01/05/2026
An interesting read to pass along …
https://www.facebook.com/share/1HBBMpkanN/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Interesting post if your dogs eating grass or has lumps and bumps.
Lipomas—-portions shared from The Dog Parent’s Guide.
First they eat grass. Then they lick their paws. Then they slow down. Then the lumps appear. It's not four separate problems—it's one immune system screaming for help.
"By the time you notice the lump growing, the immune damage is already well underway. This is the most preventable problem I see in my practice every single week."
– Dr. Sarah Martinez, DVM
I'm about to share the research discovery that destroyed 22 years of veterinary confidence.
But first, I need to tell you why your vet keeps saying "watch and wait."
And it has nothing to do with laziness or ignorance.
For 22 years straight, I said the exact same thing.
Every single time I biopsied a soft lump and saw "benign lipoma" on the pathology report, I'd smile and tell the owner:
"Nothing to worry about. Just a harmless fatty tumor."
I'd see the relief wash over their face.
Update the chart.
Move to the next appointment.
I felt like I was doing good medicine.
Until Max.
My own 6-year-old Border Collie mix.
Perfect genetics.
Flawless health records.
The dog I chose specifically because I knew how to keep him healthy.
When I felt that first lump on his shoulder, I did exactly what I'd done a thousand times before:
Fine needle aspirate.
Send it to the lab.
Wait for results.
"Benign lipoma."
I actually felt relieved.
See? Even my own dog gets them.
Completely normal.
Then the second lump appeared.
Then the third.
By month six, Max had eight lumps.
All biopsied.
All "benign."
I wasn't worried.
This is what I see every day.
Happens to older dogs all the time.
Except Max wasn't old.
He was seven.
By eighteen months, he had seventeen lumps.
He started moving differently.
Breathing harder.
The lumps weren't just cosmetic anymore—they were crushing against his organs, restricting his movement.
At nine years old, I had to make the decision I'd helped hundreds of clients make.
Max should have lived to fourteen.
I gave him nine.
And that's when I noticed the pattern.
I started to ask myself this one question:
How does a "healthy" dog with "benign" lumps die five years early?
So I pulled every case file from the past decade.
Every dog I'd diagnosed with lipomas.
I built a spreadsheet.
Age at first lump.
Number of lumps.
Lifespan.
Dogs with multiple lipomas lived 3.2 years less on average.
But it wasn't just shortened lifespans.
It was how they aged.
These dogs went from energetic to lethargic within months.
Owners would commonly come in a year or 2 later without their beautiful anymore.
It was obvious, these lumps were a warning sign!
Owners would say:
"he just got old so fast"
or
"it's like she aged three years in one."
7-year-old dogs acting like they were 13.
And there was something else.
Almost every single dog with multiple lumps had one behavior in common: obsessive grass eating.
78% of my lipoma cases had notes about excessive grass consumption.
"Is it normal that Bailey eats grass for 10 minutes every time we go outside?"
I'd always said yes.
"Dogs just do that. Probably settling their stomach."
But what if it wasn't settling their stomach?
What if they were craving something?
I started asking.
The lumpy dogs were desperately eating grass.
The healthy dogs weren't.
So I searched:
"canine grass consumption immune function"
That's when I found a Cornell study I'd never seen:
"Dogs with immune dysfunction showed significant increases in grass consumption, seeking beta-glucans and polysaccharide compounds. This mirrors self-medication patterns in wild canids consuming medicinal fungi."
Medicinal fungi.
The study referenced wild wolves seeking out Turkey Tail mushrooms during illness.
The mushrooms were rich in polysaccharides that supported immune function.
Domestic dogs didn't have access to Turkey Tail mushrooms.
So they were eating grass—desperately trying to get the compounds their immune systems were screaming for.
I kept clicking through studies.
Turkey Tail polysaccharides.
Immune restoration.
Gut barrier repair.
Then I found it:
University of Pennsylvania, 2012.
