Benefits of Lion's Mane Mushroom for Your Dog with Cancer

When your dog has cancer, it's natural to want to do all you can.

If you use Canine Biologics, you have already invested in the best food for dogs with cancer. Your dog's canine cancer diet centers on human-grade food for dogs supplemented with wild-caught Alaskan salmon oil and high-quality supplements.

But it's natural to wonder about other natural herbal remedies, too.

There is one herb that can help support your dog through cancer treatment. It's Hericium erinaceus, also known as lion's mane mushroom.

At Canine Biologics, we talk a lot about the value of providing dogs with food and dietary supplements that people would be happy to eat. Lion's mane mushrooms are no exception to the rule with their many health benefits.

Hericium erinaceus is a gourmet edible mushroom. Many gourmands claim that the mushroom's flavor compounds compare in taste to lobster. If you were to find a lion's mane mushroom growing on an old log in the forest in North America, you would be sure to notice it, because it looks like a white lion's mane. 

But what does all of this have to do with your dog?

Among several other promising health benefits, organic lion's mane is a gentle, natural antidepressant.

Depression in dogs doesn't mean quite the same thing as depression in humans. Dogs seem to be immune to the quirks of the human psyche that perpetuate depression through unhealthy attitudes and behaviors.

When a dog is depressed, it's a matter of cognitive impairment with the nose and brain not functioning very well. That's why canine depression can be an issue in canine cancer.

Cancer treatments help your dog, but they can also interfere with your dog's ability to smell. The effect on your dog's experience of the world would be like having to walk around wearing a blindfold or ear plugs.

Lion's mane medicinal mushroom contains neurotrophic factors that scientists have confirmed keep pathways forming in the brain. It aids cognitive function and the nervous system by helping the hippocampus form short-term memories and keeps your dog engaged with the world even with less sensory input. It's as if the brain learns to "make do" with less sensory input from the nose.

Scientists have confirmed that an additional lion's mane mushroom benefit is anti-inflammatory properties that powers brain function and overall brain health by making connections instead of breaking connections. There's good evidence that compounds in lion's mane prevent the progression of dementia in humans, and it's not a stretch to suppose that they may prevent dementia in dogs, too.

Lion's mane isn't a wonder drug for canine cancer. It just helps keep your dog in the present and connected with the world around him/her. Combined with all the other things you do for your dog, such as Canine Biologic’s three-part approach to nutrition for canine cancer, Lion's mane is a mushroom supplement that can also help your dog live as happy and healthy as possible.