Dr. B

Most people who know me, know that I don't enjoy science fiction and am a "get to the facts" type of person.   For me to schedule an appointment with an vet that practices Chinese medicine was completely out of the box...but I was frustrated by the fact that my vet was saying there was nothing we could do and only time would tell.  I was desperate to find anything that could help Frankie.

My visit to Dr. B was interesting to say the least.   First off,  my appointment was right after lunch so that I could bring Frankie in without exposing her to other dogs.  That made complete sense...so, other than us and the receptionist,  the place was pretty empty.   For some reason,  Dr. B still came into the room 40 minutes after our scheduled appointment.   Whoa nelly there,   I told myself,  don't cop an attitude now...maybe she can help Frankie.
Why is it that some vets do not have a "bed side manner"?  Is it because they can't relate to humans that they turn to animal medicine??
I talked about what had been going on ...the disease...and Frankie's behaviour and her continued weakening of her hind legs   In order to get her some sort of workout,  I would put her food bowl at the back part of the yard,  forcing her to get up and walk in order to eat.    This may sound cruel...but I had to do something to get her up and walking.   She could do this...start off at a sort of "bunny hop"  but once she got momentum,  she was up and walking.
The other issue is what I called her "doggie dreams".   About 4am she would get very restless.  She'd get up,  move a few inches, lay down, get up, move a few inches, lay down,  and this could go on and on.   She'd also start yipping   - like she was having a bad doggie dream...only her eyes would be wide open and nothing I could do to console her would calm her down.
The one thing that Dr. B said that made me stop and think....she said "I can get her to walk, but she'll never be completely normal again.  Can you live with that?"     Fair question...and I still don't know the answer.

So,  Dr. B brought out this pendant of some sort....on a chain,   and started chanting the names of the herbs she was going to prescribe....that chanting somehow that determined what the dosage would be.

I quickly learned that speaking during this was not appreciated.

At the end our of hour session,  I walked out of there an assortment of 8 different bottles - herbs, drops, pills that would help bring Frankie back to the healthy world.   Cha-ching...when I searched on the net after the fact,  I was honestly horrified at the bill and the  markup  for these herbs that I had paid.