Before I get started sharing what seemed to actually work with ridding fleas naturally, can you please stop reading and find some wood to knock on? K thanks. I'm a little worried that just blogging about the fleas being gone will cause them to come back and worse than before. That's usually how it works, right?
It's been a week since my last flea post and things are going well. I didn't think they would be going so well, in all honesty. The day after I posted about everything we were doing to get rid of them, I found no less than a dozen fleas on Hurley. This after a flea shampoo bath, apple cider vinegar rinse and cleaning the house from top to bottom. I admit - I was ready to throw in the towel and pick up some Advantage or Frontline. I couldn't believe after all that effort that he could still have so many fleas.
So I diligently combed through every last hair on his body. When I saw a flea, I drenched the area in the flea spray I've been using, which killed/immobilized the flea so I could then pick it off and flush it down the toilet. It was the most thorough exam I had given him to date and removing all those fleas manually seemed to do the trick. Since then, not a single flea on him. The Hubster has found one on Maggie and Sadie had a few that same day I de-flea'd Hurley but none since.
I tried a lot of things - like almost every natural remedy where I could find any anecdotal accounts of it working. If someone had success with it, I was probably trying it. You can view the complete list of what I tried here.
Not everything worked. Here's what I found most useful:
Daily Inspections: I used a regular people comb to go through the dog's hair every single day. I sprayed any fleas I found with Ark Natural's Flea Flicker Spray. A direct shot was enough to kill the fleas most of the time but I flushed them anyway for good measure. I also looked for signs that they had been bitten or scratching and treated those areas with PalDog's Boo Boo Gel. After that fateful dozen flea day, I found less and less evidence of new flea bites on the girls. On Hurley, I never found any bites so I just imagine he doesn't react as strongly to the bites as the girls did. I have to say - everyone should spend this kind of time inspecting their dogs. Hurley now lets me move him around, comb him, mess with his paws, flip him over, etc with hardly a protest. I also know where every mark is on their bodies, every scar, every splotch of dark skin and I'm sure that familiarity will help with identifying problems in the future.
Apple Cider Vinegar: I started with putting a tablespoon in the water bowl but found the dogs were drinking less so I switched to a spoonful in their food each time they are fed. I believe this to be the #1 reason why I am not finding fleas on their coats. I've seen evidence of a few bites but no actual fleas on them, which means that my attempts to make the dogs inhospitable flea hosts is working. I am going to do a couple more ACV rinses over the next few weeks and continue with the spoonful in their food through the end of the month.
Frequent Vacuuming: Since the dogs are no longer themselves places where the fleas want to hang out, vacuuming the carpet in our den daily was key to getting rid of fleas and their eggs. Apparently there has been a scientific study that determined this is a highly effective way to actually kill fleas. It's not just about getting them out of your carpet - the vacuum itself will kill most fleas.
Those are the solutions I found most effective - which is not to say that the other things I tried didn't have any efficacy. Rather, I think my all-hands-on-deck approach to solving our flea problem was a big part of the reason why it eventually worked. I will continue to use the flea shampoo (when I find a flea), flea spray (as a preventative, will apply before trips to the dog park, hikes, camping trips and weekly during the worst part of flea season) and Diatamaceous Earth (to de-pest our house from all sorts of critters, fleas included).
I'm so thankful that we seem to be coming out of the worst of it and we'll soon be back to normal in our neck of the woods. I can see that Sadie and Maggie are already more comfortable and I'm so thankful for that. I hate seeing them itchy and miserable.
Showing posts with label Doggie Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doggie Health. Show all posts
Friday, December 9, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Fleas Schmeas
Who here hates fleas? Memememememememe! I swear the little buggers have far superior intelligences that enables them to know when you are taking flea-ridding measures and find new, better places to hide. That or they lay something insane like 20,000 eggs in one month. I actually read that somewhere but wikipedia is telling me it's only 500 over the course of one female flea's lifetime so I guess I have to correct myself. I feel so much better about struggling to get rid of fleas when I read 20,000 though, don't you?
Our flea history up to this fall is exactly this - none. We had Sadie & Maggie on Frontline or Advantage; it changed a couple times with vet recommendations. Then I forgot to give it to them. Then nothing happened. No fleas, no problems. We lived a happily flea-free existence for years. Then came Hurley. Combined with Hurley's apparent status as Most Hospitable Flea Host ever and a worse-than-usual flea season here in Portland, we are now in the midst of flea-mageddon.
Okay. So slight exaggeration. We do have fleas, but it's a mid-range infestation. Not flea-mageddon. And I am determined to conquer fleas naturally this time. Yes, it would be more convenient to simply dab the back of their necks once a month but the convenient way is not always the best way. I would prefer to use natural products I know won't harm my dogs in the long run than dose them with neurotoxins. If it's not safe for children to handle, how can it be safe for my dogs? That's my dilemma.
The reality of using safe, natural but not as conveniently effective products to fight fleas is that it takes much more effort, more time and when you think the fleas are gone, think again and continue with what you've been doing for several more weeks after you think they're gone. Natural remedies can effectively rid your dog of fleas but they do not kill the eggs. Eggs can take up to 20 days to hatch, which means getting rid of fleas naturally may take 4-6 weeks. We are at week 3 here at our house and it's going meh. I have not been as diligent as I should have and the next 3 weeks are all about stepping up my game. Here's what I've been trying:
Diatamaceous Earth: DE can be quite effective at killing fleas. This powder is a sharp fossilized substance to small bugs and works by both drying out and piercing an insect's exo-skeleton. In order for DE to be fully effective, it needs to remain in place for 72 hours at minimum. I have found this solution not to be effective on the dog's coats themselves as it doesn't stay on their coats long enough. I do believe this to be the most effective solution that I've tried in terms of treating carpeting and bedding. There are a couple precautions one must take with DE: be sure to purchase food-grade and not pool-grade DE and when applying, make sure not to create a cloud of DE dust as it can be harmful when breathed in. I keep DE on my dog's bedding at all times, treat the carpet weekly and there is always a bit of DE in places like the laundry room and surrounding the dogs' kennels.
Garlic: Garlic can be a controversial food for dogs. From the online research I've done, I've found the bottom line to be this: garlic has the same substance as onions but in much smaller amounts that are not toxic to most dogs when given the correct dosage. The correct dosage of garlic can be effective in fighting fleas and other parasites, is great for heart health and is an effective supplement in fighting cancer. I gave the dogs 1/3 of a medium size garlic clove once a day for several days to kick off my war on the fleas. I can't say for sure how effective it has been - I believe garlic to be more effective as a preventative than to actually rid your dog of fleas once they are there. Please seek the advice of a veterinarian prior to starting any supplements. I am sharing my experience with garlic but am not a licensed veterinarian qualified to give medical advice. I would advise seeking the advice of a holistic veterinarian in regards to these types of supplements though as traditional veterinarians are generally less experienced on the safe use of garlic and other natural supplements. The part of me who thinks I should have gone to law school made me write this italicized section. :)
Frequent Vacuuming: So simple. So common sense. And yet we did not do this weeks 1 - 3, which is probably why we are still seeing at least one flea per day on Hurley. So we embark on daily vacuuming for the next week, then will treat carpeting with DE, let it sit for 3 days, then do every other day vacuuming for a week, treat with DE. Rinse, repeat. A critical aspect of this simple common sense solution is to ensure you replace your vacuum's bag or empty out the dirt canister in bagless vacuums. Immediately remove from your house. If fleas are in there and you only toss it in your garbage can, those fleas will get out and reinfest your carpet.
