Koyuk is a Siberian Husky with a racing lineage. I picked him up from the breeder when he was 3 months
old on February 9, 2009. He had his 4th deworming before I arrived and the second of the three series of
vaccinations. I was also given dry kibble developed for racing dogs. Koyuk had a hearty appetite and would
almost knock the bowl from my hand at feeding time. I had two other dogs, Max, a 12-year old lab, and
Belle, a 9-year old Rottweiler. They were on a raw diet and I planned to switch Koyuk to the same diet.

Then a series of events occurred that made it almost impossible to figure out why Koyuk began getting
fussy about eating and hyper around other animals or new sounds. Koyuk was given his rabies vaccination
late May. I did not learn until months later that his hyperactivity was a reaction to the vaccine.

Max’s heart was enlarged and we began tests in April. Belle died of osteosarcoma in August; the diagnosis
was quick as well as her death. Koyuk was attached to Belle and his appetite really decreased after her
death. I tried to feed him anything he would eat. He always went to the “carbs” first. I was concerned
about his weight loss and asked for a complete physical and blood panel in September, which came back
normal. I took him to another vet in October, and was told “if he gets hungry enough, he will eat”. My
holistic vet would clear the liver stagnation through acupuncture and herbs, but he still wouldn’t eat, and
the stagnation would return.

I’m not a veterinarian, but I took a Functional Indirect class from Patricia in November, and she discussed
the effects of gluten on dogs. I really wanted to get Koyuk off gluten and onto the same diet Max ate but
by then, I was happy if he would eat anything. I never made the connection that Koyuk’s problem was
that he was gluten intolerant!

In December, Max was rushed to the emergency hospital where they found a tumor on his spleen. He was
fine until March, 2010, when he needed a splenectomy. There was no malignancy, his heart was strong, and
he came home the next day. Three weeks later he collapsed and we thought it was his heart. Unfortunately,
it was a brain tumor and he was put to sleep. During that time, Koyuk would eat a day and skip 2-3 days,
would hunch over and drop his tail after eating, was more hyperactive, didn’t look or act sick, and everyone thought it was because of the stress of losing Max and Belle.

In April, a bile acid panel was run at the request of my holistic vet because by now, I was force feeding
Koyuk. The Alb/Glob ratio was a little elevated, but everything else was normal. The very next day, I took
Koyuk to the breeder for her help. He ran on a trail and didn’t act sick, but wouldn’t eat with the other
dogs. I was so tired of everyone telling me that his hyperactivity was a husky “trait” and he would “get
over it”, whatever “it” was. Two days later, I took him to Patricia.

She immediately saw the effects of gluten through his lack of motility and stiffness on his right side, a
characteristic she has been noting with her canine patients. After the first treatment, Koyuk began to
eat and he wouldn’t arch his back afterwards! It only took her one hour to identify his problem through
biomechanics and the use of osteopathic manipulation to clear the stiffness. The rest was up to me to
make sure he ate gluten-free food.

His appetite still wasn’t like to should be although I fed him a raw diet and baked gluten-free treats for
him. My holistic vet used NAET to test Koyuk for food allergies. He was sensitive to all grains which made
sense since all grains have a form of gluten in them! After one more osteopathic treatment, Koyuk began
eating every night. Yeah! I honestly do not know what I would have done without Patricia.

PS: After almost two years of homeopathy, NAET, acupuncture and Neural Organization Work to reduce
the effects of the rabies vaccine, Koyuk is a much calmer and inquisitive 3-year old.

Karen Dvornich, Federal Way, Washington