Sydney's Sake

My first "child" is a Border Collie - Australian Shepard mix named Sydney. She has been my best friend for going on 11 years now. She has slept next to my bed from the day we brought her home back in March of 2001. She was there for my wedding, she was the first one to meet my newborn son at the door when we brought him home from the hospital and then again when we brought home my daughter. She has truly been there with me through the thick and thin and I know anyone that is a dog lover like me can relate.

On January 20, 2011 (the day before Sydney turned 10 years old) I found out she had nasal cancer. The vet said it was in the "advanced" stages. She had a CT scan and a biopsy showing the tumor in her nose, going up behind her eyes and up over her brain. I was given the same info everyone else gets with this diagnosis - she had about 3 months to live unless we did radiation treatments, then she would have 6 months to a year. These treatments would be $5000-$7000 and I would have to travel 4 hours to get her to a place that could do it, a couple times a week for 3 weeks. Surgery was not an option because of the location of the tumor.

After researching the effects radiation has on dogs and weighing the pros and cons I decided against doing these treatments. I watched Sydney's condition slowly decline for a couple of weeks until on February 14, 2011, I decided I was not going to stand idly by and watch my best friend suffer without doing SOMETHING - ANYTHING. So I began my very long venture into cancer research.

This is what I found:

• 50% of dogs over the age of 10 get cancer.
• Vets seem to think the cancer is genetic and once it is diagnosed, it is a death sentence.
• Nutritionists seem to think it is caused by diet that cannot only be prevented but also treated.
• Most vets will shut you down at the first mention of treating animals homeopathically.
• Many nutritionists and health store personnel can advise you on animal illnesses as well as human. 
• The Internet is full of information if you can take the time to find it. Hopefully, I can consolidate some of that info for you here.

Because my husband and I have a personal interest in diet and nutrition we began to draw many parallels between human health and that of our dog. We have tried to incorporate alkaline foods into our own diet because of the high acidic levels of the typical western diet. So why not do the same for Sydney. I began to give her something with every meal such as watermelon, cantaloupe, apples, broccoli, cucumbers (her personal favorite), carrots, celery and whatever I could grow in my own garden including green beans, peas and squash. I also make sure to give her filtered water and pour a splash of lemon juice in it. Here is a great website for more diet suggestions. 
Here is a website for human alkaline diet suggestions.

I kept a journal beginning February 16, 2011 of the vitamins and foods I gave her along with her ups and downs. I decided to share my findings because today is December 12, 2011 and she is still with us, sleeping at my feet as I type. I won't make you do the math but she has outlived her life expectancy by almost 8 months and to look at her today as she ran through the snow chasing her ball and barking at kids, I would say she is better than she has been for quite a while. She has that sparkle in her eyes again and I don't see her leaving us anytime in the near future.

Unfortunately, I know of other dogs that have not been so lucky. So I'm sharing this not only for Sydney's sake, that I can learn more from any of you out there, but for the sake of all our four-legged family members. I encourage you to do some research and use anything you find here to keep your pets (and you) happy and healthy.

It is my hope that by sharing this, another dog lover and their best friend can have more precious time together like Sydney and I have.