Our dear Jewel is a rescue Doberman that we adopted August of 2014. When she came to us she was underweight by about 20 lbs. for the breed standard and even though she is a small Doberman height wise she was a sweetheart. We noticed immediately of course that her weight was under and her skin was horrible. Large patches of skin would just flake off. My son said "mom she has a serious case of dandruff.: I contributed it to constant food changes at the rescue seeing that most all of the dog and cat food is donated by pet lovers. I put her on a Lamb and Rice formula by a major brand that you can pick up at your local store. Thinking that I was giving her a good dog food. Little did I know that it was actually causing her issues that were already there when I adopted her to raise up even more.
After spending time bathing her, loving on her, working with her to get her over her issues that sometimes come with a rescue pet I found a lump about the size of a golf ball on her neck right before her lower jaw bone. I took her back to our normal vet that we have used for years and they sent us on to Indiana to have her an ultrasound done on the area. Our normal vet told us that they were pretty sure it was some type of cancer but it also could have been a thyroid issue. They offered to have Jewel put down. I told them she has brought so much joy in our life there was no way we were going to give up on this little lady. After going to Indiana to see the new vet we were sent to they told us they were going to run pathology on the area and send it to Purdue University but they were sure it was some sort of cancer. They asked us right then and there if we wanted to put her down to which we said no way let us find out what it is first. Now the word cancer is scary enough so after coming home and talking with the rescue we got Jewel from Dr. Anders' name was brought up and I was told to give him a call and see if there was anything he could do
Jewel from the moment we brought her home has stolen our hearts with her sweet personality and her gentle ways. Every person she meets she instantly has their hearts melting. I can't tell you how many times we have heard what a great dog, what a sweet heart, my goodness she is so friendly, and of course our favorite she is a rescue? I just couldn't see putting this dog down when she has such a great outlook on life. I called Dr. Anders to see if there was anything he and his wonderful staff could do to help her. We took her in the next day. Dr. Anders said that she had several issues going wrong for her and we had to add an change up a few things. First was getting her off the Lamb and Rice food because she was too hot and needed cooled down. He put her on a rabbit based diet which she loves. We added several herbs for her kidney and liver functions along with APO Caps and a Probiotic. Two days later after seeing Dr. Anders we got the pathology back and found that she had an aggressive form of cancer in dogs. Lymphatic Carcinoma which is 95% deadly and the vet in Indiana gave her 2 months to live without doing anything. They suggested that we spend $6000.00 to have the lump removed and radiation and chemo treatments started right away. They said at this time the cancer had not spread to any other parts of her body and even with the treatments the chances were slim. They once again suggested putting her down.
I called our normal vet and told them what had happened and of course told them there was no way we could just drop $6000.00 in a surgery like that. Not with the odds that were given They offered to do the surgery for her which they do not normally do because we have been with them for the last 18 years with our dog that we had before Jewel that we had put down because of her age and not eating or drinking anymore. Jewel had an appointment with Dr. Anders again next week and I told him that they were willing to do the surgery what else can we do. Dr. Anders had started acupuncture on Jewel in the first appointment and of course continued doing so in other appointments we had made. After the surgery was done 3 days later we had another appointment with Dr. Anders. I was happy to tell him that they were able to get the large mass out but there were two smaller masses in the muscle tissue that they were not able to get. After several more appointments with Dr. Anders and keeping Jewel on the food he suggests, the herbs and of course the acupuncture the two smaller areas have shrank in size.
Jewel has already outlived the diagnose time line, she is looking better and fighting every inch of the way. Currently she still shows no sign of cancer anywhere else in her body. We believe that if it wasn't for Dr. Anders, those that are praying for her, our normal vet for doing the surgery for under $500.00, and her willingness to fight and live Jewel wouldn't have made it this far.
Thank you Dr. Anders for treating her and giving her a chance. You are truly saving her!
Bless you Dr. Anders,
Heather Applegate