Y
ou’d have thought she was a
model coming straight from a
photographer’s studio. “Strike
a pose,” Dan Mullaney would tell
Tiffany, and she’d move into position
for the camera, ready for the perfect
photo. “There was no doubt she
knew exactly what she was doing,”
Mullaney says. Tiffany Louise, a most
precocious sable Pomeranian, was
quite the little lady.
So when Tiffany’s fur started falling
out and she began having seizures,
Mullaney and his wife Teri launched
a desperate crusade to help their
beloved pet. Her doctor, a respected
conventional veterinarian, ran tests
and diagnosed Tiffany with liver
failure. Her prognosis: two months
to live. The vet suggested that the
Mullaneys give their dog milk thistle
(Silybum marianum) and a commonly
prescribed pharmaceutical drug
that the Mullaneys quickly had to
discontinue, because it made Tiffany
even sicker.
Unwilling to accept the fi nality of
their vet’s report, the Mullaneys sought
a second opinion. Their search led
them to Shawn Messonnier, doctor
of veterinary medicine, a holistic
veterinarian near their home in Plano,
Texas. Based on details in Tiffany’s
blood work, Messonnier, author of
The Natural Health Bible for Dogs
& Cats and The Natural Vet’s Guide
to Preventing and Treating Cancer in
Dogs, arrived at a different diagnosis:
Cushing’s disease, a glandular disorder
by Victoria L. Freeman
that causes overproduction of the
hormone cortisol and, consequently,
obesity, muscle weakness, osteoporosis
When Pets Go
and other conditions.
“Many vets mistake Cushing’s
for liver disease,” says Messonnier,
“because there are similarities in blood
test results.” He suggested several
natural therapies, such as a whole-
foods diet, a multivitamin supplement,
an herbal supplement and a glandular
Natural
support formula.
Cushing’s can be fatal on its own
The alternative and complementary therapies
or can lead to other life-threatening
conditions, such as diabetes, liver
that work so well in humans can also have
or kidney failure and congestive
heart failure, but Tiffany rallied on
the holistic treatments. And, even
value for your animal companion.
though the Mullaneys had to say a
30
Brevard/Indian River
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