Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Update on My Dear Bobby--83 year old recovering from Complications Due to Open Heart Surgery


I just want to express my sincerest thanks to all of you--the wonderful friends of Ask Ariel Your Pet Nutritionist and Ariel Rescue whose prayers and kindness have helped my dear Bobby to survive. I sincerely apologize I haven't been able to keep up with the blog but my time had been stretched very thin attending to his care. As you know, I am passionate about holistic care and my staff and I are deeply concerned about each one of your pets. We always try to present you with all of your options in treating your pet's condition--whether it be conventional veterinary care as well as holistic veterinary alternatives. It has been so frustrating with the care of Bob, who has suffered terribly as a result of overmedication, that the doctors were not at all receptive to any type of holistic care. I will never forgot how stunned I was that the doctor REFUSED to give him Vitamin B but authorized morphine and opiate drugs. The overmedication and oversedation of the elderly is rampant because many times the doctors, hospitals and nurses will authorize medications that a young person might be able to tolerate but an older person might not be able to process and clear through their kidneys and liver. This is exactly what happened to Bobby. Now his heart is running ok but he has a lot of problems related to his "hospitalization".

I am sure there are many of you who have elderly parents who have undergone similar experiences and if you would like to share them, please feel free to post them here. It might be therapeutic for all of us to know that we are not alone and that someone else has experienced a similar situation.

In any case, I am happy to report that by the sheer will to survive, Bobby is now in a nursing/rehab center and after 6 long weeks of Critical Care, is breathing pretty well on his own. Prior to his surgery, he was taking care of my Mom (she has Alzheimers and MS) and they were traveling and having fun. He was driving, cooking and leading a pretty normal life. Now, he is bedridden and still after 2 months, does not have the strength to move himself in the bed or to stand up. He is getting intense physical therapy and each day shows a little more progress. My dream is that he will eventually be able to walk again with a walker and spend the rest of his days at home with Mom. Right now though, he lost his ability to swallow (this is common with older folks but in his case, it occured because he was overmedicated and had to stay on a breathing machine too long which damaged the muscles) and is on a feeding tube. Yesterday, was his first day being dressed when I took him for his doctor's appointment. This was a great move in the right direction. Thanks again for all your care and concern. You will never know how much it has meant to me.
Sunday, April 25, 2010

Scottish Terrier with Seizures

Q: I have a 6 month old female scottish terrier. She has had 2 seizure episodes. They have been 3 weeks apart. Excessive saliva and white foam has been seen after the seizures. She will have a day of about 3 to 4 seizures and after flushed with fulids via IV she is fine. The first incident she was tested for toxins and it came out positive for organophospates but we never used pesticides in the house and my other dog (9yr old lab mix) has never showed any signs of poisioning. The second time they tested her bile acid levels and they are elevated but not elevated enough to be a liver shunt. They also realized she was anemic as well (non regenerative). I feel as tho she has some liver malfunction. We have 2 vets looking at her file one says liver and or brain infection the other says epilepsy. I want to know what I can do to help her. It is breaking my heart.

A: So sorry your dog has been so sick. We understand how stressful and upsetting it is. Please try to see a neurologist for your dog. Also, getting an MRI might help as well. Not sure if you saw our recent post about topical flea killers and the EPA warning. We will post on the blog just in case you didn't see our newsletter. But, sometimes pets can have a bad reaction to those (not sure if you used anything like that). In the meantime, you might want to consider scheduling a telephone consultation to at least get your dog on the best homemade liver diet possible and use some basic supplements such as Vitamineral Green and our Probiotic (found on www.askariel.com). Sometimes seizures can also be triggered by food allerges and other digestive issues too so a telephone consultation would greatly help.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Dog Licking Groin and Genitals

Q: our one dog is on lasix for heart murmers, i guess because that is a diuretic it is why she licks her crotch more than normal, my parents never brought that up to the vet, that she does it a lot.
the vet gave us Pronin because my mom misrepresented her peeing problem (separation anxiety i guess, or 'can't hold it in, pee now'
that drove her insane, made her swell, and need to go out evry 5 minutes.
but she just seems to gnaw/lick there a lot.and grunts

A: Sorry your dog is so uncomfortable. You should definitely change your dog's food to be sure it is GRAIN-FREE--no corn, wheat and no byproducts. Your dog may have a urinary tract infection so definitely bring her to the vet to have that checked. Most likely, it is a yeast overgrowth as well. The following products would help your poor dog's discomfort:

K9 Yeast Defense + Power Probiotic + NotatumAmazing Omegas

You can find the products on www.askariel.com This will help greatly to relieve some of the itching and discomfort.
Monday, March 15, 2010

Cat with Chronic Renal Failure (cat kidney disease) is Feeling Better with Natural Kidney Support Supplements


Dear Ask Ariel staff,

This is just an update on Ranger, my 14 year old kitty with kidney disease (CRF). I ordered the following supplements from Ask Ariel (Kidney Terrain, Renelix, Rehmannia 8, Protease and Purozyme) for Ranger on Friday Jan 29th. To my great surprise, they arrived here in Upstate NY on Monday Feb 1st! Which was great as Ranger was near death on Feb 1st and 2nd. She hid to sleep constantly. Usually they hide to die! She was in REALLY REALLY REALLY bad shape. I've had one cat die of Liver disease and two others of Renal Failure. Ranger is the 3rd I've had with Chronic Renal Failure (kidney disease) so I know how they act before they die. (I'm so disappointed that I didn't know about your company back in 2003... perhaps my other three kitties could have lived a couple more years). Oh well.

