Treating Rosy's Melanoma Naturally

By Cathy Scott

Rosy, my 11-year-old basset/heeler mix, has a new mole-like growth just above her right eye. My heart sunk when I discovered it. It's just below her right eyebrow (if dogs have eyebrows) and just above her eyelid. I didn't notice it because of her fur, and that area above her left eye is raised too. But the right side is larger. Pulling the fur back, it looks black, which was the color of the fast-growing malignant mole she had removed from her muzzle three-and-a-half years ago. That's when she was diagnosed with dermal melanoma. She's done exceptionally well considering a diagnosis that the survival rate on the high end is just two years. After her diagnosis, I immediately began giving Rosy supplements to boost her immune system so she could fight the cancer.

After having a second and third mole removed a year after the first one and those tests coming back benign, not malignant like the original, I'm not going to make an attempt with this growth (it doesn't appear to be painful). It's too close to her eye, and I can't imagine the discomfort it would cause her if it were removed. It's black, like the original malignant mole, so it does scare me. But, instead of pursuing surgery, I'm stepping up her supplements. She had some skin issues a few months ago, which told me her immune system was challenged. So, I upped her probiotic intake and started giving her the enzyme Astaxanthin, and it worked. I've been giving it to my shih tzu Joey for chronic eye inflammation in one eye, and it's helped Joey a lot too (besides attacking radical cells, Astaxanthin protects the eyes and lessens inflammation).

As of today, because of this seemingly fasr-growing mole, I'm giving her Astaxanthin twice a day instead of once. I'm also now regularly giving her Omega 3 and Coenzyme Q10, as well as a barley tablet. I'll report back the status of the growth after she's on this regimen for a few weeks. Fingers -- and paws -- crossed that I see the size of this new growth decrease.

Natural Treatment for a Dog's Sniffles

My shih-tzu Joey's right eye is swollen again and he's congested; he has a rattle when he breathes, and his nose is congested and drippy. His eye was swollen when he was rescued more than a year ago, and it comes and goes.

So, I thought I'd try Vitalzym on him this time. I give it daily to Rosy, my basset-heeler mix, who has malignant dermal melanoma (and two-and-a-half years after diagnosis appears strong and healthy).

Vitalzym is loaded with systemic enzymes that -- as one Web site put it -- "act like little Pac-Mans that go around 'munching' mucus, inflammation, fibrin, viruses and scar tissue in the body."

I'm hoping it will work as an anti-inflammatory for congestion too. We'll see. Joey's been under the weather all day, so it might be allergies. The weather here in the Mojave Desert is up and down right now temperature-wise, plus it's been really windy. Fingers and paws crossed it helps. Will keep you posted!

Natural Treatment for Rosy's Melanoma

I've just started feeding Rosy, my basset/heeler mix, a combination of organic low-fat cottage cheese and flaxseed oil (a teaspoon of oil). Instead of dog food at night, she's getting cottage cheese and flaxseed. It's from the Dr. Budwig diet, which recommends it for cancer patients. I did a search and read about people giving it to their dogs as part of a holistic treatment regimen.

Nearly two years ago, Rosy was diagnosed with dermal melanoma after I noticed a dark spot on her muzzle that was growing rapidly. Two weeks later, it was a huge, black mole, so her veterinarian removed it. A week after that, the lab results came back as melanoma. This is what her vet wrote in his e-mail to me, telling me that the lab results were in:

"Rosie's mass came back as a dermal melanoma. These can either be malignant or benign -- this one was in between. The pathology stated we have good margins on the tumor. The best thing to do now is to monitor for re-occurrence of tumor."

I'm scheduling Rosy for a two-year check-up at the end of the year, but, so far, the tumor has not returned (I check it regularly, because it's easy to feel on her muzzle). Everything I've read says the lifespan for dogs with dermal melanoma is no more than two years. One study says that 65 percent of dogs with malignant dermal melanoma "don't last more than two years due to local recurrence or metastasis."

Rosy -- knock on wood -- is doing very well. She still jogs with me a few times a week and doesn't show signs of illness, even though she'll be 10 years old in January.

I started her on supplements immediately after the lab work came back. She takes Omega 3, colostrum in powder form (I mix it with water), barley tablets and CoQ10 (the ubiquinol form). And every day she drinks coconut water, which is loaded with nutrients and considered one of the healthiest drinks found in nature. Twice a day, Rosy also has a tablespoon of coconut oil.


And about six weeks ago, I began giving Rosy daily doses of Vitalzym, an enzyme supplement. Her energy level remains high and I remain optimistic.

A High Point in Mia's Care

Mia napping this afternoon on the sofa after her trip to the vet. Today, I have wonderful news about Mia, my Katrina rescued dog. As you know, she's had a cough that won't go away. Her vet has described it as caused by her enlarged heart (from mitral valve disease) putting pressure on the trachea, thus the coughing. But never before has it been this bad. As she got over the kennel cough, the cough persisted. So, I took her today to Dr. Roger Knighton, her veterinarian in Las Vegas. He had seen her a couple of years ago, shortly after she was diagnosed by another vet. Three really big things are that her oxygenation is 100 percent (her tongue and gums were bright pink), her pulse was normal and so was her heart rate. The drum roll is that Mia is not in congestive heart failure. He said the cough caused by the collapsing trachea doesn't seem to be interfering with oxygen intake. If I can increase her endurance by walking her more, then her heart should get a little smaller, and that should take care of the pressure on her trachea. It's amazing how everything with this particular disease seems to have a domino effect, as Dr. Knighton called it. He did recommend I get Mia a cough suppressant and said I should be able to find a holistic one. it should lessen the coughing. The other positive news is this: I've been trying to get weight off of Mia. When she hasn't felt well, it's been difficult, because instead of walking, she'll get me to pick her up. Then, I end up carrying her around the neighborhood while I hold the end of a two-in-one leash for my other two. Because of that, Mia hasn't been getting the exercise I'd like her to. But that didn't seem to matter; when she weighed in today, she was 8.6 pounds -- a pound less than two years ago. She'd been hovering around 9-1/2 pounds. So, to have gotten her down to a healthy weight for her breed and size, and having done that slowly, is incredible. The only negative thing he said was her murmur is now graded at 6 -- on a scale of 1 to 6. But it's just a grade, not a level. "Wow," he said as he put his ear next to, not on, her side. "I can hear the murmur without touching her." The final good news Dr. Knighton shared is that while Mia is going to one day die of heart disease, she is not in congestive heart failure. He said she seems healthy, happy and alert. He also said, with everything I'm doing and her body's positive response to it, could help her stay at this level for a long time -- years, even. "She's not dying tomorrow," he said. And that, after a harrowing couple of months with first bordatella, then a chronic, honking cough, was music to my ears.