The Holistic Treatment of Cancer in Dogs

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Hearing that their beloved friend is suffering from cancer is one of the worst nightmares that each dog owner fears. The first reaction is shock, quickly followed by despair and a feeling of helplessness. The fact that cancer is usually associated with humans makes this realisation even harder to accept. Still, we need to get a grip quickly and decide on the course of action, because our fury friend can’t do it for himself.

Depending on the type of cancer, there are different treatments and different prognoses. Very often you don’t realize there’s a tumor until your dog is in such as state that an exploratory surgery is the only option and even then, you can’t expect your four-legged friend to make a full recovery. Even if the problem is diagnosed earlier, there is usually more than one treatment available, and you’re the one who needs to make the decision, after consulting with your vet.

The typical treatments

Most commonly, you’ll face a choice that includes chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, which may be accompanied by changes in diet. While they all have their merits, you have to know exactly what each treatment entails in terms of your dog’s suffering. The last thing you want to do is expose your best friend to some grueling procedures with little hope of them ever being healthy again.

Nutritional supplements

You might want to go down a more natural path when it comes to helping your dog. Such methods may serve as an excellent complement to traditional ones. For example, nutritional supplements can prevent or even reverse cachexia, i.e. muscle wasting that is one of the effects of cancer. They can also help reduce toxicity from chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Such supplements have also proven to be quite useful in the period following surgery or radiation therapy, because their role is to improve the immune system and lower the chance of metastases appearing. Naturally, you mustn’t introduce such supplements without consulting a knowledgeable vet you trust.

Ozone therapy

This relatively new treatment is actually founded on a very simple premise. Oxygen is needed for healthy cells, while on the other hand, microbes are usually anaerobic, i.e. they create havoc when there’s no air or free oxygen.

So, treating such life forms with pure oxygen, i.e. ozone, over a period of time, helps in the battle against disease-causing microbes. Ozone can be administered in an IV fluid solution or topically.

Establishing routines

It’s quite important for your dog to get as much rest as possible during treatment, so that its body is as strong as possible. In order to make it happen, you need to establish a sleeping routine to begin with. Also, you should avoid long and strenuous walks, since they will put additional burden on your friend’s shoulders.

Giving them a place to rest

Apart from making sure your dog has enough time to rest, you also need to make sure that it has a nice, cosy nook, where it won’t be disturbed by noise or people constantly moving about. Make sure they have a bowl of water and a comfortable snooza bed, so that your friend can recuperate.

Food

You should also make sure that you give your dog the best possible food, which should provide as much energy as possible. This might prove invaluable in the long run, so the sooner you start, the better chances of recovery your dog will have.

No matter how difficult the state of your dog is, one thing is for sure. You have to stay by its side and provide the best possible care. Even if you reach the point when it becomes absolutely clear that no treatment can help your faithful friend, you have to be kind enough and not let them suffer more than necessary.

However, there are many things you can do to prevent that from happening and/or prolong your dog’s life and those are the opportunities you mustn’t miss, since you have to be faithful to your dog and repay all those wonderful moments you’ve spent together.