Sheldon, my first born, just had major abdominal surgery. He is a 9 year old English Bulldog and is majorly ealous (and rightfully so) of our 21 month old daughter. Before she came along, he was the only child and treated like the king he is. He still gets many of his creature comforts and lives a fantastic life, but he wants to be the baby. So much so, that he literally at 6 pacifiers and a teething toy. I didn't notice they were missing because she never liked them and we moved and things were all over the place.
We took him to an Emergency Room because he just wouldn't settle, his breathing was shallow and he wasn't finishing his food, which is totally unlike him. The vet and vet techs checked his vitals and were shocked because not only is he an English Bulldog and he is 9, but was and is "as healthy as a horse." They took x-rays to then discover those foreign objects, aka pacifiers and a teething toy in his abdomen. My husband and I felt horrible that we allowed this to happen.
The vet was hoping to be able to retrieve all of the objects with a scope via laparoscopy, but that unfortunately didn't work, so it turned into. abdominal surgery. Thankfully, he did beautifully and ultimately made a full recovery. Post-operation, he wouldn't eat kibble (he knows better!!!), but did eat baby food (oh, the irony) and then eventually boiled chicken. To help speed his recovery along, i gave him arnica montana 200c, which is an excellent homeopathic remedy to give when the body experiences trauma. I also gave him sulphur 30c to help him poop because the antibiotics and medicine he was given absolutely messed with his gut biome.
3 weeks later, he is entirely back to his normal self and we are grateful. We are grateful to the vet who performed his surgery and for modern vet medicine that ultimately saved his life. We are also grateful for detoxing him homeopathically years ago and feeding him raw food, which we believe has optimized his health and enabled him to recover so quickly.
In the world of pet health (and human health too), there is absolutely a place for modern medicine and natural medicine. They are both tools. You just have to know how and when to use them.
-Written by Erica L.