Kali Story's

"Our Border Collie, Kali, met Dr. Sivula at the youthful age of 13 years, 4 months old.

Kali had arthritis, so we had been managing her discomfort with Ascriptin and a very low dose of Rimadyl on an as-needed basis. One day, she developed Idiopathic Vestibular Syndrome (IVS). She recovered by mid-September, but both we and her traditional vets were hesitant to introduce any new medications that might aggravate her nervous system. At that point, Dr. McLean suggested a consult with Dr. Sivula.

Our first visit was an *epiphany*. Dr. Sivula did not *draw a line in the sand* between traditional veterinary medicine and the holistic approach... instead, he brought them together in a complementary way, which made A LOT of sense to us.

Kali was offered an acupuncture schedule, a homeopathic pain reliever that could be taken on an as-needed basis, AND we were given some techniques to use as *homework* for Kali... and by October of 2007, Kali was back in the agility ring play the game in Tunnels and Hoopers! She continued her agility career until August of 2008, when WE decided that we needed a break and a little bit of *time off*!

We continued to see Dr. Sivula on a routine *maintanence* basis with Kali and her progress and quality of life were astounding for a gal her age!

In early December of 2008, Kali experienced an unusually uncomfortable evening and subsequent morning. We discovered that she needed surgery, which was done the following day. We discovered that she had hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive cancer.

Traditional chemotherapy offered little hope since this type of cancer is frequently resistant to the chemotherapy drugs; and the difference in the potential *time remaining* wasn't, in our opinion, a good *quality of life* trade-off for the time spent in and recovering from the chemotherapy.

Dr. Sivula made changes to the frequency of Kali's acupuncture and added a liver support supplement to her diet. Kali wasn't a dog that is subject to a *placebo* effect... if something worked, or didn't, she'd let us know by how she moved, and how she acted. Dr. Sivula's acpuncture treatments, chiropractic adjustments, *homework* and suggested supplements WORKED.

Perhaps the best *statement* we have regarding Dr. Sivula's skill is a short 24 second video available on YouTube taken on Christmas Day, 2008 with Kali 22 days post surgery and 14 years, 7 months YOUNG!

For us and our dogs, Dr. Sivula, Stephanie and Michelle are valued partners of our dogs' total health care team. We are indeed fortunate that we live so close to such talented and caring individuals. Dr. Sivula and his staff have our and our dogs' trust... and that is the highest recommendation that we can give to anyone.

Sincerely,

Al and Barb Ceranko, Kali, Dred, Gael and Pellinore (aka Castle Camelot)"