Category: Holistic Pet Health

Max’s Tumour – Recovery and Going Forward

Published on by lindsaysomersetLeave a comment

Following up from part one talking about Max’s tumour, the biggest challenge for us with him was trying to keep the incision spot dry. That’s not an easy thing to do while it’s winter in Edmonton and there’s about 20cm of snow on the ground.

The 12 days following his surgery seemed like 12 months. He couldn’t go for long walks or back to daycare until his stitches were out. While it was amazing to see him return to his normal active self the day after surgery, it definitely meant that he was going to get bored and annoying (to me) very quickly. He also was not a fan of having to go on a leash to go out in the backyard because we needed to prevent him from running into the snowbank to do his business.

Image 2019-01-26 at 9.39 AM
Max and Nurse Freckles

The following Friday after his surgery, I took him back to the vet for a check up and to get his stitches out. I also had not heard anything regarding the results of surgery and if I needed to brace for bad news. Enough to say that those 12 days were filled with anxiety and worry of not knowing.

When the vet tech brought him back after removing his stitches (he had healed exceptionally well), she said the vet wanted to speak with me about his results. I started to sweat and my mind went to a very awful place.

When she sat down and spoke with me, she told me that it was a mast cell tumour and that it was a level 2. Immediately, I thought she was going to tell me he required more surgery and radiation. My head began to spin.

Then, she told me that it was a very low grade level two and that the lab results from the wide margins taken came back clean. The tumour had been removed successfully and he was cancer free. I started to cry. There are no words to describe the ultimate relief I had in that moment. While she said there’s always a chance of it returning, she said that will be very unlikely in his case. I’ve never been so happy from a drive home from the vet in my entire life.

One big factor that I truly believe contributed his tumour being such a low grade and not spreading was because of his diet.

Prior to his surgery, I researched the role that diet plays in mast cells and cancer in dogs. And not shocking, it plays a huge role.

One of the biggest things mast cells feed off of and thrive off of his grains and sugars. That’s why one of the things I found when I looked up different holistic options was eliminating all grains and starchy carbohydrates from his diet. Nutrition for your pets matters, so make sure you know what you are feeding your dogs.

Thankfully, all of my dogs had been transitioned over to a raw diet, so really the biggest thing I did was change up his treat options. Instead of treats with any sort of grain or wheat in them, he strictly gets dehydrated meat such as chicken breast, lamb lungs and trachea, rabbit ears and kangaroo liver. I’ve also started to add in supplements such as turmeric and coconut oil as both has been shown to help reduce inflammation and fight off cancer cells.

In the end, you are not going to be able to prevent things happening to your pets (or yourself). The advice I will give to pet owners out there is check your pets and if you see something that doesn’t look right, do not wait to get it looked at. You never know if a lump is something more than just a lump.

Image 2018-12-19 at 5.41 PM
Finally able to go for a long walk.

Max’s Tumour – Diagnosis and Surgery

Published on by lindsaysomerset1 Comment

Just before Christmas, I was putting on one of Max’s booties when I noticed something on the back of his front right leg. It was a small little flesh coloured bump that looked like this:

545_1
This is exactly what Max’s bump looked like. Please take your dog to the vet if you ever see anything like this.

At first, I thought it might be a bump from chafing from one of his booties as it was located right above where the top of his booties was.

I knew I had to take Dolly back to the vet to get her paws checked out due to a major allergy flare up, so I also booked Max in to get the bump looked at.

I went in thinking it was maybe just a tiny cyst or pimple on his skin and that they would either drain it or say it was nothing. I was not prepared for what happened.

Right away when our vet saw it, she told me it was likely a mast cell tumour. Upon that, she took a needle and aspirated it, took the sample to the back and had it looked at right away. I was standing in the exam room left kind of stunned and confused at to what I had just been told.

What is a mast cell tumour? Is that cancer? What caused this? He’s been so healthy, how could this happen?

When she came back about 10 minutes later, she broke the news that she had found a mast cell and that she wanted to remove it. She then started to explain there are three different levels of mast cell tumours with level three being the most aggressive and potentially, the most fatal.

