Last Chance Dog

I’m such a skeptic.  If it doesn’t have a reasonable explanation or if it doesn’t seem logical, I don’t believe it.  I think religion is a bunch of hooey.  I hate that people spend money to “cast spells” and “lift curses”.  I’ve never understood why homeopathy, using a millionth of a part of some poisonous substance, can have any effect on anything.  If I don’t think it makes sense, I don’t have any patience for it, so colour me surprised because I loved Dr. Donna Kelleher’s book, The Last Chance Dog.  Kelleher is trained as a “conventional” vet, but continued her studies to become trained in alternative veterinary medicine, including acupuncture, chiropractic, and homeopathy.  This book is a series of case studies from her practice in Seattle, and each chapter focuses on a particular type of healing, with tips for the pet owner at the end of each chapter.  There are recipes for homemade diets, for specials teas for various healing purposes, and numerous homeopathic suggestions for non-emergency situations.  I appreciate that Kelleher tells people to take their dog to a conventional vet first if there’s any possibility of an emergency, but then provides ways a pet owner can work to resolve non-emergency situations at home (or in conjunction with veterinary care).  There are many case studies where conventional and alternative medicine complement each other, and while I’m still going to scowl and roll my eyes at the idea of NAET, I’m completely ready to try to find an acupuncturist to work on Phoenix to help with her allergies.  I think Kelleher goes a bit overboard in a few places in her book in an attempt to capture “spirituality” (her encounter with “garden spirits” made her sound more impaired than inspired), but she’s otherwise very sincere in what she writes, and has a lot of good ideas and suggestions.  I have one big question, though… what ever happened to Spencer, the turtle?!  Kelleher loses her pet turtle three-quarters of the way through the book and as it ended, she still hadn’t found him.

In conclusion, a big “four paws up for this book”.  Speaking of four paws, I’ve ordered Four Paws Five Directions by Cheryl Schwartz, to continue reading about Chinese medicine for cats and dogs.  I wonder if it could help Keno with her feather plucking, too?

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/05 at 10:08 PM

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  1. Hi Leigh-Ann…
    You just solved a present problem for me. I am getting this book for my brother who has a 4-month old lab, Sam. I think “Sam” is his and his wife’s “Practice Kid.” Amazon here I come…

    By the way, not sure if you saw last week’s article…if you get the chance, I’d love to have you drop in.

    Ciao for now…

    Teri

    Posted by Teri  on  12/07  at  09:12 PM

  2. Actually, my vet is an “alternative” vet along with being traditional. She is treating one of my Oriental Shorthairs for ocular herpes with acupunture. We watch the progress of the treatments carefully, and she will go back to Western meds if he needs it, but so far for over a year he has been kept quite well, thank you very much, using acupuncture, L-Lsyine and Wei Chi booster.

    He is a happy kitty about not having to have a lot of eye meds, which makes him very nervous and he will run under the bed if he suspects I am going to medicate him, but he really is not thrilled with the “needles”.

    She begins the process with his “happy point”, but I think as the treatment goes on, he may be getting a little sensitive to the needles.

    I love the book you mention, “Four Legs”, which is the bible my vet uses:)

    There are some fantastic books out there.I have also been reading Pam Johnson Bennet’s- books which are wonderful. I love, especially, “Think Like A Cat”.

    Jo

    Posted by Jo  on  03/24  at  10:56 AM

  3. I just had “Think Like A Cat” delivered on Wednesday, believe it or not.  I’d purchased it about a month ago as a gift for a friend, and when I flipped through it I liked it so much I had to have my own copy.  I also own PJB’s “Cat vs. Cat”, “Twisted Whiskers”, and “Hiss and Tell”... I’ve got two cats who fight, so I read a lot of behavioural books trying to find solutions.  Oddly enough, I think fostering kittens seemed to make the adult cats friendlier, and we haven’t had a fight in a while, but knock on wood…

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/24  at  07:19 PM
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