Why is the info on this site the complete opposite of what my vet says?
"Every really new idea looks crazy at first."
– Alfred North Whitehead
First of all, let me apologize.
Not because anything you will read here is wrong. Far from it. But I realize that the information I am sharing with you can be challenging. It may go against EVERYTHING that your Vet has been telling you for the past weeks, months or years. It may go against other things that you have read or heard from other people on the internet or Facebook. This may be bringing up uncomfortable feelings for you.
The information on my site is creating what is called "Cognitive Dissonance" in your brain. In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.
Your brain is an amazing organ. But it has some limitations. It has a hard time holding two competing thoughts at the same moment. This creates discomfort and when you are uncomfortable you try to relieve this discomfort as soon as possible. So you cling to the old information that is ingrained in your brain from other sources and reject any new information you have just received. That is why new ideas have a hard time becoming accepted, even when the evidence to support the new idea is seemingly obvious. This may be why some people don't even make it to my website or don't stay for long if they do.
"Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have."
– Emile Chartier
There have been extreme cases of this in human history:
At one time everyone believed that the world was flat. How could it be otherwise?!
At one time it was thought that the sun revolved around the Earth and the Earth was the center of the Universe. You can prove this just by looking, can't you?!!
Human sacrifice was made to appease the Gods and help make the crops grow strong.
Bonfires were lit during the darkest times of the year to make sure that the Sun came back from it's hiding place.
These things were all accepted as "true" at one time and anyone that thought differently was ridiculed, not listened to or possibly even put to death.
Now let's look at some ideas regarding your dog's health that may be ingrained in your brain:
Dog food is the best/only thing to feed my dog. Prescription dog food is the best thing to feed them if they have liver problems.
Surgery is the best and only way to fix a Liver Shunt.
If I can't afford surgery, then "medically managing" the condition using Rx dog food and drugs is the only other way.
Drugs are the only/best way to bring down high liver enzymes and restore my dog's liver health.
This is what you have been told for many years. This is what your Vet has been taught in Veterinary School. This is what most every Vet has been telling their customers for DECADES. This has become the "accepted" way of doing things.
If surgery is the best and only way to "fix" a liver shunt, then why does the liver shunt grow back in 40% to 50% of the cases after surgery?! Sometimes multiple liver shunts!!!
If "medically managing" is the next best option, why do I get emails like this seeking help - "My dog has a liver shunt. He was diagnosed 6 years ago. He has been fine on the prescription diet until now. Now he paces and whines at night." This dog's symptoms are returning and he is headed for liver failure.
Could it be that surgery is NOT a lasting "fix" for a liver shunt?!
Could it be that "medically managing" the condition does NOT produce lasting health either?!
Maybe this is why a Liver Shunt diagnosis is often looked at as a "death sentence" for your dog, because everything done to treat it doesn't produce lasting results and a shortened lifespan is the result.
Now let's look at some things that I am asking you to consider as possible truths on this website:
A Liver Shunt or Microvascular Dysplasia is NOT a genetic problem but a nutritional one.
The Liver Shunt or Microvascular Dysplasia exists as an emergency attempt of the body to deal with the unhealthy liver. The Liver Shunt or MVD is a SYMPTOM of the unhealthy liver NOT the cause of it.
Liver health and blood flow through the liver can be restored to normal with a better nutritional approach.
Once the liver health is restored, the liver shunt or MVD is no longer needed and the body gets rid of it. The symptom goes away when the underlying poor liver health is resolved.
Your dog's body knows how to produce better health if you simply start to supply their body with nutrients from proper whole food sources. Drugs may be unnecessary or possibly counterproductive.
These ideas may be completely opposite of what you have been told. They may be making you uncomfortable and causing you to reject them without giving them a chance. Your dog's health may suffer and their life shortened because of this.
Does it make more sense now why you (or your Vet) may be struggling to accept any new ideas?
"New ideas pass through three periods:
1) It can't be done.
2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing.
3) I knew it was a good idea all along!"
– Arthur C. Clarke
Please just keep an open mind to what you are reading here and see if what I am saying makes sense to you and whether I could very possibly help you and your beloved sick dog. Your mind is like a parachute - it only works when it is OPEN.
So, why IS my vet telling me something completely opposite?
"My vet has gone to the best Veterinary school in the nation/world!!! They are really, really smart. They have been my trusted advisor for many years."