The vet suggested that we book him in for surgery to remove the lump the following week on Monday, which was thankfully only three days away. So just as I was booking him for surgery, they took him to the back to take a blood sample to make sure everything was fine prior to performing surgery and making sure there was nothing that could cause an issue with the anesthesia. She also completed a physical exam to specifically check his lymph nodes, they were completely normal meaning the mast cells had not spread. This put my mind at ease a tiny bit. But as mast cells can release histamines and cause an allergic reaction, he was prescribed antihistamines up until the day of the surgery.

When I got bak to the car with Max and Dolly, I was shaking. I cried, I was scared, I almost had a full blown panic attack in the parking lot.

My mind was spinning as I was driving home. When I got home, I sat down and started researching. What causes mast cells? They don’t really know. Are there certain dogs who get them? Yes, breeds like Boxers and Boston Terriers (which Max is part) are more prone to them. What is the survival rate? If caught early and it’s a low grade, high and it can be completely removed through surgery.

When Monday morning rolled around, I woke up early and took Max into the vet (he was not impressed by not getting breakfast that morning). I felt awful leaving him, especially considering he hates the vet and was pulling towards the door as we were waiting.

Dolly and Freckles were so confused when I got him but Max was not with me. Within three hours of dropping him off, the vet called to tell me that surgery went really well and that she was able to get some good margins.

Thankfully, my parents were in town and were staying with us for a few days, so my mom was able to come with with me to pick Max up and most importantly, sit in the back seat with him.

When we was finally brought to us after the tech went over the care instructions for him, he was happy to see us but pretty out of it. My mom wrapped a blanket around him and carried him to the car and we went home.

One of the biggest things we had to do was to not allow his incision spot to get wet for two weeks and to not allow him to lick it, as he could get a serious infection. I knew he would refuse to wear the cone they gave us, so I went and bought him a soft, inflatable cone that made it look like he was on a long haul transatlantic flight (as it looked exactly like a travel pillow).

49898422_2222161834716618_9117695826825576448_n
Just after we got home. He was out of it and content to hang with my dad.
image 2019-01-11 at 4.32 pm
His fancy cone of shame.

He was quite hungry when he got home but as they always recommend after surgery, he only got 1/2 of his normal amount of food. The trickiest part was limiting his activity as we have a lot of stairs in our house and he loves to jump on and off our bed and couches. Thankfully, he let my mom carry him around for a couple of days.

Next week, I talk about how diet plays a huge role in mast cell tumours and what changes I made to his (and all of my dog’s) diet to ensure we never have to deal with this or any other cancer scare ever again.

Why I Use A Harness For All My Dogs

Published on by lindsaysomersetLeave a comment

There is sometimes a bit of debate amongst pet parents which is better: a collar or a harness.

While all of my dogs have adorable collars, personally, I prefer to use a harness for all my dogs when I walk them and will explain why.

dollyfreckles&max-6236

dollyfreckles&max-6156

46449329_10161180735155444_741843819565154304_n

First, I find it much easier to walk a dog (and especially a dog that pulls) with a harness. With a collar, if a dog pulls, they are going going to choke themselves. If you have a dog who pulls, a harness will put broad pressure across the chest instead of the neck. Another reason is that many trainers (good trainers anyways) will recommend a harness that not only have a clip for the leash in the back (like almost all harnesses do), but recommend one with a clip for the leash in the front of the harness. Using the harness and clipping the leash in the front makes it much more difficult for a dog to pull and can make walking a dog that likes to pull much more manageable.

image 2018-07-17 at 9.53 am
Dolly’s harness includes a front clip option.

If you have a dog that was bred to pull, try Canine Equipment’s Ultimate Pulling Harness.

I know pulling is a reason why there are some people out there who choose to use things like choke and prong collars as a way to prevent their dog from pulling, I am 100% against them and choose to use force free training for all of my dogs.

The second reason I use a harness is safety. What do I mean by that?

