Jasmine Recovers from Surgery and Jana Discovers TCVM

When we left Jasmine and Jana last time, Jasmine was being prepared for surgery on an abdominal abscess. Jana was unsure whether Jasmine would survive the surgery and was terribly worried about her. Today, Jasmine’s story continues.

Jasmine’s Saga Concludes

by Jana Rade

Jasmine was a trooper. Her platelets were raising fast. Surgery was successful. But she still wasn’t walking. “No surprise with her knees,” they told us. Her knees were fine before this happened! But nobody was listening to us. It took a whole week before Jasmine could walk a little bit with help. Took another week before she could get up and walk on her own. Gradually her wide stance narrowed again. Took a month before she started getting her muscle mass back. As she was collapsing in all kinds of unnatural positions we were so worried about what that might do to her knees! But the knees held up.

After she came back from the hospital Jasmine was very sick. She was throwing up all the time, didn’t want to eat and had to be force-fed, and worse, her episodes got so bad that they became constant with just short breaks! Spiking fever off and on.

Were we just torturing her? Such thoughts were going through our minds. Two weeks after she returned from the hospital we were supposed to go up to Jasmine’s ranch. Should we do that? Might cheer her up … The morning of the planned trip she was supposed to go in to get her stiches out. It was five in the morning and we still didn’t know what we should do. We were all packed up. We figured that we load everything up and go to the vet. Then we’ll either continue on the trip or go back home.

The vet took out the stitches, evaluated the situation and figured there wasn’t much else that could be done for her. Either she’ll get through this or not. He said to go on the trip and try to enjoy it. So that was what we did.

It was like a magic! While still very weak, Jasmine had turned around the day we got there. Perhaps it gave her the feeling that there was still hope and a reason to live. At the end that was the best thing we could have done for her.

She recovered. All was good, except the persistent episodes. It was time to try something else! I have first learned about Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) back when I was researching different options for her ligament injury. I found an owner who had used TCVM for his dogs for a long time with a great success. I bought and studied Four Paws, Five Directions book. It made sense to me that this different approach might help provide some answers. What we’ve done so far didn’t bring any positive results.

I got Jasmine’s new vet on board—he has earned a lot of our trust in the meantime and we wanted him to agree with the idea and remain in charge. Reluctantly, he agreed.

Out TCVM exam did offer a diagnosis the vet seemed confident about. It also offered a treatment that didn’t involve drugs. He left Jasmine’s new diet alone, but added acupuncture and herbal treatment.

Jasmine’s stools improved with the change in diet, but her appetite did not. With the addition of the TCVM treatments he stools are now perfect and her appetite is so great we cannot believe it. A dog that is not food driven? Bollocks!

Her episodes didn’t go away but improved significantly. It is a work in progress, using integration of both modern medicine and TCVM.

Today, Jasmine’s knees are as good as new and she has no issues with arthritis thanks to the stem cell treatment. She is not on any meds for pain or arthritis. She is doing great as we are still working on eliminating the episodes all together.

What I have learned from all this?

If you feel that something is wrong with your dog, it probably is and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise!

• Nothing wrong with Jasmine’s GI system? Wrong!
• Nothing wrong with Jasmine’s mouth? Wrong!
• No reason for her hot spots and flaky skin? Wrong!
• Her episodes are a behavioral problem? Wrong!

This list could go on. Every time I felt something was wrong it turned out later that it was. Much later than it was good for her health. How many of the things that happened to her wouldn’t have to have happened if her food allergies were diagnosed at the beginning? If something isn’t right with your dog, insist on an explanation!

The obvious solutions don’t have to be the best! Often alternatives can be better and safer! Looking at things through different looking glass can offer a new insight!

Jana

The End?

For us, this concludes Jasmine’s story. However, as Jana says, Jasmine’s still standing and just passed her seventh birthday. Happy birthday, Jasmine. And be well!! To Jana, my heartfelt thanks for sharing Jasmine’s story with us. My hope is that Jana’s hard-earned knowledge can spare some of you and your pets the same type of experience.

Jana Rade is a graphic designer by profession and never aspired to learning about dog health issues until she met Jasmine. Unfortunately, she received a crash course in the subject due to Jasmine’s many health issues and has since become an advocate for other pet owners and their four-legged friends. In her blog, Dawg Business, Jana shares her experiences and the lessons she has learned with others. She shares this message with all dog owners: At the end, your dog’s health is up to you!

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