{"id":2874,"date":"2025-03-16T10:45:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T15:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petworks.com\/articles\/?p=2874"},"modified":"2025-03-16T11:21:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T16:21:23","slug":"pet-health-care-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petworks.com\/articles\/pet-health-care-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Implementing Balance in Your Pet’s Health and Wellness Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homeopathic Vet. A Conventional Meets Complimentary Pet Health Protocol. If your dog has just been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure or a similar unpredictable disease, you may be wondering what to do now. If you are a devoted pet parent like me, you might freak out a bit.<\/p>\n

My 13-year-old Portuguese Podengo Pequeno<\/a><\/span> Sophie, the light of my life, had started having head tremors a week before and presented one morning looking unwell. It was time to take her to the ER.<\/p>\n

Sophie<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sophie was in Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)<\/a><\/span>. Her heart\u2019s left side had failed; her right was very enlarged and full of pressure trying to do the work for both. Her abdomen had fluid. Her mitral valves were very leaky and the artery walls around them were very thickened. It was strongly advised she get on heart meds immediately.<\/p>\n

What goes through our minds when we hear bad news about our beloved pet\u2019s health is different for each of us. We may think about the mortality of this wonderful creature we\u2019ve gone through so much with. We may think about what we could\u2019ve done better. We may start shoring our own hearts up for the direct hit we feel is coming. I did all of this in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n

That was about 6 weeks ago. And, I\u2019m happy to report that today she\u2019s doing well. I am here to reassure you that you have options, some of which most pet parents don\u2019t even know.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Pet Health Coach, I dove down that rabbit hole to do the best I could for my girl. I made the decision early to share our journey to help other pet parents struggling with this, too, and you can find the full story in five parts on my blog<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Approximately 10% of all dogs, and 75% of senior dogs, have some form of heart dis-ease, so it\u2019s not out of the realm of possibility your dog might develop this.\u00a0Here is what I did, step by step.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"HomeopathicFirst, I Brought In A Homeopathic Vet<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

I did this before Sophie was ever diagnosed; when I\u2019d first noticed tremors and some coughing. Because tremors spelled neurological to me, I wanted an expert \u2013 a homeopathic vet. So, I reached out to Dr. Adriana Sagrera. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She suggested a homeopathic remedy for the tremors, cough and other symptoms Sophie was presenting at that time. With homeopathy, sometimes you have to try a couple of remedies before you get the right one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"HomeopathicThen, I Brought In A Holistic Vet<\/b><\/h3>\n

I know this may sound a bit over the top, but there was a method to my madness. My former vet, when I lived in New York, was Dr. Marty Goldstein<\/a><\/span>, the iconic maverick of complementary veterinary medicine, clinical pet nutritionist<\/a><\/span>, and an advisor on the Petworks Team.<\/p>\n

While Dr. Marty isn\u2019t practicing anymore, there\u2019s a vet he mentored at his practice whom he recommended highly: Dr. Jacqueline Ruskin is the vet Dr. Marty sent all of his cardiac patients because she\u2019d developed a protocol that was working.<\/p>\n

When Conventional Meets Complementary Works Best<\/b><\/h3>\n

As a natural medicine pet health coach, it is my mission to help pet parents understand their options. This involves the balance of avoiding damaging pharmaceuticals where possible with learning complementary methods.<\/p>\n

However, there are times when avoiding conventional medicines is not wise. Heart disease is one of them, especially in a case as far along as Sophie\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The three core conventional meds used to treat congestive heart disease work; they\u2019ve been working for years. Dr. Ruskin calls them crutches: your dog needs them until their body becomes stronger and you can attempt to peel them away.<\/p>\n

So, I already knew Sophie would be starting medications right away, something I\u2019d avoided her whole life. I was also determined to get her on a great complementary protocol as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n