★★★★★
In August my little dog Sassy, part pom - part shiz zu - started throwing up and becoming weaker and weaker. I took her to the emergency vet on an early Sunday morning thinking I was loosing her. It turned out she was dehydrated and her blood enzymes were elevated three times the normal range which indicated her liver was compromised. Thus began many visits to the vet and various tests including an ultrasound. She actually started to rally and it looked as though we had turned the corner UNTIL the technian at the vet hospital gave her a dose of Capstar, a temporary flea control, as Sassy had fleas when I took her there for the ultrasound and that was their policy. When I found that out I almost lost it. WHAT? You did what? I could have screamed. Sassy's liver had been poisoned by flea products and looking back over the years I can see this was a progressive problem. I did notice that every time I would put the various products - Advantagx, Frontline... whatever - on her neck she would have a bout of just not feeling well and sometimes she would throw up but she would rally around after a day or two. Even when I took her to the groomer the next couple of days she always seemed off.... Now I realize it was because the groomer always bathed her with a flea shampoo. But this time I guess she was just too old to fight the poisons or it had accumulated over time in her liver. I had been arguing with three different vets that this was the problem but they kept insisting that there wasn't enough poison in the treatments to cause this, my vet even gave me flea control shampoo to control the fleas! Well, the Capstar incident proved my point and she started to really go down hill after that and the enzyme levels grew higher and higher. Her eyes and skin turned mustard yellow and the vet called me on Sept. 26th saying she wouldn't make it and to come and get her The vet suggested I take her to the veternairy college in Blacksburg but I had already spent $1200.00 and with just losing my job it just wasn't financially possible to continue. So..... the battle was on.
LOTS of prayer, heavy doses of milk thistle daily and a regimen of syringes of cottage cheese emulsified with cold pressed flaxseed oil (if you know someone battling cancer... And they weren't sure if this wasn't what was really wrong with Sassy.... check out the Budwig Protocol on the internet for how to do the cottage cheese/flaxseed... thousands of people have been helped with this procedure) Many days that's all I could get down her. She still has no appetite and has lost about 4 lbs.... On a sixteen pound dog that is very traumatic. BUT, she's still with me, still mobile, and the other day she actually brought a toy to me to play with her. I give God the praise... He is concerned with what concerns me.
After it was all said and done the vet did admit they had one other incident where they had lost a dog due to flea control products - it's all over the internet if they would bother to look!!! He called me several times afterwards checking to see if she was still alive... I'm looking forward to taking her in there when she regains some of her weight and energy. Anyway, I think Sassy is just one of those dogs that can't tolerate those products. Most animals seem to do fine; however, please know that those products are poison and do accumulate in the liver just like in humans when we drink sodas laced with artificial sweeteners or eat fast food - I'll leave that soap box alone for now.
So, my advice would be to put your animal on milk thistle if you use flea products in the summer..... It's not expensive and might save it's life.
As for fleas..... I don't know the answer. They seem to be a bigger problem each year and I certainly won't be using anymore flea control products. Sassy is highly allergic to them and just one flea will cause her to scratch and bite her skin and be in agony. The vet said to continue bathing her in Dawn dishwashing liquid to keep them down. It's now been 5 months and so far she's beaten the odds - I ask that you continue to agree with me in prayer that she will be granted a few more healthy "doggie" years, for my sake if not for hers.
Update: Sassy urine has turned dark orange. I went online and discovered it's probably due to kidney failure.... I decided to check EarthClinic and discovered dandelion root, aloe vera and ACV. I already had DE on hand for battling fleas but didn't occur to me to use that for detox so now I'm doing a regime of ACV, DE mixed in about an ounce of water and a little honey to help mask the vinegar... I'm doing that every 2 hrs with a syringe plus I give her a syringe of "green juice" that has all sorts of veggies, herbs and of course barley grass and continuing the cottage cheese/flaxseed oil. Will let you know, please pray, it's been a major battle. She's so skinny now she walked out of her harness that use to fit snug. If I thought she was in alot of pain I'd give up.... But not yet!!!!!!
