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Case Studies

Syri's Story

Syri is a sweet seven-year-old black poodle whose constant struggle with bowel problems caused her—and her people—great distress. After countless visits to vets and specialists, the question is whether conventional treatment helped Syri or caused her more problems. I will leave that for you to decide.

After months of diarrhea and reactions to medications, Syri and her people came to me for help. Her belly was swollen with fluid, patches of hair were missing and she no longer had any hair on her tail. It might sound as if Syri had been medically neglected with that history. In fact, she had been seeing an internal medicine specialist and a team of conventional veterinarians. After a series of ultrasounds, bloodwork and other diagnositics, it was determined by Syri’s conventional veterinary team that she had severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), possible intestinal perforation and recurrent Giardia infection.

Syri was treated for her symptoms conventionally with a combination of metronidazole, prednisone and azathioprine. Despite (or because of) this treatment, she became lethargic and her liver enzymes soared. An ultrasound revealed her liver and pancreas were inflamed. Worst of all, this approach had not addressed her initial symptoms. In fact, she was getting worse. Syri’s medical team believed they were doing their best by her. But they did not question whether she was intolerant of her many medications and try a different approach. Instead they used more and not less.

Syri next spent three days in intensive care with suspected acute pancreatitis. Other medications were added: Metoclopropramide, Cephalexin, Pepcid and a Fentanyl patch for pain. At night her people listened to her labored breathing and loud stomach gurgling, wondering when the next crisis would send them into intensive care.

She underwent more testing. Her liver values had grown even worse and now her white blood cell count was high. Out of desperation, Syri’s people brought her to their massage therapist, who showed them how to massage her belly and relieve gas pain through touch. She also recommended a holistic veterinary approach.

When I met Syri and her people in February 2007, they had almost lost hope. Despite some initial skepticism by her person, a conventional nurse, we proceeded with a holistic approach of NAET allergy testing and found Syri had multiple food allergies. She was allergic to most proteins (including chicken, the main protein source in her prescription diet) as well as all grains and dairy. It was Syri’s allergies that were starving her blood of protein, resulting in a buildup of fluid in her abdomen and life-threatening gastric distress.

NAET testing showed us that duck- and turkey-protein sources would work for Syri. So we immediately switched her to a no-grain diet of turkey, duck, one duck egg, roasted yams, beet greens, zucchini, fish oil, calcium, digestive enzymes and probiotics, as well as Chinese and Western herbs. She also stopped all conventional medications.

After 10 treatments of acupuncture and allergy clearing, Syri regained her full health and even her missing hair! After 10 months, her liver results were normal, she had gained weight and no longer had fluid in her abdomen.

I often work with conventional veterinarians to combine the best approach of Western and holistic veterinary care to animals like Syri—animals whose problems have no straightforward answer. I was trained as a conventional vet, and I believe in an approach that combines both conventional and holistic methods. I only wish veterinary programs prepared more vets to reach out to a holistic veterinarian when conventional treatments are no longer helping. How many other Syris are out there, suffering needlessly?

But in Syri’s case, thanks to the suggestion of the family’s massage therapist and the dedication of her people to adhere to a homemade diet and holistic regimen, she is now a healthy poodle with a beautiful coat, and life is looking a whole lot better.

Rio's Story

Rio

Rio is a twelve-year old chestnut Quarter Horse / Thoroughbred mare that is best friends with Snoopy, a bay Thoroughbred gelding with severe separation anxiety. Rio is very important because without her, Snoopy would be a basket case. Being the calming force you might imagine, Rio stands as still as a statue with acupuncture needles in her face, back legs and all four feet. She stands for up to forty-five minutes and is a perfect patient.

I first started doing acupuncture on her in February 2001 when the regular veterinarian, the wonderful and talented Dr. Sarah Sampson diagnosed a "sarcoid" on Rio's right eye. Sarcoids are "benign" tumors that keep returning and embedded very deeply into tissues. They often need surgical excision or injection of caustic agents which cause tissue and tumor to slough, leaving a nasty bloody hole. Dr. Sampson wanted to use a safer Mycobacterium or BCG injection. This may or may not have worked but Susan Cole, the barn manager, was very patient and decided to try acupuncture first. She had noticed that the tumor had grown very fast, doubling in size in just a few weeks.

See his tumor reduced

Click to enlarge
Rio's pictures

I did acupuncture every two weeks or so for several months. We also used herbal poultices and thuja oil, which did not seem to help much. We noticed for a few months that the sarcoid did not grow for which we were thankful. Being right on the eyelid, its growth may have forced Dr. Sarah to remove the eye.

