Akiva has seen some very significant improvement over the past couple weeks.

This is an updated video of Akiva Walking taken today, 5-11-2010.  Akiva has been walking much better, with an improved gait, less swaying of his head side to side, and less exhaustion.  Today is the longest that Akiva has been able to walk without sitting down since before he became ill.  He is able to climb some stairs again, the steps in the house are too much for him, but he can handle the couple steps going in and out of the house. Some more comments below the video.

We can see in this video that there is significant improvement over what we saw just under a month ago. I just looked through the videos from 4-12 and Akiva was not able to stay standing / walking for any longer than 12 seconds. Today, he was walking without sitting down for over 3 minutes.

We notice towards the end of the video, he trips slightly, but he quickly catches himself. If you compare this to the videos taken just under a month ago on 4-12, you will notice that when he tripped on the 4-12 video, he hit the ground with his chest, but now when he tripped, he is able to catch himself.

Tripping on 4-12 (this is typical of what happened when he was tripping around this time, not just a one time incident):

Tripping on 5-11 (this is what happens now if he does trip, he has not been wiping out anymore):

Akiva has been seeing a chiropractor vet in Green Bay for treatment over the past couple weeks. I have Akiva on a number of supplements as well. He is currently taking;

Acetyl-l-Carnitine – 500mg QD – Thorne Research
Coq10 – 45mg BID – Nutramax
Back Support – 1 capsule BID - Vetri-Science
Fish Oil – 321mg Omega 3 BID - Nordic Naturals
Glycoflex III – 1/2 tab QD – Nutramax
Denosyl – 225mg QD – Nutramax
Marin – 1/2 tab QD – Nutramax
DMG – .5 ML QD – Vetri-Science

I may add in a dose of Alpha Lipoic Acid and Vitamin E based upon the suggestions published by the Neuro Muscular Lab at the University of California.

His allergies have also improved since he has been on the Nordic Naturals fish oil, far less itching than normal, some days almost no itching at all.  Akiva has remained bright, and alert with completely normal mentation.

He has also resumed a normal interest in food.  We have been able to reduce Akiva’s weight by 2+ pounds slowly with a reduction of calories, he is currently about 16.8 pounds, with a goal of 13-15.  He was at about 19 pounds at the end of march, I feel we are achieving weight loss at a reasonable pace, and will continue towards his ideal weight.  I feel we will be able to get into the 13-15 pound range within the next 6 weeks.

Akiva will be going into Great Lakes Vet in the next week or so to get a follow up test to confirm that he does not have a toxo infection.

A big thanks to everyone invloved in Akiva’s Care including;

Dr. Jeff Kresal at Great Lakes Vet clinic in Neenah

Dr. Karen Strickfaden at Country Care Animal Complex in Green Bay

Dr. Sophie Petersen at UW Madison Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital

Dr. Bruce VanEnkevort at Fox Valley Animal Referral Center in Appleton

The wonderful Vet Techs and other staff members that have been a pleasure to work with at all of the vet offices — Every single one of you has been wonderful to work with.

Also, My family and friends for their emotional and financial support.

The members of various support groups that have been very supportive; Canine Central, K9 Addisions (wonderful helpful group of folks even thought Akiva turned out not to have Addisions), RawChat, as well as members of various other support groups that lended assistance, support and guidance.

I’ve placed numerous orders for specialty supplements for Akiva from KVVet.  With 5 orders over the past 8 weeks, I have been very pleased with the service.  Every order has been delivered on time, and without a single error.  There prices have been consistently very fair and they have never been out of stock on a item I needed.

Thank You!

I look forward to continuing to work with you on Akiva’s continued recovery.

Jamie Dolan