Hip Dysplasia Referral –

Hi Deborah,

We were referred to you by Dr. Matthews (KAH).  He believes you can help us with Bella, our 5 year old blonde lab who was diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia 2 years ago.

Since then, she has consistently been on Rimadyl. We visited Dr. X (a vet surgeon) and discussed surgery options.  At that time we opted for the routine and consistent Rimadyl therapy and to consider other options (hip replacement) for the future.

We were very intrigued and encouraged to receive your information from Dr. Matthews as we would very much like to pursue alternative forms of therapy and conditioning to improve Bella’s current and future quality of life.

We would be most pleased if you could contact us at your earliest convenience to schedule a consultation to discuss our options.

Kindest Regards, Art and Caryl parents of Bella (Lab), Dakota (German Short-Haired Pointer), Raja (cat) and newest addition, Tucker (horse)

Hi, All!

Even though I left you guys with a written note card of things I wanted you to follow for Bella after our appointment, here is the bullet point email summing up our discussion last Tuesday.

I am also sending a copy to Dr. Matthews so he may be in our loop.Thank you for inviting me to help with Bella’s quality of life, and I hope you find the protocol easy to manage. Text, call, or mail if you have any questions after having worked on the protocol the past couple of days.

Step One After Rehab Consult –

Switch Bella to a grain-free food that is both sourced and made in the USA. Bella currently eats a joint formula, grain- and byproduct-filled food someone else recommended for her.

My research over the years reveals grains to be a major culprit in joint disorders and auto-immune disease (short story). All the dogs (and humans) I have dealt with have thrived when fed quality grain-free foods. You indicated that Dr. Matthews would be open to this suggestion.

Step Two –

Begin giving Bella ~500 mg EPA (and concurrent DHA) in fish oil, using capsules, daily. I am not a fan of bottled oil due to potential for rancidity and potential for breaking up the fatty acid chains when people shake the bottle.

Long-term research evaluation reveals that there are too many complications (rancidity, fragile fatty acid chain, heating of oil changes composition, etc…) when fish oil/omega 3’s are added to processed food sources. I count on sardines or good quality fish oil capsules to achieve therapeutic benefit.

Step Three –

Add a glucosamine/chondroitin/msm supplement to Bella’s daily routine…check with Dr. Matthews to see if they carry one of the vet formulations. I recommend obtaining this from your vet or from a “human” brand source. I have links on this website to good formulas for you to buy and use.

You may check ConsumerLab.com if you are wary of some of the human brands or look for some of the brands I recommended that are available locally. I do not recommend a “dog” version other than the ones you may find available from your vet or through my links. Avoid flavorings and junk ingredients by sticking with proven brands.

Step 4 –

Continue Rimadyl and any other pain meds as scripted.

Step 5 –

Using my FHO homework, start Bella at week 2. Please read all the guidelines cited on the homework. 

Step 6 –

Go to my website or YouTube and find my dog massage video under RehabDeb. Please watch it and follow the instructions, massaging Bella exactly as the video describes, daily for 2 weeks.

Step 7 –

We will recheck in 2 weeks to evaluate her homework performance and upgrade her homework and drills (hopefully).

Thank you, again!

Blessings!

Deborah

(Originally Posted June 2013, Updated April 6, 2018)