Vet Tails Excerpt – Simba Beats Cancer

A special little dog who needed all the attention that he could get was Simba, a one-month-old male Shih Tzu pup. He had a large mass on the side of his abdomen that had suddenly appeared and grown significantly over a three day period. He had radical surgery to remove the growth which was then identified as a very aggressive cancerous growth. Simba was given a poor prognosis but his owners were determined to try whatever we could to help him given that he had made such a wonderful recovery from his big surgery and he was a lovely dog.

Our conventional approach to cancer is to kill the cancer cells or to remove as much of the cancer from the body as possible. This is done in a variety of ways including surgery, cryotherapy (freezing), radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Depending on how benign the cancer is and the stage that it’s at, these techniques can be successful but underlying issues that may have allowed the cancer to develop in the first place need to be addressed. From a holistic point of view we recognize the multifactorial nature of cancer. The development of this serious condition reflects that the body has been damaged and the immune system has failed to recognize and stop the cancer process from progressing.

Helping Simba in the face of such an aggressive tumour was going to be a challenge. In order to allow for the greatest possibility of cure, it is of utmost importance to address the underlying cause. The whole picture needs to be examined and the animal’s immune system boosted and supported by making use of various therapies; marrying the conventional approach with complementary therapies often brings about good results. I knew that by tailor-making a program for Simba, we could at least add to his quality of life, give his owners peace of mind and hopefully stop the cancer.

We treated Simba with a number of complementary therapies: NIS (to support his immune system and vitality), neutraceuticals, and herbs to help prevent regrowth of the tumour. For seven months it all worked beautifully and there was no further growth of the tumour. At eight months of age Simba was in excellent health. He was bigger and stronger than the other pups in his litter, so much so that he was becoming slightly aggressive towards the dogs he was living with and his owners decided that it was time to neuter him.

His neuter surgery went well but within a month of the operation the tumour began to regrow. Since Simba’s previous surgery had been so extensive, his loving owners made the decision not to intervene with another big surgery but to simply let him live out the rest of his life for as long as he had quality. Simba handled the tumour growth incredibly well showing little sign of it impacting on his quality of life but it began to grow so big that it was causing his hip to dislocate and he couldn’t bear weight properly on his left back leg. Despite this he was bright and happy and still ran around playing with the other dogs at home, making it difficult for his owner to make the decision to put him to sleep.

Simba’s family suddenly had a change of mind since he was so bright; they decided to have surgery done to remove the tumour rather than put him to sleep because he was so incredibly vital. We knew that it would be a big operation and his owners knew it would probably be impossible to remove the entire cancer but since our complementary therapy regime had worked before, they elected to try again.

At the time of surgery Simba’s tumour weighed nine hundred grams – a massive size given that Simba weighed only eight kilograms! We worked carefully and thoroughly to remove as much of the tumour as possible knowing that it would be impossible to get it all out. Because of the high risk of the tumour regrowing after surgery we used extra therapies like Bicarbonate treatment and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. The high concentration of oxygen delivered to his tissues with HBOT assisted with his recovery and possibly helped to kill remaining cancer cells. Simba made a great recovery and has gone on to live a great life showing no sign of tumour regrowth years later much to the delight of his loving family.

To read more about my adventures, read Vet Tails available as a book or e-book from https://www.drliza.co.nz/shop/