Snowplow got lymphoma in February. She is this huge Goldie with a heart as big as her body. She is the angel dog, but a ferocious protector of all things related to her pack. I had just lost her brother, Brick, and the prospect of losing two of my 8 pack of Goldie's was harsh as the winter in northern Maine.
Cath sent me some Lymphoma formulation and the vet put her on prednisone 5 mgs a day. Snowdy seemed to rally with the meds and winter gave to spring. I was hospitalized for ten days and worried that the kennel would forget her meds. They did. Snowplow hung in. When I picked her and the others up from the kennel Snowplow told me all was well.
In the middle of the summer while I was bedridden still recovering, she would sit by my bed with her head level with mine, but facing away. I would find her sometimes sitting like that in the middle of the night. She was watching over me when she was the one who was also sick.
She also had a special game she played. She would lay on her back and cast an upside down look at me. "Ok Snowdy, do the bicycle" she would wag her tail and start to kick only her back legs all the while looking at me in this foolish dog grin. When she was through kicking I'd get down on the floor and cover her face with my own and speak into her ear, "Good girl Snowplow, good girl."
I kept her mix from McDowell herbs, her prednisone (now only 2 mgs every other day) in a small plastic bag. I had also read up on the power of volcanic clay to pick up toxins and ordered some Zeolite to feed her. This was the last edition to her meds. But don't tell her that. On the farm I would often find her out grazing in particular spots and noticed she would eat certain plants. She would also eat dandelion heads and dirt. She was medicating herself. She'd graze for a couple of hours a day. I let her graze away.
As time wore on, as soon as I picked her bag with the meds, she'd come over until I mixed it all up in a bowl. And if I was late getting them to her she'd sit down in front of me, head cocked and eyes ablaze "Where is it?" It is amazing to be partnered up with a dog who knows what is good for her. And her native intelligence defies any human logic. But then having been surrounded by animals all my life, I don't find her self medicating wisdom strange in the least. And for the meds I supply her, in her mind that's just one more place she grazes. It is intelligence of the highest order.
We live day to day and don't worry about what tomorrow will bring. I count neither forward or backward. Not does she. It is the innate wisdom of dogs. And if I out live her, I will always be both haunted and mesmerized by her eyes as she looks into mine, "Heah. Where are my meds?"
I recommend to all that have dogs with lymphoma to get the mix for it from Cath and with healthy or sick dogs give them volcanic clay in their food every day to draw out the toxins. If Snowplow has a lesson it's the positive effect her meds have had on her life both the ones I supply and the ones she finds with her nose.
Kit - Maine
UPDATE
Just to let you know that Snowplow is no longer with us - she passed away peacefully after a full life with her loving owner, Kit.
