My beloved dog Leon became sick when he was about 6 months old. He was always vomiting, did not like to eat, and was underweight.

After a long time of trying to convince the vet that this was not normal puppy behavior (“he must have gotten into something he shouldn’t have”), we finally underwent testing and received the diagnoses of severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and food allergies.

I thought we would finally be on the road to recovery, but unfortunately, that was not the case. He refused to eat any brand of the prescription hypoallergenic kibble. He was losing weight. He also suffered liver damage from the immune-suppressing medication they put him on to treat the IBD, and had to go on a different medication to “rescue” his liver.

Eventually, we took him to a vet nutritionist and started cooking an extremely limited diet for him (quinoa and tilapia). We were told there was no way to test for allergies, so he could only eat two foods (a starch source and a protein source) that he had never eaten before (meaning we knew those weren’t the cause of his allergies). We were told he could only eat these two foods for the rest of his life.

No more treats.

This saddened us and was also very stressful. It was difficult to make sure he didn’t ever pick up a tiny morsel of food while in the kitchen, at the dog park, or on a walk.

He was also on steroids and we were told he would need them for the rest of his life. The vet internist also wanted him to be on a second immune-suppressing medication, but we refused, since we were very nervous about the medications after his liver injury.

For a while, Leon was doing well on his extremely limited diet and steroids. But then he started vomiting again, and he also started having frequent diarrhea with blood and mucous.

He lost all of his energy. He would sleep all day. I would throw a ball for him and he would just look at me with sad eyes. He was only 2 years old at this point.

Then he started losing weight quickly, and he became like a skeleton.

Strangers would make comments while on walks.

By this point, we were also seeing a vet gastroenterologist. She had no explanation for his worsening, and wanted us to check back in with the vet nutritionist. The vet nutritionist said he must have developed allergies to his extremely limited diet, and he could no longer eat those foods.

My husband and I are both physicians, and none of this made any sense to us. We were extremely frustrated and disappointed by the care our Leon was receiving, and we were certain that he was dying in front of our eyes.

One night, while feeling particularly lost and hopeless, I went down a rabbit hole online reading about dog IBD. I came across Dr. Khalsa’s website and thought, “what do I have to lose other than money?” I contacted her, had a phone consultation, sent her a sample of Leon’s fur, completed the Allergy Elimination 4 Pets protocol, treated him for parasites as she instructed, and started feeding him the diet that she recommended.

I am not exaggerating when I say that he began improving overnight.

We have now completed everything that she suggested, and my Leon has come back to life. He has gained 15 pounds, loves to eat, never vomits, has great bowel movements, has tons of energy (sometimes too much), and is absolutely thriving as a 3- year old healthy dog.

Oh, we also weaned him off steroids, so he’s no longer receiving any treatment for his severe IBD.

I know for a fact that Dr. Khalsa saved my dog’s life, after 3 vet specialists (at a world-renowned teaching hospital) failed him.

My husband and I are eternally grateful to her, and will never be able to thank her enough. Multiple times a day we loudly exclaim, “Thanks, Dr. Khalsa!” when we look at Leon and simply can’t believe how far he’s come.