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Always consult with your vet before starting bone/joint treatments or any other treatment.
Taylor (Rescue, 7+ yr. old.) - By Deborah Cipriani
Overweight, severe arthritis in both back knees, could not walk, blood serum calcium was 6.0.
Treatment: Rimadyl 25mg 1/2 pill in morning (Note: Rimadyl may cause liver problems, do blood work prior to giving Rimadyl and monthly after to monitor liver function). Cosequin (glucosamine 500mg, chondroitin 400mg total per day) twice daily morning and night. 1/8 tsp. Rep-Cal ultrafine powder with each meal. Water therapy treatment every third day, 20 minutes in 3 - 5 inches of water. In 37 days calcium was 8.2. In 45 days Taylor was walking, slowly, like an old man. Stopped the Rimadyl and Cosequin after 53 days. Now on 1/4 tsp. Synovi-MSM twice daily and B complex. Due to his habit of not eating much the diet was only yogurt and few pieces Innova dog food, or skunk mixture when he would eat it.
Ty (Rescue in 2002, 8 months old.) - By Deborah Cipriani
Poor Bone Density | Good Bone Density |
Poor Bone Density | Good Bone Density |
Malnutrition, poor diet (green bean's, pea's, lettuce); X-rays show very little bone mass or muscle, bones thin and brittle like egg shell, severely deformed legs. |
Oreo (rescue, three yrs. old) - By Missy Steinhauer
X-ray found that he had a broken pelvis, right about where the femur bone connects. |
Archie - By Tina Franks
June 20, 2000 Archie was 8 weeks old when I got him.
September 2000 Archie was 5 months old, he had broken his right growth plate [elbow cap]. Archie had his calcium level checked at this time, it was 10.5. Archie had surgery, which consisted of putting a pin and wire in his leg to hold the growth plate in place. Archie ended up needing more surgery on both growth plates in November 2000, as the left one did the same as the right, he was 7 months old at this time.
In January 2001 the third surgery was performed on both Archie's growth plates, as the pins and wires had came out - 9 months old. Archie's surgery was successful this time.
Archie After Surgery |
Pepe (Rescue, ) - By Cathy Dalgleish
Overweight.
I give Pepe 600mgs calcium, Oil of Evening Primrose, 250mgs taurine, and FaVor cat vitamins. Hydro-therapy
once a day for 15-20 minutes.
Flower - By Shawnya
Flower had a bad break, her ulna and radius snapped ([at] 8 weeks old).
She was given Neocalglucon 0.2 cc [two times] per day, Generic name is the Calciquid. we made our own tongue depressor or popsicle stick splint. It was suggested at the time that I go to a bone specialist to have her bones pinned together but her break was right in the growth plate. Her splint came off in about 3 to 4 weeks. Her bones healed very quickly.
Sweetie P (Rescue, ) - By Rhonda
On Jan. 4th of this year [2004], I noticed that Sweetie P was dragging one of her back legs. ... I decided to just wait and take her in with me on the 5th to have her X-rayed. On the morning of the 5th, when I got up, Sweetie P was dragging both back legs.
When I got to my vets and we X-rayed her, she had a pathalogical fracture, her spine is degenerating and full of spurs, her rib cage had even calcified. The vet said that Sweetie P was older than what I had been told. I told her no, that was her correct age, because I had been in contact with her original owner. We gave her a shot of predinizone, and I came home and did my homework and started doing all the research I could on her condition. I checked out Deb's [skunkhaven.net] site among many others. I even discussed with my vet all of my findings. I immediately increased Sweetie P's calcium to 600mgs a day, plus vitamin D, 400mgs. I initially put her on 1000mg of Glucosomine Sulphate. And started her on Water Therapy. We are up to 20 minutes a day now, but I worked her up to that. I also talked to ... PetEssences.com. I am a firm believer in the products they make, because some of them pulled one of my coon babies through a heart defect. ( Pet Essences makes products for animals that are derived from flowers, and things out of nature. All natural stuff, and I hate all the chemicals that we put into our own bodies, much less what we subject innocent animals to, that don't have a say, so I'm always looking for natural remedies and medications.) [A]fter hearing Sweetie P's diagnosis, suggested Paralysis Plus, Fracture Repair, and Dill. (Dill has been proven to eliminate spurs) So, I had [them] ship me the products. So now in addtion to the calcium, and glucosomine, she gets these 3 things 4 times a day, and she doesn't mind the taste at all. Then I read about dead sea salt, and how it too is suppose to help with stuff like she has. So I added 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt to 1 quart of water, and this became her drinking water.
A few days ago, Sweetie P stood on all 4 legs for the first time since Jan 4th. She didn't stand for long, but she stood!! She did it again the next day. Then yesterday [Feb 2] she WALKED! Again, not far, but after all we've been through a few steps was a Godsend. She has been standing for longer periods today, and she walked for me again today, a few more steps than yesterday.
I wish I could tell you exactly what it is that is working on her, I don't know, there is such a combination of things that I am doing. Maybe it's the whole combination. Again, I don't know, and don't care. It's working, and that's all that matters to me. Sweetie P has been an absolute angel through all of this, and if any of you know Sweetie P, then you know she can at times be anything but an angel... But she has always been and will always be a momma's girl. Sweetie P and I survived her being missing for a month, and so far, we are winning this battle too, and WE WILL WIN IT! We have been through so much together and her and I will stay strong and survive this too.
