Sunday, June 01, 2008

Wow, Garlic Works

The nose situtation is better, after only a week. Not perfect, but better, and no garlic smells. I'm not sure he should have 1,000mg a day for long periods, but I'll keep going for now. It's also supposed to help keep fleas away. He's become very pill-shy, he's had to have so many during his months of chemo, but soft capsules wrapped in ham can still get past his pill-detector. All I'm giving him at the moment is garlic and a daily selenium pill (50mcg), plus a 500mg arginine capsule opened up and sprinkled on his food. I've tested the arginine, and it doesn't taste of anything, so it hasn't put him off his food. It's one of the key ingredients in Hills' canine cancer tinned food, and is supposed to have some effect. The oncologist said cancer fed on amino acids from the dog's muscles, so supplements shouldn't harm the dog or feed the cancer... not sure how that works....

Huge scare from Holly on Friday night, when she chased a rabbit and overheated. She staggered back to me, then keeled over. It was a muggy, humid evening, warm even at half past seven, and we were a mile from the road. She just lay in a patch of ground elder, her tongue hanging onto the ground, her breath rasping. I carried her back to the road (with some difficulty, and many stops for breath) at which point she decided she could plod the last 200 yards home. It's taught me not to let her off lead in hot weather. She has no internal "hmm, best not, eh?" mechanism to tell her to slow down.

So, still here, but I'm worried about Emily over at Life with the Dogs...

3 comments:

Emily and the Labradors said...

I'm glad the garlic is working! I had never heard of that before!

Thanks for your note of concern too. It has been a very hard few days around here. I finally added a post to my blog... thanks again!

Anonymous said...

So good to hear that Herbie's snotty nose is better. What a scare with Holly -- I can only just image what that ordeal must have put you through. Thank you for your comments at my place. I loved the poem and of course, it made me cry. :o) We ended up not getting the dog...long story...I'll explain later in my blog. Take care!

(hugs)

Anonymous said...

I'm glad herbies nose is clearing up - sometimes I thinkg we're too reliant on 'synthetic' drugs and forget about what nature provides. I hope the little chap's feeling OK.