Starve Cancer - Feed Your Dog!

"If you have selected this book to read, your dog was probably recently diagnosed with cancer. You may or may not understand what this diagnosis actually means and what you must do to help your dog. After all, your dog is your best friend, companion, and a member of your family. You were likely informed that it is critical that you take your dog to a veterinary oncologist. You may be in shock if your dog seems completely healthy. This cannot be happening, but you know that you must make decisions quickly. The panic, fear, and sadness you feel are indescribable. It is devastating for you when your veterinarian tells you that your dog has cancer. But it may be treatable if caught in the early stages of cancer. It is important to completely understand the alternatives for care. Maybe sharing the news with someone close to you can help with making a decision. Your veterinarian can also help with your decision about cancer treatments. Many sources provide needed information; however, the accuracy of those sources is an important consideration. Convincingly hopeful stories from other pet owners may not be realistic or truthful. Remember, your dog is your best friend, so take time to gather the appropriate information. With all cancer management, the one thing you can do is to provide your dog with the best nutrition for longevity. Cancer is aggressive, but successful treatments can include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for localized tumors. Some cancers, such as lymphoma are only treatable with chemotherapy. All can be successful, adding months and perhaps years to dogs lives. The thought of chemotherapy for your dog may be terrifying; however, you have probably been assured that most dogs might maintain a good quality of life and have an increased survival time. But even so, the thought of your dog perhaps only having a few months to live can leave many dog owners with an indescribable feeling of fear, pain, and dread. The level of urgency to act must be considered very high! Dr. Lyles-an oncology veterinarian-diagnosed Addie with stage IV lymphoma with survival time of one to two months if left untreated. We started chemotherapy immediately. Addie went into remission quickly and there were no side effects. We also discussed how the benefits of proper nutrition could benefit her treatment. With that in mind, I began research on cancer and nutrition in dogs. From my research, I learned that her nutrition program would be very important and could help strengthen her immune system. I had to help her every day and, in every way, possible. Her health and treatment became my life. Addie lived over a year after treatment was initiated. However, we did not achieve a second remission. Despite this, Addie never knew she was sick. I set a goal to complete the book before I lost my Addie Kara to cancer. That did not happen. I stopped writing for some time. I recently returned to my writing, focused on current science-based research in nutrition for dogs with cancer. Only a few new publications were available for the dog owner. There was not a how-to guide on nutrition for dogs with cancer. I knew the emotions so many pet owners were experiencing. It was time to finish my book-Addies book-for pet owners wanting to provide the right and best nutritional meals possible for their dog. As a retired research professor, I knew how to perform in-depth literature searches for specific information. Published research articles on this topic were limited; however, there were a few good sources that had excellent references. I reviewed all the books that I could find that presented information about nutrition for dogs with cancer. Most were poorly documented and only provided a few new suggestions for nutrition for dogs with cancer. Even books written by vets tended to recommend diets based on experiences or anecdotal evidence rather than scientific documentation. It was very clear that a how-to guide-based on science-was needed, because most pet owners (and many veterinarians) are not going to be skilled in performing literature searches. At a time of crisis, scanning the internet searching for answers to find the best nutrition program and experimenting with diets is likely not be in the best interest of their dogs"--