A few blogs ago I reproduced the letter from Vet Times that mentioned the original dogs in the clinical trial. Shirley Thompson now lives overseas but she saw the blog and recognised her dog Biggles. I asked her to write something for the blog to share with the new patients on CV247.
I had forgotten John's obsession with only glass bottled water rather than plastic. I remember him writing
Waitrose a stinking letter when they stopped selling it!
Thank you Shirley for bringing back another memory.
Here's the extract:
K.C. Spaniel (eight years)dog diagnosed to have lymphoma by biopsy. Despite chemotherapy it continued to deteriorate, so this was discontinued. The owner was then told that euthanasia would be necessary within two months. After 18 months' treatment with CV247 the dog appears to be well with good appetite and normal behaviour. Only one lymph node is still enlarged but reduced in size.
Biggles, my eight year old Cavalier was diagnosed with lymphoma after a biopsy and my vet told me chemo was the only option. I was reluctant but decided to try it. Biggles was so unhappy on it, sick, hiding in corners and generally with no quality of life I decided this was not fair. His eyes were telling me to stop.
I went to the vet to tell him I was stopping the chemo and while I was in the waiting room I read about John Carter in a copy of
Dogs Today magazine.
There were just a couple of lines in the editor's intro where she referred to alternative cancer vet. I told my vet I was stopping the chemo and he told me the dog would be dead in a couple of
months.
I called
Dogs Today and got John's number, called him and went to see him that evening. I carried Biggles in, he could hardly walk.
After an evening of treatment he ran out of the surgery on his own. I went straight to the
Tesco's all night store to buy everything organic John had requested. For the first month I took Biggles twice a day even Sundays where John treated him at his home. It became our outing, complete with my other Cavalier and my
Pyrenean.
John was concerned that Biggles had the chemo in his system and this was making it twice as hard. Biggles became one of the trial dogs in the initial study. I seemed to be either cooking organic food or sitting in a waiting room in Harrow all the time. I worked as a stewardess at the time so was spending literally most of what I earned to pay dog minders to stay at home with Biggles and take him for his treatment and prepare his organic food.
I put my other two dogs on the organic food, too. I order my bottled water in glass bottles in bulk.
The results were remarkable. No one could believe this was the same dog who had been half dead. Over time, the visits to Harrow became less frequent but I still stuck to the regime religiously. There were people coming from all over the country putting their lives on hold for their animals.
I remember one couple who had come from Scotland and were living nearby in a caravan. The ones that did not respond well were when the owners cheated with the organic diet. They said their dogs wouldn't eat the food and they felt sorry for them. If a dog is hungry he will eat what you give him and you had to be determined.
The pet insurance covered the visits to John and If you didn't have insurance half the time he didn't charge you. He was a professor brainstorm type, a shy man. He was so focused on his treatment. He was so eccentric but one of life's characters.
Biggles died in his sleep three years later having had a great quality of life since John's treatment.
If your animal has cancer do not hesitate. But be determined to stick to the diet. Ten years ago it was hard to get the food but we managed. These days organic produce is everywhere. If you have more than one animal put them all on it. Make your own treats from organic oats and bottled water. Make a paste and then bake slowly in the over. Add apple or carrot for flavour. Make crisps out of organic potatoes.
Make sure the bottled water is in glass bottles.
Stick to the diet. Never waiver from it. Your dog's life is in your hands so you have to be determined.
Shirley Thompson
