It was the Easter weekend in 2014 when I noticed my dog Samson didn’t have as much energy on his walk and just appeared to be a little dull. His behavior wasn’t completely unusual as Samson suffered allergies and if his skin was irritated he would exhibit similar symptoms. Because I thought this was his problem, I gave him a bath to help relieve his itching. While bathing him, I noticed what appeared to be bruises all over his body. The first thing that went through my mind was he had been beaten while I was not at home. Who could have done this? I was devastated. I had a million possibilities going through my mind and was in a complete panic.
His condition worsened slowly over night. I didn’t sleep and was constantly checking that he was still alive. Early Monday morning, he was urinating blood and could barely stand.
I rushed him straight to the vet and thankfully they prioritised him. It wasn’t good news. The vet said that Samson was about 12 hours away from death. Several tests were run and he stayed at the vet’s overnight. This in itself was horrible. I knew he would be stressed and missing me and his home. I couldn’t bare the thought of him being alone.
The next day I was advised that Samson’s body was attacking his platelet levels. He was diagnosed with Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (IMT). IMT is an auto-immune disorder in which the body destroys it’s own Platelets. Platelets help in the clotting of blood for our pets as well as for ourselves. If you didn’t have platelets, a small bruise could be a disaster. Platelets help to seal up a blood vessel and stop the bleeding and the bruising. In immune-mediated destruction of platelets, a body (whether dog, cat or human) attacks its own platelets. The body views the platelet as an enemy and destroys it. This destruction must be stopped in order to survive.
Samson was sent home with a bag of medication and I was determined to make him better. For a week, he would barely eat and drink and exactly a week later, it got worse. Samson was collapsing and wouldn’t stop vomiting. He was admitted to the vets again and stayed there for days. He was on drips and barely alive. He was then diagnosed with severe Liver and Gall Bladder damage and I was told his survival rate was very low.
Surprisingly, Sam fought through it and I was able to take him home a few days later. How could this happen? I fed the best food possible (or so I thought), he was extremely fit, he lived what I thought to be the healthiest life possible. This was until I made the decision to do everything I could to save my dog’s life by using nutrition. After learning how to read nutrition labels and studied all ingredients within dog foods, I realised that the high quality, expensive kibble I had been feeding my dogs, wasn’t as good as I thought. I felt so guilty. How could I be so naive?
But now, how do I solve Sam’s problem. It was a long road but firstly, I discovered that the Liver could regenerate itself. I studied his condition and read study after study and found all the foods and herbs that would assist with the regeneration of his Liver. So this is where it all started. Samson had regular ultra sounds to monitor the damage and after every test, it showed that his Liver was getting healthier until one day I heard what I was waiting for, “Sams’ liver is 100% healthy”. Oh my god! Nutrition and my hard work is making my dog better. There may be a chance.
I then started working on his allergies. I started here before working on his auto immune disorder because I discovered through all my research that his allergies may be the cause of his auto immune disorder. Firstly, I needed to improve his gut health so he could absorb the necessary nutrients. Then I worked on a variety of food options to reduce his allergies. Samson had allergies so bad that his whole body would be covered in a yeast infection. He would lose all his hair and was extremely uncomfortable. It was so stressful for all of us but most of all Samson.
I found the right proportions of ingredients including herbs with amazing healing properties. Not only did these ingredients reduce his allergy severity but it cured it completely. Next, his auto immune disorder. Throughout my journey, Sam’s auto immune disorder kept attacking. He nearly died three times within the next year. He was high doses of strong medications which were causing negative side effects.
I had to keep going…. I have seen the amazing benefits that nutrition had had on his body and I wasn’t ready to give up. I persisted and eventually come up with what is now our Kangaroo with Licorice Root formula. Almost four years later, Samson has no allergies, his Liver and Gall Bladder are extremely healthy and his auto-immune disorder has not returned in almost three years.
A year after I started Canine Carvery, I have had the pleasure to see the improvement in so many other dog’s health and be able to watch their allergies disappear when their owners had believed they had exhausted all avenues. I decided to start the Healthy Living Series for dog’s because it is now the time to educate all dog owners in better nutrition practices so their dog can be as healthy as they are………