Flea Sprays & Shampoos: I used Ark Natural's Flea Flicker Tick Kicker Spray at first. This spray works from geranium, clove & peppermint oil. I sprayed about every other day and found that there was a real reduction in the fleas I found on Hurley but this alone didn't seem to be enough to get rid of them completely. I also am using EcoPure Naturals Flea & Tick Shampoo, which works from an assortment of oils similar to Flea Flicker. I didn't use a specific flea shampoo when I first bathed the dogs but have used it once and will use it for all future baths until the fleas are sayonara, which brings me to my next item:
Frequent & Thorough Bathing: The dogs will be getting weekly baths for the next 3 weeks at least using the flea shampoo. All 3 at the same time so that fleas cannot jump from one to the other. And this is the tough part - they must stay in the bathtub with the shampoo penetrating their coat for at least 5 minutes. Sadie was awesome at this; Maggie gave me dirty looks; Hurley whined and cried the entirety of his bath. And after the 5 minutes of shampoo penetration, I follow it up with an apple cider vinegar rinse. That stays on their coats for another 5 minutes before rinsing off. Hurley wouldn't even look at me for the rest of the evening after his bath. But we made up this morning so all is right in the world again. The ACV also made their coats super soft - I love pleasant side effects!
Apple Cider Vinegar: From all the research I've done, ACV seems to be one of those cure-all products. Fleas are but one of many ailments it is said to help. In addition to the ACV rinse as part of their weekly baths, we sprayed the baseboards, carpet, mattress & upholstery with an ACV/water mixture. They are also getting a tablespoon of ACV in their water bowl each time we fill it. I will be spraying them with an ACV/water mixture in lieu of the flea spray I've previously been using to see if it is any more effective.
Treating Flea bites, scratches & hot spots: In order to make the girls more comfortable as we are fighting fleas, I am applying Pal Dog's Boo Boo Gel to their flea bites, where they've scratched themselves raw and any hot spots that develop. Sadie is starting to chew at her paws and make hot spots, pobrecita! Hurley on the other hand occasionally scratches himself but otherwise does not seem bothered by the fleas. Yet I have not found more than one flea on Sadie in 2 weeks while I find fleas on him almost daily. Go figure. The Boo Boo gel contains Aloe, St Johns wort and Calendula oil, which I have found to be effective in soothing the skin and healing boo boos. This helps make them more comfortable and less likely to scratch themselves raw. I apply daily as needed when I examine them.
Wow. I am definitely throwing the book at our flea problem. I still have a few more natural remedies to try if this laundry list of solutions doesn't cut it: tea tree oil, lemon/water spray, cedar oil...the list goes on. This is my war on fleas and I am determined to win. These tiny little buggers will not get the best of me!
Please note that I did not receive free products to review or any compensation. The specific products mentioned are ones that I carry in my store and recommend to customers who are fighting fleas naturally.
Our flea history up to this fall is exactly this - none. We had Sadie & Maggie on Frontline or Advantage; it changed a couple times with vet recommendations. Then I forgot to give it to them. Then nothing happened. No fleas, no problems. We lived a happily flea-free existence for years. Then came Hurley. Combined with Hurley's apparent status as Most Hospitable Flea Host ever and a worse-than-usual flea season here in Portland, we are now in the midst of flea-mageddon.
Okay. So slight exaggeration. We do have fleas, but it's a mid-range infestation. Not flea-mageddon. And I am determined to conquer fleas naturally this time. Yes, it would be more convenient to simply dab the back of their necks once a month but the convenient way is not always the best way. I would prefer to use natural products I know won't harm my dogs in the long run than dose them with neurotoxins. If it's not safe for children to handle, how can it be safe for my dogs? That's my dilemma.
The reality of using safe, natural but not as conveniently effective products to fight fleas is that it takes much more effort, more time and when you think the fleas are gone, think again and continue with what you've been doing for several more weeks after you think they're gone. Natural remedies can effectively rid your dog of fleas but they do not kill the eggs. Eggs can take up to 20 days to hatch, which means getting rid of fleas naturally may take 4-6 weeks. We are at week 3 here at our house and it's going meh. I have not been as diligent as I should have and the next 3 weeks are all about stepping up my game. Here's what I've been trying:
Diatamaceous Earth: DE can be quite effective at killing fleas. This powder is a sharp fossilized substance to small bugs and works by both drying out and piercing an insect's exo-skeleton. In order for DE to be fully effective, it needs to remain in place for 72 hours at minimum. I have found this solution not to be effective on the dog's coats themselves as it doesn't stay on their coats long enough. I do believe this to be the most effective solution that I've tried in terms of treating carpeting and bedding. There are a couple precautions one must take with DE: be sure to purchase food-grade and not pool-grade DE and when applying, make sure not to create a cloud of DE dust as it can be harmful when breathed in. I keep DE on my dog's bedding at all times, treat the carpet weekly and there is always a bit of DE in places like the laundry room and surrounding the dogs' kennels.
Garlic: Garlic can be a controversial food for dogs. From the online research I've done, I've found the bottom line to be this: garlic has the same substance as onions but in much smaller amounts that are not toxic to most dogs when given the correct dosage. The correct dosage of garlic can be effective in fighting fleas and other parasites, is great for heart health and is an effective supplement in fighting cancer. I gave the dogs 1/3 of a medium size garlic clove once a day for several days to kick off my war on the fleas. I can't say for sure how effective it has been - I believe garlic to be more effective as a preventative than to actually rid your dog of fleas once they are there. Please seek the advice of a veterinarian prior to starting any supplements. I am sharing my experience with garlic but am not a licensed veterinarian qualified to give medical advice. I would advise seeking the advice of a holistic veterinarian in regards to these types of supplements though as traditional veterinarians are generally less experienced on the safe use of garlic and other natural supplements. The part of me who thinks I should have gone to law school made me write this italicized section. :)
Frequent Vacuuming: So simple. So common sense. And yet we did not do this weeks 1 - 3, which is probably why we are still seeing at least one flea per day on Hurley. So we embark on daily vacuuming for the next week, then will treat carpeting with DE, let it sit for 3 days, then do every other day vacuuming for a week, treat with DE. Rinse, repeat. A critical aspect of this simple common sense solution is to ensure you replace your vacuum's bag or empty out the dirt canister in bagless vacuums. Immediately remove from your house. If fleas are in there and you only toss it in your garbage can, those fleas will get out and reinfest your carpet.
Flea Sprays & Shampoos: I used Ark Natural's Flea Flicker Tick Kicker Spray at first. This spray works from geranium, clove & peppermint oil. I sprayed about every other day and found that there was a real reduction in the fleas I found on Hurley but this alone didn't seem to be enough to get rid of them completely. I also am using EcoPure Naturals Flea & Tick Shampoo, which works from an assortment of oils similar to Flea Flicker. I didn't use a specific flea shampoo when I first bathed the dogs but have used it once and will use it for all future baths until the fleas are sayonara, which brings me to my next item:
Frequent & Thorough Bathing: The dogs will be getting weekly baths for the next 3 weeks at least using the flea shampoo. All 3 at the same time so that fleas cannot jump from one to the other. And this is the tough part - they must stay in the bathtub with the shampoo penetrating their coat for at least 5 minutes. Sadie was awesome at this; Maggie gave me dirty looks; Hurley whined and cried the entirety of his bath. And after the 5 minutes of shampoo penetration, I follow it up with an apple cider vinegar rinse. That stays on their coats for another 5 minutes before rinsing off. Hurley wouldn't even look at me for the rest of the evening after his bath. But we made up this morning so all is right in the world again. The ACV also made their coats super soft - I love pleasant side effects!
Apple Cider Vinegar: From all the research I've done, ACV seems to be one of those cure-all products. Fleas are but one of many ailments it is said to help. In addition to the ACV rinse as part of their weekly baths, we sprayed the baseboards, carpet, mattress & upholstery with an ACV/water mixture. They are also getting a tablespoon of ACV in their water bowl each time we fill it. I will be spraying them with an ACV/water mixture in lieu of the flea spray I've previously been using to see if it is any more effective.
Treating Flea bites, scratches & hot spots: In order to make the girls more comfortable as we are fighting fleas, I am applying Pal Dog's Boo Boo Gel to their flea bites, where they've scratched themselves raw and any hot spots that develop. Sadie is starting to chew at her paws and make hot spots, pobrecita! Hurley on the other hand occasionally scratches himself but otherwise does not seem bothered by the fleas. Yet I have not found more than one flea on Sadie in 2 weeks while I find fleas on him almost daily. Go figure. The Boo Boo gel contains Aloe, St Johns wort and Calendula oil, which I have found to be effective in soothing the skin and healing boo boos. This helps make them more comfortable and less likely to scratch themselves raw. I apply daily as needed when I examine them.
