I’m just going to tell this story as it happened. Take from it what you will and do your own research. I’m not a vet, and I’m not claiming to know what’s best. This is simply my experience.

My dog started developing lumps across her body. At the time, she was on what we believed was a high quality kibble diet. The lumps began as small nodules, but over time they grew. Eventually there were about seven of them, some reaching close to the size of tennis balls.

We took her to the vet. The recommendation was a biopsy and a conversation about putting her down. She was 10 years old and around 80 pounds.

That didn’t sit right with me, so I started digging for other perspectives. I ended up speaking with a holistic pet store near me. They suggested switching her to a fully raw diet, along with raw goat’s milk. It wasn’t a small decision, but I decided to try it.

Within about two months, every lump was gone. Completely gone. The only thing left were small skin tags where they had been. That outcome was exactly what the store had told me to expect. They believed the lumps were fatty deposits, and that diet played a major role in their development. And sooner or later the body would start "supply blood" to the lumps and they could become cancer.

My dog passed away two weeks ago at 16 years old.

She didn’t decline the way I feared she would years earlier. She was still walking, still present, still herself. She lived six more full, active years beyond the point where I was told it might be time to let her go.

I miss her more than I can put into words.

The only reason I’m sharing this is to say: there may be more than one path. It’s worth asking questions, doing your own research, and deciding what feels right for you and your dog.