A new vet

On Monday, Erin and I took TJ to a new vet, Dr. Frank Bousaid at Harmony Animal Wellness Center in Monroe. It was obvious that TJ's back left leg was infected, and he needed some help. Erin was referred there by a friend, Lena Morrill. Dr. Frank is a DVM who also specializes in Chinese medicine.

What a difference! Dr. Frank asked about TJ's entire medical history and had already read through the notes sent by the other clinic. Erin had the option of doing a typical Western exam or a Chinese exam, but once Dr. Frank saw TJ he told us that before we could do anything, we needed to get his infection and skin issues under control, and the ONLY way to do that was with antibiotics. We can do a Chinese exam at a later time. While we hated to do it ... it's back to the antibiotics and steroids. However, Dr. Frank has a different attitude, and it was obvious he is concerned about TJ and wants to do what's best. He gave TJ a steroid injection, whereas he's always received pills in the past. He also stated that the antibiotics need to be done in 3-week intervals, meaning that if the infection is completely gone in 3 weeks, we're done. If not, but it's definitely working, then we need to do a second 3-week regimen.

But one of the biggest revelations was the amount of thyroid TJ had been prescribed, and his comment that the excess could be contributing to his skin issues, as well as affecting his mental state. He asked if Erin had noticed an increase in his skin condition as the thyroid increased, and she was able to think back and agree that it had gotten worse. The former vet had prescribed 4.0 mg of Thyrosyn per day (2.5 0.8-mg tabs, 2x daily). Erin had cut it back to 3.2 (2 tabs, 2x daily) because TJ was losing so much weight, but Dr. Frank says TJ should NEVER get more than 0.8 total per day. He said to cut back to 1 tab 2x daily for the first week, then to 1/2 tab 2x daily after that.

The other thing he said was that TJ is very "hot", referring to his energy, and that he should NEVER eat dry food again, and that the worst food for him would be chicken based. He put him on a "white" diet for the next 3 weeks: turkey, rice, potatoes, cottage cheese, and/or tofu. After that he'll be going to canned food. The first night he got cottage cheese and rice, and yesterday we cooked up ground turkey and potatoes. TJ loves it! He seems hungry, so I gave him a little bit of extra food yesterday afternoon. Apparently early this morning he threw up potatoes in Erin's room, so we might have to work on the ratio, or feed him smaller amounts more frequently. He still had some issues eating, where his mouth seems too dry to process the food, and he smacks or gets it stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Monday night he slept through the night, and when Erin got up in the morning she startled him because he was sleeping so soundly. He wagged his tail, and seemed so much happier yesterday. He still slept a lot, still licked some of the hair off of his back legs, still had a lot of discharge ... but it does seem as if he felt much better overall.

We've stopped all of the NZymes products. Dr. Frank wants to get back to "zero" and get TJ healthy and happy. Erin picked up a new shampoo that is supposed to be good at controlling yeast, and she made up a spray bottle with it to use to wipe him down. Dr. Frank wants us to avoid wiping him down with straight water to reduce the possibility of bacteria.

TJ goes back to Dr. Frank in 3 weeks.

Happy Day ... ?

Erin and I were commenting yesterday about how much better TJ is looking. He's growing hair on his belly, which is much pinker now (or at least much less black), and the hair on his face is coming back. He hardly had any yeast yesterday, which was amazing! Erin left a note when she left for work this morning that he slept through the night, which is a rare occurrence. He's also snuggling with Erin again, which is great. I've noticed, though, that he won't look me in the eye much, which he always used to do.

This morning he has chewed nearly all of the fur off of the front of his left hind leg. It looks so painful. I put some of his "Buddy Boo Boo" on it, but not sure if that's the right thing to do or not. I'm sure he will continue to have good days and bad, but we just want him to get back to feeling well!