Wow. I am definitely throwing the book at our flea problem. I still have a few more natural remedies to try if this laundry list of solutions doesn't cut it: tea tree oil, lemon/water spray, cedar oil...the list goes on. This is my war on fleas and I am determined to win. These tiny little buggers will not get the best of me!
Please note that I did not receive free products to review or any compensation. The specific products mentioned are ones that I carry in my store and recommend to customers who are fighting fleas naturally.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
How Sadie literally licked Hurley's Face Off
I noticed a bit of a bald spot around Hurley's eye about a week ago. I noticed a couple days ago that it had grown and it seemed a little puffier than the other eye. I also noticed Hurley pawing at it. I promptly freaked out, called our vet and made an appointment for the following day. As the Hubster and I examined his eye that night, he bet me that it was nothing. I insisted upon keeping the appointment anyway.
The Hubster won his bet aka yes, he was right and I was wrong. Most likely, it is nothing. My favorite part of the vet visit came after we had done several tests with his eye involving black lights and droplets. Our vet asked me "What do you think the chances are that he just bumped his head?" I laughed. Yup, sounds like Hurley.
I had also remembered, as I was driving into the parking lot, that Sadie likes to groom Hurley. Actually, she is obsessed with grooming him. Every night, he gets a good once-over; some nights, she would lick his face, ears, etc for hours on end if we let her. If I had remembered this before I was pulling into the vet's office, no appt would have been made. There is no question in my mind that she literally licked the fur off of his face. And fur growing back is itchy, he scratched, I thought it was bothering him. Bam! Vet visit.
Needless to say, it's a good thing my vet is the type that says "I'm not gonna charge you for that" when we do quick tests in the clinic that reinforce my likely over-reaction. But I'm glad that my mind is at peace. And just in case the Hubster is only temporarily right, I am going on the record that there is a slight chance that it could be ring worm or mites (aka Mange). If it gets worse (after keeping Sadie's tongue far away from her bro), then we look into getting more tests done. That's vet-speak for making the doggie mama feel better about wasting a visit. He even called me after the visit to speak to me about demodectic mange and that it's on the list of what to be concerned about if it gets worse.
In other news, it's started raining here in Portland. Please look forward to plenty of muddy Hurley pics for the next 9 months.
The Hubster won his bet aka yes, he was right and I was wrong. Most likely, it is nothing. My favorite part of the vet visit came after we had done several tests with his eye involving black lights and droplets. Our vet asked me "What do you think the chances are that he just bumped his head?" I laughed. Yup, sounds like Hurley.
I had also remembered, as I was driving into the parking lot, that Sadie likes to groom Hurley. Actually, she is obsessed with grooming him. Every night, he gets a good once-over; some nights, she would lick his face, ears, etc for hours on end if we let her. If I had remembered this before I was pulling into the vet's office, no appt would have been made. There is no question in my mind that she literally licked the fur off of his face. And fur growing back is itchy, he scratched, I thought it was bothering him. Bam! Vet visit.
Needless to say, it's a good thing my vet is the type that says "I'm not gonna charge you for that" when we do quick tests in the clinic that reinforce my likely over-reaction. But I'm glad that my mind is at peace. And just in case the Hubster is only temporarily right, I am going on the record that there is a slight chance that it could be ring worm or mites (aka Mange). If it gets worse (after keeping Sadie's tongue far away from her bro), then we look into getting more tests done. That's vet-speak for making the doggie mama feel better about wasting a visit. He even called me after the visit to speak to me about demodectic mange and that it's on the list of what to be concerned about if it gets worse.
In other news, it's started raining here in Portland. Please look forward to plenty of muddy Hurley pics for the next 9 months.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tidbits
Got a lot of half posts baking in my lil ol brain today so I thought, why not combine them all into an actual regular sized post? Here we go!
This week began with a low speed doggie chase here in Portland. I have seen a few dog on highway videos and they are usually pretty harrowing. Cars speeding by with dog dodging around them. What I love about this is how Portland's motorists, during a busy Monday rush hour, stopped all traffic, got out of their cars, and opened their car doors in hopes this little pooch would jump in and out of harm's way. That's just how we do here in Portland!
Next up? Fleas. Yup. I haven't had the dogs on flea preventative for a couple years. I started with stopping during the winter, then forgot to resume treatment in the spring. When I confessed these deadly sins to my vet, she shrugged and said she only gave flea medication to her own dogs when she found a flea and then treated for a month or two and stopped again so I felt vindicated that we live somewhere where fleas aren't a huge problem. But now we have a flea. Drat! I've treated dogs & house with Diatamaceous Earth and will continue to treat dogs weekly for the next three weeks or so. I'm crossing my fingers that we can conquer these fleas naturally and without resorting to topical medications. I'll write a more lengthy post when we are successful at routing out these pesky parasites with this all-natural solution 'cause if it's natural and it works, I need to share it, yo! Plus DE is waaaayyyyyyyy more cost effective than the good quality flea medications, which are the only ones I would consider putting on my dogs. Keeping our fingers crossed!
I have to share this article on NoPo Paws. beportland.com did a great job in highlighting why I opened up my store and why I love it so darn much.
Lastly for today, if you aren't a follower of Our Waldo Bungie, check out the sweater sale that is going on. Not only are these adorable sweaters hand-crafted; for a limited time the proceeds all benefit Waldo Bungie's adorable foster, Ginger. Ginger is an elderbull with a few minor medical issues that need to be taken care of so that she has the best chance of finding her forever home. Sadie is definitely getting one; I just need to pick some colors! And if you aren't in the market for a sweater, you can also help Ginger out by donating to her ChipIn.
That's all that's a -cooking in my half-baked brain this morning. Have a great weekend!
This week began with a low speed doggie chase here in Portland. I have seen a few dog on highway videos and they are usually pretty harrowing. Cars speeding by with dog dodging around them. What I love about this is how Portland's motorists, during a busy Monday rush hour, stopped all traffic, got out of their cars, and opened their car doors in hopes this little pooch would jump in and out of harm's way. That's just how we do here in Portland!
Next up? Fleas. Yup. I haven't had the dogs on flea preventative for a couple years. I started with stopping during the winter, then forgot to resume treatment in the spring. When I confessed these deadly sins to my vet, she shrugged and said she only gave flea medication to her own dogs when she found a flea and then treated for a month or two and stopped again so I felt vindicated that we live somewhere where fleas aren't a huge problem. But now we have a flea. Drat! I've treated dogs & house with Diatamaceous Earth and will continue to treat dogs weekly for the next three weeks or so. I'm crossing my fingers that we can conquer these fleas naturally and without resorting to topical medications. I'll write a more lengthy post when we are successful at routing out these pesky parasites with this all-natural solution 'cause if it's natural and it works, I need to share it, yo! Plus DE is waaaayyyyyyyy more cost effective than the good quality flea medications, which are the only ones I would consider putting on my dogs. Keeping our fingers crossed!
I have to share this article on NoPo Paws. beportland.com did a great job in highlighting why I opened up my store and why I love it so darn much.
Lastly for today, if you aren't a follower of Our Waldo Bungie, check out the sweater sale that is going on. Not only are these adorable sweaters hand-crafted; for a limited time the proceeds all benefit Waldo Bungie's adorable foster, Ginger. Ginger is an elderbull with a few minor medical issues that need to be taken care of so that she has the best chance of finding her forever home. Sadie is definitely getting one; I just need to pick some colors! And if you aren't in the market for a sweater, you can also help Ginger out by donating to her ChipIn.
That's all that's a -cooking in my half-baked brain this morning. Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
A Journey to a Holistic Mindset, Part 3
Start with Part 1 here
Not-so-fun Fact: The incontinence medication, Proin, that I have been faithfully feeding Maggie for 3 years is nothing other than Dexatrim. The active ingredient in Proin, Phenylpropanolamine (PPA), is the same active ingredient as Dexatrim. Awesome. I have been giving my baby diet pills her entire life. How f***ed is that?!?! Not to mention that PPA has been banned in the US due to its tendency to cause stroke in people. Double f****ed!! Now that I know what this drug really is, I have to wonder - could some of her behavior problems be related to being on a "speedy" drug for the past 3 years?
