The Healing of Ted

Ted was a beautiful cocker spaniel with the cutest face imaginable. He is no longer with us today having crossed over the rainbow bridge in 2019 but his story is quite astonishing.

Ted’s story

Ted, born in 2004, had always been a healthy, happy and active working dog. Apart from some fatty lumps which he developed in 2010, he was as fit (and healthy) as a fiddle.

But we all get older eventually and so in April 2017, when Ted was 13 years old, he came down with a serious infection in his inner ear which, unfortunately and despite a long course of antibiotics and steroids, resulted in peripheral vestibular disease – this is a disease where the patient will lose balance, develop a head-tilt and often abnormal eye movements. The infection was brought under control but Ted never really fully recovered and didn't quite get as balanced as he used to. He also continued to tilt his head. Three months later, Ted started panting a lot and it was clear that he was having difficulty breathing. He was referred to Langford vets where he was diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis. One side of his larynx was pinned back and the owner was told that this would give Ted a good quality of life back – maybe not quite that of a young active working dog but at least he would be able to run around and have fun. During his stay at Langford, Ted was also diagnosed with arthritis in both shoulders. He was prescribed Metacam (a strong anti-inflammatory for those who have not heard of it before) for daily use from then on.

Ted was fine until February 2018, when he got another bad ear infection. Having been through this before, the owner and Ted’s vet decided to treat the infection with strong antibiotics and steroids again to prevent a deterioration back into the peripheral vestibular disease. Although Ted responded well to the medication, it took him unusually long to get at least some balance and strength back and by the end of March he became increasingly ‘miserable’: he didn't really want to get up and was generally sinking deeper and deeper into a depressive like state. He also lost his appetite which made it difficult to administer any of the medication that he was still on.

Life became a daily struggle for Ted and for his owner.

Alarmed by this, Ted’s owner took him back to the vet – and sadlythis time a full blood profile showed that Ted’s liver was giving up: his liver function was around 20-30%. This is very serious for any dog but for the almost 14 year old Ted it didn’t look good!

To make things worse, only days later Ted became very jaundiced and a further scan revealed that he also had acute pancreatitis (inflammation in the pancreas) He had to stay at the vet hospital for days with intravenous fluids, antibiotics and medication and it was still not clear whether he would make it through.

Ted was taken off the steroids and put on new medications to treat the pancreatitis but the prognosis wasn't good. When the owner picked Ted up from the vets to bring him home the vet mentioned a herbal supplement containing silymarin, which is one of the active ingredients in Milk Thistle seeds (Silybum marianum), in order to support his liver function.

Ted’s first session on self-selection (apart from stealing food)

This is when Ted’s lovely mum contacted me because she didn’t want to give Ted just another ‘medication’ - she was willing to do anything to just ease off Ted's suffering and give him back some quality of life until it was his time.

I met Ted on 03.05.2018 and immediately fell in love with his absolutely adorable face and friendly attitude and with a pair of eyes that were just so full of doggie-wisdom! He was a truly remarkable dog – he was proud but gentle and he knew exactly what he wanted. I remember that he was all over my box containing all the herbs and oils which made it difficult to keep track of what had already been offered and what had not – and, of course, made it difficult to take a proper photo of him! He was just all over it – sticking his nose into every bag, wagging his tail in happiness and telling me to hurry up because he KNEW what he wanted.

Oh yes, and did he know!

Ted having his eyes firmly on the goodie-box!

First, Ted was offered a variety of herbal infused oils. Clever boy that he was (remember the doggie-wisdom in his eyes!), he selected only those that are known to support pain, inflammation and joint degeneration – Arnica oil, Comfrey Oil and St John’s Wort.

Then we moved on to the dried herb powders and this is where Ted really shone with his astonishing and precise choices: he just couldn’t get enough of Milk Thistle! I remember having to fill up his bowl three times before he finally settled and had a look at all the other ‘goodies’ I had to offer – amongst which, he selected Dandelion Root (another liver support but more on the bitter side), Marshmallow (to support moisturising and cooling down inflamed tissues), Astragalus Root (immune support) and a bit of Nettle (supports the lymphatic system).

I was yet again amazed about the precision with which Ted knew what was good for him – this never fails to amaze me – and Ted’s owner was filled with pride and joy, trusting that her beloved best friend had chosen those herbs that were going to support him healing.

And so he did!

A corner turned …

Around 5 months after this visit Ted’s owner rang me full of excitement – she and Ted had just got back home from the vets after Ted’s blood results had come back. The result was astonishing:

Ted had regained his full liver function!

Yes, he did. And this was HIS choice, not that of the vet, his owner or mine. It was his choice, he KNEW what he needed and how much.

Amazingly enough, the owner also found that his fatty lumps had gone down significantly, from the size of a large prune size to pea size!

Ted carried on until Spring 2019 when he, at the proud age of 15, succumbed to his natural ageing process and his mum decided that the kindest thing for him was to be happy again and play with his friends across the rainbow bridge.

Ted’s choices of herbs, his innate knowledge of what is good for him, had given him another wonderful year of joy, love and life.

What a dog!