With a title like that, I have to be selling something…right? Do I want to draw people to my website to buy my book? You betcha! Can the info in the book prevent tumors? I believe so. Let’s talk about it.
Dogs have several classes or different types of “masses” or growths that grow on the skin or under it. The most
sucking cells out of tumor or mass
common type is a papilloma or warty growth that slowly grows on the skin in middle-aged to older dogs. Next is the lipoma, or fatty growth underneath the skin or between the muscle layers. The nastiest and most dangerous skin tumor spreads locally and internally (metastasis= Meta (change) + stasis (stays in one place)). Its name is the mast cell tumor. This is the skin tumor vets want to rule out by aspirating a suspicious lump or mass. Looking at the cells we suck out of the mass often lets us know what we need to do. I say often because sometimes the aspirate does not contain tumor cells representative of the mass due to placement or layers.
So if a mass appears suddenly and increases in size in a short time (weeks to months), it should be checked. Most dogs will let us aspirate some cells into the needle hub without even “flinching.” If the mass is in a painful area, or
squirting them on slide to dry and stain
close to the pearly whites, we may need a muzzle, tranquilization, or an anesthetic.
After we suck the cells up, we squirt them on a slide, spread them out, dry and stain them. Here is an example of adipose cells we would see if the mass is a benign fatty tumor. The big clear areas are where the fats are stored. This gives the tumor cells a “cork” like appearance.
If a fatty tumor grows rapidly or if a mass turns out to be a mast cell, it is removed taking enough tissue around it to try and remove “seeds.” If you don’t get the roots of a weed, it will grow back. The same goes for a mast cell tumor. Visualize this just as a tumor being the castle and the “margin” of clean tissue checked for spreading cells being the moat. Fatty tumors can be squeezed out without a whole bunch of cutting because most are easily removed and not dangerous. They usually do not recur after removal. Mast cells on the other hand, can recur, and sometimes need chemotherapy or
Here are some nasty mast cells sucked out of a tumor on the skin
radiation depending on how aggressive the cells are.
Now back to the original question. Can a diet prevent tumors? It is a fact that we are overdosing our dogs with more carbs than they need. The carbs in the daily 60%-70% grain ration in the dry food that are not burned off are converted to fat and stored. I am convinced that the abundance of fat in our dog’s diet is leading to these fatty tumors. What can you do? Reduce the carbs in the diet by diluting the dry food, switching to canned food, and adding healthful people food protein like chicken, eggs, ham, and fish. The solution, I believe, is Dog Dish Diet. Bone Appetit