Anyway, Ranger was near death on Feb 1st when the supplements arrived. I gave them to her but assumed she was probably too far gone by this time and I was kicking myself for having waited too long. However after three to four days she started eating more (although she still won't eat a lot), was more alert, less sleeping and got her "motor mouth" back! Since then she has had only TWO BAD DAYS... and although I truly wish she would eat more, she does eat though! I know she isn't cured... but these meds are giving her MORE TIME and MORE QUALITY TIME with me. And for that I am truly grateful! I just love this little girl so much. She will be 14 sometime this Spring. Anytime Feb to April as I don't know her exact birthday. But she's 14 and I can possibly see that if she stays the same as now, she may be around awhile more. THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Daniel Lafler NY email: kittypup@frontier.net
Friday, February 19, 2010

Please Say A Prayer For Bobby


Pictured above is Robert Weinstein and Selma Koletsky--two beloved "friends" of Ask Ariel Your Pet Nutritionist. Bobby is making the fight of his life right now at 82 years of age. For about 15 years, Bobby has been struggling to breathe due to some problems with his lungs but he took his supplements faithfully and has been doing so well. He and Selma were taking regular trips to Vegas and having the time of their lives. A few weeks ago, Bobby knew something was wrong. He couldn't breathe and the medications and supplements were no longer helping. He was rushed to the emergency three times over the past few weeks and then had open heart surgery this week. Everything was going fine and he was showing a little improvement each day and then last night around midnight, he had a setback. He was struggling to breathe and an infection was in his lungs. He is now heavily sedated with a breathing tube as the doctors fight to save him. It is amazing how complex that open heart surgery is and all that is involved. If he didn't have the surgery though, he wouldn't have a chance because his artery was completely blocked.

I am so sorry that I haven't been keeping up with the blog as I usually do but these last few weeks have been so terribly stressful. My pets seem to know Mom is upset and have been worrying too. I know the power of prayer can be amazing and hope if you read this, you can send some well wishes for my dear Bobby. With gratitude, Susan Blake Davis
Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Golden Retriever Had UTIs and Yeast and is Now Better!


"Bella is our fourth and most sensitive Golden Retriever. She developed chronic UTI's and yeast on her skin. We have always fed Bella premium dog food since she was a puppy. After many expensive tests, medications and possible surgery to correct her problems , we found Susan Davis. We have had nothing but good results. Susan directed us to better health and happiness for Bella with her knowledge and expertise. As my husband so simply put it "she's fixed"!!!!! Thank you Susan." Steve and Valarie Bick
Thursday, January 21, 2010

Cat with advanced chronic renal failure CRF--Can holistic supplements help?


Q: Hello,I have a 4yr old domestic short hair calico. She has advanced stage crf.I am giving her sub-Qs with vitamins(200ml per day) Amphogel(2ml),Enacard(2.5mg)Clavamox(62.5mg),and anti-nausea meds and I switched her to a raw diet according to Anita Frazier's Natural Cat.She isn't eating and seems to be anemic.Is there any product that you offer that will make any difference at this point in the game? I have also looked into kidney transplant and discovered that it is out of our financial range. Please answer as soon as you can if you think that there is something I can still do to save her.

A: So very sorry your kitty is so sick. And....especially at such a young age. Most of the cats with advanced chronic renal failure (CRF) are elderly cats. It is very common for cats to have some degree of renal insufficiency as they age but having a young kitty be diagnosed with this condition must have been devastating for you.

Cats with kidney disease need a reduced protein, reduced phosphorous diet. Without reviewing your cat's specific laboratory tests and history, it would be very difficult for me to assess what your cat's prognosis is. However, what I would say is that I have seen some miracles using the holistic plan for CRF kitties that Dr. Gordon and I provide. Many clients come to us with cats near death and we have had some success. It requires a complete holistic plan using our fluid recommendations, supplements, diet plan, acupuncture, etc.

In terms of products, for anemia, you can try Renelix and Marrow Plus (there are additional conventional veterinary treatments available as well). The Kidney Terrain, Kidney Health and Purrfect Pet CoQ10 are the most commonly ordered products for cats. Recently, we had a young rescue kitty that had been abused (from a horrible "hoarding" environment with little access to water) who suffered with advanced CRF. Pierre's laboratory tests (BUN, phosphorous, Creatinine) were extremely high and the prognosis was poor. The owner was considering putting Pierre down and then scheduled a combination appointment with Dr. Gordon and I via telephone. Here is a recent email we received 6 months following our consultation:

"Hate to bother you on a Sunday, but I just wanted to tell you Pierre is acting as he did before he was sick!! This morning he is up and about, not hiding anywhere, following me everywhere, and up in the window watching outside and getting excited when he sees the doves come to the feeder outside the window. I have been hydrating him every day, and keeping on track with my schedule of supplements & meds. You just don’t know how happy it makes us to see him acting so normal today, he acts as if he feels really good.

Thanks you so much, everyday shows improvement."

While we wish all of our clients' cats could fare as well as Pierre, by doing all you can to help your kitty, at least you know you tried. Many pet owners feel dismayed after their pet's pass that they could have done more so it is important to try, even when the odds may not seem in your favor. We have seen pets turn for the better substantially after following our holistic protocols..