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...