11/17/2025
Cancer often begins long before a lump appears.
It starts with chronic inflammation—a slow, smoldering fire inside the body triggered by everyday factors like poor-quality nutrition, processed foods, environmental toxins, over-vaccination, stress, disrupted gut health, and metabolic strain.
As Dr. Kendra Pope, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) often reminds us, “Genetics loads the gun. Environment pulls the trigger.” In other words, genetics may create vulnerability, but it’s the inflammation from our pet’s environment and lifestyle that often activates disease.
When inflammation goes unchecked, it damages cells, overwhelms the immune system, disrupts mitochondria, and creates the perfect landscape for cancer to take hold.
The good news? Inflammation is something we can control—through fresh whole foods, reduced chemical exposure, gut-supportive supplements, stress reduction, and integrative care. Prevention truly starts with the daily choices we make for our pets’ environment, nutrition, and overall wellbeing.
Cancer is rising.
But so is our understanding of it.
Holistic veterinarians, integrative oncologists, and natural practitioners have spent decades studying the terrain of disease — the part most conventional approaches overlook. And what they have learned is this: What you do today can change what happens tomorrow — even if you can’t see those changes happening yet.
Dogs like Lucy remind us that the body is not fragile. It is responsive. Adaptive. Intelligent. And capable of far more than we realize when given the right support. You are not powerless. Your dog is not powerless. And cancer is not a single moment. It is a process — which means you have opportunities to influence it at every step.