Have you ever seen or heard of dogs slipping out of their collars? I have and I’ve had dogs that have done this, including Dolly. You obviously don’t want a collar to be extremely tight around a dog’s neck if you choose to use one. But, dogs have a way a maneuvering their head and slipping out of them.

Dolly is a dog that will full on stop if she’s scared and the one time my husband and I took her around the block with just her collar thinking it would be fine, it wasn’t. She stopped, we went forward and the next thing I know, her collar and leash are on the ground and she’s starting to run away. I can’t even begin to describe the ultimate panic I felt at that moment. Thankfully, I somehow managed to stay calm and called her back over to me and she can came right over. That also shows the progress we’ve made with her since her days of hiding under in the office under the desk and shaking.

It is possible that dogs can and do slip out of harnesses if they are not properly fitted (as was the case for Max years ago where he had dropped some weight and the harness was too loose so he was able to slip to of it) or you are not using the right kind of harness. What does that mean?

Going back to Dolly, I had changed the type of harness for her last year as the one harness she did have, caused so much chafing across her chest, she lost hair.

image 2018-02-27 at 3.44 pm
Chafing from a harness left her with a bald patch.

So I decided to get her a harness that would be much kinder to her sensitive skin and would be comfortable for her.

image 2018-01-12 at 5.44 pm
A great harness, but not the right one for Dolly.

The harness was great for dogs that pulled…. forward. If your dog pulls, the harness gets tighter. If a dog is not pulling forward, it’s not as tight. Dolly, is not a dog that pulls forward, but instead pulls backwards.

I was walking the dogs one day when a couple of small children wanted to say hello. I allowed it (as they asked and their dad was right there), but I did not see at first that the one child was holding a huge stick. Dolly saw it as the child was approaching and got scared. So I asked the child to put the stick down, which they in turn, threw the large sick down. At the moment, I felt Dolly’s leash let go of tension. I look back and she had shipped out of her harness and like previously, was starting to run away. I immediately, dropped Freckles and Max’s leashes, got down to get level and calmly walked over to her and was able to grab her with one hand and put her harness back on with the other one while having to ask the children to just give her space. Thankfully, we were only one block away from our house. I immediately put her in the car and we went to Homes Alive to buy her a new harness, which is the harness she currently wears.

My dogs still wear collars and bandanas, but wear them more as accessories. They will always use a harness for walks. As I always say, do what works for you and your dog (except trying doing so using force free training).

Why I’ve Started To Feed My Dogs Raw

Published on by lindsaysomerset1 Comment

For years, I have been feeding all my dogs dry kibble (with the odd time of adding in wet food, specifically if one of them had dental work done). Recently though, I’ve started transitioning all my dogs to a primarily raw fed diet.

Before I go into the reasons why, I want to say the following things:

I 100% understand the reasons why some pet owners are unable to feed raw. Not everyone has the option (both cost wise and location if you are based in a rural and remote area) to feed your pet raw. And that is OK! There are people out there who think if you’re not feeding raw, you’re a bad pet parent and you are “killing” your animal. There is more than enough judgement in the world and when it comes to feeding your pet, as long as you are feeding them, that is a good thing. Do what works for you!

Being involved in animal rescue, any food donations we get are greatly needed. We focus on feeding animals first and foremost. I would never expect someone who is fostering a dog to make the transition to raw. 

I am NOT a veterinarian so I’m not here or able to offer any sort of medical advice.

I am also aware that not all dogs can eat raw as I know someone who’s dog consistently throws up any time they give him raw, so they make and cook his food instead. So once again, do what works best for you.

So why did I start feeding my dogs raw? Well, it’s quite simple. Max and Freckles literally did not want kibble any more. I had been feeding them Acana Pacifica and then switched to Orijen Tundra earlier this year and found they both were indifferent when it came to their food. So I decided to start adding in some freeze dried raw (such as Stella & Chewy’s Meal Mixers and Open Farm) to their food and found when I did that, they devoured their meals.

