Koda & Cancer Pt. 4: Three Years of Clean Eating

a year ago, i wrote an entry about Koda’s cancer. back then, when we found out that Koda had cancer and she had to go through an operation to remove it. we decided not to go for chemotherapy, because we just didn’t have the heart to see her suffer. every time i see her post-operation photo, all the flashbacks of koda in pain rush back… it breaks my heart to see her like that.

so, instead, we decided to go on the alternative route. our neighbor at that time was a holistic vet from Japan, specializing in acupuncture for animals.  she suggested to change Koda’s diet to fresh/raw food with additional vitamins, supplements and some Chinese medicines. the process of changing the food from kibbles to fresh food was not an immediate process. we had to ease her with cooked food for the first few months, which means i had to cook her lunch and dinner everyday.  the menus we got from our neighbor vet,were very specific and based on her examination of Koda. and every few months, the neighbor vet would examine Koda again and readjust the menu.

last year, Koda had a blood test, and everything turned out to be normal. at that time, she was still very skinny, her bones were protruding here and there. so even though the vet (and us) were very happy and surprised that her blood test was all normal, we still had to figure out how to get her to gain weight.

and now, fast forward to today…

this afternoon, we went to visit the vet again (a different vet this time, because our holistic neighbor vet had moved permanently to Japan), to check up on Koda’s  infected ears.  we got a very good news:

after three years of doing the raw food diet, i’m happy to say that Koda is now looking very similar to the way she was pre-cancer. in the past 1 year, she had gained a few kilograms. now she is just 1kg below her pre-cancer weight. she is now thicker and beginning to have muscles again. her fur had grown back; the thick fur around her neck and her bushy tail.

and the best thing is her annual allergy — where every year, for around 6 months she used to be itching all over — seems to have gone. i am soooo relieved, because this allergy was thought to be one of the causes of her cancer.

none of us could be sure if Koda had completely gotten rid of her cancer, but seeing her back to normal, happy, thick and looking healthy is everything i’ve always wanted to see. i feel like i have a 10-year old puppy. i really hope she is now cancer-free and will stay healthy for a long time…