This was what I wrote when I first saw it a few weeks ago and recommended rads... it had recently lost a lot of weight after I had recommended a diet. It has put on weight in past few weeks with slight increase in food. Other great concern for the owners was the dog's increasingly uncontrollable anxiety. Valium had helped a lot with this - prescribed so she wouldn't do her forelimb more damage initially.
TCM Assessment:
Tongue purple. Pulse weak, difficult to say slippery or wiry - maybe a bit of both. Much fewer damp signs than previously - coat a bit better and obviously less fat - so blood deficiency with some stasis still present - and maybe more SP deficiency (or ST/SP disharmony?) signs being shown.
Herbal Prescription:
Found this one a bit tougher. Will move some blood stasis with NSAIDs so if lameness goes well on NSAIDs and we reassess then (maybe with acupuncture even?) we might get a clearer picture. Certainly a tonify blood, move blood and qi and perhaps tonify SP or harmonise middle jiao formula might be best. XYS springs to mind.
My question -
Hoxsey and Boneset should clear heat, phlegm, drain damp and move enough - but I really feel this dog might need some blood tonification as well (is extremely anxious and has huge fear of noise and thunderstorms). Is there an obvious choice for formula or additive single herbs to achieve this extra blood tonification (more water in the river = less stasis?). Si Wu Tang simply perhaps?? How about XYS?
A bit rambling but hope you get the point!