We are in the middle of hurricane season here in Florida and since there is a Tropical Storm, forecast to become a Hurricane, bearing down on the state, I thought a post about disaster preparedness was appropriate. There are many resources out there but the Humane Society for the United States is one of my favorites (for all animal issues). They have an Emergency Services Animal Rescue Team that has been involved in saving thousands of pets over the last several disasters in the U.S. and abroad.
Here are some links to resources:
Planning Ahead for your Pet video
Disaster Preparedness Quiz
Disaster Preparedness for Pets brochure
More resources from the HSUS
Monday, August 18, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Our Journey to Healthy Skin
Ok, get ready to read. It's a long post but many people struggle with this so it may be helpful for others.
At about 1.5 years ago Keyser, my GSD, had an allergic reaction to something that he was exposed to during a lunch and potty break on our way to Blue Ridge Georgia. We had just got onto Hwy 475 when we realized we needed to get him to a vet pronto. His muzzle was swollen and lumpy, he had just thrown up his lunch, and he was staggering. We stopped at a gas station to find a phone book to find a vet (it was after this trip we got a GPS). Luckily there was a PetSmart with vet a few miles away. They treated his reaction and kept him for about 3 hours. He bounced back rather well and the remainder of our vacation held no other scares.
Keyser has had skin problems ever since. We also began having a tick problem. I really don't remember what came first or when they actually got really bad but it seems like he had skin issues before the bad ticks. At any rate, I'm positive they exacerbated the skin allergies.
After many vet visits and rounds of antibiotics for fungal and bacterial infections, after allergy tests and after allergy food diets, I began to look for alternative medicine solutions.
A classmate, Cindy, was working with a holistic vet with some issues with her dogs. From our conversations, I began to cook home-made real food for Keyser, a meat and two veggies. We also began supplementing this diet with Dinovite, Missing Link, and Hylamotion. After several months of doing this his coat was beginning to look better.
While this home-made diet and supplements helped, he was still itchy much of the time and we'd go back and forth with episodes of itchiness and infection. It takes much more real food to sustain a dog; Keyser was eating about 5 pounds of food a day and was still very thin. He just wasn't holding weight. I began to wonder if there was something else we could try.
My mom learned of this Anti-Fungal diet and both of us researched it. I thought that if this was good for people to get rid of fungus in their bodies, then why not dogs? I mean Keyser had been diagnosed several times with fungal infections, namely yeast. He had it on his whole body especially his underbelly and in his ears. It is very uncomfortable and causes them to smell badly. So, since the home-made diet was very very time consuming and fairly expensive, we decided to try him on Innova's Evo brand of high-grade dog food (may be purchased from Chuck's Natural Food Store in Brandon). I also began giving him natural anti-fungals, like Oregano Oil and Garlic. He also started taking Probiotics. Fungus will destroy the healthy bacteria living in the stomach and intestines and take over. Antibiotics also kill this healthy bacteria. Probiotics are important because healthy bacteria is what helps the body digest food efficiently. Good numbers of healthy bacteria will keep fungal organisms in check as well.
On the anti-fungal diet, supplements and probiotics, he began to show a drastic improvement. Keyser's coat has thickend up, he feels good to touch, he doesn't smell sickly, he has put on weight and kept it on. Throughout this process and still now, we give him Benedryl for itching as needed. We were also treating the house and yard for ticks and no longer have an issue. We do still add some veggies or yogurt to the Evo dry food too on a regulat basis. It may always be a work in progress but we are all much happier now!!!
Below is information on brands and where I got them. They are expensive but I think well worth it.
Oregano Oil - Oreganol P73 by North American Herb and Spice
Garlic - Kyolic Formula 100 (I've also given the minced garlic in water that you can buy at any grocery store)
Probiotics - FloraMore by Renew Life (if you want a good probiotic for yourself, Dr. Ohira's is the best. It is just too expensive for all of my family to use)
I'm sure there are other good products out there, this is just what we've found and had success with thus far. Please let me know of any questions. Hope this helps!
At about 1.5 years ago Keyser, my GSD, had an allergic reaction to something that he was exposed to during a lunch and potty break on our way to Blue Ridge Georgia. We had just got onto Hwy 475 when we realized we needed to get him to a vet pronto. His muzzle was swollen and lumpy, he had just thrown up his lunch, and he was staggering. We stopped at a gas station to find a phone book to find a vet (it was after this trip we got a GPS). Luckily there was a PetSmart with vet a few miles away. They treated his reaction and kept him for about 3 hours. He bounced back rather well and the remainder of our vacation held no other scares.
Keyser has had skin problems ever since. We also began having a tick problem. I really don't remember what came first or when they actually got really bad but it seems like he had skin issues before the bad ticks. At any rate, I'm positive they exacerbated the skin allergies.
After many vet visits and rounds of antibiotics for fungal and bacterial infections, after allergy tests and after allergy food diets, I began to look for alternative medicine solutions.
A classmate, Cindy, was working with a holistic vet with some issues with her dogs. From our conversations, I began to cook home-made real food for Keyser, a meat and two veggies. We also began supplementing this diet with Dinovite, Missing Link, and Hylamotion. After several months of doing this his coat was beginning to look better.
While this home-made diet and supplements helped, he was still itchy much of the time and we'd go back and forth with episodes of itchiness and infection. It takes much more real food to sustain a dog; Keyser was eating about 5 pounds of food a day and was still very thin. He just wasn't holding weight. I began to wonder if there was something else we could try.
My mom learned of this Anti-Fungal diet and both of us researched it. I thought that if this was good for people to get rid of fungus in their bodies, then why not dogs? I mean Keyser had been diagnosed several times with fungal infections, namely yeast. He had it on his whole body especially his underbelly and in his ears. It is very uncomfortable and causes them to smell badly. So, since the home-made diet was very very time consuming and fairly expensive, we decided to try him on Innova's Evo brand of high-grade dog food (may be purchased from Chuck's Natural Food Store in Brandon). I also began giving him natural anti-fungals, like Oregano Oil and Garlic. He also started taking Probiotics. Fungus will destroy the healthy bacteria living in the stomach and intestines and take over. Antibiotics also kill this healthy bacteria. Probiotics are important because healthy bacteria is what helps the body digest food efficiently. Good numbers of healthy bacteria will keep fungal organisms in check as well.
On the anti-fungal diet, supplements and probiotics, he began to show a drastic improvement. Keyser's coat has thickend up, he feels good to touch, he doesn't smell sickly, he has put on weight and kept it on. Throughout this process and still now, we give him Benedryl for itching as needed. We were also treating the house and yard for ticks and no longer have an issue. We do still add some veggies or yogurt to the Evo dry food too on a regulat basis. It may always be a work in progress but we are all much happier now!!!
Below is information on brands and where I got them. They are expensive but I think well worth it.
Oregano Oil - Oreganol P73 by North American Herb and Spice
Garlic - Kyolic Formula 100 (I've also given the minced garlic in water that you can buy at any grocery store)
Probiotics - FloraMore by Renew Life (if you want a good probiotic for yourself, Dr. Ohira's is the best. It is just too expensive for all of my family to use)
I'm sure there are other good products out there, this is just what we've found and had success with thus far. Please let me know of any questions. Hope this helps!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Learn anything new this summer or go anywhere?
Keyser learned to swim on a recent trip to Blue Ridge, Georgia. He can still be alittle clumsy but gets pretty smooth once he's out there and he loves it!
Anyone go on any excursions with your dogs or have they accomplished something extra special? I know Mrs. S said that Cherakee conqured his issue with the broad jump, that's great!
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