Update on my 3 boys

[bxrs4me]

I haven't posted since feb of 2005, at that time I was having trouble with a younger dog fighting with my older dog. We started watching and reading Cesar Millan and used some of his techniques for establishing pack leader. The most helpful was the "take down" worked wonders! At that time Baxter was 8 years old he was starting to slow down a little but was still pretty healthy. Later he developed tumors in his lungs, got really weak and had a hard time breathing. I would lay awake at night and listen to make sure he was still breathing. He got to the point that we knew it was time to let him go. He was 10 years old by then, that was the saddest day of my life, and still to this day everytime I think of him I either smile or cry.
The puppies are not puppies anymore they're old guys now, they will be 7 soon. They are great dogs, well behaved and fun to have around. This last year between the two dogs one has had 2 mast cell tumors removed and had to have his cornea fixed (cant remember the medical term), the other one had surgery to cut back his gums, (I cant remember that term either) and just found out today that he has 2 mast cell tumors on his leg and has a problem with his back. A few days ago he just quit running and jumping to catch frisbees (his favorite activity) and can't jump up on the bed for cuddle time in the mornings.
Aside from going broke I don't think my heart can take much more! I have tried so hard to take good care of them yet somehow I feel guilty about it all. Everytime there's a problem my vet says, "this is typical for boxers." I don't want to offend anyone (we are all here because we love our boxers) but I don't think I will have anymore boxers, maybe no more dogs at all, I just can't take the heartache!
Hopefully all goes well with Raiders surgery and we have a few more good years with them.
It's been very theraputic to let all this out. Thanks to Boxer World for giving me a place to vent and cry and thanks to all who listen.

 

[Sansal]

I'm sorry you are having so many health issues with your boys. I know how you feel, it's so hard to see them suffer. My girl has some health issues as well and right now my whole life basically revolves around her needs and getting her better. Sending lots of positive vibes your way, and good luck with Raiders surgery! Keep us posted.

 

[Ileana]

Fingers crossed for all of you!

It's been a month since Lara left us and we still can't function.

The only remedy for the loss of a boxer is, well, another boxer

With our girl we went through two difficult rounds of surgery, which bought her one more year with us. At 13 years and 10 months she had a series of seizures followed by a massive stroke.

I can understand "broke" - most of these bills were paid with my credit cards and are still generating revenue for Visa and MC. I often doubted the decision, but every time I do that I remember how happy she was during this last year - then I stop doubting.

Boxers may be prone to a variety of problems, but, yet again, so are most breeds. We try our best and hope for a lengthy life for our dogs, but we have to play the cards we're dealt. I am ranting here - my apologies; what I am trying to say is don't give up. Life is made of moments, and the countless moments of joy and happiness these boxers bring in our lives are well worth it. Thinking about what's best for your dogs will help your compass at all times...

We're in the middle of an out-of-state move; once we're settled into the new home and job the first thing on the agenda is a new boxer puppy! That's when our healing will begin.

Our best wishes for you, your family and your boxers. Hang in there!

 

[Independence]

I am sorry your heart is broken..... I know exactly how you feel. When we lost Indy to cancer at 5 1/2 we decided to wait on getting a new puppy. Then we decided to NOT get a boxer. We researched several breeds Bull-mastiff and Dogue de Bourdeax and a couple more. We ended up with another BOXER. No matter how long we have then it's never long enough. The joy and happiness they bring to our lives is unequalled.

 

[iluvfrankie]

I feel so sorry for ur pain. I cant imagine the pain of loosing one of my babies. Thinking of u. x

 

[kariRN]

I totally know what you are going through.Last year we thought we were going to lose our Boxer George. Our vet thought he had DM but turned out he ruptured both of his ACL's. We spent major money to fix his knees, hoping to give him the ability to do the things he loves to do and be comfortable doing them. We started looking for another Boxer when we thought he had DM as I couldn't bare the thought of losing him and coming home to an empty house. Of course by the time we found out otherwise, we had already started our search for a new Boxer puppy and had found our Max. Today we got the sad news that George has cancer. He had a biopsy on a lump and it came back as mast cell. He now has to have some more biopsy's done on a couple of other lumps and xrays. After we get all that done and results of his blood tests we will decide how we are going to procede.George will be 9 yrs old in January and is truly the love of my life. My heart goes out to you.

 

[Ileana]

So sorry to hear about George...
My Lara had lumps developing since she was 8, on her mamary glands, on both sides. Her prognosis was poor due to the presence of the lumps in both sides, as in crossing the lymph node barrier. We started giving her large amounts of Vitamin D (the one for human use) - 6000 to 8000 IUs per day, and garlic in her food. Garlic is known to fight cancer.
Maybe it's not too late... Our Lara managed to live to be 13+, so we must have been doing something good. And she died of a massive stroke... Her lumps literally stopped growing after we started giving her the Vit. D and the garlic. Our vet said that there was nothing we could lose if we'd try that course, and it worked for us. We also have alsways fed her natural foods: 1/3 rice, 1/3 bulk veggies (cooked from frozen or given fresh), and 1/3 meat (cooked then ground, chicken, beef, fish).

On Flickr I have her pics - she's got one with her belly up in the sun, taken just this summer... you can see the lumps, nice and quiet. Ahh... the good life...2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Who knows - maybe it works for George too! My fingers are crossed for you and all your family, boxers included, of course!

 

[myboyjake]

I'm so sorry for what your going through. I am also going through my own painful experience. Jake has had 3 tumors removed in the last 6 months and a month ago I found out he has a brain tumor. I also wake up in the middle of the night to make sure he's still alive. He's only 7 and I feel robbed. I want a dog that will live to be at least 10. I absolutely love boxers but are thier health issues so bad now that they aren't living as long? I am also worried about getting another one but I love them so much. I really hope your baby will be ok. My heart goes out to you.