OR
"My Vet makes me feel inferior to their overwhelming knowledge and experience so that I would be crazy and doing harmful things to my dog IF I go against my vet's wishes/suggestions. I don't know the right thing for my dog - it sure seems like my Vet does. If I question my Vet at all, they make me feel bad."
Let's take a look at how any standard Vet has been trained. Your Vet is likely a great person but there are limitations to what they have been taught and what they know and how they can help your dog.
Your Vet has been trained to help your dog in two areas, basically:
1). Using drugs
2). Doing surgery
So your Vet has been trained to come up with a diagnosis so that they can match a drug to it or they can perform surgery. This is a generalization but for the most part true.
Therefore, tests and procedures are performed in order to come up with a diagnosis. If a test or procedure is "inconclusive" or shows conflicting results, then typically another more expensive test is suggested, until FINALLY your vet has a diagnosis and can then work their magic using drugs and surgery.
"How can the problem be fixed if we don't know what it is!?" they may say.
Unfortunately, these tests and procedures are NOT getting your dog any closer to better health. They are racking up a larger and larger vet bill that is draining your bank account. This is not intentional - at least I hope it isn't - but is just the way your vet has been trained.
FINALLY, when a diagnosis is formulated, there are only two solutions to the problem - drugs or surgery. These are the only tools in your Vet's toolbox. Imagine trying to build a house with only a hammer and a saw?!
So drugs are prescribed. And if those drugs don't work, then other drugs are tried. And if those don't work than maybe new drugs. Or maybe surgery.
But is there really a drug out there that is going to heal your dog's liver?! I am not a Vet, but I have not come across a drug yet that healed a dog's liver in talking with thousands of people about their dogs and the standard veterinary approaches that are being used. Drugs are toxic to the body - that is why you can overdose on them - and they give the liver more things to deal with and filter out of the blood. This may be putting further stress on the already unhealthy liver.
Do you know what many drugs do? They take away the symptoms of problems. Most times they don't resolve the underlying problem, but only take away the symptoms. So you have to keep taking the drugs to stop the symptoms but if you stop the drugs the symptoms often come back worse then before?! You can never stop the drugs BUT the drugs never heal the health condition. This makes billions of dollars for the drug companies.
In fact, your Vet's diagnosis may just be treating your dog's symptoms. Your dog is vomiting? Then take a drug to stop the vomiting. Your dog has diarrhea? Then take a drug to stop the diarrhea. Your dog has seizures? Then take a drug to stop the seizure. A pill for every ill as they say.
What if the vomiting and diarrhea are the body's attempts to get healthier - the liver function is poor and not filtering out all the toxins and wastes and the body is using vomiting or diarrhea to get these OUT of the body. Aren't the drugs then working AGAINST what the body is trying to do?! Your vet certainly has not been taught this, I don't think. They are taught to take away the symptom by using the drug. This is often making the underlying problem worse!
Our health care system is about "symptom management" NOT producing lasting health.
So the drugs and prescription dog food takes away your dog's symptoms and you think that this approach is working because it looks like it is. Your dog is symptom free. But underneath all this the liver health is still poor and getting worse. At some point the symptoms come back because the liver is still unhealthy.
Your dog may stay in a "holding pattern" with this drug and Rx dog food approach. They may remain symptom free for years. But at some point the symptoms return because the liver has never been restored to health. Many times a dog has a shortened lifespan on this standard veterinary approach. This approach "works" - takes away symptoms - for awhile but does not produce long term results.
Another problem is this - your Vet is trained to view each part of the body as a separate entity. So each part is looked at almost as if it has no connection to the rest of the body?!
Last I checked, every part of the body is connected to every other part. What affects one part is going to affect every other part. That is why the most up to date Doctor's and Veterinarians are moving more to a Holistic model for health - what affects one part of the body affects ALL other parts of the body.
You or your dog's body is NOT like your automobile, just a collection of random parts working together. Using this car analogy, you can't just say "my brakes, or my fuel injectors or my radiator is bad - let's replace these things". Can you imagine how much more complicated car repair would be if when you replaced your brakes you had to worry about whether your car would start or not? In the body EVERYTHING is connected to everything else, so what is done to one part of the body will have an effect on other parts of the body. This is why drugs given to take away the symptoms of one condition may create problems in other areas.
This is also why a more holistic approach to health can work so well. A Holistic/natural healing health model says this - "if you increase health ANYWHERE in the body, you increase health EVERYWHERE in the body." So do the right things for the digestive tract (for example) and the liver, the kidneys and the bladder health is improved (along with everything else in the body). And the way to increase health is with better nutrition. What great news - there may actually be help for your sick dog!
