I jokingly tell my friends I got “the cure” in the form of a remedy, a flower essence and an herbal formula. Wow! The remedies can’t do the work for me, but are making it easier for me to get it done. And I’ve experienced from very clear insights that are not really what I would have considered as part of the issue. A brilliant illustration of how interconnected everything really is.

On a side note. Reiki master and author Pamela Miles who is the forerunner of integrating Reiki in medicine here in the U.S. was excited to report that homeopathy was given quite a bit of air time at a recent medical conference. Radical for the U.S. – but so needed.

Hope you’re feeling better and as usual have enjoyed your photos.

I take a pound of locally raised ground beef (or turkey or chicken), 3-4 eggs, a healthy glug of olive oil, diced/chopped veggies (cabbage, peppers, peas, beans, carrots, cauliflower — she loves any of them), garlic powder, and maybe a little poultry seasoning or the like and mix it all together with enough quick oats (the kind that cook faster because they are smaller flakes NOT the kind that is precooked) to make a wet meatloaf consistency. I then spread it out about 2 inches deep in a lightly greased casserole or 13×9 pan and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, or until done. We cut off a chunk of it, crumble it up for her, add her supplements, and a little water. She slurps it down well — no more coaxing her to finish up unless she is REALLY full.

Her weight is holding maybe even gaining slightly now that she is eating well again, and she is doing great for a nearly 16 yr old large breed pup. She even moves better than a Golden HALF her age that I saw recently.

I am so sorry to hear that your baby is experiencing such difficulty. It just rips your heart out not to be able to make it all better for them. I wish we all had magic wands we could just wave and fix their problems immediately.

Re the possibility of tick borne illness/virus –

We had a Springer Spaniel who suddenly went downhill at about age 14 or so. She got misdiagnosed by a vet as having bone cancer when it turned out to be a tick borne virus. She’d start to get a little better on anti-biotics for an ear infection they found at the same time, then back down when the Rx stopped. Had they caught it sooner, we could have had her with us longer. A lyme titre is NOT the full comprehensive tick titre. Sometimes pups come up positive on the titre just from having had the vaccine. There is a more in depth test available. Make sure that is the one you had done. And if it was not, or if your vet will not or cannot do it, find one who can even if you have to go to a University Veterinary program. There’s quite a few nasty tick borne diseases out there that they CAN check for now, much more efficiently than they could at the time we lost our Springer.

Also — I know this is people rather than pooch, but a friend of ours has just gone through 3 1/2 months of a UTI that they only now discovered is resistant to oral antibiotics. He went through a catheter, prostate surgery, ER trips, and other unpleasantness all the while saying, “I HAVE an infection…I don’t feel right!” to the doctors. FINALLY one listened and ordered a Blood Culture. He has had to go for shots each day, 2x a day for two weeks, but he began improving dramatically VERY shortly after getting the first few.

SO — since they HAVE identified a virus as causing a problem, make sure your pup gets tested to make sure it is not one that is resistant to oral antibiotics. That could be why the med is not causing her to improve. It sure was with our friend! I would not wait a week to do this. If no improvement has occurred in 3-4 days, that is reason enough to me to start calling the vet. The viruses and bacteria are getting better and better about getting around what we use to fight them because of the overuse of antibiotics and meds in general. Some also do not work for certain dogs. Cephalexin, for instance, never did squat for our Labby’s recurrent infections in some non-absorbable sutures from a surgery — it only put him off his feed, which is HARD to do for a Lab! I will not accept it for any of my dogs now.

Another thought — I’m no vet, but perhaps it is possible that the virus and or some infection might be causing some swelling or pressure on an area to affect the paralysis?? I’ve also known of Doxies who have temporarily lost hind end motor ability due to spinal issues and who subsequently recovered once the issue abated.

The biggest things you can do to help your sweetie fight are to lavish love on her, keep as positive as you can, and explore every avenue to help her get well. Remember that YOU are the one who most wants to see her well, so if that means you have to push on the vets to get tests or answers, push on ‘em. It really IS a matter of life and death, something a good vet will understand and work with you on all the way.

A multi-faceted approach can help, especially once the infection/virus is under control and you know where you are. If you have a good homeopath or animal acupuncturist, they can work on her while she is under conventional vet care and then come up with a plan for recovery as well.

All the best to you and your baby, and to your family as you all go through this scary time. Love on her and UP those positive endorphins for you all. And I hope this does not offend you in any way, but I’ll send up a prayer on her behalf, too. I do all the time when my babies need it.

As for the reduction in puppies, um, I haven’t noticed any change either. If anything, I think the numbers are going in the opposite direction. What we really need is a change of attitude around responsibility, not more surgery! But of course, that wouldn’t be profitable, and would require effort…

Glad to hear I might not be held to that vet visit – I haven’t started trialing Hannah yet but hope to do so in the spring.

I am not a medical practitioner and cannot offer medical advice, but I would encourage you to not make any decisions too quickly. Often dogs recover from these situations, even older ones, with love and time and attention. Read some of the comments above, especially the few by Molly’s Mom right before yours. I would encourage you to look into holistic means of supporting your dog’s immune system, especially homeopathy. Please keep us posted and I’ll be keeping you and your dog in my thoughts.

There are also people, although I don’t think it’s *that* common, that like to blame everything but their training. My housemate had a woman get mad at her in class because her dog kept running away from her to get to my housemates treat bag. It never occured to her to consider her relationship with her dog, quality of treats, focus training, nothing. Just blame the other handler for distracting her dog…!?

And, on a sort of side note, I don’t know any agility clubs that would actually require a vet note for a missed trial. I have had an entry fee check torn up with no questions asked for an injury.