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Tumor Advice Needed
I’ll preface this by saying that I’m requesting support for my 11-year-old dog, who was just found to have an 8-9 inch tumor on her liver that has spread to liver nodules. I know this group doesn’t typically discuss animal health, but I don’t know where else to ask (that I trust) and so would appreciate any & all leads.
About my dog, Lola:
She is a mid-size (47 lbs) Sato mutt who has had no health issues until now. She walks 2-3 times per day, 30 mins each time, and is in good spirits.
About the tumor:
The tumor was first felt during a routine annual check-up, and confirmed during a follow-up sonogram 1 week later.
The doctor says because it’s spread, it’s likely cancerous, but we have not tested to confirm this.
The doctor’s recommendations:
The doctor recommends against chemotherapy because it’s not typically effective on liver cancer, and recommended against surgery to remove it because it’s already spread. He advised giving her turkey tail, and we’re giving her 1 teaspoon twice daily.
Her symptoms:
She’s not exhibiting symptoms other than a bit of weight loss (dropped from 55 to 47 lbs in 10 months without change in diet) and occasional constipation, which we treat with 3-4 tablespoons of pumpkin or ½ sweet potato in her dinner. On days when she hasn’t gone for 24 hours+, sometimes we give her a suppository to help her and this works.
Anything else I can try to stop / slow the tumor growth, or shrink it? Any brands of dog food or dog treats that would help her?
Her diet:
- For breakfast, she has the 1 teaspoon turkey tail with plain chicken in its own homemade broth.
- For dinner, she has the 1 teaspoon turkey tail with plain chicken or fish in homemade broth with ¼ cup low carb dry food & 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil or fish oil.
- After dinner, she eats dog treats. They’re not usually healthy, but we just bought chicken heart treats, in an effort to shift her to cleaner ones.
Everything she’s taking now:
- Just Food For Dogs Omega Plus (https://www.chewy.com/justfoodfordogs-omega-plus-liquid)
- The Honest Kitchen Grain Free Chicken Recipe Dog Food (https://a.co/d/2ladlyl)
- Canine Matrix Turkey Tail Holistic Defense Immune Support Dog Supplement (https://www.chewy.com/canine-matrix-turkey-tail-holistic/dp/225680)
Thanks so much in advance for any info you’re able to share!
Jennifer
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3 Replies
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Hi @Jennifer Schwartz – as an animal and dog lover, my heart goes out to you. We recently adopted another dog (so we now have 3) and my focus recently has been on holistic animal health, and trying to learn as much as I can about that. What I’m realizing is how similar their health is to humans, and while turkey tail mushroom is definitely a good option, I’m happy to say that there’s also much more that can be done!
So for starters, I love that you’re offering your fur baby real food proteins like chicken and fish, and changing her dog treats (many are absolute garbage – read the ingredients. They should be pure dehydrated proteins with nothing else added!).
Have you tried adding in beef, lamb, and organ meats into her diet? Variety is important. Also make sure you’re giving her filtered water, and minimizing toxic exposures as much as possible like feeding her from a glass or stainless steel bowl instead of plastic, etc.
I recently purchased the newly published book “The Forever Dog Life” by Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib. It’s SO well done, with tons of recipes if you care to venture down that road.
I also read the book by Dr. Marty Goldstein called “The Spirit of Animal Healing”, and he touches on cancer treatment (and causes, which are primarily over-vaccinating our pets, diet, environment/toxins, and genetics). He mentions that the strongest and most effective alternative way to treat cancer is through IV vitamin C therapy.
You can try to find an integrative vet in your area who can offer this on the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (ahvma.org) website.
They would probably be able to put together a more comprehensive protocol as well once she’s been properly assessed.
Other things to consider:
Digestion:
Address her constipation asap! This is how the body naturally eliminates toxins. So this is a big priority. Dogs have microbiomes just like humans, so giving her a pre- and probiotic would definitely help.