The saga continues

I can't believe I haven't posted in a month. TJ's recovery continues, as strange as before. One day he's pretty good, with very little discharge, and the next he's thickly coated with it, with no apparent reason for the change. He's definitely growing back hair, especially under his chin and on his back. Erin is giving him acidophilus and using apple cider vinegar on him, in addition to the other therapy, which seems to be helping. Last time she took him to the vet they increased his thyroid, and he's definitely lost more weight since then, which he didn't need. He's being tested again tomorrow.

TJ has definitely not been himself. He seems depressed, which is understandable, and he's started getting up on the furniture, which he hadn't done since they first moved in 2 years ago. I think that may be partly because of his weight loss, and he's just not comfortable on the floor because he's too bony. I brought one of his old beds up, and he seems to be staying off the furniture since then (at least we haven't caught him on it). He's been spending a lot of time outdoors. I'll put him out on his chain, then check on him every half hour or so. He's very content lying in the sun, which is probably very good for him. I think I'd get depressed if I had to stay in the house all of the time, especially when it's sunny outdoors!

Erin is setting her sights on moving to SoCal, and I told her it's important to visualize TJ with her, because I think perhaps he's been picking up on her "leaving" energy and is afraid of being left behind. Sounds kooky, but I think dogs are very intuitive.

More energy ... sometimes

Dave and I were gone for the Labor Day weekend, but Erin said that she and TJ played a lot. He chased his toys, played a kind of hide & seek in the house, etc. They also took a really long walk. This morning I took him out for a walk, and we basically jogged around the entire neighborhood, with only short stops. This is definitely NOT the typical behavior for him lately, and I take it as a good sign. He still has a lot of discharge on his neck, which comes and goes. He also still spends a lot of time sleeping. Yesterday I could hardly get him to come out of his room. His legs are really raw from scratching and chewing. Erin bought him some new socks (boots?), and she's been keeping those on most of the time so that he can't scratch himself raw.

Thursday is his last day on antibiotics, so it will be very interesting to see what happens with his skin and itching once that's over with. Yesterday and today his ears seem to be really itchy again, so I hope the infection is completely gone.

The saga continues

TJ has been on the antibiotics for over 2 weeks now, and to me it seems as if he is nearly back to where he started before we began the treatment. He's itching constantly, his front and rear legs are raw from scratching and biting, and he seems pretty miserable. He does appear to have a little bit more energy than he had for a while, but I'm not sure why that is. He hardly has any discharge except for on his chest, and when Erin took him to the vet she said that the discharge was bacteria, not yeast.

I have my suspicions that he has a mild allergy to the antibiotics. When I brought this up to Erin she dismissed it, saying that this is the same antibiotic he always gets, and that the itching was due to allergies. However, he wasn't itching before he took the antibiotics. I have a hard time believing the antibiotics "caused" an allergy to his food or environment that he didn't have before. I'm really curious how they would treat him if he did have an allergy to the antibiotics. But that's just my assessment. If he always ends up taking steroids after the antibiotics to stop the itching ... hmmm, just seems to make sense to me.

He definitely hasn't been nearly as stinky as he was before, but his fur gets sticky after a few days. Some days his chest has a lot of discharge; some days none at all. I think he might be growing some of the fur back on his chin, and the bare patch he had on his back from his ACL surgery has completely grown back. He still has a bare patch on his tail where he chewed on it. The inside of his lips was really pink yesterday, and he still isn't eating normally, although he's getting better. He's also still really picky about drinking water from his regular bowl, which we can't figure out. And yes, that is duct tape on his nails, which helps a little to keep him from tearing himself up.

Back and forth

TJ has definitely seemed to have a relapse since taking the antibiotics. He's not that yeasty or itchy, but he's definitely not himself. He's not eating his food at mealtimes, although he does seem to always finish it. It's 1pm now and he's just eating his breakfast. He's also not drinking much water, but he's taken to drinking out of the toilet, which he's never done before. Weird. We took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, and he wanted to "jog" several times and seemed to have a lot of energy. But today he was very slow moving. Sometimes he's slow because he wants to sniff everything, but today he just moved like an old man. I've noticed that he trips over his front left paw quite a bit lately, and I'm not sure what that is all about. Erin and I talked yesterday about his quality of life. I know she's contemplating stopping the treatment because she feels as if he will go back to having energy and being playful, but he hasn't really been very energetic or playful since he had his surgery for his ACL in February.

