drs. Wesley Campbell and Lark Walters stay up to date on the latest treatment options; each case is unique and benefits from a different combination of therapies.
Cancer Treatment at CARE
If your family vet has diagnosed your pet with cancer, ask for a referral to our oncology team. We will work with you and your primary vet to come up with the best treatment plan for your beloved pet and your family. Day in and day out, we strive to continue adding to our list of cancer survivors!
