Defeating Cancer: Bowser’s Battle

Five years ago, Chris and Angela Mozer decided to bring a puppy into their newly formed family. Preferring to adopt a puppy in need, the couple began their search at local recue centers. Their search came to an end when the couple laid their eyes on a big Rottweiler mix puppy who had been dumped on the side of the road.

“We went to see him and we knew instantly,” said Angela. “We took him home that day and came up with the name Bowser. He’s been a huge part of our family ever since.”

Bowser has grown into a huge and lovable companion for the quickly expanding Mozer family. Despite his massive size, Bowser is remarkably gentle and kind, which is exemplified by the special relationship he has with the three Mozer family children who range from 4-years-old to 4-months-old.

“He’s super sweet and polite even though he’s so big,” said Angela. “He’s amazing with the kids and is incredibly careful with the little ones. He’s an awesome family dog and we love him to death.”

There’s more to Bowser’s personality than his well-mannered antics. In fact, despite his enormous frame, Bowser is astonishingly athletic and absolutely loves playing Frisbee catch. He’s also a social butterfly and has been labeled as a local celebrity by the doggy day care center that he attends twice a week.

“Everyone at his daycare knows who Bowser is,” said Angela. “He makes an impression on everyone he meets. When everything happened with his health, he definitely had a big team of people rooting for him.”

Last year, Bowser’s joyful life came to a complete stand still when he was diagnosed with Rectal Lymphoma. Bowser’s battle with cancer began when Angela noticed Bowser having trouble going to the bathroom. Upon closer examination, she noticed blood in his stool and what looked like swelling on Bowser’s bottom. Unsure of what Bowser was suffering from, Angela wasted no time and rushed him to the emergency veterinary hospital. Once at the hospital, the staff ran multiple tests to determine what had caused the episode. The results that came back were devastating.

“They told us that Bowser had a large tumor and was suffering from Lymphoma,” said Angela. “I was in total shock. He had been his happy normal self up until that day and he was so young. There was no way we were going to give up on him so we started treatments right away.”

The veterinary staff immediately scheduled Bowser for surgery, and the next day his tumor was removed. However, surgery was only the beginning of Bowser’s fight. For more than four months, Bowser received chemotherapy treatments through intravenous fluids and orally.

Last February, after months of fighting and continuous treatment, Bowser was officially listed as in remission. Since that fateful day, Bowser has passed all of his regular check-ups and remained cancer free.

“Bowser had a long battle, but everyone involved made the whole process a success,” said Angela. “The veterinary staff was so sweet and really cared about Bowser. They made us feel comfortable and gave us hope.”

Today, Bowser has returned to his role as the big furry brother to his human siblings and is back to enjoying his friends at doggy day care. Angela and the family couldn’t be happier to have Bowser back to his normal self and are grateful for all the support they received.

“Life definitely wouldn’t be the same without Bowser,” said Angela. “I’m so glad that we had Bowser insured by Nationwide beforehand. Having pet insurance allowed us to provide the best cancer treatments available without worrying about the costs. Nationwide was the right choice for us.”

You can help support pets like Bowser throughout November during National Pet Cancer Awareness Month by sharing this story with the #CurePetCancer. During the Month of November, Nationwide will donate $5 to the Animal Cancer Foundation for every picture, story or post on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #CurePetCancer. Visit http://www.curepetcancer.com to find out how you can raise awareness and $50k for cancer research.