Miss Daisy - by Bonnie Noehr
Miss Daisy is a 3 1/2 year old chocolate classic female purchased from Ruby Farms. When she was little - and a cute little fuzzball she was - we started her on the Skunkie Delight recipe. Everything went fine for the first six months but she eventually refused the original and any modification to the recipe. Gradually we fed her a variety of vegetables, cottage cheese, yogurt and a few table scraps here and there. However, we discontinued the healthy powder as we didn't know how much of what to give her so supplements were withdrawn. Apparently, her diet was insufficient as we noticed that she began limping in December, 2003. The vet could find nothing wrong and felt it must be soft tissue damage or a pulled muscle.
By summer, 2004, we were increasingly concerned and contacted Deb for information. We had started to add kibble (Nutro) to her diet but still, no supplements. Unfortunately, the next visit to the vet ended in disaster as the X-rays showed loss of bone density AND, his assistant broke her humerus while trimming her nails! She had an unsuccessful surgery (pin placement) and is now on her second cast in an effort to repair the fracture.
Violet - By Steve
Violet at 2 years had broken legs and broken ribs.
I am writing this letter to let you know and all others about how you came to my wife and I rescue [with] our skunk Violet.
To start with Violet was 3 months old when we got her, she was just great. We fed her boiled chicken, veggies, some yogurt, fruit, and olive oil, and I gave her liquid calcium for approx. 2 years. She GAINED weight, probably too much weight looked healthy as a horse, ate good. Then approx. 11/04 I noticed she had a slight limp now and then and had strange smell to her. Then her limp got worse, to a point where she could hardly get up.
I took her to the vet and had some X-rays done and blood work. The x-rays showed drastic bone depletion wash out and her back leg was broken up high thigh area. She would need surgery to fix it. We searched and searched for a bone surgeon that would see a skunk, my wife was pleading with them to see her. She doesn't bite at all. She finally found a place that would see her, so at 12:00 midnight we took her to this animal hospital. They examined her and told us the same thing and that there surgeons would probably NOT work on her. But the Doctor that examined her said he would talk to the surgeon the next day and tell him of her temperament. It turned out he used to have a skunk a few years back (The old soft spot in the heart). He talked to the surgeon and they called that day and said ok.
I brought her down for the surgery and all the vet records, they wanted to see them. Then they called later that day and said she didn't do well under the anesthesia - not breathing well - so they didn't do the operation. The surgeon told me that her bones were like egg shells but her leg was healing (Which it was an over lapped healing) and to get her on some dog food to build her up. I came home and called you and you told me about your remedy. (THE REMEDY WORKS) GIVE IT TIME !!!!!!!! TIME IS THE KEY.
Here all along I was giving her calcium but no vitamin (D) with out the D she couldn't absorbed the calcium. Your remedy called for RepCal with D3 and in a month she got re X-rayed, bones were on the build slightly, but 2 other legs had breaks and all her ribs were broke. We thought to have her put down but you told us to GIVE IT TIME. The poor thing could hardly move (and never made one whimper). The surgeon said these things sure are tough animals. Two month later I went back to the Surgeons, bones were building and healing more and they couldn't believe it, but she still wasn't walking. Well to sum it up short, its 7/05 and she can RUN. Unbelievable... believe it ( Give it time).
Charlie - By Diana
Thanks to Skunk Haven, my blessed little boy, Charlie, has been rescued in more ways than one!
Charlie was first rescued by Skunk Haven in 2006 and I adopted him immediately. He was overweight and had been on a very unhealthy diet in his former homes. It took some time but I got the excess weight off of him, only to find that over time, Charlie was losing his mobility in his back legs.
In March of 2008, Charlie finally lost the ability to walk. He would drag himself around by his front legs but anyone could see he was having difficulty doing even a little at that time.
Being without the funds necessary to take him to specialists/vets like I wanted to, I began asking other skunk owners for advice and researching online.
In the meantime, Charlie remained unable to move but short distances. As I was working outside the home, it was a daily task of coming home and bathing Charlie immediately as he had sat in his own waste for several hours on some days. During bath time, Charlie moved around a lot more and seemed to enjoy the buoyancy the water provided...and relief! As I had previously had another skunk who had leg surgery and require hydrotherapy, I thought Charlie would benefit from this same treatment as well.
After some X-rays were done, we saw that Charlie's hips and lower vertebre were deteriorating. Drastic measures needed to be taken. The vet wasn't at all encouraging and informed me that Charlie would more than likely never walk again. She advised me that I should keep him as comfortable as possible, and, might even possibly consider putting him down.
However, it wasn't until Deb from Skunk Haven called me in October and recommended an all-natural supplement diet that she said had been tested and tried before with great results. Skunks that were not walking soon began to she told me.
I continued the physical therapy but began adding an extensive list of supplements to Charlie's diet. I stopped giving him everything the vet had provided (pain meds, anti-inflammatory meds and stereoids) after Deb told me her concerns about some of them being fatal to skunks. Within two short weeks of this new regimen, Charlie stood up on his own! Within FOUR weeks he was walking around...slowly, of course, but he WAS WALKING!
I cannot tell you how much Deb's support through this meant to me. And I'm sure if Charlie could speak to us humans, he'd tell her how much it meant to him as well! As of December 2008, Charlie is doing fine. He will never run like his younger "brother", Trapper, but he gets around just the same. Charlie was "rescued" again by Deb and her love for these precious babies!
I am including a link to a video of Charlie filmed six weeks into his new regimen.
Thank you Deb and Skunk Haven!!!
© 2001-2009 Skunk Haven™ Skunk Rescue, Shelter, and Education, Inc.
Revised 04/12/09 (kw)
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