My Dog "NIKKI" Just Another Dog?

Several years ago I became ill, loss of energy and concentration. I had to quit work, went to the doctors every day, tests, pills and all that stuff. After two years I walked away without answers. So of course it's psychological and here comes more pills.

Enough I thought, if nature made me nature can cure me. The SICK CARE system had no more answers with the exception of more pills. I'd had enough of this.

The following years I went on a quest for knowledge about health and found some success. Finding the cause was the goal to finding the cure. It was still illusive. Then enters NIKKI, my dog.

Let me say that I was never a pet person, dogs were ok, but not big deal with me. We inherited NiKKI through circumstances. She was about 3 years old, mixed something or other, one gray eye, back legs longer than front and a sassy attitude.

The very first day she tried to bite me, she found out who the boss was real quick. She's a quick learner.

A strange thing happened the next months, I came to like her and since I was home sick all the time she became a comfort. A little living creation that just wanted affection, love and food, what a novel idea, simple.

She needed grooming and we found a place, but soon the groomer moved the business to her home and we followed. Then trouble started, after our first visit to the grommers new location (her home) NIKKI acted subdued, sick like, but after a few days she looked ok. The next month NIKKI exited the groomers house again looking a little sicker than she did the first visit and this time she didn't recover.

Three weeks passed and NIKKI was scratching and itching till she bled. She started anti social behavior, lying in dark corners, not eating (very rare) and losing weight. Even I, as a novice in animal behavior new something was wrong. We found a local vet and they knew right away the seriousness of NIKKIS condition. NIKKI had gone down from 20 lbs. to around 13 lbs., a serious loss.

It was at this time I realized how attached I had become to NIKKI. As I looked into her eyes she expressed the pain without having to speak. What was this all about, am I DR. Doolittle? I feel a animals pain? I'm the one who is sick, now I have a sick dog.

I took NIKKI to the vets everyday for I.V. fluids and testing. I would use my emotional energy to research her condition. She still didn't want to eat and the vet was very concerned. I would mix special food, put it into a syringe and force feed NIKKI only to have her vomit it up. I still have the scares when we battled over her resistance to being fed.

I broke down that night, realizing my ignorance could cost NIKKI her life. Imagine crying over a dog. Looking back NIKKI gave me two things, I discovered that she needed me and i needed her. We as humans have a need to be needed, by this we take our minds off of us and think about someone else. This process gave me strength to help NIKKI, I found myself thinking " I'll do everything in my power to save her" that meant reading and researching to find out what's wrong.

We did discover the problem, ADDISONS Disease, a immune disorder treatable with lifetime monthly injections.

During NIKKIS recovery I slept with her because she was still weak, not out of the woods yet. I would feel her shake at night, she had seizures.,One instance, on a Sunday afternoon she went in her cage (very rare), I was on the couch napping. All of a sudden I heard the cage shaking, she was having a seizure in her cage, mouth foaming, her little body wet, I pulled her from the cage, her eyes saying, I'm really sick, I held her in my arms and said: "God if you take her you better take care of her". I guess that was still my job because NIKKI is with us today.

Finally, NIKKI was gaining weight, eating and looking better. My little girl was back,

The twist to this story is, several weeks after NIKKI recovered I had a suspicion, I acted on the chance life had done one of its uncalculated twists for my situation. I went to the doctor and asked for a couple of tests, I was right. The cause of my illness was adrenal stress, the very thing NIKKI has.

NIKKI didn't know that she had a purpose beyond a pet. A dog was sent to do what the almighty medical system couldn't or wouldn't do.

How many ways is a answer sent to us? Sometimes were just to busy and don't recognize it.

Our pets are unique and special to us, each in there own ways. I will always remember NIKKI as a dog, a companion and the answer to my prayer.

I must thank Dr. Gleason over at Banfield (now moved on) and our current DR. Clark, I respect them both for there kindness and care they extend to NIKKI and I.

We lost Nikki on 1-5-2010. She will be missed dearly and always remembered. 

I came to find out adrenal stressis is a under diagnosed condition. It can be the root cause of other problems such as headaches, weak immune system, poor digestion etc. Why? Because the chemical imbalance created by this condition disturbs many functions.

There are a few tests, one is a pituitary stimulation test and a saliva test, both low cost. The biggest indicator is if you just don't feel recharged after a good nights sleep and can't seem to recover. Always feeling sluggish.

The reports I read stated that 85% of the population has some degree of adrenal stress and doesn't know it. Why doctors are remiss in addressing this area is beyond me.

If you feel bad it's worth the time to have this checked out, it's painless and inexpensive