<div>Brenda, I'm so sorry to hear of Tinkerbelle's diagnosis. My neighbor's golden died of mast cell cancer last year. They opted for surgery to remove the original tumor but, as I'm sure your vet told you, they often re-grow in the same spot. When Jake's did (and it was only a year later) he wasn't a candidate for surgery -- he was a year older (at 12), and they had removed a fair amount of muscle tissue in his leg with the first surgery. My friends decided they didn't want him crippled for what time he had left. They were able to greatly extend the quality and quantity of his life once he got his "terminal" diagnosis using prednisone, which can sometimes push mast cell cancer into remission. They were able to keep him quite comfortable for quite a while using that. I know too when my Lisa was suffering from arthritis a holistic vet I took her to was a huge proponent of grain-free diets. According to her, grain causes inflamation in dogs, so it would stand to reason that if prednisone, an anti-inflammatory helps, that eliminating other inflammatories from her diet would help as well. Whatever course you decide the bassets are slinging much drool for Tinkerbelle and you're in my thoughts. I hope whatever time you have left with her is wonderful for you and for her, and I'm so very sorry.</div>
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<div>Drool for Cleo that her dental and extractions went OK today, and no-worry drool is being slung for Bill. Laura (Geoffrey, Molly, Henry, Rosebud, Lisa (ATB), Dub-Dub (ATB))</div>