Cancer

Canine Mast Cell Tumors: JD’s Mast Cell Tumor Diagnostics, Strategy, and Treatment

Nobody can identify a bump just by looking at it; not even a veterinary oncologist. Do you think you know what a mast cell tumor looks like? Can you tell a benign lump from cancer? You cannot unless somebody examines the cells it contains. JD’s mast cell tumor diagnosis Recently, we found three bumps on JD. One of them was…

by Jana Rade

Canine Post-Op Wounds: Taking Care of JD’s Wounds

Some wounds require skin grafts. It is always the goal to make surgery minimally invasive. But when removing a cancerous growth, clean margins might take preference. Boys make horrible patients Is it a guy thing to be horrible about being sick or about their wounds? It’s certainly a guy thing with men and as far as I can tell boy…

by Jana Rade

Mast Cell Tumor Treatment: JD’s Mast Cell Tumor— Surgery and Pathology Report

JD had his mast cell tumor removed last week. Everything went well and I will go into more detail on all his procedures next Thursday. Since then we were tending to his surgical sites and waiting for the pathology report. Diagnostic results The pathology report came today. That is much faster than we expected, which is great. Who likes waiting…

by Jana Rade

Mast Cell Tumor Diagnosis: JD’s Biopsy Results Revealed Mast Cell Tumor—You Don’t Know What the Bump Is Unless You Look at the Cells

Nobody, not even a veterinary oncologist, can identify a bump just by looking at it. There is no point in guessing and there is no point to watch potential cancer grow. Don’t wait. Aspirate. JD’s story We found three bumps on JD which we had checked out last week. One of them, looking like a skin tag, is a skin…

by Jana Rade

Canine Histiocytic Sarcoma: Elly’s Story

In dogs, in spite of its menacing appearance, histiocytoma is a benign skin tumor that results from abnormal growth of histiocytes, white blood cells responsible for attacking bacteria and other foreign matter in the body. These cells can be found mostly on the skin surface but also in other tissues that are in contact with the outer environment, such as the…

by Jana Rade

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer by day, dog health advocate, dog writer, member of the Dog Writers Association of America, and an award-winning author in my spare time. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Endless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care into my own hands. I learned the hard way that simply seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to finally get a diagnosis for her initial issue. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to use 20 years of hard-earned experience to save others from the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way, as I did.

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