Getting better

TJ seems to be doing much better this week. The output on his body continues to travel around, and right now the heels on his hind legs seem to be pretty red and raw. I think he's been chewing on them some. He's eating his food well, but he still has an issue with his water that we can't figure out. Erin caught him drinking out of the toilet today, which I have NEVER seen him do. Weird. He went to the vet today to have his thyroid checked, but I'm not sure when they get those results.

Vet visit

Erin took TJ to the vet yesterday. Although they went to the same clinic, TJ saw a doctor he hadn't seen before, and Erin really likes her. The doctor spent an entire hour with TJ and did slides from his ears, chest, belly, and paws. She looked through all of the NZymes medications and examined each ingredient. She didn't see anything that would harm him, although there were a few ingredients that she's not that familiar with. She told Erin to consider taking TJ to a holistic vet, but that if money is an issue she should take him to a dermatologist first because his skin is horrible. I still believe from looking at the information on the NZymes site that much of the skin issues will clear up when we get the yeast problem fixed.

The slides showed that TJ has a dangerous rod bacterial infection in his ear that must be treated. He also has a couple of other bacterial infections, including staff on his paws. She did find some yeast, but not that much. Erin was adamant that she will not give him steroids, but she does need to treat the bacterial infection in his ear immediately. She is planning to call NZymes today to discuss it with them.

The doctor also recommended doing a food trial, but Erin has decided not to pursue that at this time. TJ is getting a premium dog food with only 4 ingredients, and he seems to be doing quite well on it. He hasn't been scratching much at all lately, although he does still lick his legs and bite at his paws a bit (which are still pretty swollen). Once we get everything else cleared up it might be worth looking into.

Yesterday TJ seemed to have more energy and wagged his tail quite a bit. He was also ravenous! I fed him a cup of green beans around 9am and about 1/3 cup of food at lunch time, plus he's getting 5 cups of food (2.5 at each meal). He's slightly less than 90 pounds, which is definitely low for him. He's back to eating solid food with just a little bit of water added to it.

On Friday TJ goes back in to have his thyroid tested again. He has to have the test within a certain number of hours after taking his meds, so Fridays are the only days that work for Erin, since she only works a half day on Fridays.

Weekend retreat

Erin took TJ with her to Salem for the weekend. She reported last night that he was eating solid food, although it was soaked in water, and also that he drank a lot of water when they got there. That's all great news! Hopefully they'll have a fantastic weekend.

Cold and shivering

Today TJ is very cold, probably because he's lost so much of his hair. We have one of the heating pads that you put in the microwave, so I heated that up for him and covered him with his blanket, which seems to help. His paws are very swollen today, too. The yeast is about average in the "usual" places.

Erin is taking TJ to the vet today, because she's really concerned about him, which I understand. At the same time, we've known all along that he was going to get worse before he got better, and this is pretty much what I was expecting based on all of the testimonials that we read. I just hope that they don't put him on antibiotics or steroids -- but it's her call.

Does yeast have a brain?

Yesterday and today the yeast is really attacking TJ's belly, back legs and groin area again. It's almost as if it knows that we're onto it and tries to sneak out in a different area. It just keeps going back and forth, back and forth. It was really thick this morning. This picture is on his leg that hadn't been washed down yet. The wetness is all from yeast. Erin had barely finished wiping him down this morning when his chest, where she first started, was already getting pretty thick with it again. He's getting another bath now.

Lots of yeast today

It's really weird how the yeast seems to come and go in cycles. This morning TJ has lots of it between his toes, and one of his front paws is definitely swollen. It's still pretty thick on his chest and on his upper rear legs, and it's come back under his tail. It seems that just when we get a routine worked out, it appears somewhere else. He's still stinky today, but I think it's mainly from his ear. It's also strange how there's none in his right ear -- I wonder if that will come with time.