Part of me felt betrayed that my vet never bothered to discuss side effects or the history of the drug with me. The other part of me felt guilty that I never asked. To be clear, Proin is not known to cause stroke in dogs. It is known to cause restlessness, irritability, elevated heart rate, seizures and coma. When I learned this, I began to think that perhaps, just maybe, Proin could be one factor in a kaleidoscope of factors contributing to her itchies, or general discomfort, as well as the behavior problems. Not to mention that Maggie has never gained those few pounds that most dogs do as they transition from puppy to adult (guess those diet pills are working!).
Determined not to keep her on Proin, I had been spending time researching herbal and homeopathic remedies to incontinence. During this time, we started seeing her eating her own poo and having digestive issues. Worried that changing too much at once would lead to further issues or at the very least, leave unclear what remedy was helping what issue, I decided to post-pone the transition to an herbal incontinence solution until we had these digestive issues under control.
Until now. I give Maggie her Proin in her food. The other night, Hurley got into her bowl as I was putting them down. I noticed he got a few pieces of kibble before I pulled him back and redirected him to his own bowl. And I thought nothing of it. Fast forward 2 hours. I start noticing that my little puppy was having difficulties getting comfortable. He lays down, whines and moves. Again and again and again. Something is not right. I rack my brain – did he eat the mushrooms that grow in our yard (I’ve been trying to keep those pulled as soon as they come up so he won’t get at them) or could it be that the newspaper he ate in his kennel is blocking his digestive tract?? Finally, I remember dinner-time and holy crap, he might have eaten Maggie’s Proin!
The hubbie and I immediately googled a Proin overdose and called the local vet hospital here in Portland. Thank god for Dove Lewis! Their vet tech talked through his symptoms with me, checked with the doctor on dosage (he only had 25 mg, half a tablet). I was told that this was on the high end of a dosage for his age and size but that it was still within an acceptable range. Meanwhile, Hurley was obviously miserable. My poor baby! It was one long night of keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn’t have a seizure and that his heart rate was not so elevated that we needed to take him to the hospital. Lucky for us, he was fine by the next morning.
Never again will any of my dogs be given Proin. The next day I started Maggie on Animal Apawthecary's Tinkle Tonic. So far so good but I'm sure we'll need to play with dosage levels and maybe turn to a different product/solution if this doesn't work out. It's only been a few days. I've got a laundry list of herbs and products to try - from cornsilk to cranberry powder to Homeopet's Leaks No More. What I have learned in my research is that herbal remedies can have different levels of efficacy on individual dogs. It may take us a while to find the solution or combination of solutions that work but we will persevere! And even if no herbal remedies work as well as Proin at controlling her incontinence, oh well. So I have to do a little extra laundry. Whoop-de-doo.
Never again will I accept a prescription without both doing my research and exploring natural remedies as an alternative to a daily pill. Never again, will I take a vet’s recommendation without question.
Never again will I fail to connect dots – it still amazes me that my vet never considered the totality of Maggie’s various issues and treated her wholely – holistically! Perhaps it’s because I was already pre-disposed towards exploring natural remedies and have a distrust of big companies, like dog food manufacturers and pharmaceuticals, which led me to question what I was being told and half of what I saw online.
I still don’t know if Maggie’s behavioral issues will improve as a result of being on a better diet and off Proin. We have seen improvements in the last year but those could be attributed to our positive reinforcement training as well as better nutrition. What I do know is that I believe wholeheartedly in stepping back from an individual symptom and considering the entire picture – behavior, nutrition, chronic health issues, environment, and genetics. I believe in under-taking the many times arduous process of addressing a root cause, rather than just treating the symptom. And I believe that nature knows best but that science has its place in my arsenal as well. I will continue to see my regular vet for annual checkups and vaccinations but I will seek a second opinion from a holistic vet if any chronic illnesses rear their ugly heads – which may be sooner rather than later if the herbal remedies I know of do not work on Maggie’s incontinence.
While I have certainly made mistakes with Maggie, most of which are me not being as informed of a doggie mom as I should have been, I am forever grateful to her for leading me down this road. Not only she but Sadie, Hurley and the many, many dogs we will have in our lifetime will benefit from what I have learned and my commitment to continue learning and exploring.
Friday, May 27, 2011
A Journey to a Holistic Mindset, Part 2
As I began to question the advice my vet was giving and started researching causes for Maggie’s itchiness, I quickly realized that issue #1 was her food. At this point in time, my primary concern was finding and addressing the cause of her allergies. We were well on our way to re-training her leash aggressiveness through positive reinforcement and I still had not connected any dots in terms of her Proin medication being a factor in any of these issues.
It took one google search to convince me that Iams was an awful choice for food. It still disturbs me that my vet praised me for our food choice; it’s one thing to not criticize your patient’s decisions in nutrition, but it’s another thing to whole-heartedly cheer them on. I immediately began my search for a better food. The first decision I made was to remove corn, wheat and un-identified protein sources from the ingredient panel as well as go with a highly respected kibble. I tried Wellness first, which greatly improved her coat health and vitality. But it didn’t make the itchies go away. With this small improvement, I knew I was on the right track. Our next food was Solid Gold and within a few days, Maggie’s itchiness became non-existent.
During the food trials I was under-taking, I also continued my research on nutrition. My opinions are based on what I’ve read online, a few dog nutrition books I’ve read as well as just what makes sense to me. The basis for my philosophy is this: I cannot believe feeding the same food day in and out can be good for our dogs, especially when that food comes in a highly-processed format such as kibble. I was however stuck in a bind – having found a food that eliminated Maggie’s itchies, I hesitated to experiment and cause it to come back. At the same time, my husband and I were strict on not feeding the dogs “people” food so no begging would be encouraged. The more and more I read, the more I started to believe this distinction between “people” and “dog” food was preposterous. I wanted to proceed cautiously though. I began to feed one home-cooked meal per week – Meat Sundays. I started giving vegetables as treats and not worrying if they got a little of our leftovers, so long as those leftovers were healthy and did not include any ingredients known to harm dogs.
With the new business, I have to admit that I haven’t been consistent with the one home-cooked meal per week though they still do get a little leftover baked chicken or veggies on a regular basis. I have since tried to switch up their kibble from Solid Gold to another brand I carry in the store. Towards the end of the bag, I started noticing Maggie getting itchy again so back to Solid Gold we went. I’m just not comfortable giving her variety through various kibbles at this point.
Through the process of educating myself on commercial dog food and what can be so awful about it, I also began to connect the dots between behavior and physical health and nutrition. I began to let go of feelings of guilt over any responsibility in Maggie’s bad behavior and start to consider that a change in her food may help with those behavior problems. At the same time, I was also reading up more on her incontinence medication, Proin, and started to have some misgivings as to whether it was doing her more harm than good…
To be continued
Thursday, May 26, 2011
A Journey to a Holistic Mindset, Part 1
I used to be one of those people who trusted every word that came out of their vet’s mouth. Iams is the best food I can be feeding? Great! I need this pill for my 1 year old incontinent puppy? Where’s the prescription! I trusted that the advice I was given was coming from the mouth of experts and who was I to question an expert?
Our Maggie started developing chronic UTI’s at the young age of 8 months. After months of antibiotics, tests and finally surgery, we solved the chronic infection problem but were left with a 1 ½ year old puppy with incontinence. Our vet prescribed Proin and for the past 3 years, Maggie has received a pill a day.
Proin worked great for solving the incontinence problem.
The next fall, we started noticing that Maggie was itching a lot. Luckily her annual appointment her is each fall so at her check-up, I asked our vet about the itchiness. Sounds like seasonal allergies is what she told us and advised us to give her a half-Benadryl when it was bad as well as give her regular baths.
The baths have helped but didn’t solve the problem. I was hesitant about adding yet another pill to her daily intake so I just didn’t give her Benadryl unless it was particularly bad. Her “allergies” slowly and slowly progressed to the point where she was itchy all the time. You touched Maggie, she scratched herself. It seemed the only time she wasn’t scratching was when she was asleep.
