The Well Dog Place

“Brandi” Dominguez

7/5/2022

Brandi looks like any 17-year old Yorkie would. What is remarkable about her is that she has been under care for kidney disease for over 2 years. Even more remarkable is that her treatment program does not include a low protein diet that is the norm for conventional veterinary kidney disease treatment.

In fact, her diet contains the amount of protein found in most commercial dog foods. That way her body has ample protein to prevent muscle loss, so she is more mobile, has a healthier immune system and has a better quality of life. 

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The secret of Brandi’s success is a comprehensive treatment program that addresses all the various abnormalities caused by kidney disease without resorting to a low protein diet.

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Kidney disease is a result of changes, generally geriatric, in the kidney that doesn’t allow the body to get rid of urea in the blood. Urea is a by-product of protein metabolism in the body. Protein metabolism produces ammonia that ordinarily would be toxic to dogs and us. But our livers turn that ammonia into urea which is non-toxic and is eliminated in urine (urine gets its name from urea). Dogs with kidney disease cannot eliminate the urea and it builds up in their blood (Blood urea nitrogen or BUN for short). The elevation of BUN causes the loss of appetite, vomiting, mouth sores and the urine smell of the breath associated with the condition. 

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The conventional veterinary view is to decrease the protein in the diet and decrease the production of BUN. But that also means depriving the body of protein that it needs to maintain muscle mass, replace body tissues and produce antibodies to protect from infection and infectious diseases.

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Worst of all, dogs hate low protein diets and kidney patients often go days without eating. This makes the kidney disease worse. 

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At The Well Dog Place, we prefer a more comprehensive approach that manages all aspects of the disease yet maintains a higher quality of life. We use Chinese herb formulas for kidney support, supplements to reduce BUN and phosphorus, diets that contain normal protein but reduce kidney damage, fluid therapy and, when needed, medications to stop vomiting and reverse anemia, that are common in our advanced cases. 

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This lets patients, like Brandi, maintain a high quality of life even into their geriatric years. And that makes Brandi’s mom, Yvette, very happy with her kidney management program.

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Do you have a dog with kidney disease? Are you satisfied with her present program? If not call us at 909.929.0778 and schedule a kidney disease consultation

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Follow our Facebook page for further updates on Brandi and our other Happy Tail patients and important office or health updates!

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“Popcorn” Sahagun

4/20/2022

Popcorn first came to us in October of 2019. He had just recovered from surgery to remove cancer from his intestines. His oncologist had only given him 7 months from the time of surgery to live. Spunky, Popcorn, and his mother were not content with that prognosis and his mommy wanted some hope. She decided to seek an alternative program to stop the possible spread of his cancer.

We started Popcorn on a cancer diet and Chinese and western anti-cancer supplements. After 2 ½ years of follow-up exams and ultrasound studies, Popcorn is still cancer-free. His picture was taken while he was laying down after his last physical exam at our office. 

Popcorn’s case is a good example of the advantage of the integrative approach to medicine. We find that the patients who receive both traditional cancer treatment and alternative eastern treatment respond the best.  

Popcorn’s aggressive surgery removed the major source of cancer cells. This gives eastern treatment an easier time getting rid of microscopic cancer cells that could not be seen at the time of surgery.

Bone cancer is also similar. It is much easier to keep a dog with bone tumors cancer free if they first have the leg and bone cancer removed and then treated with eastern alternatives, rather than try to treat with alternative alone. Regretfully, we have often had to watch the short and painful lives of bone cancer patients, whose parents refused surgery.

Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, is another cancer type that is more successfully treated with western chemotherapy followed by eastern herbs and supplements. We have seen some of our patients with lymphoma that have been cancer-free for over 5 years.  

Our approach to cancer, and all diseases, is to choose the treatment programs that will give the best outcomes. Often, dog owners seeking our advice about cancer are surprised when we suggest surgery or chemotherapy (done elsewhere) in addition to our alternative approach. But after we explain our outcome focus, these dog owners seem more receptive to a comprehensive approach to their dog’s cancer. 

Please keep cheering for Popcorn and all our cancer patients!

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