[lisaly]

Originally Posted by Lizzie07

You're welcome. I am kinda embarrassed I regurgitated so much information about Opal, but the only person I really told was her breeder. I think I just needed to get it off my chest, in a way. I really love Opal and I know how you must feel about Anna. I hope your vet can use some of the information for Anna.

Good luck with Anna, please keep me updated on her progress. I hope you have Anna with you for many more years.

You provided excellent information about Opal. I can tell how much you both love your babies. My little girl Ashley was diagnosed with an enlarged heart when she was ten years old. The results of her echocardiogram were surprisingly well, considering that she had the heart condition. Her veterinarian, Dr. Jui Jia (Jay) Wen, felt that the cause of the heart enlargement was due to Ashley's trachea issues. He prescribed a very mild dose of enalipril for her heart. Dr. Wen is a brilliant, compassionate man who is also an excellent diagnostician. I trust him completely. He is conservative about medicine, particularly Western medicine because of all of the side effects of medications. He is better known for his holistic treatments, and he has had amazing results. People travel from far away to see him, and at times, he is a last hope doctor to treat animals that other vets could not help. Over the many years that I went there with my three Yorkies, I talked to people and kept hearing miraculous stories of their dogs recovering from illnesses that their other veterinarians could not treat. Many of the people had been told to put their dog to sleep and Dr Wen helped them. We tried Ashley on some herbs, but she was very difficult to give herbs to. She’s not great taking any pills, but the herbs were smelly and large, and Ashley somehow managed to pretend to take the pill, hide them in her mouth, and then slide them out of the side of her mouth. Ashley was good at it; one of my other dogs, Kiwi, was the master at it. Dr. Wen would not allow her to have any booster or rabies shots anymore, and he would no longer put her under anesthesia unless it was absolutely necessary. Ashley had had dentals done at least once a year prior to this, and I was concerned about her not being able to have them anymore. I listened to her doctor because I always felt he acted in her best interests. I made sure to take Ashley for daily walks to help keep her active and build up her heart and lungs. At first I carried her far more than she walked, because I was trying to protect her. I only walked in the morning and the evening when it was hot out. I was very careful about not having her outside when it was too hot out. Yorkies are low to the ground, and the heat reflecting off of the ground makes it risky for their hearts. I made sure that she had moist heat in our home. Over the years Ashley needed to have a few surgeries. She had surgery for an anal tumor, which was a risky operation for her, but it was necessary. She needed surgery for infected teeth that needed to be pulled. Prior to that surgery, the x-rays of Ashley's heart revealed that it was almost normal, and that it was only slightly enlarged. Her heart had gotten much better! She was fourteen when we got that great news. We built up Ashley's walking to the point that she was walking at least two miles a day. If I would have let her, Ashley would have walked more. Her heart and lungs got very strong. The heart got enlarged again in time, probably also relating to her trachea becoming more problematic, and it started to press on her spinal chord. At that point, we gave her herbs that her doctor developed and they brought the size of heart back down. Every time Ashley had x-rays done, her veterinarian would sit with me to review the results of the x-rays and to compare them to the other x-rays that he had taken of her I saw it with my own eyes that the size of the heart got much better. At the age of sixteen, Ashley needed another dental due to an infection, and she made it through surgery and anesthesia again, but we would not have been able to have that surgery if we couldn’t get the heart smaller so that it was not pressing on the spinal column. Ashley died two months ago on June 5th. She would have been 17 years old on July 5th. We definitely had to be more careful with her and more conservative in her treatment, but she lived a mostly healthy and very happy life for almost 17 years. With good vetting and a devoted Mom and Dad, they can have an excellent quality of life. I wish all of you many, many years of health, love, and happiness with your babies.

Below is a link about holistic medicine and herbs. It is very heartwarming to see. I’m certainly not pushing them, but I know so many dogs that were able to be helped by Dr. Wen, the “Miracle Vet.” The clip is about 5 minutes on MSNBC with Susan Rappaport, and there is also a small article. I think the biggest thing I love about Dr. Wen besides his compassion and his dedication to helping animals is that he never gives up hope. You don’t have to go to this doctor to learn from what is being said here.
TODAYShow.com - The 'Miracle' Vet