ABOUT DR SUE
DVM, DACVIM (ONCOLOGY)
Dr. Sue Ettinger is a practicing veterinary cancer specialist, international speaker, book author, and vlogger (video blogger). She is one of approximately 400 board-certified specialists in medical oncology in North America. She received her veterinary training at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed her residency in medical oncology at the Animal Medical Center in NYC in 2003. She has recently received awards for Exceptional Doctor Performance and the Public Relations Achievement.
Also known as Dr Sue Cancer Vet®, Dr. Sue is the co-author of the Second Edition of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, which is a best-selling book in small animal health for the last several years. She co-hosts the podcast The Pet Cancer Vet on radiopetlady.com.
There are many myths and misconceptions about cancer in dogs and cats. Most cancers are treatable, and there are a variety of treatment options. Dr Sue’s focus is to provide comprehensive and compassionate care. She strives to minimize side effects – from the cancer itself and treatment – to help her patients lead active, normal lives even while undergoing treatment. Her motto is live longer, live well.
Dr. Sue is most passionate about raising cancer awareness, and she has developed “See Something, Do Something, Why Wait? Aspirate.®” to promote early cancer detection and diagnosis. This cancer awareness initiative for skin and superficial tumors in dogs and cats provides a set of guidelines for pet owners and veterinarians to help identify the best management for skin and subcutaneous (under the skin) masses in dogs and cats. Masses must be sampled and evaluated under a microscope to determine what they are. The sooner we determine whether a mass is cancerous and should be removed, the better for our pets. Most skin and subcutaneous tumors can be cured with surgery alone if diagnosed early when masses are small. Early detection saves lives.
A native of Long Island, New York, Dr Sue knew she wanted to be a veterinarian since she was in kindergarten. She currently lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband, a veterinary internist, their two sons, and their goofy black Labrador, Matilda, and yellow Labrador, puppy Penelope.
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🇨🇦 What was a highlight of my short 3 day trip to Toronto?
🐕 The Dog Fountain. Clearly the artist loved pugs. Definitely worth IMO seeing if you get to Toronto ♥️🇨🇦Great day 1 at the #hillsglobalsymposium in Toronto
💩 it’s all about the microbiome and prebiotics, probiotics and well, poop.
🤳🏽The afternoon changed gears and covered storytelling and social media, and included a few selfies. I was honored to be asked to join the panel of social media experts
👏 @hillspet is hosting an amazing conference and it’s being live-streamed too. Cannot wait for tomorrow
📲 Check out my stories for more of the fun @ The Carlu🐶 Luke is different than most dogs with lymphoma
🤒 He was sick. Most dogs with lymphoma are actually pretty healthy at the time their cancer is diagnosed. He was so sick his family brought him in on emergency where I work.
👉🏼 Also the location of his lymphoma was also less common. It was involving the lymph nodes inside the chest cavity (called mediastinal) and not the more common peripheral lymph nodes.
⚠️ This causes something called pleural fluid - fluid that accumulates around the lungs making it difficult for the lungs to expand and poor Luke to breathe well. It can lead to a respiratory crisis.
💉 Our criticalist tapped his chest - called a thoracocentesis - removing the fluid to allow him to breathe better and also confirmed the diagnosis
👩🏼⚕️ So that’s where I come in. Chemotherapy time. That’s the treatment of choice for lymphoma. Very high response rates. And very well tolerated in most dogs.
🧬 But before we started chemo and steroids I needed a few more tests. I was so glad no one started Luke on steroids to stop the fluid while he got into see me. I need to run a test called flow cytometry to determine if he has B or T cell lymphoma
📊 Most dogs with lymphoma have B-cell, but dogs with mediastinal lymphoma tend to be T-cell, so this important test let’s us know for sure
🤷♀️ Why do I care? B vs T is the most important prognostic predictor, and I also change his chemo protocol based on this information
✔️And I have had T-cell dogs do better and live longer that B cell dogs. So yes, in my opinion, it is worth treating both
♥️ And I hope Luke will be different that the statistics. And live so much longer. And continue to feel great. Because I love him already
🆕 Looking for more info on steroids and cancer? Check out my newest YouTube video.
youtu.be/JTAfwVaBL5w
🆓 I also have tons of videos on dog lymphoma and chemotherapy. Please check them out, tag someone who might need info, and please do not forget to subscribe