Erin put some aloe on his chest to see if that would draw out some of the heat. That hadn't occurred to me, partly because I'm a little afraid to add any products, but I think it might be a good idea, especially if it helps to make him more comfortable. Hopefully there aren't any ingredients in it that will feed the yeast ... but then, if we're feeding it from the outside, maybe that will increase the speed from which it exits his body. Who knows? I'm just really thankful that Erin is home and that I can "pass the torch" on to her now.

TJ hasn't really changed today, so I haven't taken a picture.

STINKY...

The yeast is apparently making a comeback, because TJ STINKS today. In addition to his belly that I mentioned earlier, his left ear is caked with it today, and there's a lot on both of his hind legs. I'm not sure if that's what stinks, or if it's his entire body -- not really wanting to smell different areas to find out.

It appears that the 12 drops of the Tincture is the right amount ... it's clearing the yeast, but not putting too much stress on his body. I'm wondering if we can bump it up just a little every day, but not sure if that's a good idea.

More yeast

Today TJ has yeast in his belly area again, especially right around his rib cage. That has been clear for days. It's coming out around his whisker area as well, and the area around his mouth is still quite swollen. It might just be from the heat the past few days. His eyes were much better today though. I've been a little worried about them. It's not easy, for me at least, to put drops in a dog's eyes!

I don't think he sleeps much if at all during the night, because as soon as he's eaten and been washed down he passes out. I started to feed him straight food this morning, but I could tell he still was struggling with a lack of saliva, so I ended up making a smoothie again. He also got more green beans. He does seem to be very hungry, and I'm not sure if that's because the food isn't solid or what.

Dave commented yesterday that he has a lot of loose skin on his neck, and it sways when he walks. He's definitely lost weight the past few months, but I think there must be a little fluid built up there, or else it's just that so much of the hair is gone that we see it more.

So much better today!

TJ did so well today. His collar was off the entire day, and he didn't scratch himself once. He slept most of the day. I really think that the combination of reducing the tincture and giving him a couple of baby aspirin did the trick. He ate all of his food tonight, plus a cup of frozen green beans, and he drank a bunch of water out of the hose. Hopefully this trend will continue!

Just before bed last night, TJ was in a different room from us, and all of a sudden he let out two little barks. I came into the room, and he had scratched himself again, although not as badly. By the look on his face, I think he was really upset with himself. He'd been so good all day, I felt sorry for him. Still, it meant he had to keep the cone on for the night.

Mouth and Ears

TJ is sacked out on the floor, and I'm noticing just how swollen his lips are. One of his ears also has a lot of yeast that I need to clean out when he wakes up. I noticed it just as I was getting ready to eat breakfast, but by the time I was done he was sound asleep. His back legs are pretty red again, even though he hasn't had access to them to scratch or lick, and so are his armpits (legpits?).

He drank more food from his bowl again, and I'm really happy to see that. It's been pretty time consuming, not to mention messy!, feeding him ice cubes.

I looked for some new booties for him yesterday that would cover his nails better, but they were $60, and they didn't really look like they'd be that great. The woman at Mudd Bay suggested putting duct tape over the nails, just cutting a little square for each one. We haven't tried that yet. So far today he hasn't attempted to scratch, but I'm still afraid to leave him alone, even though he's sound asleep! It happens so fast...

Better today...

This morning was far easier with TJ than it has been. I don't know if he's actually a little better or if we've just figured out a system. His lymph nodes have reduced greatly, although his neck is still very red. Surprisingly, he doesn't have any big scabs from the three times that he's scratched himself, so I'm very thankful for that. He didn't eat all of his food this morning, but he got through most of it (I put 3 baby aspirin in today, based on my conversation with Erin yesterday). Last night we managed to get him to drink a little bit of water from his bowl for the first time in days. I'm only using 10-12 drops of the Tincture of Black-Leaf instead of 22 drops that we started with. This is the product that does most of the cleansing, and NZymes said that it was probably taxing his system too much. I suppose that means that the cleansing will take longer, but it's nice that he's not in such distress. Maybe we can bump it up a couple of drops every few days. I wish I had a crystal ball and could see what he'll be like 6 months from now. I re-read through some of the testimonials on the NZymes site yesterday, and several of them definitely discuss how difficult the process is, but without being explicit about what they went through. This process takes a lot of courage on the part of the caretakers, and a belief that the pet will get better and be happier in the long run.

