Monday, June 9, 2014

Bumps, lumps and lipomas..

Since finding couple lumps on Uno (all benign ), I've been super vigilant about his health. The breed is super prone to lipomas, so genetics play a huge role. With that said, I believe that diet is a strong contributing factor when it comes to these lumps.
Uno has been on raw for about 5 years now, part of it was 50/50 with kibble due to space and budget restrictions. Since I've been working at the store, I have access to some grass fed ground meat sources that I take advantage of, so he's been on full raw since then.

Overall his health is good, he's always been a lazy bum and sleeps on the couch when I'm gone during the day. He doesn't have any joint issues or stiffness and I haven't noticed his endurance decline during the walks/hikes either. I believe that raw diet is one of the main reasons for this, he gets a lot of natural glucosamine/chondroitin from turkey necks, tracheas and duck/turkey feet and I supplement with fish oil daily.

I've been doing a lot of reading on lipomas/mast cell and cancer in general. Most holistic blogs/articles strongly encourage raw diet. The reasoning behind lipomas is lymphatic stagnation due to chemical overload.

It kind of sounds like a load of bull, but it makes sense as well. The initial lumps popped up literally overnight after a took Uno to the vet for his senior blood work. 2 things happened: he was given a sedative which left him drowsy for 2 days. He was also put on prozac for his anxiety issues (he's no longer on it). Within couple days, I find these lumps.

When I checked with the vet, she assured me that it was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the meds. He was on them for about 3 weeks and since I haven't noticed much of an improvement with his fear issues, I stopped.

Since then, he's been on milk thistle for couple months, along with turmeric powder.

Right now we're doing this "cleanse" based on a recommendation from 3 little pitties. http://www.three-little-pitties.com/canine-lipoma.html

 He's tolerated it with no issues and I will continue until I run out of the pills, then probably take a break for couple months.

Since starting the supplement, I have not noticed much of a decrease in his lumps, but they haven't grown either. Another supplement I've added is called CAS resources, its a medicinal mushroom blend along with coenzyme Q 10 and few other vitamins. It's generally used for dogs going through cancer treatment and contains strong immune boosting properties. Once we run out, I'll switch over to a similar supplement called Fungi Perfecti Mush, since it's basically the same thing, but better value.

I have noticed that since using this supplement, he's a lot perkier and more alert, in any regard, it can't hurt and I think it'll benefit him long term.