Everything to gain

Last year, our new caregiver’s chocolate Lab died from cancer. That’s not all that surprising these days, but this dog was only three years old. THREE YEARS OLD. Way too young to lose his life to this insidious disease. Many of us have lost an animal to cancer or known someone who’s been through the experience. At a recent conference I attended, Dr. Martin Goldstein, who specializes in treating animals with cancer, quoted some pretty stark statistics. Fifty-two per cent of dogs die from cancer. That’s up from 47%, according to a 1998 study by the Morris Foundation.

So what can we, as caregivers, do? Well, for starters, we can take a Sun Tzu approach and get to know our enemy. In this issue of Animal Wellness, we look at some of the more common types of cancer that affect our animals, and how we can help our companions and ourselves if they’re diagnosed with the “big C”. (Next issue, we’ll focus on some of the alternative treatments out there.)

Of course, if your animals are healthy, you can use your knowledge, intuition and wisdom to help keep them that way. As Dr. Marty said, “Disease is the absence of health”. Yes, there are things, such as genetics, that aren’t in our control, but we can have a positive effect on our animals by considering factors such as nutrition, overvaccination, our indoor and outdoor environments and emotional issues.

At Animal Wellness Magazine, we promise to be with you every step of the way, bringing you the kind of information that can make a difference. If you’re a new reader, our new searchable CD-ROM is the perfect resource to start you on your journey (see page 80 for more information). It contains the first six years of content from Animal Wellness Magazine. Browse through it by topic at your leisure. If you’re a long-time subscriber, you’ll find it a great reference tool (as I do!) and a wonderful gift that continues to spread the word about natural health.

Regardless of how you learn about natural health, we applaud you in your efforts. As the woman in the chair next to me confided at the end of Dr. Marty’s seminar, “I came into this sort of skeptical, but when I get home I’m going to look into [natural health choices] for myself and my dog.”

“Wonderful!” I replied. “You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” Including, I thought to myself, a very grateful canine.

Wishing you health and happiness, as always,

Dana