I eventually decided to try freeze dried raw patties from Stella and Chewy’s and Primal nuggets as well to see how they did. While both ate them up, I noticed Freckles would have a bit of an upset stomach if I gave her too much. So, it has been a slow transition for her.

I then started reading a bit more about the benefits of raw such as better digestion, shinier coats, healthier skin, better immunity and smaller stools just to name a few. I had noticed that all the dogs would occasionally deal with very smelly and loose stools from time to time when feeding just kibble but noticed as I started adding more raw food to their diet, the stool quality drastically improved (because there is nothing worse than trying to pick up a runny stool on grass).

I also found following accounts such as The DIY Dog Mom and Holistic Pet Radio helped me out significantly when it came to questions I had regarding feeding my dogs raw. They are not only great educational resources, they are also very supportive and are  both willing to answer any questions you have in a very non judgmental way (which to me, is super important). Amanda of Holistic Pet Radio even has an episode called “Super Charge Your Kibble” for people who choose to or can only feed kibble to their pets. Adding things like raw goat’s milk, blueberries, broccoli and a pre & probiotic can really go a long way in enhancing your dog’s food.

The wonderful thing about raw is that it comes in so many different forms as well. If the raw meat options gross you out (which I totally understand) or DYI (do it yourself) seems overwhelming to figure out, you can get raw in freeze dried form, air dried (I really like Ziwi Peaks) and commercially prepared raw you can find any most pet food stores.

Right now, I am using the commercially prepared raw for all my dogs. Max and Freckles are currently rotating between irRAWsistable and Primal and seem to do the best with duck, lamb, turkey or beef. Dolly’s been a big of bigger challenge to switch over to raw food through due to her allergies (as she can’t have any sort of bird, beef, pork or wheat). Thankfully, she does well with venison and rabbit. I have found raw kangaroo at Homes Alive and not only does she love it, she’s doing amazing on it.

Image 2018-11-27 at 2.40 PM
This is Max’s bowl with duck, veggies, pre & probiotic and half of a cooked asparagus as he loses his mind for asparagus. He got it as an extra treat.
Image 2018-11-27 at 2.45 PM
Dolly’s bowl included some venison, veggies and goat’s milk.

I found adding a pre & probiotic to every meal (I personally love Adored Beast Apothecary’s Healthy Gut) has also made for a much smoother transition.

For Dolly though, she still does get her Zignature kangaroo as she’s been doing really well on it. Eventually, I plan to have her on complete raw but am slowing transitioning with her as I need to be very cautious of her allergies and make sure something does’t flare them up (as I found she does well with one brand of venison but will have a flare up with another brand). When she does get kibble or a mix, she will always have goat’s milk, veggies and a dehydrated rabbit ear. I know there are many people out there who will be horrified by my feeding kibble and raw but it’s what works best for us.

I’m still in the learning process of everything there is to know about feeding raw but from what I’ve seen from my dogs, I feel I made the right choice. I plan to take a few courses over 2019 to help me learn and understand a little bit more of the science of it as well as I hope to help educate and support other dog others if they chose to also make the transition to raw.

Managing Dolly’s Seasonal Allergies

Published on by lindsaysomerset1 Comment

A few months ago, I wrote a post talking about how I manage Dolly’s allergies. Today, I wanted to do another post how I manage her seasonal allergies as the first post talked primarily about her food allergies.

Over the winter, Dolly’s allergies were finally under control and she was off her Apoquel and only getting baths once a week. We were even finally able to use a regular shampoo instead of her medicated one from her vet. This was a huge step and we were so happy to not have to go to the vet every month for refills and skin check-ups. We found that feeding her kangaroo as well as adding in some raw venison was working for her (as I like adding raw to her diet as much as possible and recently discovered raw kangaroo in the city). We also started adding an Omega Oil to her food and her skin and coat were the best they’ve ever been.

Then the snow melted, the grass and pollen came back and so did her allergies in a really big way. We would wipe her paws anytime she came in from outside using hypoallergenic wipes and it seemed to work, but only for a bit.