In this same time period, we started having issues with Maggie’s behavior. She attacked one small dog one summer; the next it was two. Leash aggression started to become a real problem – so much so that we stopped walking Sadie and Maggie at the same time so that we could both manage Maggie’s reactiveness effectively and also so that Sadie wouldn’t learn this new behavior. At the time, I blamed myself for the behavior issues. You see, when Maggie started having the UTI’s I kept her away from the dog park and socialization with other dogs as I didn’t want her to be exposed to other illnesses while she was fighting an infection that just wouldn’t go away. I thought her subsequent bad behavior was my fault because I had ceased making sure she was well-socialized during those critical adolescent months even though I had thought it best health-wise.
Meanwhile, at each vet visit, I received praise for feeding them well (Iams) and was reassured that the increasing itchiness was definitely seasonal, not related to food, and that it was common to get worse as dogs aged. Someday we may have to look into prescriptions or steroid shots, if it got to that point. Behavior-wise, we were doing the right things. And I never thought to ask if any of this may be related to the medication she was taking.
At around year three, I started connecting the dots. Incontinence, allergies, behavior. Didn’t it make sense that these issues were inter-related? As Maggie’s itchiness and discomfort increased, so did my uneasiness with our vet’s diagnosis. The issue transcended seasons; it just didn’t make sense. And so began my journey into finding a solution, with or without the help of my vet. I was not going to accept additional medications to ease symptoms without examining what might be the root cause.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Home-Cookin'
This Sunday marked the first "Meat Sunday", as I have deemed it. My weekly commitment to giving the girls some home-cooked meals.
This week I started out with chicken. The hubbie and I were having Chicken Parm with Roasted Aspargus so I sauteed a bit of the chicken for the girls, sans cheese, breading and sauce. Following up last week's post on Sadie's love of veggies and the coincidence of me cooking asparagus a few days later, I gave Sadie one of the ends that I cut off. She chomped on it for about 2 seconds, dropped it and looked up at me, with what I thought was a "can I have another" look. So I gave her a second one. She promptly dropped it. This time, I realized the look was "I love you so much Mom, I will take whatever you give me and pretend to enjoy it because I want you to be so very very happy." Yup. Turns out she doesn't like asparagus - she just really loves making Mom happy. I went back into the kitchen, she gobbled up the asparagus and trotted after me with a "See, Mom. I ate it like you wanted. Are you happy?" wag to her tail. I don't have a veggie-loving Pittie. I have a Mom-I'll-do-whatever-it-takes-to-make-you-happy-even-if-it-means-eating-gross-asparagus Pittie.
Back to the home-cooked goodness, veggie-free.
I'm using the home-cooked proteins as a food-topper. Dog nutrition is something I am learning more and more about but am not 100% confident in my ability to include all of the necessary ingredients in the right proportions to properly nutrition-ify my girls. Did you know they need so much calcium that all home-prepared meals should include some sort of bone meal? Or that they really need organ meat as part of their mix of proteins? These are the things that I am slowly learning enough about that at some point, I will completely remove the kibble portion of their Sunday dinners but for now, I am simply reducing the kibble by about 1/3 and adding 1/2 cup home-prepared goodness to their dishes.
I decided to include a raw egg each week to help with Maggie's coat health. Because she has had food intolerance (we think) issues and chronic itchiness, I am hoping the egg will help to prevent those issues from re-occurring.
So far so good. Unless you have a problem with this:
That was Sadie as we sat down to dinner last night. Monday night, not Meat Sunday night. I hope one home-cooked meal per week doesn't elicit this response every time I turn on the stove!
This week I started out with chicken. The hubbie and I were having Chicken Parm with Roasted Aspargus so I sauteed a bit of the chicken for the girls, sans cheese, breading and sauce. Following up last week's post on Sadie's love of veggies and the coincidence of me cooking asparagus a few days later, I gave Sadie one of the ends that I cut off. She chomped on it for about 2 seconds, dropped it and looked up at me, with what I thought was a "can I have another" look. So I gave her a second one. She promptly dropped it. This time, I realized the look was "I love you so much Mom, I will take whatever you give me and pretend to enjoy it because I want you to be so very very happy." Yup. Turns out she doesn't like asparagus - she just really loves making Mom happy. I went back into the kitchen, she gobbled up the asparagus and trotted after me with a "See, Mom. I ate it like you wanted. Are you happy?" wag to her tail. I don't have a veggie-loving Pittie. I have a Mom-I'll-do-whatever-it-takes-to-make-you-happy-even-if-it-means-eating-gross-asparagus Pittie.
Back to the home-cooked goodness, veggie-free.
 |
| Sauteed chicken with a raw egg topper for coat health |
I'm using the home-cooked proteins as a food-topper. Dog nutrition is something I am learning more and more about but am not 100% confident in my ability to include all of the necessary ingredients in the right proportions to properly nutrition-ify my girls. Did you know they need so much calcium that all home-prepared meals should include some sort of bone meal? Or that they really need organ meat as part of their mix of proteins? These are the things that I am slowly learning enough about that at some point, I will completely remove the kibble portion of their Sunday dinners but for now, I am simply reducing the kibble by about 1/3 and adding 1/2 cup home-prepared goodness to their dishes.
 |
| Please don't make us sit too long for this yumminess! |
I decided to include a raw egg each week to help with Maggie's coat health. Because she has had food intolerance (we think) issues and chronic itchiness, I am hoping the egg will help to prevent those issues from re-occurring.
So far so good. Unless you have a problem with this:
 |
| Something smells delish! |
That was Sadie as we sat down to dinner last night. Monday night, not Meat Sunday night. I hope one home-cooked meal per week doesn't elicit this response every time I turn on the stove!
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Food Experiment: A Change of Course
I did it. I moved the girls to another formula of Solid Gold's (MMillenia - beef formula) to see how Maggie would react. Unfortunately, she has started the scratching again - it's pretty minimal at this point but I don't want it to build up again. I want her to be happy and itch-free. Having found that one formula that eliminated her itchiness overnight, I'm sticking with it. Bye, Bye Food Experiment. I'm glad that we found the solution to her problems and, though I would have liked to try a few more foods so that I had personal experience with which to recommend them to my customers, my goal was met. Sadie is looking spectacular and though I haven't taken her in to the vet for the official weigh-in, there is no doubt that she is very close to her ideal weight. She has gone from sausage to svelte. I think all three of the foods we tried helped her as she started trimming the fat once we moved off of Iams and kept going.
I did have one goal in my experiment that won't be met by sticking to one formula - and that is providing variety in their diet. So how am I going to accomplish that? By supplementing their diets with fresh snacks and homemade meals of course! I have already been doing this a little for the past few months but off and on and only when the cooking I was doing for us peeps was appropriate to feed to the girls. Now I'm going to make the commitment to more than just off and on and when it's convenient. They'll get one home-prepared protein per week, I will sometimes add food toppers like broth, eggs or fresh veggies and I'm going to start replacing some of the treats they get with raw veggies and fruit. Sadie is pretty psyched about this.
I will have no problem with Sadie and the fresh veggies. I discovered her love for all things vegetables - well, not all veggies...just the crunchy ones - a few years back when a piece of raw asparagus fell on the floor. She gobbled it up and I waited for the horrible, what the hell is this crap expression that would inevitably come. I mean, raw asparagus? Even I need my asparagus blanched at least. Nope. She loved it and begged for more. This past week, I introduced celery and now I have a dog that begs whenever I break out the cutting board. Except if I'm cutting up meat - she knows her place is lying down at the edge of the kitchen when she smells meat. Guess I'll have to start training her that the same applies to veggies too.
Maggie wasn't having any of the celery (good thing I won't be relying on celery for nutrition!) but she did have a good ole time chomping on carrots.
