Question Everything

In 1996, my 11-year-old mixed breed dog, Pepper, was diagnosed with mammary gland cancer, the canine equivalent of breast cancer.  Her veterinarian told me she probably had only about six months to live. When the initial shock had passed and the tears had stopped, I vowed that I would prove him wrong.

I have always had a special rapport with dogs. I love all animals, but my empathic connection to dogs has led friends to tease me about having been a stray dog in another life. Dogs are furry, four-legged packages of pure love. Yes, some will say that there are mean dogs out there. I maintain that puppies, just like human babies, are born innocent and good. It’s the way each are raised that scars the spirit and hides the love sometimes. My Pepper was the source of most of the love in my life at an especially trying time in the early 90s. I had to find a way to help her.

In those pre-Google days, it was difficult to find many helpful resources, but those I did find all pointed in the same direction – change her diet. I began reading labels and didn’t like what I read. There were more chemical names on the ingredient lists of dog foods than words describing actual food sources. Finally, I found a veterinarian in Huntington Beach who claimed to practice “holistic medicine”. I took Pepper and went to hear what he had to say. He urged me to feed my dog a “natural” diet, one that was homemade. He even gave me the recipe, along with several supplements he insisted that I add to her diet.

So home I went, and my vegetarian kitchen began smelling of boiled turkey breasts and roasted chicken. I measured teaspoonfuls of powdered calcium and bone meal, canola oil and salmon oil. And my little dog ate with gusto and had the appetite of a wolf. And got better.

Pepper lived another three and a half years and died just after her 14th birthday.  She was one of my greatest teachers. I took what I learned from her and applied it to myself and my then two-year-old son. Over the years, I even encouraged my mother to adjust her diet. I know it has helped all of us immensely.

I know from 26 years experience working within the medical field that most of the time, you have to ask the right questions to get the right answers. I think that applies outside the medical field as well. The majority of the time, in order to ask the right questions, you have to educate yourself and do a lot of research first. In the 90s, there were no aisles stocked with “all-natural and holistic” dog food as there are now in most pet stores. However, there is still a lot of useful information today that has not yet been “mainstreamed”. Of course, this applies to so much more than just your pet’s health. Since my Pepper died, I have learned so much, usually the hard way, about keeping my dogs healthy. I hope to be able to share a little of it with this blog. It’s certainly not advice from a veterinarian, but hopefully, some of it might assist you in asking your veterinarian questions to get the conversation rolling, and that’s a great start.