In my opinion, the best way to heal the body is to provide the body with the nutrients it needs in an easily usable form and then trust that the body knows what to do to create better health. Your dog's body's #1 goal is to stay alive! So it will do what is necessary for this to happen. So start supplying your dog with more and better nutrients from whole foods and whole food supplements and get out of the way!
Remember, your mind is like a parachute - it only works when it is OPEN. Please be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. Your dog's life may depend on it. This information may make you uncomfortable or fearful because you have never used these principles before. That is why I will help you.
Just know that there is NO question about whether my approach works or whether it will work with your dog. This has been proven with thousands of other dogs. The only question is whether you are going to USE it with your dog or not. That is the choice you are making.
When it comes right down to it, YOU are in charge of your pet's health - NOT your Vet.
YOU get to chose the options that make the most sense to YOU. Your Vet certainly does not have all the answers. I don't have all of the answers either. The most help comes from those that realize this and then help you find the answers you are looking for.
If you would like help doing this Free Consultation Click here
See my next page on Why Can't My Vet Help Me With Better Nutrition? Click here
Free Email Series Click here
"I'm so thankful for your help, knowledge & method. It might sound crazy to some people but it really works. To see my dog today, I would never have believed you."
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it."
– Albert Einstein
"I swear, I wish I could hug you! I am so pleased with how Princess has changed, she is almost like a new animal! We are going on about maybe seven or eight weeks now. I honestly never imagined this would work, I almost felt as if I was getting sucked into an infomercial gimmick or something. I just didn't think there was that much difference in what we ate that would cause this significant difference in her health.
She sleeps with me now where she used to hide out in my closet all the time. She even stretches out and rolls on her back to have her belly rubbed! This seems like normal canine behavior but this was never typical behavior of this dog. You know, when she was taking her medication I thought that she was slightly mentally retarded or something. It was like she couldn't really see me. I thought she may have had a hint of blindness from all the seizures. Now, she's so alert, she's such a joy."
"Don’t be afraid of new ideas. Be afraid of old ideas. They keep you where you are and stop you from growing and moving forward. Concentrate on where you want to go, not on what you fear."
– Anthony Robbins
– Alfred North Whitehead
First of all, let me apologize.
Not because anything you will read here is wrong. Far from it. But I realize that the information I am sharing with you can be challenging. It may go against EVERYTHING that your Vet has been telling you for the past weeks, months or years. It may go against other things that you have read or heard from other people on the internet or Facebook. This may be bringing up uncomfortable feelings for you.
The information on my site is creating what is called "Cognitive Dissonance" in your brain. In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.
Your brain is an amazing organ. But it has some limitations. It has a hard time holding two competing thoughts at the same moment. This creates discomfort and when you are uncomfortable you try to relieve this discomfort as soon as possible. So you cling to the old information that is ingrained in your brain from other sources and reject any new information you have just received. That is why new ideas have a hard time becoming accepted, even when the evidence to support the new idea is seemingly obvious. This may be why some people don't even make it to my website or don't stay for long if they do.
"Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have."
– Emile Chartier
There have been extreme cases of this in human history:
At one time everyone believed that the world was flat. How could it be otherwise?!
At one time it was thought that the sun revolved around the Earth and the Earth was the center of the Universe. You can prove this just by looking, can't you?!!
Human sacrifice was made to appease the Gods and help make the crops grow strong.
Bonfires were lit during the darkest times of the year to make sure that the Sun came back from it's hiding place.
These things were all accepted as "true" at one time and anyone that thought differently was ridiculed, not listened to or possibly even put to death.
Now let's look at some ideas regarding your dog's health that may be ingrained in your brain:
Dog food is the best/only thing to feed my dog. Prescription dog food is the best thing to feed them if they have liver problems.
Surgery is the best and only way to fix a Liver Shunt.
If I can't afford surgery, then "medically managing" the condition using Rx dog food and drugs is the only other way.
Drugs are the only/best way to bring down high liver enzymes and restore my dog's liver health.
This is what you have been told for many years. This is what your Vet has been taught in Veterinary School. This is what most every Vet has been telling their customers for DECADES. This has become the "accepted" way of doing things.
If surgery is the best and only way to "fix" a liver shunt, then why does the liver shunt grow back in 40% to 50% of the cases after surgery?! Sometimes multiple liver shunts!!!
