A Question for Dr. Smith About Benign Masses and Tumors in Dogs
Hi Dr. Marc,
I'm from Wisconsin and they told me to email you my questions. I have a 15 yr. old lab with a benign shoulder tumor (and other benign masses). It is interfering with her mobility. Our traditional vet was going to remove it, but we found out the pup has a heart arrhythmia and also a slow valve pump function. So she saw a cardiologist who put her on heart medicine with the intention of moving forward with surgery. Pup rejected the medicine, made her sick, and developed pneumonia (possibly from medicine/silent regurgitation), so it was discontinued. The pup also has bouts of pneumonia (that began last spring and were due to bacteria during an indoor swim, complicated by possible laryngeal paralysis).
Our traditional vet is open to eastern medicine but doesn't know anything about it. Our ortho vet who does Chinese medicine wanted to start Wei qi booster with max's formula to shrink benign tumors. The concern would be silent regurgitation/more pneumonia developing. The ortho vet had also done acupuncture with laser and e-stim on her. After they discovered the heart conditions we were advised to stop the e-stim because of the heart arrhythmia...it could disrupt her heart even more. We were referred to water rehab and pt at another location. The vet there said no water rehab because of pneumonia, only gentle acupuncture with chiropractic. She does not think the herbs, Wei qi booster, and max's formula would shrink the tumor. Our other vet has had some success with shrinking benign tumors with this combo.
Your receptionist suggested I ask your opinion and if you have any other herbal suggestions. Thanks, Lisa
Dr. Smith's Reply:
What is the tumor? lipoma? it sounds like a lipoma! If it is indeed a lipoma, these herbals are fine to use. I might also use Phlegm fat formula. This is the herbal of choice for lipomas! It will not shrink the tumor entirely but will shrink it to some degree and may help ambulation. I would try it for three months and re-evaluate.
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