I did have one goal in my experiment that won't be met by sticking to one formula - and that is providing variety in their diet. So how am I going to accomplish that? By supplementing their diets with fresh snacks and homemade meals of course! I have already been doing this a little for the past few months but off and on and only when the cooking I was doing for us peeps was appropriate to feed to the girls. Now I'm going to make the commitment to more than just off and on and when it's convenient. They'll get one home-prepared protein per week, I will sometimes add food toppers like broth, eggs or fresh veggies and I'm going to start replacing some of the treats they get with raw veggies and fruit. Sadie is pretty psyched about this.
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Maggie wasn't having any of the celery (good thing I won't be relying on celery for nutrition!) but she did have a good ole time chomping on carrots.
 | |
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Whole Dog Journal's 2011 Food List is Out!
It's that time of year again! Each February, Whole Dog Journal (my fave dog-related publication) releases a list of dry foods that they have thoroughly vetted and pass their stringent criteria. I had misplaced last February's copy so when I started my Great Food Experiment with the girls, I was bummed not to have their list to ensure that my selections were also foods that they recommend. Now it's out, I can compare and am a happy dog owner.
Unfortunately, you have to subscribe to Whole Dog to get the list of foods but they do offer an online article talking about some of the selection criteria that informed owners may use in selecting their pet's food and how it compares with their criteria. If you aren't a Whole Dog subscriber, it's one publication that I do recommend and it's only $20 for a year's subscription. In addition to food recommendations, there are great articles on positive reinforcement training, product reviews, health information and just general good doggie stuff. I save all of my back copies in a binder (yes, I binder everything) for future reference. Their monthly journal even comes pre-hole punched. A company who caters to my tendency to binder...I'm sold! But enough of my spiel for Whole Dog...
Yippee! All of the dry kibble foods I have selected for my store (Wellness, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, Orijen, Acana, Merrick, and Castor & Pollux) are on the list! My girls have tried Wellness and Solid Gold so far. They are still doing superb on the Solid Gold. Today, I'm switching them up to a different formula of Solid Gold. I'm going with their MMillenia Beef & Barley formula primarily because they have not had any beef formulas yet as well as wanting to keep them on Solid Gold as the first test to ensure Maggie's now-defunct coat and itchiness problems do not return. The calorie count is slightly higher than the Hund-n-Flocken (but less than Wellness) so I'll have to keep an eye on Sadie but am not too concerned. She seems to have gotten back down to ideal weight. I'll be bringing her in for her weigh-in this week as well so we'll see.
Unfortunately, you have to subscribe to Whole Dog to get the list of foods but they do offer an online article talking about some of the selection criteria that informed owners may use in selecting their pet's food and how it compares with their criteria. If you aren't a Whole Dog subscriber, it's one publication that I do recommend and it's only $20 for a year's subscription. In addition to food recommendations, there are great articles on positive reinforcement training, product reviews, health information and just general good doggie stuff. I save all of my back copies in a binder (yes, I binder everything) for future reference. Their monthly journal even comes pre-hole punched. A company who caters to my tendency to binder...I'm sold! But enough of my spiel for Whole Dog...
Yippee! All of the dry kibble foods I have selected for my store (Wellness, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, Orijen, Acana, Merrick, and Castor & Pollux) are on the list! My girls have tried Wellness and Solid Gold so far. They are still doing superb on the Solid Gold. Today, I'm switching them up to a different formula of Solid Gold. I'm going with their MMillenia Beef & Barley formula primarily because they have not had any beef formulas yet as well as wanting to keep them on Solid Gold as the first test to ensure Maggie's now-defunct coat and itchiness problems do not return. The calorie count is slightly higher than the Hund-n-Flocken (but less than Wellness) so I'll have to keep an eye on Sadie but am not too concerned. She seems to have gotten back down to ideal weight. I'll be bringing her in for her weigh-in this week as well so we'll see.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Food Experiment: Solid Gold
Food #2 in our Great Food Experiment is Solid Gold. The girls have been on it for almost two months now and I'm loathe to continue on to the next food. Why? 'Cause Solid Gold is the miracle I had hardly dared to hope for. Less than one week after switching, Maggie's itchiness virtually disappeared. Well, no not virtually....ACTUALLY. I have seen her scratch herself maybe a handful of times in the past couple months. And this is the dog who compulsively scratched herself each and every time I petted her. Miracle! Her coat, which had started to improve on Wellness, is now lush and soft. Looking at her, I see a dog that is finally comfortable in its own skin and I wonder if we will see a change in some of her leash aggression and behavior problems as well.
Why did I chose Solid Gold for our 2nd food? Many of the reasons were the same as Wellness - commitment to high quality ingredients, whole foods, lack of artificial preservatives and no corn, wheat or soy.
Solid Gold, one may say, is the original all-natural premium dog food. While many of the brands you see in your specialty pet store are relatively new to the marketplace, Solid Gold has been around for decades. It came highly recommended at several pet stores here in Portland and with all the new trends (BARF, anyone?) in dog food, it says something that this old of a brand continues to receive high accolades from shop owners and occupies plenty of their shelf space.
I did find the Wellness website more informative in comparison and wish that Solid Gold displayed their About Us section a bit more prominently, though I did like the section on their Holistic Philosophy.
Web design and content aside, Solid Gold has exceeded my expectations. Sadie's weight is still looking healthy (I'm crossing my fingers that we'll find those last 5 lbs gone at the next vet weigh in!) and all's normal on the fart/poop front. It did take them a few days to adjust to the taste - I don't think it was as tasty as Wellness but they adjusted quickly and now dive in (it helps having puppies around to steal food if it's not immediately gobbled up).
So now what do I do? I had expected to see some improvement with Maggie. I had not expected her itchiness to disappear entirely. I still believe in the benefits of a varied diet but don't want to cause her health issues to reappear. Part of me wants to give up the food experiment entirely. If I could nail down one ingredient as the probable cause, I would be able to avoid it in future food selections but no, no common denominators in Wellness and Iams that aren't in Solid Gold. The only clue I saw was that Solid Gold contained several oils (salmon, almond & sesame) and perhaps those oils are helping her coat? Who knows. So I'm going to proceed with caution. I will try out a different formula in Solid Gold first (they've been on the lamb formula). If Maggie continues to do well, I will try another brand of food. However, at the first scratch, back to Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken we go.
I heart Solid Gold's food names. I like a company with a bit of creativity!
Why did I chose Solid Gold for our 2nd food? Many of the reasons were the same as Wellness - commitment to high quality ingredients, whole foods, lack of artificial preservatives and no corn, wheat or soy.
Solid Gold, one may say, is the original all-natural premium dog food. While many of the brands you see in your specialty pet store are relatively new to the marketplace, Solid Gold has been around for decades. It came highly recommended at several pet stores here in Portland and with all the new trends (BARF, anyone?) in dog food, it says something that this old of a brand continues to receive high accolades from shop owners and occupies plenty of their shelf space.
I did find the Wellness website more informative in comparison and wish that Solid Gold displayed their About Us section a bit more prominently, though I did like the section on their Holistic Philosophy.
Web design and content aside, Solid Gold has exceeded my expectations. Sadie's weight is still looking healthy (I'm crossing my fingers that we'll find those last 5 lbs gone at the next vet weigh in!) and all's normal on the fart/poop front. It did take them a few days to adjust to the taste - I don't think it was as tasty as Wellness but they adjusted quickly and now dive in (it helps having puppies around to steal food if it's not immediately gobbled up).
So now what do I do? I had expected to see some improvement with Maggie. I had not expected her itchiness to disappear entirely. I still believe in the benefits of a varied diet but don't want to cause her health issues to reappear. Part of me wants to give up the food experiment entirely. If I could nail down one ingredient as the probable cause, I would be able to avoid it in future food selections but no, no common denominators in Wellness and Iams that aren't in Solid Gold. The only clue I saw was that Solid Gold contained several oils (salmon, almond & sesame) and perhaps those oils are helping her coat? Who knows. So I'm going to proceed with caution. I will try out a different formula in Solid Gold first (they've been on the lamb formula). If Maggie continues to do well, I will try another brand of food. However, at the first scratch, back to Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken we go.
I heart Solid Gold's food names. I like a company with a bit of creativity!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The Food Experiment: Wellness
We're several months into the Great Food Experiment of 2010/2011. To recap, I am searching out a handful of high quality foods to give my pups variety, help Sadie lose those last 5 pesky lbs and most importantly, to reduce Maggie's allergy/itchiness problems.
