His suggestion was a surgical consultation for a Tibial
Plateau Levelling Osteotomy (TPLO) procedure. After a bit of research I found
out the procedure involved cutting and rotating the tibia bone then
attaching a metal plate with screws. Yikes!
A good friend who is really
into holistic medicine, both for her family and two dogs, suggested
looking at alternatives before considering surgery. Based on a
successful outcome with one of her dogs she recommended Dr. Haghighat. Personally
I'm not really into holistic anything but wanted to explore all options and
booked an appointment. In the initial assessment, Dr. Haghighat
confirmed the injury was likely a torn ACL but said there was a good chance that
it could be healed naturally without surgery! He also explained the pros
and cons of a surgical solution vs. holistic treatment. Still somewhat
skeptical I decided to try the holistic approach simply because it
didn't require making irreversible changes to my dog's body and possibly having to
deal with post-surgery complications. Surgery would be the fall back
plan. Suki was immediately put on a daily regimen of medicines and
supplements. This was in addition to injections and light therapy she received in
the office. There was a visible improvement on the second visit a few
days later - Suki's limp was less pronounced. As time passed, the visits
were less frequent - first a week, then two weeks, and so on. The limp
was gone after a few visits but there was still work to be done.
Dr.
Haghighat prescribed different medicines and exercises as Suki's treatment
progressed. With each visit, Dr. Haghighat could see and feel that Suki was
putting more weight on her injured leg. To help with her recuperation I had to
greatly reduce Suki's activity - easier said than done when all she wanted
to do was play with our other German Shepherd Dog.
Both dogs travel in the
car with me at least twice a day. Jumping in and out of the car could
quickly undo the progress we had made so I purchased a folding ramp. Also Dr.
Haghighat told me about the benefits of the light therapy he performed in
the office. I did some research and purchased my own light therapy pad to
supplement the office treatment. Suki received two light treatments daily
for several months.
Almost seven months have passed since Suki injured her leg and
she is back to her normal levels of activity. Our last visit to Dr.
Haghighat was two months ago and we have a follow-up visit scheduled in a few
days. As it turned out, the time required to recover naturally or from
surgery was about the same. Not that cost was a determining factor in choosing
a treatment but the holistic approach was actually cheaper than the
surgical estimates even when the cost of the ramp and light therapy pad were
included. Most importantly I feel that the right choice was made choosing
the holistic solution in this situation. I'm happy with the outcome of
this treatment.
My thanks go to Dr. Haghighat for his pleasant, professional
manner and answering my many questions during the course of the
treatment. I'm also grateful to my friend for suggesting that I give holistic
treatment a chance."
Regards,
-Kevin-
Dip a cotton ball in diluted shares apple cider and water. Gently pat the area and let dry. ear infections in dogs
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