If "medically managing" is the next best option, why do I get emails like this seeking help - "My dog has a liver shunt. He was diagnosed 6 years ago. He has been fine on the prescription diet until now. Now he paces and whines at night." This dog's symptoms are returning and he is headed for liver failure.
Could it be that surgery is NOT a lasting "fix" for a liver shunt?!
Could it be that "medically managing" the condition does NOT produce lasting health either?!
Maybe this is why a Liver Shunt diagnosis is often looked at as a "death sentence" for your dog, because everything done to treat it doesn't produce lasting results and a shortened lifespan is the result.
Now let's look at some things that I am asking you to consider as possible truths on this website:
A Liver Shunt or Microvascular Dysplasia is NOT a genetic problem but a nutritional one.
The Liver Shunt or Microvascular Dysplasia exists as an emergency attempt of the body to deal with the unhealthy liver. The Liver Shunt or MVD is a SYMPTOM of the unhealthy liver NOT the cause of it.
Liver health and blood flow through the liver can be restored to normal with a better nutritional approach.
Once the liver health is restored, the liver shunt or MVD is no longer needed and the body gets rid of it. The symptom goes away when the underlying poor liver health is resolved.
Your dog's body knows how to produce better health if you simply start to supply their body with nutrients from proper whole food sources. Drugs may be unnecessary or possibly counterproductive.
These ideas may be completely opposite of what you have been told. They may be making you uncomfortable and causing you to reject them without giving them a chance. Your dog's health may suffer and their life shortened because of this.
Does it make more sense now why you (or your Vet) may be struggling to accept any new ideas?
"New ideas pass through three periods:
1) It can't be done.
2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing.
3) I knew it was a good idea all along!"
– Arthur C. Clarke
Please just keep an open mind to what you are reading here and see if what I am saying makes sense to you and whether I could very possibly help you and your beloved sick dog. Your mind is like a parachute - it only works when it is OPEN.
So, why IS my vet telling me something completely opposite?
"My vet has gone to the best Veterinary school in the nation/world!!! They are really, really smart. They have been my trusted advisor for many years."
OR
"My Vet makes me feel inferior to their overwhelming knowledge and experience so that I would be crazy and doing harmful things to my dog IF I go against my vet's wishes/suggestions. I don't know the right thing for my dog - it sure seems like my Vet does. If I question my Vet at all, they make me feel bad."
Let's take a look at how any standard Vet has been trained. Your Vet is likely a great person but there are limitations to what they have been taught and what they know and how they can help your dog.
Your Vet has been trained to help your dog in two areas, basically:
1). Using drugs
2). Doing surgery
So your Vet has been trained to come up with a diagnosis so that they can match a drug to it or they can perform surgery. This is a generalization but for the most part true.
Therefore, tests and procedures are performed in order to come up with a diagnosis. If a test or procedure is "inconclusive" or shows conflicting results, then typically another more expensive test is suggested, until FINALLY your vet has a diagnosis and can then work their magic using drugs and surgery.
"How can the problem be fixed if we don't know what it is!?" they may say.
Unfortunately, these tests and procedures are NOT getting your dog any closer to better health. They are racking up a larger and larger vet bill that is draining your bank account. This is not intentional - at least I hope it isn't - but is just the way your vet has been trained.
FINALLY, when a diagnosis is formulated, there are only two solutions to the problem - drugs or surgery. These are the only tools in your Vet's toolbox. Imagine trying to build a house with only a hammer and a saw?!
So drugs are prescribed. And if those drugs don't work, then other drugs are tried. And if those don't work than maybe new drugs. Or maybe surgery.
But is there really a drug out there that is going to heal your dog's liver?! I am not a Vet, but I have not come across a drug yet that healed a dog's liver in talking with thousands of people about their dogs and the standard veterinary approaches that are being used. Drugs are toxic to the body - that is why you can overdose on them - and they give the liver more things to deal with and filter out of the blood. This may be putting further stress on the already unhealthy liver.
Do you know what many drugs do? They take away the symptoms of problems. Most times they don't resolve the underlying problem, but only take away the symptoms. So you have to keep taking the drugs to stop the symptoms but if you stop the drugs the symptoms often come back worse then before?! You can never stop the drugs BUT the drugs never heal the health condition. This makes billions of dollars for the drug companies.
