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The Beginning |
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At the age
of seven, Fred, my big red boxer, developed a cancerous skin tumour
(Mast Cell) which was surgically removed. The following year a needle
aspiration on another lump confirmed that he had another Mast Cell
Tumour which had infiltrated a large fatty lump on the inside of his
hind leg. The surgery required to remove this one proved much more
difficult. We were very lucky to have two excellent veterinary
surgeons who worked together and successfully removed the tumour but
they were unfortunately not able to leave a safe margin on one side.
He faced a long recovery .The wound could not be stitched closed due
to the vast area of skin that had been lost. It would have to
granulate over. |
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Prior to
the second tumour I had become increasingly aware of the bad effects
some refined carbohydrates and sugars could have in a dogs' diet,
possibly causing cancers and supporting their growth. A couple of
leading dog food manufacturers had produced cancer patient support
diets which were low carbohydrate and high protein. For the period of
his recovery I put Fred on one of them. |
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Nearly
three months later and Fred had completed his difficult convalescence
but he had become an old man. My tigger had lost his bounce. He
needed help getting into the car. He didn't run - he plodded. He
didn't want to play, thank you. |
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I was
unable to find a viable alternative so kept Fred on the same diet. I
had become terrified of the possible consequences of carbohydrates. |
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My other
dogs showed no signs of Fred's problem so they were still having a
good quality kibble. I did not know what else to do. |
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I worked
as a receptionist and assistant at a veterinary practice during this
time. (for a total of nine years) |
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The
following year we had another locum vet join us but he proved to be a
bit out of the ordinary. |
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He was
into complementary "stuff"! |
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One of the
things that he recommended to a number of his patients, almost ( it
seemed) regardless of their problem was a raw food diet. |
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In my
ignorance I found this faintly amusing , ( I had never heard of this
before) but as time went on and his patients made good recoveries, I
became more interested and eventually asked him to explain his 'raw
diet' to me. |
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Basically |
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1/3rd meat |
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1/3rd vegetable |
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1/3rd oat |
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But most
important of all as far as I was concerned - carbohydrates were not
essential, I could leave the oats out if I wanted too. |
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One month
later, I introduced raw food to my dogs. |
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Fred (now
nine years old) thought I was having a laugh and refused to eat it!
He said it couldn't be food as it wasn't cooked! |
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We
discussed this over a couple of days after which he agreed to give it
a try. He is still giving it a try and enjoying every mouthful. |
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He was
eleven last April and can get into the car by himself. He got his
'bounce' back after a few weeks of eating raw food. Although he is
now aging (dis)gracefully he still enjoys a game with his little
friend Mia and (gently)drags her around by her collar. |
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He is also
lump free. |
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Thanks to
that vet I have an eleven year old boxer puppy! |
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