[Laurie]

My 10 y.o. female Portuguese Water Dog has elevated calcium levels. Doc diagnosed hyperparathryroidism and removed her left thyroid after opening her and visualizing the slightly enlarged thyroid. Problem with this surgery is that post op, calcium levels often drop seriously and they need supplementation. In our case, her level went dangerously high. Put her on prednisone, lasix and fluids and still her levels are too high. I want to find an appropriate homeopathic remedy. Does anyone have knowledge of herbs and or supplements to treat this? Thanks for any help!

P.S. Cancer has been ruled out. She also has a history of severe skin problems (itching, biting, licking) since she was 6 months old. Perhaps an autoimmune issue? I have her on Transfer Factor, glutamine; she eats a raw diet and I supplement with vitamins as well. Desperate for her life.

[CorkyMax]

Sorry to hear of the problem you have with your dog. You have prob. done a lot of searching on the web. This 1st link is very informative and maybe you haven't seen it. It does not answer anything about homeopathic remedies or treatments but it does mention that prednisone is not a good answer. I personally hate prednisone and don't allow it for my dogs. Why are vets so quick to prescribe this crap!? Yes there are some situations--to me very few--that a person might have to use it but vets prescribe it too much and for too long a period. It just masks/covers up things because it compromises the immune system---shuts it down. If a dog is on this too long--It can permanently stop the immune system functioning--Not a good thing! It can ruin a dog if left on it too long. Another thing I noticed in this site---Too much vitamin D is not good for this problem--can cause high levels of calcium. I noted that you supplement with vitamins---Hopefully vitamin D is not in them! Anyway here is the link: 01 Hypercalcemia - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!

You mentioned that Cancer has been ruled out---But how can it be ruled out completely! As you prob. know--that is one of the big reasons for high calcium. It may be cancer and it hasn't been found yet. I know things cost money but wondering if you should get a 2nd opinion in order to double check on that possibility?

See pages 132 and 133 in this site: The Nature of Animal Healing: The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guide to ... - Martin Goldstein - Google Books

I have just begun to search for answers to try and help you so I will enter this much right now and will be back if I find anything that may help---so check back to this post. I will let you know here when I am done working on it. It could take a day or so as I need to check my many books as well as the web.

[Laurie]

Thank you CorkyMax for your reply. I have been careful not to supplement with vitamin D, and wondered briefly if eating too many raw bones might have caused the problem, but I don't think so because her diet is quite varied and balanced. I had previously read both of the articles you attached, both excellent sources of info. I had wanted to have them ADMINISTER
the dose of Vincristine but the doc opposed it (can't remember if it was the cost or what?? and don't recall why she felt it was not cancer?? I have cut back the Prednisone from 1 per day, to half, now down to 1/4. do you think it is safe to stop now? I have ordered a supplement from OnlyNaturalPets called Nature's Herbs for Pets Thyroid Calming Dog 90 Pills. This is one of a few remedies I found for hyperthyroid but I didn't want to use more than one med and a time. I'm wondering though if I should. Just blast her with every opportunity to heal if it won't do more harm. What do you think of this idea? OnlyNaturalPets sells a couple more things but I ordered just his one. Waiting impatiently for it's arrival. Thank you so much for your prompt and thorough attention to my situation. It is a really good feeling to know that maybe when get up in a few hours, you may have posted more info for me! I don't feel quite so alone in my research. THANK YOU SO MUCH. HOPE YOU SLEEP TONIGHT AS WELL.
.

[CorkyMax]

Just read your last post. I don't think I will find much more on the net but have a lot of books to go through.--tomorrow. I have about 12:15 am right now and was just ready to shut down my computer and get to bed--Have to let my 2 dogs out for last potty call and I have to put artificial tears in my 13 yr old (Will be on April 1st) Cocker's eyes--Very, very dry eyes--I put drops in about every 6 hrs. So hopefully I will find something tomorrow and try to answer your last post. (Good night)

[CorkyMax]

Just to let you know I am getting a good start to checking my books--I hate to say that I am afraid I am not going to find much. Sorry to say but think you already know--It sounds like there isn't much of anything that you can do at home to fix it. But I am still going to look. A couple of things I have noticed in the little checking that I have done-----and maybe you can research/look into---acupuncture ---- acupressure----chiropractic---- laser --- magnetic therapy. I have a chart with the points to press for the acupressure if I can just find it---You might find a chart and info on this on the net too?

A suggestion here: Have you thought about getting a hold of a holistic vet to even discuss it on the phone--They should be able to tell you what to do/use even though you will prob. get charged for their answers? And if you can find on the net a listing of holistic vets that may live close to you to go see them with your dog or even call them.

How long ago did your dog have that operation? How much did the high calcium come down since then? Is it too soon to tell if it may come down on it's own yet? Or is it going to stay high? Unless you find something to give her.

