Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: What Every Caretaker Should Know About Canine Cancer, Featuring Bullet's Survival Story, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

Laurie Kaplan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2008

A crash course on canine cancer, for all dog lovers. Covers prevention, diagnosis, treatment options, side effects, diet, supplements and home care. Medical animal writer Kaplan shares journey with her own lymphoma survivor, Bullet. A must read for those who have a dog with cancer.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gentle, accessible and full of hope, Kaplan's book offers an understandable overview of cancer pathology and treatment. Anyone in the unfortunate position to need this information will benefit greatly from [Kaplan's] reporter's skill at research, her edior's gift for making tough material readable, and her personal experience. -- Dog Fancy Magazine, January 2005

In her book, Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: An Overview of Home Care Options," Laurie kalan describes her Siberian Husky, Bullet, and his cancer treatment, providing important information for anyone who would like to prevent cancer or whose dog has the disease. -- Whole Dog Journal, January 2006

This compassionate and heartfelt book should be one of the first books the owner of a cancer dog turns to. It will doubtless help that person feel less overhelmed and more able to navigate the many options availalble. -- Dog World Magazine, August 2006

This is an excellent book for owners of dogs with cancer... gives the veterinary staff a look into the life of someone dealing with cancer. This is an excellent resource for veterinarians to have for the pet owners during a difficult time. -- VIN Veterinary Information Network

Ms. Kaplan does not sugar coat dog cancer. For about a month the book sat on a corner of my desk waiting for my perusal. I always found reasons to put off the task of reading about a woman, her dog and cancer. I expected a maudlin, touch-feely piece about a dog that made it because of faith and perseverance. Instead, I found a a well written exhaustively researched book that covers all the bases. -- The South Shore Press, May 2005 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Laurie is a medical animal writer, former editor of Catnip magazine, published by Tufts Veterinary School, co-founder of a volunteer program of the SPCA of Westchester, and award-winning author/producer of educational videos. She is the administrator of the Magic Bullet Fund, providing financial assistance to people who have dogs with cancer but cannot afford treatment. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: JanGen Press; Enlarged 2nd edition (June 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975479474
• ISBN-13: 978-0975479476
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 7.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Medical Books > Veterinary Medicine > Small Animal Medicine

More About the Author

During my young life I was torn between becoming a writer and becoming a veterinarian. Now, serrendipitously, I fell upon a happy medium! I am a medical animal writer.

The story of Bullet's cancer journey is well known. I now live with 15-year-old Parker, a black lab mix, and 13-year-old Butchie, half Sibe and half Rottie. By living with pets we can learn life lessons that cannot be gleaned any other way. These lessons have a profound effect on our essential being if we let them, and no matter how much we think we helped a pet it can't compare to how much they have helped us.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for any canine cancer caregiver, March 13, 2006

By 

J. Pearce "J. Pearce" (Heart of Dixie, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: An Overview Of Home Care Options (Paperback)

This book has been phenomonal -- Laurie Kaplan's advice for assembling a cancer care team is very helpful, particularly to dog parents who may be "new" to the worlds of holistic and complementary medicine. Laurie's advice helped us implement the homemade diet all of our dog's veterinarians had recommended (a high protein, low carb diet is highly recommended by both holistic and allopathic (traditional) veterinarians for canine cancer patients -- as a side note, Laurie recommends Hill's N/D, which is a prescrpition food formulated for cancer patients. I prefer a similar grain-free, high protein/low carb food called "Innova Evo," which is made by Natura Pet -- the nutritional content and price are almost the same as N/D, but Innova's ingredients are more natural/higher quality, in my opinion. This is a brand new food that wasn't on the market when this book was published. website: www.naturapet.com). Perhaps most importantly, this book gives us caregivers hope and a real sense of being able to help our canine friends through this ordeal. Laurie also emphasizes that the degree to which each of us decide to treat (or not to treat) our pets' cancer is a personal matter, with no "wrong" decisions. I highly, highly recommend this book -- three cheers to Laurie Kaplan!!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great help, August 12, 2007

By 

Denny K "Denny" (DC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: An Overview Of Home Care Options (Paperback)

It was an easy read but unfortunately one cannot utilize every single suggestion the author offers up. However we did use a lot...like changing Cody's (sweetest Golden Retreiver in the history of Golden Retreiver's) diet to something more organic..gave him yogurt which he loved..chicken..and filtered water. But after the first chemo treatment caused such unusual discomfort and stress in him, we decided to forgo any further treatments and let him go naturally. He did very well for about 8 weeks after the chemo stopped but when we found one morning he could not get up..then we knew it was time. He could still eat voraciously and drink like there was no tomorrow and as aware as ever...but he couldn't get up. It was a sad goodbye....very very sad. Sorry..anytime I have a chance to talk or write about Cody, I go off. It is very helpful to me. But the book helped us notice things we may not have noticed if we hadn't read it....so for me altho the end result was sadly unfortunate...I believe the book contained a lot of good ideas. Ok..I'll stop now

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first canine cancer book you should read., July 27, 2007

By 

Ben Smukler (Visalia, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: An Overview Of Home Care Options (Paperback)

Ms. Kaplan, who was a professional veterinary writer to begin with, wrote this book for the rest of us when, after her beloved Bullet was diagnosed with lymphoma, she discovered that there was no basic "how to" book for dog owners facing the same challenge.

The result is a book that is both a handy reference, containing a wealth of information--about canine cancer, the various treatments, ideas for special diets, and so on--and a "support manual" that you can (and will) turn to over and over again as you and your dog fight the disease.

I read other cancer books, as well as a wealth of information online (about "people" cancer as well, since much of the chemotherapy is the same), but this was clearly the most valuable book.

Ms. Kaplan closes with the story of Bullet's passing (years after his battle began), and I found a great deal of support in reading that while trying to come to terms with my own experiences.

The book also contains sidebars by various veterinarians and includes tips on how to spot early signs of cancer. I wish the book was much more visible: It should be on the suggested reading list for every new dog owner.