In 2006 I welcomed Stella, a Red Staffordshire Terrier into my world. As any good mother to be - from day one we embraced a “holistic” way of life for her, the highest quality premium pet food, special treats of dried liver and frequent snacks of fruit.
Stella lived an active life keeping up with her Jack Russell brother and sister, illness or injury never crossed our path however, a career change led us to Queensland in 2009.
My “hot water bottle” Stella was always a dream to snuggle into bed with on cold winter evenings, but life in Sunny Queensland doesn’t get that cool and this led me to be very conscious of heat exposure for her on a daily basis. Like all of us - sunbaking time should be limited and I realised this was of great importance to be an inside pup throughout most of the day. Freckles had started to develop on her tummy and we all know age spots are... ageing!
Christmas 2013/14 I noticed a lump on the underside of Stella’s right paw, she was licking it insatiably as I watched it slowly grow over the next two weeks. The Vet confirmed with an aspirate the cells were changing. My gut instinct was to “go forth and conquer with modern medicine” after all, thats what its there for?
The Specialist suggested the option of a full leg amputation, but the idea of chopping your nose off despite a pimple was a little extreme (in my mind) so if Chemo and Radiation was a viable option to treat her paw, that was to be our plan of action. Unfortunately this made the Cancer “angry”, we were told her levels were low and the treatment should work............ after a week of watching her vommiting and in extreme pain I decided it must stop. I rang the Oncologist and said we are coming to Brisbane, he was a bit surprised - on seeing her he agreed it was the only option. The next morning Stella’s eyes said it all “thank you mummy, the monster is gone”.
From that day on, I watched her like a hawke. Poor thing couldn’t take a wiz with out me asking if she was ok, three weeks post OP we were back at the local park, faster on 3 of course. Stella’s recovery and life as a Tripaw continued as normal, we would often get looks of sadness and I realised the pain I’d put her through was to preserve her leg, she was the same most wonderful loving little person whether she had 4 legs or 3. In years gone by the Vet at the initial consultation would have just said “chop it off & she’ll be much happier”.
One evening in September, 17 months after our ordeal I found a lump on her chest. Again I watched it for about a week or two and then went back to our original local Vet. Confirmation from an aspirate and X-Rays showed there were possibly 2 growths on her ribs “but we’d have to do a biopsy to be sure”....
That afternoon I poured my heart out to my neighbour, she has a beagle called Misty and said they were seeing a Japanese Holistic Vet who practiced both Eastern and Western techniques. Dr KK www.sunshinecoastvet.com.au came to our house that evening to assess Stella, quizzing me on her habits, movements, likes, dislikes and formulated a plan.
Dr KK’s plan for Stella included Traditional Chinese Vetrenary Medicine (TCVM) including specific Food Therapy, Tu-nia Massage and Acupuncture. This was designed to help detox her body from all of the chemicals, breakdown the stagnation she was suffering from amd most importantly fight the cancer and maintain her quality of life.
In November 2015, Stella told me she was ready to say goodbye. The Monster was not going to disappear in her case and we did everything to make the most of her last few months as healthy and comfortable as possible.... even to the point where people around town who “knew” her were shocked to learn of her decline as she looked pretty normal on the outside. Stella was the essence of health but not winning the fight.
The only way to mend a broken heart and empty world is to find another soul to love. I welcomed Charlotte into my life as I knew Stella wanted to see me smile again and to share her spirit and the things we’d learn’t. So off to Dr KK we went!
TCVM is not only for sick animals, its about embracing a way of life complementing your genetic makeup and dispositions. We agreed that following the Western Vet practices at a puppy stage will help us to be “protected” from all the nasties out there, and it allows for kennel or daycare where vaccinations are required. For the future, we will moderate and test Charlottes immunity levels instead of annual updates.
TCVM has changed my outlook on medicines for me and my pets, it is a fascinating study and I enjoy learning about its different paths. Cooking has always been a passion for me, and with Food Therapy its the perfect opportunity to discover how food can heal the mind body and soul.
Julia xx
