Comments on Heartworm Dogs, Real Cases

I was put in a panic by Dr Whitecoat not too long ago. After taking my Foley (3yrs) in for a cough that was consistent for 3 weeks, she had lost a noticeable amount of mass in her hind legs (shes part pit so they were pretty muscular), and she started to be unable to finish her walks =( I got the devastating diagnosis of heartworms. When the first vet called with those results he also told me that it was affecting her lungs and kidneys. Naturally I was freaking out. So after I had come up with a list of questions for them, another vet called me back. I told him my concerns and questions, he then looked at her blood work and come to find out her kidney and liver levels were almost PERFECT. The other vet didn't even bother to look at the blood work after seeing she was HW positive.. Thanks bud! I've never been through this, I had no idea what was going to happen at first. They didn't suggest we get x-rays or anything, they just went straight into telling me that we need to start treatment. Well (luckily) she ended up with a UTI the same say we got the results, so they put treatment on the back burner to clear that up first. That gave me 2 weeks and I started looking into homeopathic treatments. I got some crazy looks from the vet when I told him my plan. I got the whole "your dog your decision" but I could feel like judgment behind those words. I have her on Bio Challenge VRM2 (black walnut, wormseed, kamala, quassia chips, bromelain enzyme, bethy nut, cellulose, lecucine) 1 capsule 10 days on, 5 days off x6. She is on the 6th round of this. I also give her one tab of garlic in her food each morning along with a turmeric capsule and a natural lung and whole body support. The plan is to take a 6 week break and continue the garlic and turmeric as well as the supplements and introduce a heart supplement as well. Then I am going to give her 2 capsules 10 on, 5 off. Wait about 4 months and have her retested... I really hope this works, we miss being able to actually play with our rambunctious pup and she misses it too! It's so hard to keep a hyper, fun loving dog calm and tell her we can't play.

I was put in a panic by Dr Whitecoat not too long ago. After taking my Foley in for a cough that was consistent for 3 weeks, she had lost a noticeable amount of mass in her hind legs (shes part pit so they were pretty muscular), and she started to be unable to finish her walks =( I got the devastating diagnosis of heartworms. When the first vet called with those results he also told me that it was affecting her lungs and kidneys. Naturally I was freaking out. So after I had come up with a list of questions for them, another vet called me back. I told him my concerns and questions, he then looked at her blood work and come to find out her kidney and liver levels were almost PERFECT. The other vet didn't even bother to look at the blood work after seeing she was HW positive.. Thanks bud! I've never been through this, I had no idea what was going to happen at first. They didn't suggest we get x-rays or anything, they just went straight into telling me that we need to start treatment. Well (luckily) she ended up with a UTI the same say we got the results, so they put treatment on the back burner to clear that up first. That gave me 2 weeks and I started looking into homeopathic treatments. I got some crazy looks from the vet when I told him my plan. I got the whole "your dog your decision" but I could feel like judgment behind those words. I have her on Bio Challenge VRM2 (black walnut, wormseed, kamala, quassia chips, bromelain enzyme, bethy nut, cellulose, lecucine) 1 capsule 10 days on, 5 days off x6. She is on the 6th round of this. I also give her one tab of garlic in her food each morning along with a turmeric capsule and a natural lung and whole body support. The plan is to take a 6 week break and continue the garlic and turmeric as well as the supplements and introduce a heart supplement as well. Then I am going to give her 2 capsules 10 on, 5 off. Wait about 4 months and have her retested... I really hope this works, we miss being able to actually play with our rambunctious pup and she misses it too! It's so hard to keep a hyper, fun loving dog calm and tell her we can't play.

I was wondering if there was a follow-up to Tenchu's story. I recently started a natural protocol for heartworm prevention for my four Labs, in lieu of a monthly pill, and look forward to leaving the monthly "poison" behind us.

Yep! Dr White Coat told me it was time to put Amadeus to sleep when he was hospitalized and bleeding internally from the too high dose of steroids they gave him. I looked at my dog and refused. I saw a happy, totally cognitive animal who simply didn't have the use of his back legs. That didn't mean he needed to be put down. Back then he was 3 and now he is 7, happy, full of life and is able to walk again and run around and play like normal thanks to you.

Yes, Doc, what you described when administering the sulphur and the resultant suspiciously increased cough, then it went away, was what I call a Healing Crisis. I also tell my clients, (humans, pets and performance animals - oh and barn animals lately), to stick with the protocols even though they may feel like 7 kinds of hell for a few days (I'm stuck on 24hr call when a client is experiencing one of these episodes). This is the body's way of shutting itself down so it can get to work with it's new influx of micro-nutrients and resultant waste purging, (I don't use the word 'detox' because that's not really what's happening - as a Traditional Herbalist I don't believe in unnatural or forced Detox processes. Using 'detox' as the explanation is too easy and cheap and leads people to seek out these types of products that will eventually be tossed in the trash once they cause other problems such as a shortage of electrolytes and Basic Foundations [tm] (whole food vitamins and minerals). The body repairs and manages waste disposal concurrently. So sticking with the protocol, strengthening the terrain and never going back to the way one ate before, (or how one fed a pet/animal before), they'll never go through that particular healing crisis ever again. Minor ones usually manifest themselves as the body goes into deeper repair modes if/as the influx of micro-nutrients stays consistent, to eventually attenuate down for that particular target rich rebalance area. I've found that starting out with the basics for a few months will support the body in clearing away any 'noise' issues so that it can really begin to communicate and tell us what's really out of balance.
Also, I just found your website today and it will be given to all my animal clients in their regimen documentation. You are appreciated. I'm so happy there are vets not afraid to post their alternative health care information for the betterment of overall/integrative animal health care. Thank you for caring.

Yes! Dr. Whitecoat is very adept at Panic and Guilt. A few years ago my young great dane had cancerous mast cell tumors removed. I received an HOUR long lecture from Dr. Whitecoat on how I'm killing my dog without chemo and radiation. He even gave me a pamphlet on credit I could apply for to pay for it all. Something didn't feel right and I said no to all of it . Not knowing how much time I had left with her I started feeding her homemade meals with long slow walks to meander and play in the grass. I'm happy to report she is now going on 6yrs old and still likes to take her time on walks. She still gets tumors - but her own immune system (with a little help from Falconer) now fights them with a vengeance. No surgeries and no chemicals. She's a happy healthy dog and I expect to live a long full life.

Yes, Ms. Dr. Whitecoat proceeded to tell me Maxim's (male neutered feline, abandoned at apartment complex over very cold holidays) mouth infections were caused by so many bad teeth. Eleven remaining teeth extracted later that day. No antibiotic, just extraction, many hundreds of dollars, and Maxim dead in a week. I gave up on whitecoats right then and there upon finding him dead.
Just yesterday saw a video about a 26-y.o. man recounting to the camera his being told he had stage 3 colon cancer and after an immediate, later that day and the next surgery, then being told he needed 9 months of chemo. He said no. He gave credit to his conscience telling him it was not his path, so to speak, and he's here today, 10 years later letting us know what he did to purge the chemo and not only survive, but thrive...