[nagdu] Noticing medical issues?

[The Pawpower Pack]

Karyn, 
this is well said, but I'd also add, no matter how good your vet, you should always learn about the issues your particular dog has.  Vets make mistakes, and they are not there in your home with you to watch your dog.  
I trust my vet totally, but I probably not as much about kidney disease as he does by now because it is important to me to know so I can be a better caregiver for my dog.  
I'm always surprised by people who don't know the name of the medication their dog takes.  If you can't remember, write it down.  And the doseage.  Even if you can remember, still write it down because sometimes in a medical situation or an emergency your brain can shut off.  
Paying attention is your bestet it will help you establish a baseline for what is normal.

 Rox and the kitchen Bitches: 
Mill'E, Laveau, Soleil
Pawpower4me at gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 8, 2014, at 8:21 PM, "Karyn & Thane" <bcpaws4me at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Healthy dogs and I mean truly healthy ones are very few and far between 
> unfortunately. I don't have a program to rely upon to pay the bills or tell 
> me when I can have certain tests run. This has given me more opportunities. 
> In this sense what I mean is the opportunity to stand my ground and get 2nd, 
> 3rd, 4th, 5th opinions if need be.
> 
> Met and Thane have both taught me great lessons to seek the answers I needed 
> to give my dogs the best possible lives.
> 
> As service animal handlers, we are often so intune with our dogs that the 
> teenest variation and we notice it. Like Rox'E noticing issues with LaVeau's 
> energy and guide work.
> 
> I've had to educate myself in alternative treatments (for both my dogs, but 
> mostly for Met) That said, Thane has taught me that just because a treatment 
> is the commonly used one, doesn't mean it is the right one for him.
> 
> There's been good to come from not having vets like Rox'E has. I have 
> learned about many conditions, learned to ALWAYS have a baseline full panel 
> run on my dogs soon after I get them (but wait a couple months if recent 
> vaccinations have been done). I have learned symptoms of hypothyroidism very 
> well (thanks to two dogs who developed it and were inadequately treated) I 
> have learned much more than I ever wanted to about chronic Lyme disease in 
> areas where ticks are not as commonplace. Above all I have learned that lab 
> reports are ONLY a tool and they do not always represent the situation 
> accurately.
> 
> I have learned so much in alternative fields-- herbal, homeopathic, TCM, 
> massage. Each dog has benefitted immensely from my determination to help 
> them when available vets could not or would not do what they needed.
> 
> If your gut tells you something is wrong and you have what it takes to fight 
> for your partnership, by all means do so-- but if your circumstances don't 
> allow you to keep seeking answers, do what is right for both of you.
> 
> Karyn and Thane 
> 
> 
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