When will it end?

Poor TJ is sooo tired. Of course we are, too! Every time we've tried to give him a break from the cone, he stealthily tears himself up. Yet I'm sure it hurts for the cone to rub on those sore places. When he woke up this morning his eyes were totally gooey, too, which is a new symptom. The rest of his body is still doing good, for what that's worth!

He ate all of his smoothie morning. We gave him almost 3 cups of food with as much water as we could put in without it being too watery. He still will hardly touch any water, so we figured this was a good way to try to hydrate him. It's supposed to be 100 degrees today, so I hate for him to get too dehydrated.

I just wish I knew how long this phase would last.

More scratches

Today while I was out and Dave was working, TJ was doing his typical sleep routine. He was being very quiet, and didn't have the cone on. And ... he scratched the left side of his neck just like he did the right side. We'd decided that as painful as it is, we just cannot trust him without the cone unless we are right there next to him.

This morning there was a lot of stuff in one of his ears that I cleaned out, and he doesn't seem to be shaking his head nearly as much. Even though he's miserable, he still has his moments when he looks at us with a big smile on his face, which is probably the only thing that makes this bearable! I can't remember being so tired and emotionally drained... I really hope that this works and he is better soon!

Dog food smoothies

TJ is definitely better today than yesterday. It seems as if the lymph nodes are reducing in size, which is a relief. He still shakes his head, and there was a lot of gook in his left ear this morning for the first time, which is good -- at least it's working its way out. He's still not drinking much and has a hard time eating because he doesn't have much saliva. When he chews up solid dog food it becomes a thick paste in his mouth, sticks to the roof of his mouth, and then ends up all over the floor. I gave him about 1/2 cup of frozen green beans this morning, then made him a smoothie out of his dog food, all of his meds, and a good amount of water. He ate the whole thing. I guess that's one way to get some liquid into him! Dave fed him outside so we could just hose down the mess.

It's going to be close to 100 degrees today, and they say the heat makes the yeast worse. But it was pretty hot yesterday, too.

Frozen green beans

TJ was really panting today. It's 82 degrees in the house and around 90 outside. I tried to get him to drink, but he won't. He ate a little ice that I crushed up in the blender, but not enough to cool him down or quench his thirst. I checked the list of approved foods he can have and saw green beans on the list. Erin used to supplement his diet with green beans when he was too heavy, so I knew he liked them. I put some in his dish still frozen, and he was in heaven. I guess he has some appetite back, which has to be good. I'd really love to get that collar off of him though, because I think it causes problems because the area can't dry off at all. But I can't risk another incident like the one we had this morning.

Here he is with his collar turned inside-out so he could eat. :) He looks like he's ready for the barber.

Emergency

I was on the phone with the NZymes people. TJ was in our room asleep. All of a sudden he ran downstairs, and Dave started yelling, "Deb! I need your help!!" I figured TJ had diarrhea or something like that, but it turns out that he had scratched one of the spots on his neck, and he had blood all over. It looked as if someone had slit his throat. Neither of us is very experienced in first aid, and trying to keep a dog calm while we attempt to put some kind of gauze on it definitely didn't work. How do you wrap a dog's neck? Impossible. We couldn't figure out a way, but we had to put back on the cone, even though it might be painful for him. We put a triple antibiotic ointment on it as well.

The NZymes people said to cut back on one of the products that does most of the cleansing, and that if the lymph nodes don't go down in a day or two that we should take him to the vet. I sure wish Erin were home -- I don't like being responsible for these decisions, and we also don't want to give him any antibiotics if we can avoid it, since that's a huge contributor to the problem to begin with.