As far as the Prednisone (This is a steroid)---Words from a book I have: The bottom line with steroid use is to be sure that there are no other alternatives, because steroids can be very detrimental to your dog's health. Once steroids are started, they cannot be stopped cold turkey. The dosage must be decreased gradually to allow the adrenal and pituitary glands to begin working again. If you are planning to take your dog off steroids, I advise that you consult a holistic veterinarian to help your dog through this difficult period. There are homeopathics, herbs, and supplements that will support your dog's adjusting system and make the transition as problem-free as possible. (end of quote) I doubt if your vet --if not a holistic one, is going to be as exacting about info on this but you could just see what he has to say---Have you got the impression yet that I don't put much stock in regular vets!? I wish I had a holistic vet near me--I do feel that I would of had much better results/outcomes if I did!!--Won't go into some of my experiences! I can't give you an answer to this:I have cut back the Prednisone from 1 per day, to half, now down to 1/4. do you think it is safe to stop now? I am not even a reg. vet and I don't know what the dosage is, and I hope it would be based on the size of the dog, or how long she has been on it or when you started cutting down or for how many days in between the decrease, how bad her immune system is compromised--how under the weather she is--How much she can handle at this point--a lot of variables there even for a vet the way I see it---Sorry! I wasn't going to go into this but---My mother had adopted a Bichon with severe skin allergies--The vet (my vet too) put her on Prednisone and it helped some but the dog appeared to going to be on it forever (VERY BAD THING!!). It got so it was not doing much good after awhile. My mother finally gave the dog up to a rescue as she couldn't deal with it anymore--She is going to be 92 this month and lives alone. She kept in contact with this rescue for Bichons. They were hopping mad when they learned how this vet took care of the permanent condition with the skin problems--the Prednisone. Yes the prednisone helped especially at 1st. BUT it did not cure the problem and the prednisone merely stopped the immune system from working--so stopped the itching because no immune system fighting the condition because it was 'turned off.' To make a long story short--One day (and not too long after they got the dog) the rescue called my mother to say that the dog had passed away. I blame it on the prednisone use for so long that the immune system would not work anymore. I do not know how the Rescue handled the weaning off of this crap--But no matter how slow and careful they may of been--the immune system would not work any more!!

Well I have several things going at once here and am late for doing some of them so will leave for now--May be longer to research things here then I thought. Don't know if you are open for this and not sure if I will have that much to pass on---But wondered if you might want to talk on the phone--If I find much I just can't print it all in here--I am a one-fingered typer to start with and it takes me a long time to do the posts I do--Lol, long winded most of the time doesn't help matters any either! I have unlimited free calling in the states, Canada, and Puerto Rico so it would not cost me or you anything if you are in one of those places? Think about it and let me know. If you are up for it (and I feel the need) you can just private message me your phone # and I will give you mine also although if you don't have free calling I can do all the calling--no problem. Talk to you later.

[CorkyMax]

Just received my most recent issue of The Whole Dog Journal This was printed on back cover under Resources--->
American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA)
PO BOX 630, Abingdon, MD 21009.----Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a list of holistic veterinarians in your area, or search ahvma.org
I checked out the site--hard to follow I thought--Have to get to know how to use it I guess. A lot of things to click on too. Might be better to do the stamped envelope but here are a couple things I clicked on (I didn't check all links out--was confused!)---->

VBMA US MEMBERS | Veterinary Botanical Medical Association
50 Sites Like Ahvma | Ahvma.org Similar Sites - SimilarSiteSearch.com

By the way--What is your dog's name?

[CorkyMax]

Just looked up in the search box here in this forum a couple of threads on Prednisone I had done previously in here-->

Important to Know if Dog is on Prednisone!

Puppies on Prednisone

[Laurie]

Dear CorkyMax,

My dog's name is Storm (female not a male). People always think she should be a he with that name. Anyway, thanks again for the information you've been painstakingly sending my way, esp with one finger typing! I was hoping for a recommendation of a holistic vet; I do have experience with a few but I'm not anxious to revisit any of them again. I won't mention names publicly but will be happy to share via email. She wasn't on the Pred for long (less than two weeks), so I've stopped now. She has been raw-fed for years and I admit I thought I would avoid these kind of health issues as a result, but alas, no such luck. I guess nutrition can't cure everything. Years of allopathic medicine has taken it's permanent toll. As I mentioned, she has had skin issues since she was a pup and not knowing better, I went through EVERY allopathic treatment available (including feeding her Science Diet dog food with dried corn as the first ingredient! Where was my brain? Hopefully, the natural remedies I am trying now will take hold, if not, I guess I will have no choice but to go back to those awful meds to keep her comfortable. Thank you again for all your help with this research for us. We so appreciate it. Also, best to you and your cocker's dry eyes! I hope you and your pups are all asleep; it is 3:39 am. I am in NJ, BTW. 'night.

Laurie

[Laurie]

Hi, I wanted to let you know I found this huge forum and I'm excited about it. You may be interested as well. You can find it at HPathy.com.