The Parsemus Foundation’s work on hormone therapy for dogs who lost their natural hormones due to spay or neuter has attracted quite a bit of attention in the past few years. We often receive messages from individuals looking for a veterinarian to provide hormones for their dog in the hope of alleviating health problems after spay or neuter. But because hormone therapy for dogs is a new area of study, not many veterinarians offer this treatment yet.
So it was a pleasure to receive a message from Stanislava about her dog Mecho, who had suffered from seizures. His life was transformed after receiving testosterone replacement therapy. Here is Mecho’s story:
Mecho was a stray dog in Bulgaria and we found him during a ski trip and decided to adopt him. At the time the veterinarians said he was around 8-9 months old but due to a Neuter and Release program in the municipality where we found him, he had already been neutered. After a couple months with us, he started having seizures, which with time became progressively worse. Mecho eventually had cluster seizures every two weeks like clockwork, despite being on high doses of anti-seizure medication. Unfortunately, his health continued to deteriorate. We conducted a lot of tests without much indication of what was wrong. He was visibly becoming weaker and depressed with no desire to do anything apart from sleep. Through research we found that lack of testosterone due to neutering has a massive impact on bone and muscle density and through further testing, decided to try testosterone replacement therapy. As soon as we started testosterone replacement his seizures stopped, he regained energy, and he has even managed to build up muscle density, being visibly stronger and happier. He is able to jump up and is no longer wobbly or dragging his hind legs. He has been seizure-free for 6 months now and continues to thrive.
This was one of the best messages we have ever received at Parsemus — to know that our work on testosterone therapy helped Mecho recover and live a good life. He even has his own Instagram following now! Thanks to Stanislava for allowing us to share his story.
For more information about canine hormone restoration, see our web page. And if you’re not familiar with the potential for health problems after spaying or neutering your dog, check out our resources on Hormone Sparing Sterilization. If you’re a veterinarian who offers hormone therapy or hormone-sparing sterilization, please consider listing your clinic in our Veterinarian Directory.
