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Old March 13th, 2008, 02:14 AM
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growler~GateKeeper growler~GateKeeper is offline
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RC/Medical Dr told me they were sending the compensation chq to the homeopathic dr' office - can't mail to apt address. Got a call from the reg vet on Monday they have my chq - uh what happened to sending it to the homeopathic vet's office? Probably sent it to the reg vet cuz they sell RC/MC where as the H vet does not......oh well picked it up today.

I did ask the front staff @ reg vet to archive her file as transferred as I will be staying with the H as her primary care provider. Wrote a nice thank you card to her reg vet & said I wouldn't hesitate to call should I need her care in the future.

So just a quick mention on the website re raw fed lab results LuckyPenny did give me a different site http://www.homevet.com/petcare/docum...enutrition.pdf that basically mentions the same & I did re-find the original site I saw http://www.dogaware.com/misc.html you need to scroll way down to "Blood Test and Urinalysis References" then scroll down to "Effect of diet on test results "

So having mentioned that.......Duffy's recheck w/homeopath went really well, her *energy levels* surrounding her kidneys were great did not growl at him at all

She certainly growled alot at the intestine/colon areas (last visit was very minor growling closer in the stomach area) and I did mention the 2 incidences of constipation she had, the adding of both water & butternut squash babyfood to her food (After the 1st more severe incident I was giving her the butternut squash inconsistantly but after the 2nd not so bad incident she gets it twice a day) Dr says good for giving both those - what he does is cooks a fresh squash himself mashes it & puts it in the fridge then to give in the food. He liked the idea of freezing portions of the babyfood to add in when ready. Recommends to start adding flax seed & water mixture to the food as well - teaspoon of flax seed mix with enough hot water to make slimey but not too slimey keep in fridge & add small amounts to the food - see how her poops are with that, the squash & the PB8, play around a little with the amount of flax seed in the food because it will cause the poop to be a bit slimey itself but better than too hard. Anal gland expression today helped also.

He was impressed with the variety of proteins she gets: Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Elk, Rabbit (Lucky Girl he says ), Turkey, Salmon I also mentioned the one time Duck but I said I was not impressed with the pysillum husk in that & (coincidentally or not) the constipation that night, I mentioned that I suspected maybe too much bone in the chicken plus the pysillum husk (which nothing she gets now has it) might be factors which he agrees. So we'll see how she goes with the added flax seed will p/u tomorrow.

Discussed her lab results he felt were very good considering her age, the renal insufficiency *official term for this stage of the disease*, her previous HyperT and the fact that most cats with her numbers are in far far worse shape than she is.

He mentioned the Urine Specific Gravity - very minor drop not that big of a deal (we do ideally want it to rise)

The BUN increase of 3 points over 6 months is insignificant due to the various factors influencing this number (could also be dehydration etc this number alone does not a CRF diagnosis make esp if this & the creatinine levels are slow risers if both rise very fast then yes it's CRF like our first test)

Creatinine value increase of 11 points over 6 months he calls insignificant to the progression of the disease, he has considered this to be stabilization not progression (unlike the 30 point jump over the previous 6 months between testing) again there are far worse off cats with numbers near the same usually their BUN numbers are also significantly higher than Duffys'.

Did not touch on Calcium & Phosphorus as those numbers are still well within normal

I asked about the ref range for raw fed animals in relation to the rise in hematocrit, BUN & Serum Creatinine. His experience in his work has shown the slight rise in these values of raw fed as compared to kibble fed has not altered any diagnosis because the difference in ranges is so slight not being very much higher than or still within the normal range for kibble fed animals. He does of course make note of which animals in his practice are raw fed & there is the understanding that the hematocrit & BUN specifcially maybe be slightly higher only because they are eating actual meat not processed kibble. In short the numbers aren't going to change the opinion or diagnosis upon reading lab results there is not enough of a variation for that.

I did ask about Blood Pressure Monitor he has one but it is at the other clinic he works out of because it is used more in surgery procedure where the patient is not affected by stress (cuz they're anaesthetized ). He says the problem with monitoring blood pressure in clinic situtations is the numbers will always be higher than normal just because the cat is stressed from the travel & coming in to clinic. In the 20 years he has been in practice (both conventional & homeopathy) BP monitoring has not been a reliable enough resource to use it except in surgery situations - wasn't something I was set on just curious . He said if I want to have her checked the reg vet will have the machine & I can take her there.

Of course he also mentions often times if the owner focuses on & is concerned about something specific - that will happen to the animal....self fullfilling prophecy, if you will, also one of the thoughts behind homeopathy regarding stress, emotion & the surrounding environment playing a role in health condition. He told me I don't need to read anymore on CRF for atleast a year - to be very informed & aware is good but too much information & people start reading into signs that are not there or stress over things that probably will not happen anyways.

Prescribed 2 more doses of the initial homeopathic remedy she had in Dec - 1 for today & 1 in a month

Have a few things to consider if the dietary supplements don't alter her poops enough between now & next recheck which will be a phone consult.

As for her bad tooth didn't really go into it as diet & poop were a more prominent discussion, he did look at one of her lower canines which I mentioned is quite sharp - it's chipped but is showing no reaction when probed plus in animals chipped teeth esp canines do not lead to cavities. The tooth with the reabsorptive lesion is not chipped. I will discuss this again with him @ the next recheck.

H vet loves how Duffy is very calm even in clinic (actually the calmest cat he has in practice), alert & aware of what she needs in terms of her health ie she comes to me for pilling no longer running away *she knows it's helping her feel better*, she asks for the zoom groom alot (of course why wouldn't she - free massages ), did not fight me when giving her the herbal remedy.

He also says I radiates positive energy he sees in very few people and I am more open than most - spiritually & emotionally, that I am very in tune with Duffy. I think the atmosphere of his clinic helps his reading of that too, it's not sterile, it's comfortable, calm not stressed like many reg clinics, the clinic itself has a wonderful atmosphere.
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