Hi Cynthia, and welcome. My dog recently had one grade 2 MCT and a tiny grade 1 MCT removed with clean margins. The oncologist did NOT recommend further treatment. He said he only recommends chemo if the mast cell cancer has metastisized (sp?). I think you're wise to pass on the chemo.
He did not feel that diet changes or supplements were useful for MCT - I suppose because the cause is unknown, but thought to possibly be viral in nature. However, I've started home-cooking half of Joey's food, going lower-carb than typical commercial food, and higher veggie (broc, swiss chard, green peppers). There are folks on here who feed a lot of supplements for a lot of different cancers, but I only use salmon oil plus an immune strengthener containing vits a, c, and e, plus reiki mushrooms and CoQ 10 or something like that. I don't know if the diet and supplement changes are necessary, but I thought I'd at least try some things. I can't tell you if it keeps MCTs from coming back or not - they are unpredictable, but many grade 2's never return if clean margins are obtained. I would stay positive!
I would, however, make sure the food you feed is high quality - assume so, as you seem to be on the right track. I don't think probiotics are needed long-term, but I don't think there's any harm in using them that way - but just my opinion.
You'll get lots of help, support and ideas here. You might want to check the files section. There is some info on food, I believe. There's also a small canine mast cell tumor group on yahoo if you want more MCT-focused discussion.
Hope your boxer does well!
Ruth & Joey (MCT 2 terrier
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