 

[bxrs4me]

Thanks for all your kind words and advice! A couple questions.

Well Raider had surgery to remove two mast cell tumors and the vet said he felt like he got it all, of course no way to know for sure. Also his back doesnt seem to be bothering him as much. After a few days of rest he is running and jumping more but if he over does it he will have pain. So for now I again have 2 happy, energetic boxers. Yay!!
I do have a couple questions; does anyone know what kind of supplement is best for joints and backs? Also Ileana, why the high dose of Vit D? And how are you giving garlic, is it capsule form and how much per day?
Thanks everyone and my best to all your fur kids!

 

[Ileana]

First of all - congratulations on the speedy recovery!

The high dose of Vitamin D was given to compensate the years of deficient supplementing and lack of sunlight. Vitamin D is manufactured in the superficial layers of skin while exposed to sunlight. There are lots of pertinent information out there on Vitamin D and dogs. Most dog foods contain a minimum amount of Vit D. In our case there were mitigating factors such as these:
- we had never given her commercial grade food - we've always prepared her food with rice, veggies and lean meats. No supplementing was done before we found the tumors.
- with multiple tumors on both sides of her mammary glands and nothing to lose, our vet said "go for it". Excessive Vit D intake in a dog can be toxic, depending on body weight and diet - please run this by your vet. Our Lara was closely monitored for signs of Vit D toxicity (anorexia, nausea, etc).
- at that time there was new research surfacing, especially statistics proving that the low blood levels of Vit D in humans with cancer were proving a link between Vit D deficiency and cancer incidence. An article that presented some of these findings, especially the link between cancer incidence in Northern countries (hint: long winters, not a whole lot of sun), as well as civilized countries (hint: all time spent inside, no direct sunlight exposure, wearing SPF sun protection etc), to the rates of cancer, and the significant effect of large dose vitamin D supplementation on cancer prevention (more than a whopping 60% difference) sold us all. Here's the article:

Vitamin D casts cancer prevention in new light - The Globe and Mail

- the doses required for compensating a severe, lifelong deficiency are very high. There is prescription strength Vit D out there, of 20,000IU per pill. That's the human version of the higher dose we've given. What we have decided to do was give her a higher that normal dose to start compensating for her lifelong deficiency, and monitor closely with blood work how she responds. She responded great, had no toxicity from it (we did not reach the toxic levels). We did not continue with the 6000-8000 IUs per day for the remainder of her life; we dropped it to 3000-4000 IUs per day after a couple of months - still 4 times or so higher than you'd expect, but not at toxic levels.

- A couple of hours of full sunlight exposure per day would give her way more than we had supplemented. I hoped for a relo to Florida somewhere but that didn't happen. We did go there for 2 weeks each year though, so she had sunlight exposure as well.

Enough about Vit D... let's move to garlic: another controversial nutrient for dogs.

A component in raw, fresh garlic, specifically allicin, has been proven to kill cancer cells and leave other cells intact. It’s being used for centuries in Europe and Asia (we lived in both places with my work ) in treating all kinds of immunity ailments, as well as various types of cancer. Very few Big Pharma sponsored studies have happened though, I personally think it’s because garlic is so cheap and there isn’t room for significant profitable gains. But that’s just my two cents

I am also a big fan of fresh and raw garlic extract, rather than garlic supplements off the shelf, loaded with chemicals.

Anyway, long story short, here are some reference links for you – but there’s plenty more if a Google search is done for the strings “garlic+cancer” or “allicin+cancer”.

A new method selectively kills cancer cells, leaves healthy ones intact
Science proves that garlic kills cancer cells

Even the utmost authority in cancer (National Cancer Institute) doesn’t deny the correlation:
Garlic and Cancer Prevention: Q & A - National Cancer Institute

The key to administering effective garlic to a dog is two-fold:
1. Extracting effectively the allicin
2. Preventing gastro-intestinal side-effects in our boxers.

Here’s how we’ve done it:
Peel a head of garlic at a time, and run it through an electric food processor to mince it finely (the small processor works great). Then let it breathe (that’s when the active allicin is being released). These 2 steps take care of issue # 1. For #2, after letting sit the minced garlic for 10-15 minutes in open air (take the lid off the processor), I would mix it with 3-4 spoons of plain Danone yogurt (no flavor or sugar added) and store covered in the fridge. That cuts the gastric upset potential. I added half a teaspoon full to two of her meals (she used to get 3 per day). I mixed it with her food and she had zero issues from it. Do not heat the garlic mix - kills the effectiveness.

Sometimes, if the yogurt is too acidic, the mix can turn green – but that doesn’t change the flavor or effect (we’ve been told).

Don’t know if I mentioned it: we fed her at each meal the following mix: 1/3 boiled rice, 1/3 boiled & ground meat, 1/3 semi-raw or raw veggies (bought bulk as frozen, microwaved to 2 minutes), complete portion size coming up to a pound of mix per meal for my Lara at 67 pounds of boxer attitude.

With the case of using garlic in her food we also had our vet clear us to do so, and we kept a careful eye on her digestive behaviors, looking for potential upsets.

This is what worked for us... Again, I strongly recommend you get a vet’s support and advice on this. Some vets are quite opposed to natural approaches, but we were lucky and our vet was quite open minded, supportive and, in his words, said “if you can buy her any extra time at all, that’s something worth trying”

Another fun point - when we moved to Minnesota and a new vet gave her a check up, he was a bit amazed of the cocktail of supplements I was giving - including Glucosamine with Chondroitin twice a day - but said "whatever you guys are doing seems to be working fine, so keep doing it!"

Good luck! Our fingers are crossed for you and your boy.

PS. I’ll be around if you have any more questions.