Lilo's Reviews > The Essiac Report: The True Story of a Canadian Herbal Cancer Remedy and of the Thousands of Lives It Continues to Save

I read this book in 2011 when my husband had a cancer scare. (Fortunately, the diagnosis was false.)

I didn't review the book because, in 2011, I had not found Goodreads yet and was also not familiar with Amazon. Since I don't remember details of the book, I can only say that this book is fascinating. It is a worthwhile read whether or not you or any of your loved ones are battling with cancer.

When, in 2013, two of our (then, 31) cats were diagnosed with metastasized cancer and were more dead than alive by August 2013, we treated them with Essiac tea as a last resort.

One of these cats had brain cancer that had metastasized to the bones. She no longer ate or drank and had been force-fed for a week. The other cat was about to suffocate from a throat tumor that was suspected to have metastasized to the head. He had already an appointment for euthanizing.

After being administered the tea, the first cat ate and drank by herself within two days and walked within a week, whereas the second cat improved within hours and was able to go outside a week later. By November 2013, both cats were symptom-free. Both cats relapsed every time they were off the tea (or when the dosage was reduced to maintenance). They recovered again when they were back on the tea. This happened about six times. Both cats are still alive. The first is symptom-free; the second has mild symptoms but is still out and about. (He did not fully recover the last two times when he was off the tea while we were out of town.)

We have treated several other cats with Essiac tea that were suspected to have cancer. (To confirm the diagnosis would have required a MRI, which wasn't available.) They have been doing well. Only one cat died despite of being treated with Essiac tea. She suffered from abdominal lymphoma, which hardly responds to any treatment.

Our vet also believes in the effectiveness of Essiac tea. (His wife took the tea when she was recovering from breast cancer, about 12 years ago, and takes it presently again for her diabetes, for which the tea is also said to be effective.) Our vet calls the recovery of the above-mentioned two cats a miracle that can only be accounted to the tea.

Please note that I neither sell the tea nor am acquainted or affiliated with anyone selling the tea. Neither am I acquainted or affiliated with the author or publisher of the above book.

I know that there are lots of alternative cancer treatments that are clear quackery, but we do believe in the effectiveness of Essiac tea.

I have read 3 books on Essiac tea. I liked them all but found the above book the best. The story of Essiac tea is fascinating, and this book tells it in the most captivating way.

I strongly recommend this book to everybody, not only for the amazing recovery stories but also for an insight about how the pharmaceutical industry suppresses the use and proliferation of herbal cures.


P.S. This review was originally written on Nov. 4, 2015. It was edited and reposted on March 23, 2016. The cat that never recovered completely (each time after having been off the tea) has died on Nov. 18, 2015, yet not from his throat tumor but, most likely, from old age.

P.P.S. November 26, 2017: Orphan Annie, the cat with the brain tumor metastasized to the bones is still alive, symptom-free, and full of mischief. She is completely off the tea since fall of 2015.

P.P.P.S. February 4, 2019: Orphan Annie (meanwhile 16 years old) is still alive, symptom-free, and full of mischief. She is our best jumper and would qualify as a circus cat. I think I never mentioned that she played with a rabid bat when she was a kitten. In order to save our, at the time, 7 not yet vaccinated kittens from being euthanized, we had to comply with the orders of the Health Department, which included a 6-months house-quarantine of all of our (then 35) cats, weekly house vet visits, and my husband and I getting vaccinated against rabies. Total costs: $ 8,000+. Thus, Orphan Annie is probably the most expensive cat in Utah. :-)

P.P.P.P.S. January 27, 2022: Orphan Annie (meanwhile 19 1/2 years old) is still alive. About 2 months ago, she lost weight, started to decline, and had frequent nose-bleeds (usually a sign for a malignant tumor in the head). Orphan Annie still ate but spent most of the time sleeping. We expected (and kind of hoped) that she would have a gentle death dying in her sleep. But then we thought we might try again putting her on Essiac tea. Within 3 days, she gained weight and was significantly better. She is meanwhile almost back to her old self. Only a mild (but rather frequent) nose-bleed remains. We hope that she'll pull through once more. She is still our favorite cat.

We have also kept administering the tea to other cats suspected to have cancer (but without a confirmed diagnosis--as due to the pandemic, we presently avoid veterinary care if at all possible, because all vet clinics in our region have had vets spreading Covid). These cats, too, have improved.

P.P.P.P.P.S. November 11, 2022: Sadly, Orphan Annie declined again in spring and had to be euthanized in early June. In retrospect, I assume that she had relapsed because, due to our own bad state of health this year, my husband had not been able to administer the tea on a regular basis. I, meanwhile, know that the tea has to be administered regularly in order to be effective. Mind you, Orphan Annie would have been 20 years old this fall, and no one lives for ever, even with Essiac tea. We still mourn Orphan Annie. She had been as close to a human baby for my husband and me as an animal can possibly be.

We presently have another cat dying of cancer. Her name is Daisy. She is an old b/w long-hair, we adopted in November 2019, after our long-time petsitter had suffered a massive stroke that left her a permanent nursing case and we ended up with most of her cats and her dying dog. Daisy has developed a tumor on the outside of her upper nose, starting last late winter. This tumor is, meanwhile the size of an apricot and has started bleeding. Daisy's left eye is shut, and Daisy, occasionally bleeds from her nose and her right eye (just as Orphan Annie had done). Nevertheless, Daisy is still very active and does not seem "ready to go". Essiac tea, has, so far, not helped Daisy, but since last weekend, my husband has started to increase the dosage and is now administering the tea to her regularly, which he had not done before (because of the above-mentioned reasons). We'll see what happens. Yet with Daisy's tumor so far advanced, I am afraid it would require a mega-miracle to save Daisy's life.

The reason we again have some hope for Daisy is Tanya Harter Pierce's new book "Outsmart Your Pet's Cancer: Stories of Recovery Among Dogs and Cats Given ESSIAC". This book contains 4 stories of our cats treated with Essiac tea. It also contains 2 other cat stories, one of them, about a cat named Fern, whose huge cancer boil seemed to have been a lot worse than our Daisy's, and who recovered at a stage I would have considered beyond help.

I have not yet reviewed Tanya's new book but will do so asap. However, I read and reviewed Tanya's highly recommendable book "Outsmart Your Cancer", a few years ago, and have bought several copies of it (using some for gifts). Please read my review of this book, which is thoroughly researched and describes different alternative methods for treating cancer. (I found the chapters about Essiac tea and Pau d'Arco tea most interesting, as these teas are affordable and easy to take. Mind you, Pau d'Arco tea requires bigger quantities, which are no problems with humans or dogs, but are difficult to administer to cats.) Here is the link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Please note: Our preferred source of Essiac tea is the powdered form, as it is sold by GenuineEssiac.com, which is the new name for bulk-essiac-tea.com. I think both names for their website still work.

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. December, 9, 2022: Sadly, Daisy didn't make it. After getting both teas regularly for a few days, she first improved but, then, suddenly declined and died within a few hours. Maybe we had overdosed. She was a small cat.