In fact, your Vet's diagnosis may just be treating your dog's symptoms. Your dog is vomiting? Then take a drug to stop the vomiting. Your dog has diarrhea? Then take a drug to stop the diarrhea. Your dog has seizures? Then take a drug to stop the seizure. A pill for every ill as they say.
What if the vomiting and diarrhea are the body's attempts to get healthier - the liver function is poor and not filtering out all the toxins and wastes and the body is using vomiting or diarrhea to get these OUT of the body. Aren't the drugs then working AGAINST what the body is trying to do?! Your vet certainly has not been taught this, I don't think. They are taught to take away the symptom by using the drug. This is often making the underlying problem worse!
Our health care system is about "symptom management" NOT producing lasting health.
So the drugs and prescription dog food takes away your dog's symptoms and you think that this approach is working because it looks like it is. Your dog is symptom free. But underneath all this the liver health is still poor and getting worse. At some point the symptoms come back because the liver is still unhealthy.
Your dog may stay in a "holding pattern" with this drug and Rx dog food approach. They may remain symptom free for years. But at some point the symptoms return because the liver has never been restored to health. Many times a dog has a shortened lifespan on this standard veterinary approach. This approach "works" - takes away symptoms - for awhile but does not produce long term results.
Another problem is this - your Vet is trained to view each part of the body as a separate entity. So each part is looked at almost as if it has no connection to the rest of the body?!
Last I checked, every part of the body is connected to every other part. What affects one part is going to affect every other part. That is why the most up to date Doctor's and Veterinarians are moving more to a Holistic model for health - what affects one part of the body affects ALL other parts of the body.
You or your dog's body is NOT like your automobile, just a collection of random parts working together. Using this car analogy, you can't just say "my brakes, or my fuel injectors or my radiator is bad - let's replace these things". Can you imagine how much more complicated car repair would be if when you replaced your brakes you had to worry about whether your car would start or not? In the body EVERYTHING is connected to everything else, so what is done to one part of the body will have an effect on other parts of the body. This is why drugs given to take away the symptoms of one condition may create problems in other areas.
This is also why a more holistic approach to health can work so well. A Holistic/natural healing health model says this - "if you increase health ANYWHERE in the body, you increase health EVERYWHERE in the body." So do the right things for the digestive tract (for example) and the liver, the kidneys and the bladder health is improved (along with everything else in the body). And the way to increase health is with better nutrition. What great news - there may actually be help for your sick dog!
In my opinion, the best way to heal the body is to provide the body with the nutrients it needs in an easily usable form and then trust that the body knows what to do to create better health. Your dog's body's #1 goal is to stay alive! So it will do what is necessary for this to happen. So start supplying your dog with more and better nutrients from whole foods and whole food supplements and get out of the way!
Remember, your mind is like a parachute - it only works when it is OPEN. Please be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. Your dog's life may depend on it. This information may make you uncomfortable or fearful because you have never used these principles before. That is why I will help you.
Just know that there is NO question about whether my approach works or whether it will work with your dog. This has been proven with thousands of other dogs. The only question is whether you are going to USE it with your dog or not. That is the choice you are making.
When it comes right down to it, YOU are in charge of your pet's health - NOT your Vet.
YOU get to chose the options that make the most sense to YOU. Your Vet certainly does not have all the answers. I don't have all of the answers either. The most help comes from those that realize this and then help you find the answers you are looking for.
If you would like help doing this Free Consultation Click here
See my next page on Why Can't My Vet Help Me With Better Nutrition? Click here
Free Email Series Click here
"I'm so thankful for your help, knowledge & method. It might sound crazy to some people but it really works. To see my dog today, I would never have believed you."
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it."
– Albert Einstein
"I swear, I wish I could hug you! I am so pleased with how Princess has changed, she is almost like a new animal! We are going on about maybe seven or eight weeks now. I honestly never imagined this would work, I almost felt as if I was getting sucked into an infomercial gimmick or something. I just didn't think there was that much difference in what we ate that would cause this significant difference in her health.
She sleeps with me now where she used to hide out in my closet all the time. She even stretches out and rolls on her back to have her belly rubbed! This seems like normal canine behavior but this was never typical behavior of this dog. You know, when she was taking her medication I thought that she was slightly mentally retarded or something. It was like she couldn't really see me. I thought she may have had a hint of blindness from all the seizures. Now, she's so alert, she's such a joy."
"Don’t be afraid of new ideas. Be afraid of old ideas. They keep you where you are and stop you from growing and moving forward. Concentrate on where you want to go, not on what you fear."
– Anthony Robbins