Image 2018-06-10 at 4.20 PM

As the weather got nicer, I was finally able to take the dogs for longer walks, so one day I took them for close to an hour. Multiple times during that walk Dolly stopped, sat down and start scratching. I knew something was up as she never does that. The scratching was more intense as the walk went on so when we got home, I took a look at her skin and she was covered in hot spots everywhere. So I grabbed her and gave her a medicated bath right away as I knew she was having a major reaction to something outside. After her bath, I gave her a ½ tablet of Apoquel an called the vet to get her checked out. I had a feeling all the progress we made with her would take a few steps backwards.

I took Dolly in and I could see her poor paws had hot spots everywhere and she would not stop licking and chewing them. The vet did some skin swabs on her paws and in her ears (as I had a feeling they were a bit of a mess as well) and sure enough, along with hot spots, she had yeast and small amounts of bacteria in her ears and paws and was the result of seasonal allergies as the vet said we were the fourth patient that week that came in with a flare up.

We came up with an action plan and to help put the fire out as my vet would say, Dolly would have to go back on her steroids for a week to help calm things down. She would also have to back on regular doses of Apoquel to help manage her itchiness. She was also given a medicated ear drops and a home ear cleaning solution for us to use with her. We would have to go back to bathing Dolly twice a week using her really strong medicated shampoo and on days where she didn’t get a full bath, we would have to bath her paws every day (something that will have to continue until the snow falls sadly).

I did however recently start using a natural solution to clean and moisturize her paws called Reliq. The great thing about this line is they use all natural minerals instead of harsh chemicals like alcohol to clean and sooth skin and paws. There is nothing I hated more than putting something on Dolly’s paws all the time that hurt (and only like to use it if things get really bad).

Image 2018-06-10 at 4.19 PM

I also found an all natural hot spot spray that is also free of alcohol and instead uses Aloe Vera as an ingredient so it soothes rather than burns. I find this great not only her paws, but her belly, neck and a spot on her tail that irritates her once in a while.

Image 2018-06-10 at 4.22 PM

I really love my vet because she would rather treat topically through bathing than medication and only use it when things are bad. She agrees with me that Dolly being on a lot of medication (like steroids) are not good for her long-term health and are only a band aide solution. She prefers to take a natural approach as much as possible and actually likes that we do our research on natural solutions (as I know not all vets sadly feel that way).

As I knew I wanted something that would be more of a long-term solution, I started to do some research on dogs and seasonal allergies. It was incredibly interesting some of the things that I was able to find out. I recently discovered Holistic Pet Radio on Instagram and they recently did a podcast regarding seasonal allergies and your pets. I actually was able to learn a fair bit from it and highly recommend you check it out (along with many other great topics they cover).

One of the biggest take always I got was regarding how gut health plays a huge factor in things like seasonal allergies. So, I have recently started adding a probiotic to her food, coconut oil and on occasion, small amounts of kelp to her raw venison (I only use about ¼ of a teaspoon as I don’t want to feed her too much of it as I know it can cause issues if you do).

Image 2018-06-10 at 4.36 PM

Image 2018-06-10 at 4.24 PM

A really good piece of advice I got from the podcast was giving your dog bromelain and quercetin as they act as natural anti-inflammatory and anti-histamines. Some people have even referred to it them as “Nature’s Benadryl”. I was fortunate enough to find treats that contain both and give one to Dolly two or three times a day (there is a listing of how much to give your dog based on their weight).

Image 2018-06-10 at 4.26 PM

I can say that since starting a more holistic approach to dealing with Dolly’s allergies, she has been doing amazing. The biggest thing that I am finding is if I go more than two days without bathing her paws, she does start to lick them (even though she just chews her claws for whatever reason but there is a difference from when she does that compared to when her paws are irritated). Dolly’s allergies are finally under control and she is the healthiest she’s ever been. I can’t do anything to stop seasonal allergies, but I’m happy that there is a plan in place to manage them.

I want to add that I am not an expert no and highly recommend speaking to your vet about things. And if you are not happy with what they recommend, seek another opinion as you are your pet’s caregiver.