Posted 02 June 2013 - 05:58 PM
Thank you for updating. I wondered what was happening as I've been following your heroic efforts with your dog. I have a nearly identical situation with my 14 yo labshepard, though I am not 100% sure his very similar problems are caused by cancer, it is very likely as he has many soft masses all over his body, especially his trunk, and nausea, weakness, and abnormal bowel movements, along with significant weight loss. He also has some dementia exacerbated by vision loss and the weakness.
It is very hard to balance providing comfort if end-of-life is likely imminent with healing strategies that may turn the tide and allow for years more of comfortable life. But at least with a pet, you can make a lot of the decisions. The hard part (especially with an animal) is knowing what they really wantneed and having the means (time, energy, money) to follow through. Pets don't usually protest, complain, fight, and refuse the way humans are prone to in the same situation.
I haven't scrutinized your protocol in terms of dosing because so much of our human life extension strategies are pretty much an educated guess with dogs. The PQQ is interesting, I've been trying to find out more about that.
Somehow, rather miraculously, my dog has come back from the edge. The vet did not want to do much invasive diagnostics, due his age, his severely weakened condition, and the costs. He provided a medication that would kill giardia if that were the cause (very unlikely) but it didn't help. He gave me the number of a vet who does home euthanasia. That was 2 months ago.
I use coconut oil also, fairly small quantities, hiding one of his pills in the center of a small teaspoon of coconut oil. Also started using raw eggs about a week ago when he went into another severe decline, now adjusted to raw yolks only, after reading your most recent post. Yolk without the white is likely to be better.
My dog's biggest turn-around coincides with the introduction of colostrum powder mixed in water, which I began about 3 weeks after the start of his illness in March. At that time I was certain he was ready to die. I continue to give him the colustrum. I am not sure that it is what did the trick, but turn-around was fast (about 12 hours) after his first 2 doses. Also, if for some reason he misses a few doses of colostrum, there is generally a big set-back within 24 hours.
The other thing that has helped his appetite and energy level significantly is raw liver. I am fortunate to have a source of affordable grass-fed beef and lamb, so all the ''odd bits'' are usually in my freezer or the farmer's. I've been giving my dog chopped-up beef or lamb liver, sometimes exclusively, when his nausea is bad, but usually mixed into a small amount of high quality grain-free dog food. His energy and digestion will recover on the liver to the point where he can start eating, moving and drinking a little more, and then the healing strategies can be implemented more aggressively as he is feeling better.
He is also getting a few supplements for immunity, digestion, and joints that he likes to take when he is feeling good. Those have been very helpful. Though very expensive, along with the colustrum and grass-fed liver, it is all much easier on him (and me) than the vet and less expensive. I watched my dog do a 3 second sprint this morning after he had relieved himself. My main goal has been to get him more comfortable and hopefully allow him to die peacefully at home when he's ready. Now, on most days he is well enough to take a 10 minute walk, get up in the morning, go out to relieve himself, and eat and drink adequately. Some days he is even better.
So the anti-cancer, anti-dementia, anti-pain, joint health, and cardiac health program for my 14 year-old 90 pound dog with many tumors, joint problems, dementia, severe digestive problems and weakness:
Daily (when he can get up and also wants to eat)
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
1 Ark Naturals Gentle Digest capsule with 1 meal
1 RenewLife Daily Detox chews with each meal
1 Pet Assist K9 FullFlex chews with each meal
3-6 Pet Assist K9 Immunity chews per day
1 egg yolk mixed in:
1 cup of Wellness grain-free dry dog food
2-4 ounce portion of raw grass fed organ meat, usually liver or kidney or same amount of raw grass-fed ground beef
960 mg of Symbiotics Colustrum Plus 1-2 times per day mixed in small amount of water, away from food, especially after exercise
1-3 broccoli heads
Occasionally, extra egg (yolks), 1 teaspoonful of Omega-3 oil, a few tablespoons of plain organic full-fat yoghurt or kefir, a few ounces of of cooked salmon or canned sardines
I plan to try the resveratrol. I had been hesitating on that, partly due to cost, and partly due to safety, as grapes are toxic to dogs, I don't know what the toxic chemical is, a nd resveratrol often comes from grapes. So I will investigate further on that.
I hope this is helpful. It does sound like your dog's condition is pretty advanced, but my dog's was also for about 6 weeks and he will suddenly decline severely on occasion when some internal or external condition is not quite right. This is a lot of work to balance all those conditions, so figuring out how to make the care sustainable, as well as maintaining enough emotional detachment to discern the best decision for the well-being of the animal is always the question for me. Your results with your dog are impressive.
I believe this kind of thread is very valid for human life extension purposes, but that discussion needs a thread of it's own.
