In June of 2007 when my dad had his 90th birthday party and Thelma and Louise
were 5, both my little girls got held by many people at the party and passed around
andhandled the way they had never been handled before. Thelma did fine but all
the jostling around was not good for Louise and when she woke up the next
morning, her shoulders were all hunched up, her neck was thick and she could
hardly walk.
The next day, my vet wanted to x-ray her and consider surgery right away. Because
I am a big fan of holistic care, I opted instead to search online for a Fort Wayne vet
who did chiropractic adjustments. After not finding one, I searched The Nature of
Animal Healing by Dr. Martin Goldstein and discovered Dr. Anders who was a bit
more than an hour's drive away in Coldwater but I was willing to travel for holistic
care. I called on Sunday when his office was closed and left a message and when Dr.
Anders called me back at 10:00 that night and asked if I could bring Louise in the
next morning, I knew I had found a very special vet.
After some chiropractic adjustments and homeopathic tablets, Louise was good as
new. During these visits, Dr. Anders taught me that most vet schools do not devote
much time to holistic methods but he had experienced great success in treating
animals this way including the use of acupuncture. He has always respected my
desire for staying away from chemicals. Since 2007, we have been making the trips
to Dr. Anders for annual exams, teeth cleanings and the occasional chiropractic
adjustments and acupuncture treatments when needed. As Thelma and Louise's
organs get older, Dr. Anders determines through taking their pulses that they each
need herbs to maintain healthy kidney function, in Thelma's case, and healthy liver
and spleen function in Louise's. They both take a disgestive enzyme as well as a
supplement to keep their joints lubricated. Regular muscle testings confirm their
dosages.
In early February of 2013, Thelma went flying off the sofa without using her little
footstool which was so unusual because she always uses it. When she landed, she
turned around and looked at me with a surprised expression. The next morning she
could hardly walk so off to Dr. Anders we went.
He gave her a chiropractic adjustment because her lower back was not feeling quite
right and he also did acupuncture. He sent us off with rimadyl for pain as needed
and Traumeel and Zeel (two homeopathic pills for joint pain, soreness and
bruising.) When we returned in a week she was a little better so this time he did a
laser treatment on her. This really helped a lot in pulling the inflammation out but a
week later she was still not recovering very well so we went back again and this
time he took some pictures of her spine with a thermal imaging camera and it was
amazing to see all the redness (inflammation) in her left shoulder and lower
back. He decided the next step was to take an X-ray and while the film was
developing, he did another laser treatment on her.
He came out with the x-rays and said, "I was afraid of this." He showed me how a
couple of Thelma's vertebrae in her lower back are beginning to fuse together. This
narrows the canal where the nerves run and the result is a lot of pain and stiffness,
as you can imagine. The condition is called spondylosis. He said that in younger
dogs, surgery can be done where a rod is inserted but he said a dog Thelma's age
(11) probably wouldn't tolerate this very well. He said it is a degenerative condition
and does not reverse but could be managed with repeated acupuncture
treatments. I asked if her situation was bad enough and painful enough for her that
we consider putting her to sleep and he said "no" right away.
Then, it was like a light bulb went on for him and he said, "Gold beads!" He went on
to explain and we decided to go ahead with this procedure on April 2. With Thelma
under general anesthesia, Dr. Anders inserted a total of 930 tiny gold beads (no
bigger than the tip of a pen) into all of the acupuncture points along both sides of
her spine and down the meridians until they ended on both sides of her little body.
Now Thelma has "mobile acupuncture" going on all the time. The beads stay put
and generate new tissue growth around the vertebrae to make them stronger and
healthier. He said that the tissues around her fusing vertebrae will get stronger and
more resilient so that her spondylosis will not be so pronounced. She no longer
needs the kidney herb she was taking. Her eyes glisten all the time and she is just as
active as she was in her younger years. Her skin is now clear whereas before she
would scratch and roll on the floor a lot to get her back scratched. Her fur is soft and
sleek and not coarse anymore. I am so happy we had this done!
We have always been treated so well by everyone who works with Dr. Anders and
they have shown sensitivity in working with me financially, too. We love their
recent addition of "surgery buddies," a stuffed animal you choose and rub on you so
it contains your scent, and when your pup comes out of anesthesia, the little animal
with your scent on it is in their crate for comfort.
Dr. Anders is the antithesis of a vet who only prescribes drugs and does surgery. He is a gifted person who never uses a stethoscope but instead takes the pulses and can determine which organs are functioning well and which organs need some help and then responds with acupuncture, herbs, laser treatments, chiropractic adjustments, and yes, gold bead implants. Thelma and Louise are very blessed to be under his care and I have recommended him to so many people. Melanie Myers
Thank you for your story - Louise will be sadly missed.