NZymes also recommended that we feed TJ yogurt with all of his medicines and a baby aspirin in it since he's not eating. He lapped that up pretty quickly, so I need to go buy more, as well as more Folex (an amazing carpet cleaner). Our room looked like a crime scene. I'm pretty distressed right now -- I can only imagine how TJ feels.

No cone

Last night TJ's neck area was so swollen, I just couldn't bear to put on the cone. I could tell it hurt him just to touch the area. So I put on his mittens, and hoped for the best. I was really afraid of what I'd find this morning, but he did pretty well. Two of his mittens were off, but he only had a couple of very minor scratches. That was a relief. I think he's learned that the intense scratching earns him the cone, so he continues to rub himself against the floor. Obviously it would be better if he didn't do that, either, but it definitely gives him some sense of relief. He's still just as swollen this morning, and his ears are definitely bothering him, too. It's pretty painful to feel so helpless, but I think Dave and I are doing as good a job as possible.

TJ still isn't interested in eating. He managed to eat all of his breakfast yesterday, but it was late afternoon by the time he had done so. I gave him a little bit of food before bed, and he ate most of that, but again this morning he barely touched his food. I still can't get him to drink water from his bowl, but he'll drink out of the hose, and he loves the ice cubes. We're having a heat wave in Seattle, so that may be part of it, but I think he's running a little bit of a fever as well. We're only putting 2-3 drops of Ox-E-Drops in his water, so I don't think it's the taste. I'll try today to leave it out and see how that works.

Lymph nodes

Today TJ seems much better than yesterday. The major complaint today is that the lymph nodes in his neck are extremely swollen, almost like he has a goiter. It's very hot. The rest of his body doesn't seem to be very itchy, and there is hardly any puss anywhere. He didn't eat his breakfast this morning and still refuses to drink any water from his bowl. He drank quite a bit from the hose and ate a whole tray full of ice cubes though.

Vinegar

I managed to leave the cone off of TJ for a couple of hours this afternoon while he slept. I can't imagine how irritating it must be to have that cone on, even though it's a soft one, rubbing right on the area that is the most irritated. He had laid down in the living room and made the most horrible whining sound for about 5 minutes. It was breaking my heart, and it was really hard to know what he needed. It's not a sound that he normally makes.

After the typical itching episode around dinner time, I got the idea to try using a vinegar rinse on TJ's chest. It's so wet and irritated. I had sprayed it with an anti-itch spray first, which didn't appear to phase it at all. So I mixed a little vinegar with water and rubbed it on, and he's totally calmed down again. It looks like it's still irritating him, but he hasn't scratched it with his back paws. I'm sure I'll have to put back on the cone at some point tonight, but I'm going to wait as long as possible, knowing he has to wear it all night.

I'm really hoping he'll be better tomorrow.

The recovery continues...

It's now July 25th. Erin left yesterday for a 9-day vacation, so it's all up to us. NZymes wasn't kidding when they said it would get worse before it gets better. It has been agonizing to watch TJ. The oozing in his hindquarters had decreased significantly, and even his paws don't seem to be bothering him much. However, I can tell that it's moved into his mouth and the skin on his chest, which is soaking wet. It's really hard to keep the cone on him, but without it he immediately starts scratching and tearing himself up. He's had a hard time eating the past few days, and also doesn't want to drink any water. For some reason he'll drink out of the running water from the hose, but he doesn't want to drink out of his bowl, even though the water is fresh and his dish has been sanitized. When he eats, he takes a bite and puts it on the floor, and you can tell that he bites down on it but then has a hard time opening his mouth ... I think because it's so dry. I've found that he likes eating ice cubes, so I've been able to help him that way. I've considered putting his food in the blender, but I don't think he's consume it since I can't get him to drink water either.

