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Molly Overcomes her Fear of Storms - McDowell's Herbal Treatments

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Molly (Maltese-Poodle) came to me from a Sydney shelter.  A few months after she came, my Vet advised me that Molly has some health issues which I will need to address sooner or later – she has 2 luxating patellas and one of her knee caps is not sitting properly in the socket which may result in her carrying that leg later in life. She was 17 mths old when she arrived, very hyper and full of beans.  Although a bit of a handful at first, she settled in and brought a lot of joy to the family.  She was fearful of storms and can be passive-aggressive as she has been bitten numerous times mostly by similar size dogs!

Her journey with McDowell’s Herbal Treatment started about a few years ago when she became very distraught hours before it stormed and she would scratch floors, doors, architraves until she bled. During the night, one of us would have to hold her tight wrapped up in a towel which she shredded to pieces, if she had a chance.

As we live in QLD, summer was storm season so Molly was beside herself and I would come home to see blood everywhere and a dog who was about to kill herself. I sought treatment from my Vet who prescribed “doggie prozac”. The dosage prescribed was incorrect and for the first few days, she appeared “drugged up”.  She was not the Molly we knew… I continued that treatment and asked the Vet if an alternative treatment was available as I was not a fan of hard core drugs for animals (and humans).   Molly did not get much better with the Prozac as she was not interested in her food and was not her happy little self.  The Vet then advised that as Molly does not seem to have quality of life, one option would be to put her to sleep.

I spoke to people and a friend recommended McDowell’s as an alternative. Molly’s herbal journey has begun…

My first chat was with Cath McDowell who was a lovely lady – she listened and she recommended the Anxiety Mix and also a holistic treatment to improve her health overall as she was a fussy eater and she has the patella issue (I was advised to get it operated but I chose not to for obvious reasons). At that stage I was quite sceptical about the treatment but gave it a go…

The journey was slow – I call them baby steps as there was not a lot of improvement. I expected a miracle and why is Molly still anxious? … over the months, I would ring and chat to Cath, sometimes for 20 mins or so and she would listen and advise.  That was the journey – a slow progress but progress none the less. I also got Molly a Thundershirt and would administer the Anxiety Mix 2-3 days before a “potential” storm hit and Molly would still scratch and was still anxious but this degree of anxiousness declined as the months pass by. 

Sometime this year, Cath put me on to Kate as I felt that the original Anxiety Mix was not working as well now and Molly was starting to scratch again. Cath recommended I speak with Kate and we talked and emailed. Kate made up a new program  for Molly - The Anxiety Program) and asked me to give it to her 2x a day to see if that would “balance” her anxiety to a more manageable level when the storm season hits again this year.  I have started giving her the Anxiety program  and she has been much better and although anxious (breathing heavily and panting) her scratching has reduced.

My thanks and gratitude to Cath and Kate for supporting me in taking Molly on her jouney…. She is 8 ½ years old now and her patellas have not been causing her any discomfort and the herbal treatment and her daily linseed and flaxseed meal may have had a hand in this too.

Attached photo of Molly when she first came to me from the Shelter and today as the “matriarch” of the dogs in our household which has grown to 3 (my son has a Labrador and I also have a Lagotto Romagnolo)..

molly2Cheers

Lina Y Lee

Director Corporate Governance