This might be an unpopular opinion, but when our pets get cancer, I don’t think we should always try to get rid of the cancer. Hear me out…
Instead of healing cancer, I prefer to focus on helping pets live and thrive with cancer still in their bodies.
Which is totally possible in many cases.
I think when we treat cancer conventionally speaking, usually what people are trying to do is kill the cancer or get it out.
They either poison it with chemo, kill it with radiation, or they try to get it out with surgery.
And this urgent need to get rid of it comes from the idea that cancer is a deadly foreign invader.
But in reality, cancer is actually the normal cells of the body that have mutated, and there’s something happening in the body that allows the cells to mutate.
I’m always curious about what’s going on for that pet that their body is allowing the cells to behave in that way 🧐
The thinking that we need to destroy cancer started long ago…
You see, during World War || Doctors noticed that soldiers exposed to mustard gas had lower white blood cell counts. The gas affected rapidly dividing cells – like cancer cells! This led researchers to investigate using the same chemicals to treat cancer.
It’s really poisonous stuff that was designed to kill people, and as a result, sometimes we end up not only killing the cancer but the patient 😳
Chemo is toxic, radiation has side effects, surgery has risks…
And don’t get me wrong, all those treatments are really helpful when we need them.
But what if we focused on helping our pets live with cancer?
What I’ve found is that pets can feel good and live long with cancer if we support their bodies properly.
That’s exactly what we helped Jackson do.
When Jackson was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his colon, the vet he was seeing told his mum to take care of him over the weekend and bring him back on Monday to be euthanized 🥺
With the tumor in the way, Jackson was finding it hard to poop, and he couldn’t live like that, so the vet thought euthanasia was the only option.
But his mum refused to accept there was nothing she could do for Jackson.
She saw another vet for a second opinion, and he said he could try to do surgery and remove the tumor, but the risk of complications was extremely high.
So that wasn’t the answer, either.
And then Jackson’s mum found us! 🦄
First, we gave him stool softeners so he could poop easily 💩
We put Jackson on a fresh food diet and started microbiome therapy.
He got fecal microbiome transplants and Adored Beast probiotics.
We saw him every week for ozone therapy, which really helped slow down the growth of the tumor and helped it get a little smaller.
He didn’t even need the stool softeners to go potty anymore!
We were actually able to stabilize the cancer and prevent it from growing further.
15 months later, we lost Jackson to heart disease 💔
But he got more than a whole extra year with his family and lived happily with the cancer in his body.
My wish is for every pet parent to know cancer doesn’t have to be such a scary diagnosis.
There is so much we can do for your fur baby.
Sometimes, when we focus on helping the pet’s immune systems get stronger, boosting their microbiome, and improving their diet, the cancer goes into remission, and other times, the growth stays the same or shrinks a little.
And in many cases, pets are able to far outlive their prognosis and have a really great quality of life!
🩷, Your Unicorn Vet,
Dr Lily
PS If you know a pet who has cancer or you want to help prevent cancer for your pet, read Starlight’s story 🦄👇
Starlight Stories
Starlight here! 🦄
This week’s podcast episode Wass an important one.
If you know a pet whose bravely battling cancer please send them this link to go listen:
Apple Podcast: Link
We want every pet parent to know what options exist for their fur baby.
And we’ll be creating a guide all about preventing and holistically treating cancer in November.
Keep an eye on your inbox 👀
With love and gratitude ❤️,
Dr. Lily, Dr. Trina, Dr. Stephen, Gaby, Dianne, Lindsey, Liz, Maria, Mickie 🦄