Bella is my dog. I rescued her from a really bad situation when she was only 4 weeks old. She had bite marks on her head from an adult dog, was only 3lbs, and really should have nursed for at least another 3 weeks. I believe she was meant to be a fighting dog but clearly didn't have the "right" temperament. I don't like to think about just how short and painful her life could have been. Luckily, thanks to her profound innocence and kindness, we found each other.
Likely the result of inbreeding, Bella has unfortunately been a frequent flyer at the vet. I call her my "lemon puppy". Anything and everything that could happen, probably has happened.
Her worst lasting injury came from when she tore both cruciate ligaments (ACL equivalent). She has allergic reactions to surgical sutures, so repairing both knees surgically wasn't a great option. Her vet and I decided that the best solution was to let them stabilize naturally using scar tissue, and then just deal with the arthritis later on.
That initial injury occurred when she was around 2, and she is 8 now. I used to have to keep my medicine cabinet stocked with several types of pain management medication, but those are expensive and tend to have side effects. She also had to have regular blood tests to make sure the long-term use of multiple pharmaceutical drugs wasn't slowly poisoning her. That was never a good thought.
I thought that was my only option though, so I kept with the program. When CBD first entered my world I didn't even really consider it as a replacement option for Bella. What could a plant extract do to compete with 5 different medications a day? As it turns out, a lot.
CBD works with the whole body, and so it really works better than the complicated combination of one drug for inflammation, another for pain, a third for calming, and the fourth and fifth for tummy issues and skin problems caused by 1-3.
Instead of trying to help different problems for different body locations, CBD seems to help every piece work more efficiently together.
Bella is the happiest dog you could ever meet, and I hope to keep her that way for another 8 years! This is Bella's story.