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Testimonials

Lucy's Story - A Story by Deborah Horsell

When Lucy, my Labradoodle, was first diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia, she was only about 6 months old.  I accepted that this was going to cause her problems later on in life, and that she may even at some point have to have both hips replaced, but she was still a puppy and it seemed so unfair to sentence her to a life of just lying around in the garden and watching my Springer play with butterflies.  My vet advised me that we could try acupuncture and hydrotherapy before taking any drastic steps.  I immediately started acupuncture with Megan and although Lucy wriggled around a lot initially, and wanted to play, she soon caught on and came to love having the treatment.  Initially I couldn't see a change but after a couple of sessions, there was a definite improvement in the way Lucy walked and she seemed to get up a bit easier.  She also had no problem with the treatment and seemed so much calmer afterwards.

The only hydrotherapy option at first was swimming, but Lucy had fallen into a pool when she was little and so was terrified in the water, and despite all the best efforts of those involved, she simply used to flail in the pool and the movement didn't seem to help in any way.  It was also stressful for all concerned, and especially for Lucy.  I knew I would have to stop, and was thrilled to hear that Holisticvet would open soon and they would have an underwater treadmill available to try. 

Lucy took to it like 'a dog to water'!  The first few sessions Bridget had to stand in the tank with her to keep her in the middle and keep her walking, but now she walks more-or-less on her own except for a bit of encouragement when she gets bored!   She looks forward to the session and walks straight into the tank without any hesitation.  From day one she reacted positively as the water was let in slowly and her feet were always in contact with the 'floor'.   The improvement has been remarkable.  The way she extends her legs is now almost normal and she plays boisterous games with the Springer, racing madly round the garden.  She can now jump into the car and shows no sign of pain.  I've seen her stand on three legs and scratch with her left back leg.  She even jumps up on people now - I tell her not to, but secretly I'm smiling! 

I am so grateful to Megan and Bridget for the time and effort they've put into Lucy's treatment, and can recommend Holisticvet wholeheartedly.

Rolo the Cairne -terrier and Andi Tromp

Rolo has always had problems with his hind legs. Major operations on both hind legs helped improve his mobility greatly, but he never regained full strength in his hind legs. He could not jump or stand up on his hind legs and often limped after running.

Since attending the rehab and exercising on the treadmill there has been a great improvement in both his strength and range of movement. Rolo can now jump up and run without injury.

Thanks to all the staff at the Holistic Vet for improving Rolo’s quality of life.

Alex's Story

We live in Cape Town and have been married for 35 years, we both grew up with pets in the house so soon after we were married in 1974 we got our first four legged child, Shane a Golden Labrador. He was with us for 11 years before he passed away. Next we had Duke another Golden Lab and he was with us for 12 years. Then we got our first Golden Retriever, Shackleton. We fell in love with this breed and some four years later got him a mate Sassy, she was also a Golden and the two of them soon became inseparable. They had a love affair of note and we often commented on how Sassy would cope if Shax (his shortened name) was not there. Given that he was four years older than Sassy it seemed a given that he would pass away before her. Well in April this year Shax had to be put down after suffering a series of fits which Vets thought was a brain tumour and given his advanced age, of 11 years, they felt that was the "kind" thing to do. My wife, Wendy, was adamant that we could not leave Sassy on her own for too long and she and my daughter, Romy, searched for and found a Golden Retriever breeder on the internet and after some exchanges of emails and photos of puppies the order was placed. Alex had to be flown down from Johannesburg as the breeder is based in Meyerton. I was not actively involved at this point as I was still grieving over Shax's passing and I felt that we should give it a little time before we got another Retriever. Wendy was however adamant that Sassy was pining and that we needed to get her a mate as soon as possible. Having had dogs before we knew that hip dysplasia was something we had to check on so Wendy asked the breeder if their dogs were free from this terrible malaise; the answer was that she had bred five litters and that all were free of the problem, so we could assume all was ok. Wendy recalls asking about clear hips and as far as she is concerned the breeder gave her an assurance that the dogs were all clear & made the point that the pups were KUSA registered, so we had nothing to worry about. We have now learned the KUSA registration offers little if any protection for breeding problems. So little Alexander came to us at a cost of thousands of rands plus air fare from JHB, we collected him and tears of joy were shed as we now had a mate for Sassy and a new four legged child for us to care for. Three days after Alex came to us he and Sassy were playing tag in the garden with all of us watching when suddenly Sassy collapsed and died before our eyes of a heart attack. Needless to say that shook us to our roots as she was only six years old. So from having two dogs at the beginning of April we lost both in the space of a week odd and had a new one to rear. Alex very quickly became a huge part of our lives and his personality and warmth saw him begin to fill the void left by Shax and Sassy. Without him there we would have really struggled to come to terms with what had happened. Then when he was about six months I noticed he was favouring his left back leg particularly after play or some exercise and was stiff when he got up after a sleep. At first I thought he had hurt himself as he was very robust at play and quiet clumsy so I did not worry, but it got worse. So after about two weeks I took him to the vet and X-rays were done and we received the horrible news that he had Dysplasia in both hips. The view was that he would need total hip replacements in due course. It took us a while to digest what had happened and the cost implications of going the hip replacement route, for the record we were advised that we could expect to pay R22000 per hip at current prices. Alex is our baby and we made the decision that we would do what was necessary to help him live as normal a life as possible whatever the cost. What was surprising to hear was that some good friends and acquaintances thought we were mad to spend that kind of money on a "dog". You learn a lot about people you think you know when money enters the equation. I then contacted the breeder and told her the sad news expecting some sympathy and maybe an offer to refund the purchase price but as quick as a flash she said, "Have Alex put down, send me written confirmation from a vet that it has been done and I will send you another puppy as soon as one is available". Needless to say I told her that Alex was not a broken toy that could be replaced with a new one; he is part of our family and as we would do all in our power for a child born with a problem, we would do all we could for Alex. I told her we would not be taking her up on her offer. That is the last we have heard from her. The vet told us that as Alex was only seven months old we would have to wait until he was at least 12 months before they could do the first hip. As he was uncomfortable we started medicating him daily with pain and anti inflammatory drugs, not ideal for a puppy but at least it kept him comfortable. We then made contact with Di who has been a great help in terms of advice and motivation. She pushed for us to look for alternative options to the hip surgery. We discovered Holisticvet who offers alternative treatment for a number of conditions but particularly Hip Dysplasia . Alex is now in his second week of treatments, water treadmill and acupuncture and already he is showing marked improvement. I walk him on a flat field for 40 minutes each day and he is now starting to romp and chase birds just like a pup should. We are hopeful that in six months we can have him off all his medicines and able to walk and run pain free and happy. For the record the cost of this treatment whilst not cheap will be a lot less than going the surgery option. Di was adamant that we should try and postpone surgery as long as possible and use other methods to treat Alex and she has been proven correct. I know we have some way to go yet but every day Alex looks better and he remains loving, cuddly and a joy to have around. Through all of this we have learned to not deal with substandard breeders, that do not do all that is necessary to ensure the puppies they breed are bred from the highest quality breeding stock and are properly screened. You need sight of the pedigree, hip, elbow and eye clearance certificates "before" you place your order. The breeder must be registered with the appropriate breed association. If there is not one, take the pedigree and clearance certificates to your vet or someone who knows what to look for and get them to give you their opinion. Do the research up front to avoid the heart ache firstly and secondly the financial pain of having to try and help your pet live a normal happy life.

DR MEGAN KELLY interviewed on SAFM.

Listen to the 9 -minute interview for an overview of Holisticvet.
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