I adopted Snuggles, my Redtick Coonhound-Labrador mix from a shelter run by the Palm Valley Animal Society in Edinburg, Texas. When he was brought in as a stray, he was only about 50 pounds, underweight, and facing the following issues:
1. A severely injured and infected right front paw. There was a diagonal slice running completely across the pad, almost to the full depth. Deep and very long.
2. A severe immune system response to the infection that would cause him to physically collapse.
3. A loss of nerve sensation in his right front paw, which meant no guarding, and thus no cleaning, of the injury.
4. He was neutered (a relatively minor surgery).
5. He was anemic due to infection.
6. As mentioned, he was underweight.
At the shelter, he was given antibiotics and a three-week course of high-dose steroids to knock down the immune responses that were causing his frequent collapses.
From home, he was also given the following whole food supplements from Standard Process:
• Tuna Omega-3 Oil (4 daily, divided dose)
• Congaplex (2 daily divided dose)
• Immuplex (2 daily, divided dose)
• Canine Whole Body Support (as per weight)
• Chlorophyll Complex (2 daily, divided dose)
• MediHerb Boswellia Complex (2 daily, divided dose)
• MediHerb Turmeric Forte (2 daily, divided dose)
A vet in San Antonio stitched the wound closed, but within seven days it worsened. It had reopened, and within another two days he developed gangrene. Snuggles was treated with hydrotherapy and kept at the vet for over a month, which fortunately saved him from amputation. Thankfully, in the meantime the vet agreed to continue giving Snuggles the supplements I provided while he was hospitalized.
By the time he was released from the hospital, his paw had healed to roughly half the length and half the depth of original wound. He was kept on crate rest and wore a boot to keep the wound dry and protected from contamination.
As we continued the supplements, we bumped the Boswellia Complex and Chlorophyll Complex up to four per day, while keeping the other supplements at the same dose. Though his pad healed to a quarter size of the original wound, it would heal no further.
A culture of the wound revealed a MRSA infection along with another pretty serious bacterial infection, possibly resulting from his stay in the hospital as it was impossible to keep his foot covered.
He was given another two-week course of strong antibiotics for the MRSA and other infective agents. Meanwhile, he continued with the supplements.
As Snuggles slowly regained some sensation in the extremities of his foot, testing by the vet showed that he still had not recovered full feeling. He had also gained weight during this time (a bit too much since he was on crate rest for so long).
Six weeks after the antibiotics, his foot had finally healed, and the nerves have regained full functionality, as best can be tested!
Why is his recovery so significant? Because, for at least two weeks after initially arriving at the shelter, the question was whether his whole leg would need to be amputated—not only as a result of the infection but also due to the loss of sensation in the paw, which created the likelihood of repeated injury and infection.
However, the supplements kept his inflammatory response down and worked in conjunction with the medicine he was given. The nutritional support also helped prevent diarrhea and other complications. This combination of treatment and nutrition ultimately helped fight infection, promote healing in the paw, and assist in the restoration of nerve function.
Standard Process products are superior to any other. Snuggles even seems to sense that they help. He took the bitter Boswellia Complex and the sticky capsules with no hesitation, and he still drools while the pills are being dispensed. We sprinkle the Canine Whole Body Support powder over the supplements or over his food, and he doesn’t seem to mind it at all.
He seems to intuitively know he needs them, and for how long. About six weeks after his foot had completely healed, he began to lick the Boswellia Complex and Turmeric Forte off the hand, but two out of five days, he would spit those two back out. That meant he was only consuming those two supplements two to three days a week while still continuing to happily consume all the others. Snuggles can clearly discern that these supplements make him feel better.
See the video below or feel free to download the video of our gentle giant lapping up the supplements he thinks of as treats…you’ll even see his drips of drool shining on the floor.
Main image from iStock/yacobchuk. Post image from Susan Peace.
To keep healthy pets, I would recommend one watch ‘Pottenger’s Cats’ on YouTube. I suspect that when an omnivore is fed grass fed bovine liver, inflammation is greatly reduced. Antibiotics, (biotics meaning life) anti-life, merely halts the healing process because the body has to deal with the more immediate threat: the anti-life or poison that you just took.
Inflammation and swelling is the body in the process of healing itself with increased blood flow therefore more nutrients through the blood. Give the body the nutrients it needs, and the body will be able to heal just about anything.
Harry