Hip & knee english bulldog: Pet Nurse Marie will work with you :

Question
Is it possible to find a more natural way to help my English Bulldog Izzy? I'm not opposed to continue with regular vet care but I want to add a more natural way to help Izzy so that I'll feel I'm doing everything I can to help her. I' sorry that Izzy's history is so long and all over the place but each vet referred me to another specialist until they found what her problems are. Izzy is 3 1/2 years old and weighs 46 lbs. She was 54lbs until I was told she needed to lose weight due to arthritis pain. As a puppy our bully would fall down with her back legs. When our bully was 6 months old she had sublaxating patella surgery with a pin put in on her right leg. Izzy loves to go on walks but year she would stop many times on each walk and pant for a few seconds and then take off for more of the walk we were on and she repeated this walk,stop and pant several times on each and every walk. This is one issue that I took her to the vet many times before he sent me to other vets to rule out things. I will continue this story after I explain the other issue we were dealing with during the same time period. Izzy had terrible tear stain problems with her facial folds always wet and smelly. I cleaned her face every day! My vet sent me to an Animal Eye Center where they saw Izzy every month for the year. The vet always tested the tears and gave me drops and some times flushed out her tear ducts, even plucked a few eye lashes. Then the Eye Vet said it might be allergies and sent me to Animal Dermatology and this new vet took a q-tip under her toes and looked under a micro scope and said Izzy's tears are from allergies causing Yeast. Izzy was put on Iams Prescription Fish & Potato dog food and over the next few months Izzy was brought in to see her. My bully began to lose her fur on both sides of her flank so my regular vet who continued to see Izzy for her stopping and panting during her walks thought maybe she has another illness and did blood work. Where Izzy lost her fur on her sides her skin color changed. She is a beautiful golden bindle & white bully but later after I changed her dog food on my own to Eagle Pack Holistic Fish her fur grew back but not brindle...it grew back in the large patch on both sides to that dark color the skin turned which is a very dark brown. Her vet began to call the stop & pant problem an "exercise intollarence" even though I had been saying I noticed when she was asleep now she would sit up and pant for awhile. I started to tell the vet that I felt she was in pain. He decided to do a light sedation and check her soft pallet $ sacules but told me after that it was normal and did not do surgery on her soft pallet. I showed the vet video clips I took of Izzy on her walks and some of her just sitting at home panting but I was referred to an Internal Medicine vet because the exercise intolerance along with the hair loss indicated an illness that I don't remember the name off. I showed the Internal Medicine vet the video clips of Izzy panting and he did blood work and when it came back normal he sent me to an Orthopedic vet. I showed this vet my video clips of Izzy and he did x-rays of her legs and hips then showed me the x-rays showed a broken pin in the right leg that had patella surgery when she was 6 months old. He felt that the broken pin would not be causing pain due to half being inside her bone and half inside tissue and said she has arthritis and hip displasia and to keep her on the Rimadol she started last January from the other vet. Each time I went back to the Orthopedic vet I showed him a new video clip (which he didn't really want to see)of Izzy sitting in the sun on our patio panting and I insisted that I felt the pin was causing pain. He said Izzy has arthritis and because she was a bulldog didn't want to do surgery until she lost weight so about 6 weeks later when she lost 7 lbs he did surgery to remove the broken pin and see if she had a torn cruchit ligament. He called after surgery and said he got both parts of the pin out and she had sublexating patella and the the surgeon who did it when she was 6 months old did not make a grove and other problems to fix it correctly so he did the correction and put 2 new pins in her right leg. Wow even with the pain of surgery recovery Izzy's panting STOPPED! Her left leg isn't great also but he feels she doesn't need surgery but said her hips are a problem and would always have arthritis. Although she is recovering from surgery for 6 weeks now I hear a soft popping sound from her other leg (left) where her hip is but doesn't act like she is in pain.Back when I changed her food to Eagle Pack Holistic fish & potato I started her on a yeast program from NZYMES.Com and her facial folds cleared up with no more tears but her feet still get red and smelly so she is still on it but her fur is much better. She is on Ox-E drops, Antioxidant Granules, Black Leaf Tincture and Bak Pack. I dip her Rimadol pill into yogurt so she will take it. Izzy is now on Precise Pluss Foundation Adult Formula (Holistic) and seems to be doing well on it. Searching on line I came to your website but 2 weeks before I found your website I found VETIONX for arthritis so I bought a bottle and she has been on that for 4 days now. Are the NZYMES.com and VETIONX.com Is this poor little bully's best solution to just stick with the NZYMES.com (for yeast)and VETIONIX (for arthritis)or do you feel there is something different I should do? Do you know what could cause her to have acid reflux? Thank you, Kathy

Answer
NuJoint and NuVet supplements: Glad you decided to try them!
Pet Nurse Marie will be glad to follow up with you on Izzy's Progress.
ACL and Hip post surgical discomfort; Keep me posted at my private e-mail:
Marie Peppers LPN MA
Ask the Pet Nurse    (  mtnmom@gci.net  )

ACL surgery english bulldog; alternatives to surgery / ACL;
Let me know if you use any of my suggestions for Izzy?
Marie Peppers of Ask the Pet Nurse....
Keep me posted and good luck girls!

WOW Kathy!  You have been a Wonderful advocate for your bulldog girl Izzy!!!!  
Yes, your vet sure did mess up the first surgery of her luxating patellas.  This is very common, a VET makes a mess of a dog's ACL or patella.... AND, they have to go in AGAIN, to fix it.
So, sorry she has had this discomfort.  BOY - have you paid some $$$$ to all the VET specialists.

Yes, let me help:
I can't comment on the products you are using because I don't recommend them for my clients.  When I work with folks, I only refer to products that 1000s of my clients have had great results.
So, here are my ideas for Izzy:

Slowly, with your VET's help, reduce the Rimadyl medications.  This drug, can cause much damage to the liver over time.  For pain and inflammation I refer to Turmeric ( herb for cooking ) and NuJOINT Plus -
SEE here: Using turmeric in your dog's food for pain relief:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Alternative-Medicine-Pets-3721/2009/8/12-year-old-lab...

NEXT - The above link also talks about the NuVET supplement - Great immune system booster and over all wonderful Bullie Vitamin.  I have 1000s of clients taking NuVET and NuJoint each day.
Also, 100s of clients are using the herb Turmeric each day to reduce any swelling and joint pain.
YOUR Izzy will have arthritis in the hips, joints and patellas for a lifetime.  The surgery many times does Nothing to reduce the future Arthritis in your dog.  ( they don't tell you that)
Many dogs tend to have Arthritic troubles even after the surgerical intervention.
SO Sorry:  Issy will need NuJOINT and NuVET for a lifetime.

*order NuVET here: Make sure they know PET Nurse Marie has been working with you:
Call in and ask about the TASTE guarantee and the 60 day trial guarantee, too
Call 1-800-474-7044
If you use this order code: ask about the 15 % off    code: 81098
They have a program for 15% off - Just ask......
Here is the nuvet site:
http://www.nuvet.com/81098
MY NuVET bullie page:
http://www.apluspetcare.com/untitled4.html

Now, for the YEAST - very common in a english bullie.
I go with 1 billion CFUs of Acidophalus ( give 1 per day for 2-3 months)
This can be purchased at any store that sells Human vitamins.
I love just plain Acidophalus


OK, sorry that I can't review the items you have already purchased!  I don't want to refer to anything that I have not used already.

Let me know if you have more questions:
write down my private e-mail
mtnmom@gci.net

Marie Peppers of Ask the Pet Nurse