First on the list was the Wellness brand. I selected Wellness for a variety of reasons:
- They are a popular brand in small, independent pet stores in the Portland area. While the availability of a food is not one of my criteria, I have faith in the dog community here in Portland. It's one that promotes high quality, holistic, grain-free and raw diets so I trust what's on the shelves of several highly respected small specialty stores here.
- I love the fact that they have an extensive line of foods. In addition to their "regular" formulas (which are the only ones I tried with my girls), they have grain-free, allergy and canned formulas.
- The quality of information on their website. You can tell a lot regarding the quality of a pet food from the level of transparency on their website. I look for a couple things.
First, a full list of product ingredients.
Second, a nutritional analysis that includes more than what is simply required - Wellness posts the caloric content of their food, which is usually information that is more difficult to get your hands on.
Third, the quality of the About Us section and how easily it can be found is the first thing I look at when researching a new product. I want to know who I'm buying from and what their philosophy/mission is.
-They give back through their Wellness Foundation and most of that giving back is to local organizations. It's icing on the cake when I find products made by companies who believe in social responsibility. I do wish there were more specific details in this section but it's definitely a start!
- They use many whole food ingredients and their formulas are free from artificial preservatives, corn, wheat, soy and animal by-products.
But the #1 reason I selected Wellness first was the Ingredients Dictionary page of their website. They describe each ingredient and its purpose in their formulas. This. Is. Seriously. Awesome! I don't know about you but I pretty much understand the first five or so ingredients and then the list tends to lose me. No, I have no idea what Cassia Gum is or what it is used for. Thank you Wellness! I feel like a much more empowered consumer and can utilize the information they provide on their website in analyzing the contents of other kinds of dog food.
So that's why I chose Wellness. We started out with a few bags of the Complete Health Lamb, Barley & Salmon recipe then switched to the Whitefish & Sweet Potato recipe. The girls were on Wellness for about 2 1/2 months. (I changed the rules here - initially, it was going to be one new food per month but I think it takes longer than a month to see how they are truly doing on it so we go through at least two bags of one brand or at least 2 months)
Sadie seemed to lose a bit of weight. I haven't weighed her yet - we'll do that later this month when I have to pick up Maggie's prescription from the vet. But I'm starting to see her sides come in at the hip again - decreasing the sausage effect.
I do want to point out that the change in food occurred right before I quit working for the man. Now that I'm home all day, she's a bit more active than before simply by following me around. She gets more walks now that I'm not working 60-80 hours per week. I can't with 100% confidence say that it was the change in food that caused the perceived weight loss. But I can say that either way, she is happy and looks healthier! Her farts did get a bit stinky at first but settled down after a few weeks on the new food (thank god - the LAST thing I need is stinky Sadie farts - they are truly the most awful. Ever.) And she has completely stopped the food bag guarding habit. As cute as that was, it always worried me a bit that she would forsake all interaction with her family to sit by a bag of food. I won't be missing that habit one bit. Though getting her head stuck in the Iams bag was always a good laugh.
Maggie's coat saw some pretty immediate benefits. Within a week or two, I noticed that it was significantly softer and shinier. However, I can't say that it helped with her itchiness. I didn't notice any change in her scratching and the scratching actually increased when I switched her to the Whitefish formula (only for the first week or so, then it calmed back down). I am keeping a list of everything she gets through this process and hopefully, a pattern will emerge and I can identify the problem ingredients. Keepin' my fingers crossed on that one!
All in all, I was really happy with Wellness. This is a brand I will be carrying in my store and I commend them for their commitment to quality and transparency with their customers. I'd like to try their allergy (Core) formulas later in the Great Food Experiment to see if a smaller list of ingredients and single protein sources may help Maggie. Even though they weren't the miracle solution to her allergies with their regular formulas, I did see noticeable improvements in Sadie's weight and Maggie's coat.
Did I mention they have a section of their website devoted to defining their ingredients? Seriously awesome, folks!
PS - No, I did not receive any free products or compensation for this postie post. It's just me, trying to do best by my dogs and sharing it all with you :)
First on the list was the Wellness brand. I selected Wellness for a variety of reasons:
- They are a popular brand in small, independent pet stores in the Portland area. While the availability of a food is not one of my criteria, I have faith in the dog community here in Portland. It's one that promotes high quality, holistic, grain-free and raw diets so I trust what's on the shelves of several highly respected small specialty stores here.
- I love the fact that they have an extensive line of foods. In addition to their "regular" formulas (which are the only ones I tried with my girls), they have grain-free, allergy and canned formulas.
- The quality of information on their website. You can tell a lot regarding the quality of a pet food from the level of transparency on their website. I look for a couple things.
First, a full list of product ingredients.
Second, a nutritional analysis that includes more than what is simply required - Wellness posts the caloric content of their food, which is usually information that is more difficult to get your hands on.
Third, the quality of the About Us section and how easily it can be found is the first thing I look at when researching a new product. I want to know who I'm buying from and what their philosophy/mission is.
-They give back through their Wellness Foundation and most of that giving back is to local organizations. It's icing on the cake when I find products made by companies who believe in social responsibility. I do wish there were more specific details in this section but it's definitely a start!
- They use many whole food ingredients and their formulas are free from artificial preservatives, corn, wheat, soy and animal by-products.
But the #1 reason I selected Wellness first was the Ingredients Dictionary page of their website. They describe each ingredient and its purpose in their formulas. This. Is. Seriously. Awesome! I don't know about you but I pretty much understand the first five or so ingredients and then the list tends to lose me. No, I have no idea what Cassia Gum is or what it is used for. Thank you Wellness! I feel like a much more empowered consumer and can utilize the information they provide on their website in analyzing the contents of other kinds of dog food.
So that's why I chose Wellness. We started out with a few bags of the Complete Health Lamb, Barley & Salmon recipe then switched to the Whitefish & Sweet Potato recipe. The girls were on Wellness for about 2 1/2 months. (I changed the rules here - initially, it was going to be one new food per month but I think it takes longer than a month to see how they are truly doing on it so we go through at least two bags of one brand or at least 2 months)
Sadie seemed to lose a bit of weight. I haven't weighed her yet - we'll do that later this month when I have to pick up Maggie's prescription from the vet. But I'm starting to see her sides come in at the hip again - decreasing the sausage effect.
I do want to point out that the change in food occurred right before I quit working for the man. Now that I'm home all day, she's a bit more active than before simply by following me around. She gets more walks now that I'm not working 60-80 hours per week. I can't with 100% confidence say that it was the change in food that caused the perceived weight loss. But I can say that either way, she is happy and looks healthier! Her farts did get a bit stinky at first but settled down after a few weeks on the new food (thank god - the LAST thing I need is stinky Sadie farts - they are truly the most awful. Ever.) And she has completely stopped the food bag guarding habit. As cute as that was, it always worried me a bit that she would forsake all interaction with her family to sit by a bag of food. I won't be missing that habit one bit. Though getting her head stuck in the Iams bag was always a good laugh.
Maggie's coat saw some pretty immediate benefits. Within a week or two, I noticed that it was significantly softer and shinier. However, I can't say that it helped with her itchiness. I didn't notice any change in her scratching and the scratching actually increased when I switched her to the Whitefish formula (only for the first week or so, then it calmed back down). I am keeping a list of everything she gets through this process and hopefully, a pattern will emerge and I can identify the problem ingredients. Keepin' my fingers crossed on that one!
All in all, I was really happy with Wellness. This is a brand I will be carrying in my store and I commend them for their commitment to quality and transparency with their customers. I'd like to try their allergy (Core) formulas later in the Great Food Experiment to see if a smaller list of ingredients and single protein sources may help Maggie. Even though they weren't the miracle solution to her allergies with their regular formulas, I did see noticeable improvements in Sadie's weight and Maggie's coat.
Did I mention they have a section of their website devoted to defining their ingredients? Seriously awesome, folks!
