Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Visit with Dr. Anne

Ike and Carmen saw Dr. Anne tonight. I laid all of my concerns at her feet and amazingly she answered them!

Ike's left side of his pelvis was indeed out of alignment. The left side of the body is tied to intestinal health. Given Ike's recent illness and the vomiting that accompanied it, Anne said she wasn't surprised to find his pelvis out. She treated that, and I mentioned how his liver levels were a bit off. She tested his liver (using kinesiology) and it was fine. She tested his kidneys because she said that oftentimes test results will show an elevation in certain liver levels when the problem lies in the kidneys. She recommended a homeopathic renal support supplement.

Next question, I noticed that Ike got super skinny after he was sick, even when he went back to eating. I hypothesized that it might be because he needs grain in his diet (I feed him raw meat supplemented with cooked green vegetables - no grains). The bland diet was rice, cooked squash and boiled meat (turkey, chicken, and beef). Robin (front desk/assistant) and Anne thought it was more likely it might be because he is allergic to one of the meats I feed and suggested testing that. The theory is, if a dog is allergic to a meat they aren't able to process it well, sometimes leading to weight gain.

Well, wouldn't you know it, Ike is allergic to venison and lamb. As a rule I try not to feed Ike lamb because of the fat content but I just discovered that the Nature's Variety Venison has a boatload of lamb in it! Drat! (I was kind of annoyed by that, but it was my bad for not being a better label reader.) Also, one of my favorite stinky treats is the Real Meat Fish and Venison! So, I have some frozen raw that Mister-Monty might be gifted with.

I mentioned that Dr. Kirk had recommended milk thistle for Ike's liver and Anne was VERY impressed (hmmm). She asked me to bring in the milk thistle I bought at SmartPak next week to see if Ike will tolerate it.

So, I feel like Ike got an awful lot out of his visit. Due to the slipped pelvis issue he will be seeing Anne for the next 3 - 4 weeks! Oye!

Carmen on the other hand is doing fabulously. Her alignments have held and she only has two more appointments scheduled. I asked Anne to test her to see if she is allergic to chicken because I noticed her coat wasn't that nice when I was feeding the Nature's Variety Chicken Meal (as a result I switched her to the lamb meal, and it is much better but still....). Carmen is allergic to chicken, and since all of Nature's Variety's product have chicken in them I will be looking into a new kibble. [Editor's Note: This is a FASLE statement! Eeek. This is not true for the kibble. Yay!] I have some thoughts on this and will probably to a whole post on it! I wish I could get the in-laws to switch her to raw, but they refuse. : (

When I called John to tell how the appointments went he commented on what a gift Katrin has. It's true, Katrin saw Ike last night and knew he was off. She has a knack (skill, whatever, maybe not a capital G-gift ;-P) for being able to see how canine structure is supposed to be moving. I am very lucky that I already had an appointment scheduled!

10 comments:

Katrin said...

Yeah no "G" word please. Brings back memories of the kids in the "gifted" program (of which I was not one, my mother's choice, she thought it would go to my head and I would stop trying, she still on some level believes this)

:-P

Cat, Tessie, & Strata said...

Hey! I'll trade you a bag of Zukes Mini Naturals in the salmon flavor for a bag of your Real Meat treats! I don't believe it has anything meaty other than salmon in it, and I bought 6lbs of it and have only managed to use 1.5lbs so far.

And welcome to the anti-chicken club, Tessie is a card-carrying member and if I remember correctly, so is Niche. (We need T-shirts! ;) )

ann-and-partner said...

Julie, Where do you get raw venison? Could you LMK?

Katrin said...

Niche AND James AND Clara.

Thank god Monty isn't....

Jules said...

Ann, I use Bravo! and Nature's Variety frozen raw venison. If I have some Bravo! in addition to the Nature's Variety medallions I will bring it on Sunday. Monty can have some and so can Partner!

Cat: Will you be in class tonight? I'll bring you some treats to swap and gift.

I don't think Carmen cares about the chicken, but it does make it more difficult to feed her! ;-P

Jules said...

Katrin, very funny about your mum!

Diana said...

I read the bag for natures variety lamb. I didnt see any chicken in the list. Are you sure it has chicken in it? thanks, Diana

Jules said...

Diana, You're right! I just double-checked! This is good for Carmen. Although I would still like to switch her to something other than lamb, where schnauzers have the propensity for pancreatitis.

Cat, Tessie, & Strata said...

I won't be at class tonight, but I will be next Tuesday.

Have you considered Wellness Simple Food Solutions? The problem with suggesting that to people is that you need to cut way, WAY back on how much you feed them. Carmie would think she's getting starved to death. Tess gets 1/3cup in the morning and 1/3cup in the evening with about 1/4 of a can of their 95% venison. SFS has two flavors, Duck and Venison. Tessie thinks it's great, but it just sucks she can't eat a lot of it.

Jules said...

Yeah, I used to feed Carmie the Duck Wellness Simple Solutions, but as disenchanted with Nature's Variety raw as I am feeling, I still feel like it is a really good kibble.

BUMMER - no Strata tonight?!