Dogs with cancer who received Turkey Tail lived 199 days longer—
Not because it attacked tumors…
But because it restored immune function.
Max had been eating grass for months before the lumps exploded.
I'd thought it was stress.
Or boredom.
He was trying to heal himself.
And I dismissed it.
His immune system was collapsing.
And his instincts were telling him to find Turkey Tail.
But Max didn't have access to Turkey Tail.
He had access to my backyard grass.
And I told him to stop eating it.
The next morning, I called Dr. James Chen at UC Davis.
We'd done our residencies together.
"James, have you ever used Turkey Tail mushrooms in practice?"
Long pause.
"Sarah... how did you find out about that?"
"We've been using it in oncology for about eight years. Quietly. It's not in standard protocols, so we only mention it to clients who ask about holistic options."
"Why isn't it standard?"
"Because no pharmaceutical company makes money off mushrooms. They can't be patented. So they don't get pushed through vet schools."
This had existed the entire time Max was dying.
But I could still help the dogs in my practice right now.
I don't care if I don't make money off of recommending this, all that should matter is YOUR dogs HEALTH!
The research used extracted fruiting body with standardized polysaccharide content. That's what restores immune function.
Ineeded to see if this would actually work in my practice, not just in university studies.
I started with my most desperate cases.
Dogs with 8, 10, 15 lumps.
Dogs aging too fast.
Dogs eating grass.
The first was Bailey, a 9-year-old Lab mix with twelve lumps.
"Let's try this for eight weeks."
Week two:
"Dr. Martinez, Bailey stopped eating grass. Completely. She used to graze for fifteen minutes every walk."
Week four:
"She's playing with toys again. I thought she was just old."
Week eight:
Four lumps had vanished.
The remaining eight were noticeably smaller.
Then the second dog responded.
Then the fifth.
Then the twentieth.
87% showed lump reduction within eight weeks.
91% stopped obsessive grass eating within two weeks.
Dogs stopped "aging rapidly"—owners kept saying:
"he's acting years younger."
But here's what haunted me:
This wasn't experimental.
This was published research from major veterinary universities.
And in 22 years of practice, I'd never heard about it.
Not in vet school.
Not at conferences.
Not anywhere.
Veterinary oncologists had been quietly using this for years—
only telling select clients who asked the right questions.
The rest of us kept saying "watch and wait" while dogs' immune systems collapsed.
Last month, a client brought in Murphy, her 7-year-old Golden.
Covered in lumps.
As well as eating some grass.
I recognized the pattern immediately.
I explained the gut-immune connection.
The Turkey Tail research.
What grass-eating actually meant.
She started crying.
"Our last dog died at nine with lumps everywhere. The vet said it was just old age. You're telling me there was something that could have helped him?"
Yes.
There was.
Murphy's on week six now.
Five lumps have disappeared.
He stopped eating grass within ten days.
His owner sent me a video of him playing fetch—something he hadn't done in over a year.
But here's what keeps me up at night:
How many dogs die every year because "benign lipomas" are dismissed as harmless?
How many owners are told "it's just aging" when their 7-year-old dog starts acting 13?
How many vets see grass-eating and never connect it to immune collapse?
Max was trying to save himself.
His instincts knew what his body needed.
And I dismissed it because I'd been taught lipomas were harmless.
I was taught wrong.
If your dog has lumps and your vet says "watch and wait," ask them about gut-immune restoration.
Ask them about Turkey Tail mushroom polysaccharides.
Ask them why your dog is eating grass when they never used to.
Ask them what wild canids consume when their immune systems are failing.
The research exists.
The solution exists.
It just hasn't made it into standard veterinary practice yet.
Max never got Turkey Tail.
He never got the chance to heal the way his instincts were begging him to.
But your dog can.
And if your vet doesn't know about this research—show them this letter.
Because every dog eating grass is trying to tell us something.
We just need to listen.