PS - No, I did not receive any free products or compensation for this postie post. It's just me, trying to do best by my dogs and sharing it all with you :)
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Dog Food Dilemma
I have spent a lot of time researching dog foods lately. Loads. The information search began in order to educate myself on the specialized foods I would need to carry in my store. It didn't take long for my grocery store brand (and Iams is one of the best that can be found in grocery stores) to be permanently banned from my house and the search for a high quality diet for my precious pups began.
I have always thought that perhaps food was an issue. Maggie has mild allergies and scratches herself more than the average dog. It's a behavior related to both health and stress but started out fairly mild and seems to be getting slightly worse as she ages. It's now at the point where I feel that it's time to take action before it gets any worse - and by action I do NOT mean giving her a benadryl every day! Our vet told us that it was likely seasonal allergies but it seems to transcend the seasons nowadays. My vet also told me last visit that "some dogs just do better on lower quality foods". Um...no, dogs do not "do better" on lower quality foods. Different dogs react differently to proteins, grains, fat content, carbohydrate content, etc. Some foods may have ingredients or a combination of ingredients that cause either temporary or lengthy digestive issues and may not be appropriate for that specific dog. But they are NOT healthier animals on low quality diets. Don't get me wrong - I love our vet. But that has got to be one of the dumbest things she's ever said.
I am on a quest to find the right combination of foods for my girls. I used to subscribe to the one food for life idea. But as I started doing some research, it got me thinking. In what logical world does it make sense that an animal can have a healthy, balanced diet that provides them with all the nutrients they need if they eat the same exact thing every meal, every day of their lives. I wholeheartedly believe that the food I eat impacts my long-term health. Why would it be any different for my dogs? And when I started reading statistics like 25% of dogs will develop cancer in their lifetime, which increases to 50% after the age of 10, I knew that food had to be a major part of the cause for that alarming statistic.
So I have started exploring the food options out there. Continue with kibble, raw diets, homemade? For now, raw diets are out primarily due to the high cost and also because I'm still slightly squeamish about raw. I know that dogs are not as susceptible to salmonella-type bacteria as we are. I know that there are many processes that the food is treated with to eliminate those types of bacteria. But I also worry that an all-protein diet may not provide them with the full scope of nutrients that they need. And I find it hilarious that supporters of the raw food diet have come up with the moniker BARF. While it stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods, well....BARF seems to be appropriate to me for other reasons!
I have eliminated moving to a home-made diet, which I simply won't always have time for. I am and will continue to supplement their diets with a little leftover meat and veggies from our table (never given to them as we eat but for breakfast the next day - don't want to encourage any begging!). I usually prepare their meat separately from ours if I'm cooking it in a sauce or with butter. My little Sadie-kins is about five pounds overweight. A friend referred to her as a sausage recently. I couldn't argue.
I've narrowed my dog food philosophy down to the following:
-There is nothing wrong with changing up the brand and/or protein source occasionally. I intend to settle on 3-4 different kinds of food that we rotate between. Unless either of them show a sensitivity to a particular ingredient, I will make sure they get chicken, lamb, beef and/or fish. These will be paired with rice, barley and oats mostly as the main ingredients.
-I will research brands online, read ingredient labels and ensure that I pay special attention to the first five ingredients. There should be several whole food ingredients and preferably two protein sources. Chicken is a whole food ingredient. Chicken meal is not. I will make sure that the protein content is around 20% and that the fat content is no more than 12%.
-It's completely OK to supplement with "people" food so long as it's healthy, does not encourage begging and is mindful of the foods that cause health issues (stay away from those onions!).
Over the next six months or so, I will be trying out different types of foods with my girls and seeing how they do on each kind. They will only get leftover people food a few times per month so as not to interfere with my unscientific dog food study. I have a monthly budget of $60 (one 30 lb bag of food lasts my two girls about a month). I'll be paying attention to the quality of their poo, bad breath, stinky farts, quality and shine of their coat, whether they enjoy the taste, and if it helps Maggie's itchiness while not causing my little Sausage Sadie to gain more weight.
In case you don't believe Sadie is a sausage, here's a picture of her guarding her bag of food (she does this every time we buy new food). In fact, I have purposefully left the unopened bag in the mudroom for several days to test how long she will sit there. Verdict: hours. Once the food is put away in its storage container, her obsession disappears. Back to normal doggy. Weird.
I have always thought that perhaps food was an issue. Maggie has mild allergies and scratches herself more than the average dog. It's a behavior related to both health and stress but started out fairly mild and seems to be getting slightly worse as she ages. It's now at the point where I feel that it's time to take action before it gets any worse - and by action I do NOT mean giving her a benadryl every day! Our vet told us that it was likely seasonal allergies but it seems to transcend the seasons nowadays. My vet also told me last visit that "some dogs just do better on lower quality foods". Um...no, dogs do not "do better" on lower quality foods. Different dogs react differently to proteins, grains, fat content, carbohydrate content, etc. Some foods may have ingredients or a combination of ingredients that cause either temporary or lengthy digestive issues and may not be appropriate for that specific dog. But they are NOT healthier animals on low quality diets. Don't get me wrong - I love our vet. But that has got to be one of the dumbest things she's ever said.
I am on a quest to find the right combination of foods for my girls. I used to subscribe to the one food for life idea. But as I started doing some research, it got me thinking. In what logical world does it make sense that an animal can have a healthy, balanced diet that provides them with all the nutrients they need if they eat the same exact thing every meal, every day of their lives. I wholeheartedly believe that the food I eat impacts my long-term health. Why would it be any different for my dogs? And when I started reading statistics like 25% of dogs will develop cancer in their lifetime, which increases to 50% after the age of 10, I knew that food had to be a major part of the cause for that alarming statistic.
So I have started exploring the food options out there. Continue with kibble, raw diets, homemade? For now, raw diets are out primarily due to the high cost and also because I'm still slightly squeamish about raw. I know that dogs are not as susceptible to salmonella-type bacteria as we are. I know that there are many processes that the food is treated with to eliminate those types of bacteria. But I also worry that an all-protein diet may not provide them with the full scope of nutrients that they need. And I find it hilarious that supporters of the raw food diet have come up with the moniker BARF. While it stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods, well....BARF seems to be appropriate to me for other reasons!
I have eliminated moving to a home-made diet, which I simply won't always have time for. I am and will continue to supplement their diets with a little leftover meat and veggies from our table (never given to them as we eat but for breakfast the next day - don't want to encourage any begging!). I usually prepare their meat separately from ours if I'm cooking it in a sauce or with butter. My little Sadie-kins is about five pounds overweight. A friend referred to her as a sausage recently. I couldn't argue.
I've narrowed my dog food philosophy down to the following:
-There is nothing wrong with changing up the brand and/or protein source occasionally. I intend to settle on 3-4 different kinds of food that we rotate between. Unless either of them show a sensitivity to a particular ingredient, I will make sure they get chicken, lamb, beef and/or fish. These will be paired with rice, barley and oats mostly as the main ingredients.
-I will research brands online, read ingredient labels and ensure that I pay special attention to the first five ingredients. There should be several whole food ingredients and preferably two protein sources. Chicken is a whole food ingredient. Chicken meal is not. I will make sure that the protein content is around 20% and that the fat content is no more than 12%.
-It's completely OK to supplement with "people" food so long as it's healthy, does not encourage begging and is mindful of the foods that cause health issues (stay away from those onions!).
Over the next six months or so, I will be trying out different types of foods with my girls and seeing how they do on each kind. They will only get leftover people food a few times per month so as not to interfere with my unscientific dog food study. I have a monthly budget of $60 (one 30 lb bag of food lasts my two girls about a month). I'll be paying attention to the quality of their poo, bad breath, stinky farts, quality and shine of their coat, whether they enjoy the taste, and if it helps Maggie's itchiness while not causing my little Sausage Sadie to gain more weight.
In case you don't believe Sadie is a sausage, here's a picture of her guarding her bag of food (she does this every time we buy new food). In fact, I have purposefully left the unopened bag in the mudroom for several days to test how long she will sit there. Verdict: hours. Once the food is put away in its storage container, her obsession disappears. Back to normal doggy. Weird.
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