The Health of My Dog Is Still the Best Birthday Gift

Last year, I wrote an article titled My Dog's Health is the Best Birthday Gift. After having seen Cardiff through two bouts of Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA), his disease was completely in remission one year ago, on my birthday. Unfortunately, Cardiff had an IMHA recurrence a few months later, but his health is now as good as it can be considering the typical chronic and often fatal nature of his disease. In fact, Cardiff is now so healthy that he writes a dog blog to share his perspective on illness, recovery, doggy style, and travel. As I start my next year of life, I am grateful to Cardiff for his vigorous nature and unmatched ability to respond to his illness. If he was not such a spunky, vivacious pooch, he may not have recovered so well. Now that I am more experienced in treating his particular form of IMHA, I know that his condition is manageable and not definitively fatal. I treat Cardiff’s IMHA from both a Western and traditional Chinese veterinary medical (TVCM) perspectives, which has yielded a less severe clinical manifestation of illness and more rapid recovery. His latest blood tests looked as good as one would expect from a healthy dog not being medicated on a long term basis with an immunosuppressive drug. So, on your birthday, Thanksgiving, or any other time you reflect on your life, consider how lucky you are to have a healthy pet. If you are a parent to a sick cat or dog, remember that there are others out there in similar situations sending you and your pet positive thoughts of recovery and health. Cardiff and I thank you for reading this article! To receive my next article via email, please press the “Don’t Miss a Blog Post” button on the right upper corner of this page. Copyright of this article is owned by Dr. Patrick Mahaney, Veterinarian and Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. Republishing any portion of this article must first be authorized by Dr. Patrick Mahaney. Requests for republishing must be approved by Dr. Patrick Mahaney and received in written format.