Even though Lilly was diagnosed with cancer Heather Schwab opened her heart and home to yet another SCD Dobe.. Lilly will join Brownie and Strawberry 2 other SCD dobes in Heathers Happy Family..


Thank you more than words can Say.

Lilly has staked out her own room in the house and the other two are not allowed to come in there. Then she sneaks out periodically and finds any toys or chews and takes them to "her" room. She has quite a pile. It is pretty funny. Brownie drew the line when she tried to drag his bed in there and there was a short snarling session, so now they are in their crates in "time-out." Berry is looking smug because she is not in a crate and everyone else is. I am sure they will get things sorted out in a day or two. Lillly sure is a sweetie. She had a bath and was a really good sport about it.

This is a wonderfull thing that you are doing Heather. You are truly a very strong and compassionate woman. I know from personal experience that watching a dog die from cancer is very tough. Lilly will let you know when "it's time". We need more people in the world like you.

All the best,
John

That is so great! May you & your Dober family have much quality time with Lilly! You've given her the gift to live out the rest of her life happy, comfortable, secure & loved. Keep your heart open to the many gifts she will give you in return!

I am in full agreement with everything John said, and like John, I have been there. You have opened your heart and home to a girl when she needs love,
care and comfort the most. That takes a special person.
Best of luck to you both.
Doc

Heather, what an awesome thing you do!!! I know how (as do most of us) hard it is to watch a loved one get sicker and sicker!!! My hat's off to you!!! I was reading about this diet that is supposed to help with cancer. Maybe it can help our lovely Lilly!!!

http://home.online.no/~dusan/diseases/canc..._dr_budwig.html Someone said to beware of too much dairy though as it is mucous forming...


Also I was channel surfing and heard a comment from someone on some show... Don't know who he was or what the show was but he said that the cure to cancer is out there and it's easy, but the drug companies don't want you to know... He said you have to make the body more alkaline. Cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment, the cancer will die off... I haven't researched what foods would bring this about but if I find some I'll let you know!!! Maybe this will help but remember it was a "drive-by" comment... and I don't know if it is true or not but IF IT IS!!! HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE?!?!?!??!?!?

Thank you everyone for the support and advice. I want to look into the effects of diet on cancer. Someone is supposed to be sending Arda some information about that.

Lilly is a great addition to the family and I know she will enrich our life for the time she has. I have never met a dog who didn't.

"You can't do much about the length of your life, but you can do a lot about it's depth and width."

What a wonderful gift to give Lilly for the time she has left--a life of undevoted love and comfort!! Something that you may want to look into as well, Heather, is flaxseed oil. It is supposed to have anti-cancerous properties and it's used widely by cancer patients as well as cancer survivors because of its anticancerous properties. I had a friend a while back that had Dobes, one in particular used to suffer badly from mammary tumors. He put her on flaxseed oil and the tumors shrunk and she never had a problem after that.

I'm not saying it's a cure-all, by any means, but it can't hurt, and I think every little ounce given to help Lilly would be worth it.

Heather, how incredibly brave and kind of you to adopt Lilly. Having lost two Dobermans to cancer, I undersand how difficult it will be for you (as it is to lose an animal for any reason), but how wonderful for Lily to be able to spend her remaining time with such a loving person.... an angel for Lilly indeed.

I wish you much luck and happiness
Rita

A current picture of Lilly. She is guarding the dry food. She has picked out the bits she doesn't like and spit them on the floor.

Well if that isn't a "Queen Bee" I don't know what is. What a "lil beauty" as Steve Irwin would say!!

Wow, Heather, I really appreciate being able to read through your story here. I love it that you are willing to take care of Lilly during her illness.

Your Lilly is like my Tango. I used to buy Pedigree and she would pick out those little bone shaped ones and spit them on the floor. Of course Tiki will eat anything alive or dead so she really liked cleaning up the floor when Tango got done.

Lilly is looking really good, I hope she continues to thrive. I agree with you about flax oil. I'm on it and it has made a world of difference to ME. I have the dogs on fish oil every day. I can't say enough about those two supplements.

Give her a hug for me.

Jane
(cancer survivor)

Lilly Is Beautiful!

Her coat is so shiney! WOW!


I love the fact that she is "guarding" the morsels.


If I may ask, what does she weigh? She Looks GREAT! (makes Suzz look like a munskin Ha! )



So good to see!



Thanks,
The Gray's

I don't know what she weighs - I am a little afraid to find out. She likes to eat...except for the little square pieces in the Pedigree food. ??? Brownie is allowed to eat them after she has finished with the bowl and moved on to guarding the basement steps (we have a cat who lives in the basement and she stays on patrol to make sure he does not come up stairs and "get" us.)

Yes, she is the queen.


Congrats, Jane!

Heather, An old breeder friend of mine feeds all of her dogs(other breeds also) a tablespoon of canned stewed tomatoes everyday. She says it stays off cancer. Something about a study as to why Italians have so little cancer. I'm using it on Geezer and Gypsey. Same type of cancer in all of them. Might make an interesting study. The Swamp

Heather -

You are an incredibly brave woman - with an enormous heart. Lilly is a very lucky girl, indeed. She will live out her days in comfort, with lots of love and affection. It's a quality of life issue, and my hat is off to you: You are Lilly's Guardian Angel.

I've heard wonderful things about flaxseed oil, as well. I've been taking it for many, many years. I even make a mash for my horses with it. It supposedly has powerful antioxidant properties, and ferrets out the free-radicals.

Please keep us posted on Lilly's progress.

Sincerely,

Linda

I am no angel - Lilly will add more to my live than I can to hers. She is a sweetheart.

What does everyone think of the ground flaxseed? Would that have the same benefits of the oil? It is a lot easier to sprinkle that over food.

When the vet prescribed fish oil, it was a real pain sprinkling it from the capsule on to the food. So what I do now is dip the capsules in peanut butter or plain butter and my dogs swallow the capsule right down. They take one in the morning and one at night. Tiki actually rushes to her crate at bedtime so that she can get her pill. When I run out of fish oil I will substitute my flaxseed oil for it.

I don't know how you would measure out the amount of flax seed to equal the amount in the capsules. Linda might know.

Jane

You know, it's funny Arda mentioned tomatoes.
They DO have an anti-carcinogenic (spelling?) agent in them. The reason I know is that it was recommended for me when I was (just found out) pregnant, (cause I'm one of those BAD people who smokes) so I wanted to get everything out of my system A.S.A.P. The doc recommended it. Something in tomatoes...
By the way, your Lilly is beautiful. She actually reminds me a lot of my late dobe, BJ. Size, ears and face are so similar.

~Jen~

I feed stewed tomatoes to Lil. She seems to like them. (You can see that she doesn't turn down many meals! ) I put a half of a can on the night's food. It certainly can't hurt.

Lilly passed away on December 30. We are very sad and miss her, but she went quickly (cardio) and was with us much longer than Dr. Karen predicted. She added a lot of energy and vitality to our home. She was a treasure.[attachmentid=2538]

Heather
You are in my thoughts and prayers. I'am so sorry about Lilly
Ella & Princess

Heather,

You gave Lilly, what we wish for all dogs, Love of a family. You were her Angel and now she will return the favor and watch over you and family. I do believe that death is not an end but yet another beginning..
Thank you so much for giving Lilly Years of LOVE

Heather:
You gave Lilly a home and a fmily and love when most wouldnt.. She will be at the Bridge waiting for you.
Thank You for making her final year a happy one.