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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Did ReLiv Save Kosmo's Life?

Kosmo, our 12-year-old Greater Swiss, nearly died last week. He'd taken ill about 10 days before, with another nasty bladder infection. He was peeing blood, just as he had earlier this year. And he lost virtually all interest in food.

Our vet sent Kosmo's urine specimen in for a culture. The results were shocking: Kosmo had a raging case of e coli! Exactly how he got it will alway remain a mystery, but it has something to do with a dog's personal hygiene. Seems they most often contaminate themselves through the licking process. We (dogs and humans) all have e coli in our systems, but this is not a dangerous thing until the e coli spreads to internal organs. This is more common in females than males, but obviously the males can get it too. The bacteria travels up the urethra and wreaks havoc with the digestive system.

The vet put Kosmo on antibiotics and a sulfa drug, along with an antacid to help any tummy upset caused by the drugs.

Still, Kosmo wouldn't eat. We'd have to coax him to lick up a tablespoon of plain yogurt. He turned down hamburger (raw AND cooked), along with chicken. He seemed hungry, but couldn't bring himself to actually put anything into his mouth that he had to chew.

He dwindled before our eyes. Ten days had passed, and Kosmo hadn't eaten the equivalent of one big healthful meal. Once in a while I could coax him to eat an egg, or a little more yogurt, but he flatly refused even his delicious Flint River Ranch food, along with anything else that required chewing.

One of my students in Thompson Falls had raved about a nutritional product she sells called ReLiv. She'd fed it to her dog when she got parvo, and the dog made a miraculous turnaround in two days. Another friend with a sick dog (some type of stomach virus) had also administered ReLiv when her dog quit eating. The dog's appetite came back and she began re-hydrating herself.

Now I'm a pretty big skeptic about these "nutraceutical wonders," especially when it's an MLM (multi-level marketing) company and when the distributors make pretty wild claims about what their products can cure. But frankly I was at the end of the rope with Kosmo. If he didn't start eating soon, he'd die.

Kosmo turned down his "breakfast in bed" of yogurt and egg that morning. Until then, he'd at least licked that off our fingers as we dipped them into the bowl. But not on this day. He had quit. His eyes were droopy, and he was too weak to get up, let alone stand without shaking.

So I called my friend, the ReLiv distributor, and arranged to get a small sample bag of the drink mix powder from her. I brought it home, mixed up about two tablespoons of liquid, and fed it to Kosmo in a small syringe. I did this twice, about three hours apart.

At 6:00 that night Kosmo got up and told us he wanted his food. REGULAR DOG FOOD. We gave him his usual amount, and he ate every kibble. That was three days ago, and he's had a voracious appetite since then! We've continued to syringe ReLiv into him about twice a day, and he now offers to lick the mixing cup clean. This morning he made a mile-long walk up the hill with us to get the Sunday paper. He got home and started barking for more food!

Now, I'm still a skeptic. I don't believe all the claims that ReLiv can cure cancer, multiple sclerosis, and arthritis. But the research I've done on this product tells me that, if nothing else, this is an EXCEPTIONALLY good vitamin supplement...far better than pills...and that the secret is the synergistic way the ReLiv vitamins work together in the body.

I ordered a can of it for myself. It's very expensive (about $80+/month for an adult), but worth trying once, considering it got our dog eating again and seemed to bring him back from the brink. Maybe it was coincidence. But the fact that he refused breakfast, had the ReLiv, and suddenly jumped back into living seems fairly convincing.

If you're interested in trying this product for yourself or your dogs, you can contact my friend here in Thompson Falls. Her name is Mac Rider. Her email address is: smurfatooty@yahoo.com.
The bottom line: keep an open mind and don't rule out holistic, homeopathic or "alternative" medical/nutritional solutions for your dog's health problems. They just might save your dog's life!

2 comments:

lovin' my puppy said...

My mum had been a distributor of Reliv for years and not only do I feed it to my dogs to maintain excellent health, but my entire family takes it too. At first I too, was a skeptic, but the results are there and I have personally seen people come back from near death simply because they took Reliv.
LOVE IT!

Unknown said...

I've used Reliv to care for rescue kittens that the vet said would not live through the week. I've used Reliv for my 17 year old dog with cancer and congestive heart failure that was diagnosed 2 years ago.
I've used Reliv for a horse who couldn't walk due to severe arthritis. She got back to having great range of movement and very little pain.
I've used Reliv for my G.S. dog because vet said she had a bad hip and would have to be put down. It is now 3 years later and she is doing great. LOVE MY RELIV!