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"I want to add my 2+ cents to this discussion. Five years ago I just happened to hear Dr. Plechner on an alternative radio talk show one morning. This happenstance was one of the luckiest occurrences of my life so far....and for the life of my beloved calico cat, Jazzy. Over the course of the intervening years, I have been fortunate enough to become friends with Dr. Plechner. I mention this only for a point I will make later.
That first morning I heard him speak, I listened with rapt attention as Dr. Plechner talked openly regarding his work and the lack of general acceptance of his work by the mainstream veterinary community. I immediately ordered his book and began waiting impatiently for its arrival.
After giving his book a quick read, I got on the phone and began looking for local veterinarians who would be open to working with Dr. Plechner's protocol. I lucked out, once again, and the first one we (Jazzy and I) went to agreed to run the I-E blood tests. The results showed that Jazzy clearly had the syndrome: Low Ig's; high estrogen; low cortisol. We scheduled a consultation with Dr. Plechner and he suggested a steroid injection, followed by tablet prednisone. Our local vet followed Dr. Plechner's suggestions, and we rechecked the blood tests 2 or 3 weeks later.
Lo and behold, just had Dr. Plechner had purported in his book, all of Jazzy's numbers were moving toward their optimal ranges. Well done. Subsequently we rechecked about once a year and she held fine. All symptoms were gone. ( She previously had been diagnosed with IBD - inflammatory bowel disease. ) Now, let's fast forward to end of March, this year.
Through a series of unfortunate and compounding occurrences, Jazzy became quite ill; she lost her appetite and was losing weight quickly. Blood tests showed three liver enzyme levels off the charts, her glucose was very high and also that she apparently was suffering from pancreatitis. It became necessary to hospitalize her. She was put on IV fluids and other medications. I paced for 3 days waiting for and IgA test result. When it did come in, it showed she was clearly under optimum range. Dr. Plechner suggested an injection of steroid, immediately, if her life was to be saved.
Neither of the vets here - the one at the hospital, or our usual - would agree to administer the needed medication. They both were of the opinion that the steroid would exacerbate the glucose and that it could cause her liver additional stress and possibly take her life.
This is the most important part: As she means the world to me, it fell to me to make the decision that the trained, informed and professional caregivers would not: I had to find a way to see that she received the needed steroid. I did this based upon my understanding of the mechanism of the I-E imbalance, and my faith in Dr. Plechner's integrity as a veterinarian, and as a man. She received the steroid and based upon blood test results - not speculation, all of her numbers improved! The three liver enzymes had been markedly reduced, the glucose was coming down and the pancreatitis was abating. All within a few days!
People can say what they want and believe what they want. We are all entitled to our opinions. In this case, I really have no interest in someone who offers an opinion without any firsthand knowledge of Dr. Plechner and the syndrome he has identified. On the other hand, I do have firsthand knowledge; not only of the efficacy of Dr. Plechner's ideas and protocol, but also of the man. Throughout this recent ordeal, he was always there when I wanted to talk or ask for his input....Always.
I will personally stand with him in his fervent effort and hope to broaden the acceptance of his work. My dear beloved Jazzy is alive today because of him and his knowledge. I feel very strongly that if I had been complacent and had accepted the mainstream approach to treating her illness, she would not be here today.And this thought saddens me beyond measure. Our companion animals look to us and are dependent upon us for their nurturing, their homes and ultimately, their health.
What is it within us - people ( I'll not use the word humanity as to me it is not human(e) to treat our animal friends' health based upon our stupidity and small mindedness ) that causes us to constantly close our minds to a thought or idea which may not be our own? We take a stance and know we're right, usually with incomplete information. That's fine, but why must our animal loved ones suffer because of our egos?
This is the crying shame in my opinion. How many animals are senselessly lost or suffer every year due to our small minds and belligerent sense of self-righteousness? If we could just get out of our own way, perhaps, at the very least, our animal friends could have a better chance of remaining well and living happier lives with us. It pains me deeply to think of this Certainly we're entitled to treat ourselves based upon faulty and erroneous logic. Why do we subject our helpless friends to the same? I wish I knew."
Ken Collier and Jazzy
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