Hometown Vets gave us our dog back.
As the owners of Central Bark Aurora Fox Valley, we are dog people through and through. So when a family member needed help caring for Ellie, a delightful one-year-old white boxer, we of course took her in to our family, no questions asked.
A playful, goofy little girl, Ellie was full of happy energy. She was immediate best friends with everyone she met, wiggling her little butt and dancing with absolute joy – you simply couldn’t meet Ellie and not smile.
She also fit in well with Lily, our one-year-old Labrador-mix, and the two cousins would spend hours wrestling and running and generally disrupting the household.
We loved it.
One of Ellie and Lily’s favorite hobbies is to watch out the front window for passers-by and then go tearing out the dog door to bark at them through the fence. This was great fun for the dogs (less so for our poor neighbors!), until one day Ellie took a curve too sharply and tore her ACL. The following year she tore her other ACL.
Two big surgeries, two big recoveries.
Making matters worse, arthritis had settled into her hips. Daily doses of carprofen (an NSAID for dogs) helped a little, but not enough.
As time went on, Ellie put on weight. Her beautiful white fur turned a dishwater gray. She developed hot spots on her skin that refused to go away no matter what products we applied or supplements we gave her. She stopped playing with Lily, and eventually even refused to go on walks.
At just five years old, Ellie was no longer the bouncy, joyful girl we knew and loved. She was a shadow of her former self.
We chalked it all up to the arthritis, the surgeries, and the general aging process.
Little did we know.
Fast forward a few years, shortly after we opened Central Bark Aurora Fox Valley, a new veterinary office opened not far from our facility: Hometown Veterinary Partners. They reached out to us, and we hit it off immediately – they care about dogs the same way we do. We began referring our clients to each other, and Hometown Vets became our official veterinarian partner.
We realized we may as well take our own dogs to this new vet’s office as well. What a momentous decision that was!
At Ellie’s first visit, they ran a series of tests to get a baseline on Ellie’s health. One of those tests showed her cholesterol levels were high. Dr. Ortiz explained to us that the most common cause of high cholesterol in dogs is hypothyroidism.
A follow-up test confirmed that Ellie’s thyroid levels were far below normal ranges. She had hypothyroidism.
Dr. Ortiz told us this was actually excellent news, because hypothyroidism is easily treatable.
She immediately put Ellie on levothyroxine, a generic medication that is inexpensive and readily available. The pill is tiny – we slip one into her food dish at each meal and she doesn’t even notice it – and a month’s supply costs only $14 at the Costco pharmacy.
Retesting after four weeks confirmed Ellie’s thyroid levels were exactly where they were supposed to be … but we knew this already, just from looking at her. Within weeks of starting Ellie on her thyroid medication, a dramatic transformation unfolded before our eyes.
Ellie’s coat thickened up and once again became glossy white and soft to the touch. Her skin issues cleared up, too – she’s no longer itchy and uncomfortable.
But the biggest impact has been her energy. The puffiness and sluggishness is gone, and her weight is right where it should be. Walk time is once again Ellie’s favorite time of day. Her wiggle butts are back, and she constantly bugs Lily to play with her.
The difference has been night and day. She’s alert, lively, bouncy, barky, playful – every bit of the boxer personality we had grown to know and love.
At the dog park just last week, Ellie happily ran circles around the other dogs, which honestly brought tears to our eyes.
She’s now eight years old, and we can’t believe this is the same dog. Our happy, beautiful girl we thought was gone forever is back again.
Looking ahead, Dr. Ortiz will continue to monitor Ellie’s thyroid levels every six months, and it’s possible she’ll be on this medication for the rest of her life. But now, we know the rest of her life will be a joyful one.
And it’s all because Dr. Ortiz took the time to look at Ellie’s health holistically. And that approach changed our dog’s life.
If you’re in the Naperville or Aurora area and looking for a vet who sees the whole dog, we can’t recommend Hometown Veterinary Partners enough.
They are conveniently located at 1320 Route 59 in Naperville, at the corner of Route 59 and Brookdale Road. To make an appointment, call (331) 319-4044 or visit their website at https://hometownvetpartners.com/.
Tell them Central Bark Aurora Fox Valley sent you. 😊