When we got up this morning at 7, I took off TJ's cone to feed him, and he immediately clawed himself up, then he became a little vacuum cleaner ... not as in cleaning up everything on the floor, but he was rubbing his chest and chin all over the carpet. There's blood all over it, which we've done our best to clean up. Luckily the carpet cleaners are coming on Thursday. TJ was in a completely frantic state for about 2 hours. I think he had this horrible itch all night long that he couldn't scratch, and by the time we took off the cone he was practically insane with it. Of course we put the cone back on right after he ate. We could tell he was exhausted, and he finally passed out on the floor for a few hours. We were supposed to go to the drop zone to jump, but I just didn't feel that I could leave him in that state. I encouraged Dave to go without me.

At 1:30 he woke up, and we basically went through the entire morning insanity sequence again. It's really hard because he can't drink his water with the cone on, but if I take it off he tears himself up. His chest is still drenched with puss, which I've washed off many times today. I'm exhausted... It's about 3:30 now, and he's just settled down to go back to sleep.

I hate to talk about poop, but today is the first day I can recall that he had 2 firm bowel movements, so I'm taking that as a good sign -- hopefully it's not just because he's dehydrated from not drinking enough water. He seems to have occasional bouts of energy, too, which is encouraging.

Discovering the problem

TJ is Erin's dog, and they've been living with us since Dec. 2007. He turned 7 in May. TJ has always had problems with allergies, itchy skin, etc., and he's been on a constant course of antibiotics and steroids over the years. During the winter TJ "blew out" his ACL and had to have corrective surgery, and of course that also included antibiotics and I believe steroids. He lost all energy, but of course we thought it had more to do with the surgery and lack of mobility.

In June, TJ's allergies were worse than we'd ever seen them. He was lethargic and had diarrhea every time he went to the bathroom. Erin took him to the vet for another round of steroids, which seemed to help for about a week, but then he appeared to get even worse.

Coincidentally, at the beginning of July I saw an article in a newsletter I get from Dr. Mercola that discussed pet allergies and the real underlying causes, specifically an issue with yeast that is exacerbated by the use of steroids and antibiotics, which of course kill off all of the good bacteria in the gut. One comment on the site discussed a company called NZymes that sells a group of products designed to rid the body of the bad yeast and rebuild the good bacteria (see http://www.nzymes.com/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=16).

Erin and I both spent the entire day researching the company. Their website included a diagnostic page. Basically, if your pet has more than 6 of the symptoms, there's a good chance that the animal has a yeast problem. Erin quit counting at 15. She talked to a few other people that she trusted, and decided to purchase the products. Considering that she had been spending $70 on antibiotics, the $115 cost for 4 products didn't seem outrageous.

The literature was very clear that eliminating the yeast is a long-term project that could take up to a year (!), and that the animal will get worse before he gets better. They were not kidding! TJ started the program on July 14.

Here are some pictures from early July that were taken right around the time we started the therapy. You can see that he has a lot of red patches and thick, leathery areas on his legs, back all around his eyes and under his chin. His belly is also completely black.































After he started the program, he got this thick, oozing puss that seemed to be everywhere in his hindquarters, especially his belly. We started washing it 3-4 times daily with a variety of items: straight water, a mixture of baking soda and water, and, as recommended by NZymes, Listerine, which is supposed to cool the hot spots and reduce the itching. A week or so into it we realized that we also should be washing him down with a 2% solution of one of the products, Ox-E-Drops,, so we've added that now, too. We're keeping a soft cone on his head to keep him from chewing and scratching himself up.

On July 22 he was so bad that Erin was frantic and contemplating taking him back to the vet for steroids. He's been losing a lot of hair, and even came in from outside with a huge hole in his tail, and he'd only been out for about 2 minutes. We still haven't figured out that one. I convinced her to give NZymes a call, as they advertise that they have great customer service and truly want to help . She spent quite a bit of time on the phone with them, and they reassured her that everything that he's experiencing is normal for the process. The hair loss is common in animals with thyroid problems, and he's been on thyroid for years.

He's now been on the program for 12 days. I'll write more in a separate post so this doesn't get too long...