I LOVE the product called Fido’s Flora by Adored Beast Apothecary. In addition to having pre and probiotics, it also has Larch arabinogalactan, which helps the immune system and as stated on their site “blocks metastasis of tumour cells”. It also has huvic/humic acid to help remove toxins.
A digestive enzyme can also help her break down her food better, and cause less digestive distress and improve bowel health. Also by Adored Beast, they have “Healthy Gut”. This formulation has the pre & probiotics, larch, and betaine & enzymes to help with breaking down her food better and nutrient absorption. I would rotate between those 2 products.
I would also add in a proteolytic enzyme taken AWAY from food which Dr. Marty said he’s used to help shrink and break down tumours. Here’s an example of a systemic enzyme.
Vaccine Support/Detox:
I’m going to assume she’s been given the routine annual vaccinations (which unfortunately is not usually questioned and is overly prescribed). This in reality is actually hurting our fur babies, more than it is protecting them because this industry does not discriminate between the breed’s size and weight. It’s the same vaccines given to all sizes and ages, unfortunately. And as Dr. Marty explains, the frequent and indiscriminate immunizations are weakening their immune systems. Side note – what I’ve started doing instead is measuring my dog’s titers to see if their immunity is still robust. If it is, I don’t vaccinate.
Therefore, I would also recommend something to help support vaccination (and the heavy metals it brings with it). Rebalancer by Adored Beast is something to consider as well.
Since you are giving your baby fish regularly, it would also be wise to add in a binder to help remove heavy metals from her body. Dynacol Zeolite is an option.
Supporting her liver would also be a good option. Liver Tonic has nice ingredients that are known to protect liver health (i.e. milk thistle) and aid in detoxification function (i.e. dandelion root) amongst other herbs.
Antioxidants:
Cancer cannot survive in a highly oxygenated state. Therefore reducing pro-oxidants in her body with lots of antioxidants is helpful. Turkey tail and other medicinal mushrooms like Chaga mushrooms are great additions. You can also add in phytoplankton by Adored Beast. You can find all of these options on Pawdega’s page HERE.
Hope this helps you and her!
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Thank you so much @Bernadette Abraham! Your reply has made me feel hopeful for the first time since receiving Lola’s diagnosis.
A few follow-up questions:
1. Supplements: Should all of the following supplements be taken once daily, with her dinner? My concern is that Lola refuses to take pills and is a picky eater. I think maybe I could conceal 1, possibly 2 supplements in chicken broth, but not sure about more.
Fido’s Flora by Adored Beast Apothecary
Healthy Gut by Adored Beast Apothecary
Systemic Enzyme Formula by The Pet Health and Nutrition Center
Dynacol Zeolite Canine & Feline (if eating fish)
Liver Tonic by Adored Beast Apothecary
Turkey tail
Chaga
Phytoplankton
2. Meat: Her doctor recommended poultry and fish only because she has liver cancer. Any idea why? Would like to explore that before introducing other meats.
Thanks again for your time here, and hope you have a lovely weekend with the family!
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@Jennifer Schwartz
Oh no worries about that. All of them are either powder or liquid which can easily be sprinkled and mixed into food. The only one that is a capsule is the systemic enzyme. And you can always open up the capsule and dump contents into a bit of bone broth to get her to take it away from food.
All can be taken with food except the systemic enzyme. And rotate between Fido’s Flora and Healthy Gut.
For more detailed info on how to administer those supplements, the links I shared above have details about each one.
I’m going to assume it’s the same reason as humans, which is due to meat being acidic in the body, and the need to keep the body more alkaline with an active cancer diagnosis. Fish is less alkaline than chicken/turkey then lamb and then meat. Take a look at this attached acid/alkaline food chart (I’ll be sure to add it in the library for next month). I’m pretty sure that’s the reason why.
I thought that’s what you’ve always fed her, so was wondering why no meat, organs, etc., but the docs recommendation makes sense actually. That’s why most cancer patients become largely vegetarian during their treatment, to help reduce inflammation in the body as quickly as possible.
I hope you can find an integrative doctor to be treating and monitoring her as well!
Please keep us posted… hope she makes a comeback!
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