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Marcia Oliver
Hello! New kid on the block here. My 6.5 year old Red Doberman female fell awkwardly on her rear left hock joint about two months ago. She seemed to be in extreme pain and did not walk on her leg for about 3 days. She then started using it minimally and then quit altogether. I used comfrey externally and tumeric internally (all I knew at the time) to promote healing. I noticed that the joint seemed to be getting very large and somewhat hard. This baffled me (as a Physical Therapist and EMT) so I took her to two vets over the course of 3 weeks. They are both 85% sure she has bone cancer and this injury excelerated the problem in this joint. This probable diagnosis came from X-rays alone.
My suspicion as I look back over the years, has been that this has been long coming as I’ve noticed a weakness with pain in that leg as she played and landed wrong resulting in a limp etc.
At this point, she is on medication for pain and inflammation. I am using a hock brace for support and a sense of security for her. I used a comfrey poutice initially in the evenings but as I saw the tumor (now orange size) getting larger, wondered if the comfrey was promoting the growth of the what I didn’t want so I quit using comfrey about a month ago. I continue with turmeric at least once maybe twice a day.
My Doberman is in the fall-winter of her life. I would love to be able to reverse this diagnosis, however, with all of life’s responsibilities at this time, (and at the risk of sounding cold) I’m not able to pour experimental time and resources into her.
I am seeking wisdom with a logical and tried (although no guarantees needed) path forward with my precious dog. She is comfortable, gets around very well on three legs and occasionally puts that leg down for support… although at this time, I’m unsure wether she does not use it more for support due to pain or due to weakness as she is much atrophied now.
Thank you in advance for helping me on my journey in this course and with my dog.
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Dr. Patrick Jones
Discontinuing the comfrey is a good idea. I don’t recommend it for cancers. As for the discomfort, the Joint Support formula is a good anti-inflammatory mix.
As for slowing down the cancer and improving quality of life in the mean time, I use Blood KLNZ and Immunity Support.
Bone cancers are very aggressive and very painful. In cases where it can be done, I do amputations. In cases where that isn’t an option, i try to control the pain, when that isn’t possible any more, it’s time to let them go home.
Sorry you’re having to go through this.
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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Thank you – we had to put our Sarabi girl down about a month ago. Amputation was not an option due to her age (although she had been using three legs for a couple months prior so she was used to that side of life). It was (again) one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to do, but we felt we made the right decision. Her leg eventually just completely broke and began to swell uncontrollably. She was not able to go from stand to sit or even lay down without moderate assistance… it was time. She is buried our on new property – where we are building. Although we took her there often as we were building, she never got to move in with us. 🙁
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