The Dog Cancer Survival Guide (49 page)

My eight-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier has had frequently recurring Mast Cell Tumors. I have been giving Apocaps to my dog now for several months, along with the lifestyle and dietary recommendations I received from the Dr. Dressler’s Dog Cancer Survival Guide. I have noticed significant improvements in his overall health and he has not been diagnosed with a mast cell tumor for almost six months. If he continues to stay free from tumors, I will come back and change this to a five star review. I started using Apocaps a month or so after beginning the lifestyle and dietary changes. Because I did a lot of things near the same time I can’t say for sure exactly how much of his improvement is due specifically to Apocaps, but I suspect much of it is. At any rate, I continue to purchase them.
Update:
It has now been over a year since my dog has had any tumors. Considering his lifelong history of recurrent tumors, I have to assume that the Apocaps have been doing the job. I believe this is the longest he has been without any tumors since he was very young, and it is not what my Vet expected to happen. I was told the frequency would only increase. Because of this I am keeping my promise to change this review from four to five stars. The other day someone asked me how old my dog was. I said “nine”. He said “months?” When I said “years”, he didn’t believe me at first. I think if you take the time to do the all the things Dr. Dressler has recommended, you will give your dog a much better chance at a longer, healthier life. A year later I continue to purchase Apocaps.”

– M. Hall, five-star Amazon.com review dated June 9, 2010

I could not believe it. I actually double-checked her file and her identification tags to make sure she was the same dog. She was. I took another video to record the session – and the lack of a hemangiosarcoma – and I recommended to the guardians that they continue using Apocaps. That night, I watched the before and after videos with my wife, Allison. Over and over, Lassie’s tumor appeared, and then disappeared. It was one of the best days of my life. Ten months later, several weeks past the point at which the optimistic conventional expectations predicted her death, Lassie was still happy, waggy-tailed and tumor-free.

Other vets wanted to try my new formula with their patients and I was happy to oblige. Dr. Mark Thomas, DVM, a vet in upstate New York, gave Apocaps to a nine-year-old dog named Sherman, who had an osteosarcoma in his mouth. The tumor had started invading the teeth and the jawbone, and Sherman was facing a surgery to remove the front portion of his jaw. You can probably imagine how losing the entire front part of your lower jaw would affect life quality. Avoiding that surgery, especially in this older dog, was his guardian’s priority. Sherman was a giant breed, and he had already lived past his predicted life expectancy. Without surgery, there was little that could be done for Sherman, so Dr. Thomas recommended Apocaps as a palliative treatment. At least Sherman would likely be more comfortable, even if the tumor progressed.

Sherman’s guardian reported that within a few days of starting Apocaps, Sherman had more energy and a better appetite. Six weeks later, the tumor had regressed – shrunk – significantly. For example, an incisor (front tooth) was now visible, when before it had been engulfed by the tumor and completely invisible. Sherman’s guardian was very happy to see the tumor shrink at all – especially with no surgery or chemotherapy. Sherman hadn’t been on any other drugs or supplements, except for soy lecithin. Dr. Thomas now sells Apocaps in his clinic and recommends their use to other veterinarians.

Another veterinarian who took an interest in Apocaps is Dr. Cathy Johnson-Delaney. She is respected internationally for her work with otic pets and is a contributing author on several veterinary textbooks. Her background in pharmaceutical testing makes her a recognized expert on veterinary drugs and nutraceuticals, and she lectures to other vets about this subject. She used Apocaps in ferrets, hedgehogs, guinea pigs and pet rats.

“I have used Apocaps since (I think) May or June of 2010. Our dog, Maya, was diagnosed with Renal cancer April 15, 2010. We thought she had a urinary infection and following an X-ray (which showed a massive tumor instead of a kidney) we were sent to the specialty clinic for an ultrasound and to meet with an oncologist. She had her kidney removed on April 20th. We received the following as part of the histology report: “Diagnosis: Left Kidney: High-grade malignant neoplasm with multifocal to coalescing necrosis, mineralization and vascular invasion. Comment: The differential diagnosis this neoplasm includes high-grade renal cell carcinoma and nephroblastoma. Regardless of the histogenesis, this is a malignant neoplasm that has largely effaced the kidney and has metastatic potential. Although the tumor appears completely excised, moderate atypia, frequent mitosis, tissue invasion and vascular invasion warranted a guarded to poor prognosis. Close clinical follow-up for possible recurrence and/or metastasis is recommended.” We were advised to expect life span of 6-8 months with the shorter span more likely. The oncologist recommended that she be placed on Palladia and low dose Cytoxan. We sought a second opinion at another clinic - same prognosis provided and same recommendation. Because we were not able to find anything that assured us that Palladia was going to be effective, we chose not to go that route. At this point we located Dr. Dressler’s book and decided to follow his recommendations and commenced using Apocaps. On March 15, 2011 Maya will have survived 11 months following her diagnosis. She is showing signs of age (she is now 10+ years old), but is not currently showing any obvious signs of cancer.”

– Valerie Sachs, Pepper Pike, OH

The first patient was a three-year-old hedgehog with a squamous cell carcinoma in her mouth, a common tumor in hedgehogs. In Dr. Johnson-Delaney’s experience, these tumors progress rapidly, bleed, and distort the shape of the skull. The tumors prevent hedgies from eating, and most patients die within a month of diagnosis. According to Dr. Johnson-Delaney, chemotherapy doesn’t really work, and even debulking surgery can’t keep pace with the tumor’s fast growth. In this case, Dr. Johnson-Delaney found the tumor at the end of October and started Apocaps right away. Thirty days later, when she would have expected to hear the hedgehog had succumbed to the disease, she instead found the tumor regressed significantly, the gums and teeth firmed up, the bleeding stopped, and the pain was seemingly gone. Christmas came and went, and the hedgehog was still alive, happy, and eating normally. The hedgie lived another eight months before dying of heart failure. Dr. Johnson-Delaney could not find any apparent squamous cell carcinoma in the hedgie’s jaw when she performed a necropsy (also known as an autopsy).