Right away, Susan and I noticed that there was an old scar at the end of the same meridian containing the sarcoid. In fact, the scar was at the end of the meridian, ST 45 and the tumor was at the start of the meridian, ST 1, on the same side. I did not believe this was coincidence. I believed there was a deep stagnation of the body's energy flow through that meridian. I used acupuncture points to break up that flow.

We also used NAET, Nambudipads Allergy Elimination Technique to clear allergies that also could be plugging up her stomach meridian. Using this technique, we cleared the body of grain allergies (not good if you are a horse) and other vitamins.

As of today, November 2001, the tumor is about one-fourth to one-fifth its largest size. I know that true success will not be known for many years. We plan on updating this web site to let you know about Rio's sarcoid. Right now, we are all very hopeful she will not need surgery.

Shani

Shani and her friends

Shani, the 10 year old basenji suffered with gastroenteritis, skin and back problems for several years. Her owner, Joan Gormley, is very knowledgeable and has used a number of home-cooked foods which really helped Shani. No matter what Joan did, though, Shani's skin rash got worse and she vomited several times a day.

We used NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique) to clear Shani's food allergies one at a time. Using that system, we also could tell which foods might present a problem and which ones were safe. We used herbs to strengthen the liver and spleen, according to traditional Chinese medicine. Shani is off steroids and now vomits very infrequently. She plays with her new basenji sisters.

Moose

Janice and Moose

Moose is a fourteen year old cat who gives a new meaning to "a cat with nine lives" because he obviously has filed for an extension. Before I knew him, he lived through hepatic lipidosis, a severe condition that required eating through a stomach tube!

I saw him for lymphocytic plasmocytic stomatiits or severe red painful lesions in the mouth! Moose didn't want to eat no matter what medication he was given. Acupuncture and vitamin B12 injections turned him around. Several years later, he comes in just for tune-ups every month or so.

Buddy

Buddy the bulldog

Buddy, a 10 year old English bulldog with a gargoyle looking face first came to me five years ago with a history that he had ruptured a disc in his back. Through Dr. Michael Lemmon's amazing work, now he was walking. Some disc herneations are surgical and others respond to acupuncture.

Buddy is a dog that eats everything in his field of view—shoe souls, sticks, toys. He came to me because he screamed when he pooped, a very morbid dilemma, as you can imagine. This condition was called megacolon. He had to have two surgeries to remove pieces of shoe, ball and stick from his war-torn colon. The nerves to his colon were still not working very well. We used acupuncture and herbs like cascara sagrada as well as a stool softening diet of beef and oats and okra to help him resolve his megacolon.

Lucky

Lucky the 12 year old gray female cat with a tattered ear to prove that she had a tough previous life. In general I think it is bad luck to name any animal "Lucky" because invariably they end up sick but in this Lucky's case, the name rings true. Lucky first started seeing Dr. Christine Susumi, a wonderful acupuncture veterinarian at Renton West Animal Hospital, about a year ago for intestinal problems. Ever since they adopted Lucky, her owners say she throws up. The owners wanted so wean Lucky of the prednisone which seemed to be the only thing that really controlled the vomiting. Prednisone is a corticosteroid that suppresses inflammation but can harm the liver, the cartilage within joints and cause infections by suppressing the immune system. Dr. Susumi started with acupuncture and herbs for "Spleen dampness" which is very common in cats. Lucky got much better but still seemed very uncomfortable.

Lucky taking a sunbath

Dr. Susumi referred Lucky to me for fine-tuning. I noticed right away that Lucky's back was crooked and that there were some pinched nerves because one of her vertebra was way way way over to the left. It just so happened that this pinched nerve supplies the intestinal tract so I think this is an example of how chiropractic can help organs of the body. She is much better and jumps up on the bed. She is not on steroids any more.

Later on, Lucky got a urinary tract infection for which she was put on three courses of antibiotics but each time the antibiotics ran out, the infection returned. She would scream and run in and out of her litter box. Sometimes she would pee in the bathtub or other weird places. I put her on an herbal tea that works very well for certain types of bladder infections and so far she is doing very well.

Junior

Junior the corn snake—a not so
furry people

When you get to know Junior, you see that she is sweet and sensitive. Her only problem was on many occasions, closed in the dresser drawer, her old ex-hiding spot.

She has multiple areas of spinal arthritis and pinched nerves and recently has developed subsequent constipation. With acupuncture (stimulating nerve pathways) and warm baths, she has passed large amounts of old hard stool.

Lucy is a three year-old
French Bulldog

Lucy

Lucy is a three year-old French Bulldog with a life time history of digestive problems and itchy bumpy skin and more recently an acute period of paralysis of the back legs.

If it weren't for homemade diets, NAET, acupuncture and chiropractic she would be in big trouble as her previous years of corticosteroid medications reached its therapeutic limits. Lucy is a healthy happy puppy today who runs and snorts as if she never had a problem.