By Dr. Patrick Mahaney, VMD
Over 10 months ago, one of my favorite patients suffered one of the most horrific traumas I have seen in my 11 years of veterinary practice.
Buddha, a brindle, French Bulldog, incurred third-degree burns over his neck and chest from an unknown cause.
Buddha’s owner was unwilling to undertake the financial responsibilities involved in treating such severe burns and intended to euthanize Buddha. As I have known Buddha since puppyhood, I couldn’t let him be put to sleep. I knew that he would heal with medical and possibly surgical treatment. Therefore, I had the owner surrender ownership of Buddha.
The Rascal and Chloe Fund, Inc. stepped in to finance Buddha’s extensive, long-term treatment and placed him in a loving, permanent home.
Initially, Buddha needed to be sedated or anesthetized for bandage changes and debridement (removal) of dead skin. With time, granulation tissue (“new skin”) filled in the gaps and scars formed. As Buddha is an otherwise healthy adult, he has healed consistently and the burned skin gradually appears more normal.
Remarkably, Buddha has not needed surgery to close his wounds.
Buddha’s ongoing treatment includes acupuncture, Omega fatty acids (fish oil), regular bathing, topical ointments, and prevention of trauma and sunburn. As hair regrowth causes occasional bouts of itchy folliculitis, Buddha occasionally must wear an array of stylish, skin protecting shirts.
As part of my house call based acupuncture practice, I provide dry needle and electroacupuncture treatments to promote Buddha’s healing process.
It has been truly amazing to see Buddha’s progress.
During Buddha’s treatment, I document the diminishing appearance of his scar and the surprising appearance of new hair growth.
Buddha’s ongoing medical care is being funded by The Rascal & Chloe Fund, Inc. and the philanthropic donations good Samaritans make in Buddha’s name. The Rascal & Chloe fund has been incredibly generous with their financial donations, time, and emotional support in taking responsibility for Buddha’s care.
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Dr. Patrick uses acupuncture on his own pet. He completed the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS) basic course (2006) and he is now a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist (CVA).
He earned this certification after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (1999) and completed an internship at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C (2000).
Why does he believe so strongly in acupuncture for your pets, especially as a pain management tool? Because combining both Western and Eastern treatments can produce a better outcome for your pets.
Dr. Patrick also works with local Los Angeles rescue organizations to help those pets that have been given a second chance to live healthier lives, and he is currently sharing his pet care knowledge at his Los Angeles Pet Care Examiner column.
Over 10 months ago, one of my favorite patients suffered one of the most horrific traumas I have seen in my 11 years of veterinary practice.
Buddha’s owner was unwilling to undertake the financial responsibilities involved in treating such severe burns and intended to euthanize Buddha. As I have known Buddha since puppyhood, I couldn’t let him be put to sleep. I knew that he would heal with medical and possibly surgical treatment. Therefore, I had the owner surrender ownership of Buddha.
The Rascal and Chloe Fund, Inc. stepped in to finance Buddha’s extensive, long-term treatment and placed him in a loving, permanent home.
Initially, Buddha needed to be sedated or anesthetized for bandage changes and debridement (removal) of dead skin. With time, granulation tissue (“new skin”) filled in the gaps and scars formed. As Buddha is an otherwise healthy adult, he has healed consistently and the burned skin gradually appears more normal.
Buddha’s ongoing treatment includes acupuncture, Omega fatty acids (fish oil), regular bathing, topical ointments, and prevention of trauma and sunburn. As hair regrowth causes occasional bouts of itchy folliculitis, Buddha occasionally must wear an array of stylish, skin protecting shirts.
As part of my house call based acupuncture practice, I provide dry needle and electroacupuncture treatments to promote Buddha’s healing process.
During Buddha’s treatment, I document the diminishing appearance of his scar and the surprising appearance of new hair growth.
Buddha’s ongoing medical care is being funded by The Rascal & Chloe Fund, Inc. and the philanthropic donations good Samaritans make in Buddha’s name. The Rascal & Chloe fund has been incredibly generous with their financial donations, time, and emotional support in taking responsibility for Buddha’s care.
***
Dr. Patrick uses acupuncture on his own pet. He completed the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS) basic course (2006) and he is now a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist (CVA).
He earned this certification after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (1999) and completed an internship at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C (2000).
Why does he believe so strongly in acupuncture for your pets, especially as a pain management tool? Because combining both Western and Eastern treatments can produce a better outcome for your pets.
Dr. Patrick also works with local Los Angeles rescue organizations to help those pets that have been given a second chance to live healthier lives, and he is currently sharing his pet care knowledge at his Los Angeles Pet Care Examiner column.
Thank you for posting Buddha's story! He is an inspiration to all dogs (and people) recovering from illness and trauma!
ReplyDeleteDr. PM
This is such a wonderful and inspirational post. Thank you for sharing. We popped over from the blog hop and am so glad we did. We hope you'll take time to visit us. Our blog today is on canine epilepsy and our journey with it. Glad to be a new follower of your blog!
ReplyDeleteHi, welcome and thank you for stopping by! Sorry to hear about your poor epileptic guy.
ReplyDeleteI read about a number of cases where seizures in dogs were successfully treated with TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine)
Please check out this forum, there are a number of entries on that
http://forum.dog.com/default.aspx
Bottom line seems to be that epilepsy diagnosis really means "we have no idea why your dog is having seizures". TCVM is a very different approach to diagnostic and treatment, you can find some articles on my blog too under Alternative Solutions.
This is such an amazing story and yet another example of The Rascal and Chloe Rescue stepping in when all hope was nearly lost. Thank you so much to this wonderful organization for taking on the most difficult cases time and again. You have such a big heart and deserve so much support. Bless you!
ReplyDeleteHi Y'all,
ReplyDeleteLooks like Budda has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
My Humans swear by accupunture after seeing how much it helped one of their performance horses with a bad back...this was in the 80's.
Since my Human Momma had a friend with cancer who received accupuncture to control the pain...and finally Momma and Papa decided to get accupuncture for some of their own physical problems.
So wonderful to know most Humans really care about us.
Hawk aka BrownDog
I followed on Twitter and now your blog, too!. We're at http://thedogblog84.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteHi Katie, welcome to my blog, I hope you'll find some useful information here.
ReplyDelete