My dog Abby has now been on all natural dry kibble and raw meat mixture for 5 months. We have made it through the worst allergy months without needing to give her Prednisone. I also stopped giving her probiotics after about 3 months on the raw diet, because the raw meat contains natural probiotics. She hasn't had any itching and licking episodes since early July, and that is amazing.
Another thing I realized is that her eyes have cleared up. In the past few years, during allergy season, her eyes have progressed from being mattery to very crusty, to the point where I was wiping her eyes every morning so she could open them. They started to improve in July, and have almost completely cleared up now in September.
And then there's her ears. She has had cronic otitus for several years, to the point where nothing really was working anymore. Otitus is a yeast infection that can be very difficult to cure in long-eared dogs because they don't get enough air into the ear canal, making it a perfect breeding ground for the yeast. If otitus isn't dealt with, it can lead to permanent loss of hearing. My vet recommended I give her antibiotic ear drops for the rest of her life. Even the antibiotics got to the point where it wasn't keeping her from itching and scratching entirely, and if I stopped using them her ear problem would return with a vengence. I am currently testing a home remedy I found on the dog forum which seems to be working very well. I've been using it for over a month, and I will give details in a later post if it keeps working. At this point I am very hopeful that the change in diet along with the home remedy ear wash will solve this health issue.
19 comments:
Great blog!
I did a lot of research when we adopted a couple of puppies from a rescue to join our great dane/boxer x. I figured if we were going to have three big dogs, I wanted them to be as healthy has possible. We narrowed it down to a list of about 5 different brands and then slowly went through them until we found one that they all thrived on. We ended up with California Natural. A little more expensive than some other brands, but I figure if I had to eat the same thing morning and night for my entire life, I'd appreciate eating the good stuff! :)
Thank you for stopping by!
So true, what you say about the food! I read about so many cats with kidney problems, tooth problems, etc. etc. and I believe 99% is in the diet!
If you read the ingredient list of 90% of the cat food, there is meat-by-products in there. What they sweep up the slaughter house floor... And most cat food has grains, whereas cats are specialized MEAT eaters and too much grain will make them sick.
But most people don't listen and keep on feeding us the wrong stuff.
As is with humans themselves - most of what you can buy in a supermarket has wheat-by-products, corn-by-products, high fructose corn syrup (=real poison!).
These days it needs research and time to eat halfway decent... Very sad!
I really like your blog, put you on my blogroll for doggies...
Karl
The recall of canned pet foods concerned me too - and until now, I didn't know what alternative I could use.., now I do. Thanks a bunch.
Now - if I can just ween myself off the junk food...
You have a very interesting blog with a lot of good health tips for our carnivorous friends. I'm so glad you found your way to my blog.
I couldn't agree more! I, too, have done loads of reading and research and found that grains in commercial dog food is the culprit in MANY ailments that dogs suffer. While I don't feed a raw diet to my dogs, I do feed them a high-end natural dog food, and the transformation in everything from their coats to their stools was nothing short of miraculous. Most people just don't realize how vitally important a dog's diet is to their overall health.
and her Mom said,
Hi WildCatsThree,
Great advice. You are so right to recommend a natural diet. I have been fortunate enough to have practiced holistic health care and natural feeding for many years and as a result my two goldens are 10 and 11 and have never experienced an illness in their life. Keep up the good work on your blog.
The food thing with pets is an eye opener and in a way glad all the problems are big = now in the media. As a result many have focused on the quality and kinds of food options. I am wary of raw because of bacteria. And also stress the need to keep the animal's teeth clean, either by dry food, bones, brushing, etc.
This is a great start for your blog. Please let me know when you find meaningful conclusive evidence for diets.Check out recipes at my site. The recipe link is on home page = http://www.petmonologues.com
I went to a Pet Party once and learned a lot about what you are talking about--what all is in store pet foods. Very interesting blog with a lot of good info!
thanks for the visit and comment....you have a great blog here as well...so of course i had to technorati you!!!..
Excellent blog!
Since i love dogs the only thing i can say is keep up your good work!
Nice blog! Juliette Levy the herbalist who made herbal remedies and raw food diets for animals main stream is one of my favorite herbalists! Natural is best! Nice to meet you!
My dogs have been eating raw for just over a year. they love it. I was hoping it would really help Chase's allergies, but it hasn't done a darn thing for him. :( He has environmental allergies, not food. But I do feel better feeding them a whole fresh diet.
To be honest I am a bit wary of raw from a bacteria point of view. Natural is best practice.
The recent 26 "million" pounds of hamburger recall hit a nerve. The good news was it is "people" food. ;-)
It took the USDA 18 days to conclude the meat was bad. A brief summary of this news at this link along with a bacterial study on raw diets for cats and dogs.
http://www.petmonologues.com/pet022207/?p=368
The meat recall prompted this post. I would like to find similar scientific arguments for raw.
Pm,
I understand your concern about raw feeding, but animals in the wild eat raw meat as their natural diet. Their systems were created to handle raw food. Personally we buy our beef and chicken from a farmer we trust. One of the references shown in the study you posted is Dr. Ian Billinghurst, the founder of the BARF diet, which is a raw diet. The study appears to be from a veterinary university, so I have to question their bias against a raw diet, because they are paid by the pet food industry to push their products. I know people have different opinions on this topic, and that's why I suggest an all natural dog food or raw diet, so people can make a choice. I know that my dogs and cats are healthier today than before we started feeding raw.
Hi,
Thanks for stopping by my blog. You are so kind.
Currently, it is so "in" to own a dog this part of the world. The dogs who come out on TV with their TV/movie star owners dress them up so cute. A couple of TV shows I saw, even featured places where good pet grooming services are available. Wow!
I bet you have lots of dogs.
Cheers!
very cool. I think your site will interest a lot of folks who love their animals and want to do the best for them.
I'm wondering whether you should rename your site to something more encompassing and catchy? Maybe have a contest for giving it a new name? just a suggestion.
An ex-coworker of mine was a vegetarian and somehow trained her two beautiful siamese cats to eat string beans (not sure if they had dry food supplements) (!!!) One had some kind of asthmatic condition. Her vet didn't see anything wrong w/ it.
I heard that both cats died very suddenly around the same time. They weren't too old, either, and by the time I heard, I'd lost touch with her. I wonder whether the crazy string bean diet had anything to do with it.
Anyhow, keep up with the good work!
Kitty,
Thanks for the comments. From what I've read on cat diets, they are true carnivores and don't do well on vegetables, so you are probably right on target about your friend's cats dying suddenly. They need a very high meat content diet.
Coincidently, I have been thinking about changing the name of my site, as I would like to expand the information beyond diet and skin allergies long-term. Thanks for your thoughts.
Chris
Speaking from the position of 41 years experience as a veterinarian, external ear infections are almost always caused by bacteria and almost never by yeast. Chronic ones can be virtually impossible to treat and not have a relapse. They do not make the dog deaf and have never proved fatal and the dog can live with the problem if it has to. I have had some luck with silver sulfadiazine on a few chronic cases. It is antibacterial and can be purchased over the internet. It is used to cover burn patients to control infection. Try it daily for a week or so and then probably on a once or twice a week basis if you get facorable results.
Dr. J L Busby oldcountryvet.com
Hi Oldcountryvet,
thanks for stopping by and giving us your perspective. It's my understanding that the yeast infection when not cured turns into a bacterial infection. The dog breeder remedy I've been using now for 5 months has worked beautifully for Abby's ear problem; I put drops of it in her ears every 10 days now and she is doing great. It's such a relief
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