A Setback This Week

Ziggy was looking and feeling really great last week.  This week is a bit different.  He's licking his feet a lot and this morning I noticed a new bleeding sore on his front left foot... which is the same place he got the previous cysts removed back in Virginia.

The eye isn't too bad but the ears are generating dry crusty stuff.  I clean the inner ear flaps each morning with a warm washcloth and soap.  And I've been using the Zymox cleaners here and there.

The skin around the neck, armpits and legs are still improving so that's good news.  Back left foot is having issues with sticky nail beds but I massaged it with coconut oil this morning so hopefully that will help.

I think that the feet seem to get worse when his hair is growing out.  I scheduled a grooming appt for this week but she had to cancel so I'm trying to get that rescheduled.

I'm giving the remedy dose weekly and hoping he will start improving again.  Everything else seems to be ok (eating, drinking, pooping).

Will post more this weekend.

Ziggy's Lunch

Here is a video of me making Ziggy's lunch.


http://youtu.be/x_FrUXuU57k

Here is a video of Ziggy eating his lunch.
http://youtu.be/tn8iOLUypHI

More Frequent Posting on Ziggy's Progress

I gave another dose of the Pulsatilla remedy over the weekend.  Not seeing anything negative but his skin is slowly improving so I'm hoping we are on the upswing now.

Each morning, I lay him out on his back and examine the under-carriage skin.  Two months ago, it used to be wet and sticky and took a good cleaning with soap and water to get it all off.  His skin is looking so good now.  Last week it was a little moist but this week it's feeling soft and supple.  I do the cleaning anyway for preventive maintenance and powder the skin to prevent chafing since there is no fur in these areas. 

I'm focusing more now on the feet, nails, pads and between the toes.  It's definitely better but still room for improvement.  I need to do more massaging with coconut oil on the feet but this works best after a bath so I think it's reserved for weekends.

The ears are doing much better... a little powdery/flaky stuff that does ok with a quick wipe of a damp washcloth.  Using the Zymox ear cleaner every 2-3 days now instead of every day.

The eye is doing much better but I am following Dr Robin's advice and dropping the cod liver oil twice per day (along with the additional lubricants).

Overall, I am very excited about Ziggy's progress.  It's been years since he's looked and felt this good.  He's playing with his toys every night now whereas he used to just lay around and sleep because he didn't feel well.

I am going to continue with the remedy about once per week to see if there is more improvement and will try to post more often because it helps me to keep better tabs on his progress.

Thanks for reading!

Improvement with New Homeopathic Vet

So... it's been a while since I've posted.  We relocated from Tampa to Clearwater in August 2013 and also started seeing a new homeopathic vet in Brooksville, FL.  Her name is Robin Cannizzaro and she is really awesome.  I've listed her site on my link list (Wholistic Veterinary Care).  She gave us a remedy of Pulsatilla and it's been an interesting experience.

At first, Ziggy's condition worsened which is ok and to be expected.  Then during the move to Clearwater, I stopped the dosing so I could focus on packing and moving.  After we moved to Clearwater, he started doing better.  Skin and ears started secreting less junk and I also started mini-cleaning sessions every morning.

This month (September), gave another dose (per Robin's recommendation) and he is still doing well and looks like some skin lesions are drying up and crusting over... very good.  He seems to be less sensitive to the heat than before.  He can be out in the heat of the day without panting and going into a mild panic like he always did before.  This is very good improvement.

I suspect that we are experiencing less pesticides and environmental toxins in this community than the one I left in Tampa.  That could have something to do with the rapid improvement.  I don't know for sure.

We have a follow-up appointment tomorrow to see Robin.  Will post more later.

Ziggy's Third Week of Recovery

There have been a few bumps in the road.  Ziggy decided that he doesn't always like to eat bones.  But when he doesn't eat them, he suffers from diarrhea.  So I've started adding a little powdered bone meal to each slice of raw chicken (folded inside of a thin slice) so he's getting the bone that he needs in his diet.  It takes some extra time in meal preparation but it's not so bad... at least I'm not cooking boatloads of chicken and veggies and all the mashing and mixing and freezer storing.

Raw feeding rules state that you should not feed just chicken so I am also feeding the frozen raw venison and frozen raw lamb (which is a ground mix of meat, organs and bone).  He really likes it and it makes lunchtime feeding easier for me.  For dinner he gets actual raw meat with bones from the supermarket (organic/free-range) which includes both chicken and red meat.  I'm considering pork but cannot find organic and I'm concerned about parasites in pork so I'm holding back on that for now.

I noticed this week that when cleaning his ear, instead of yellow gunky stuff coming out, it's dry and flaky.  It seems that his body is maybe finally pushing all the remaining toxins out and I'm hoping the ear is going to finally clear up.  Will post more on this later.

He smells really clean and wonderful instead of yeasty.  I love that and so I give him lots of kisses because he smells so good!  His energy level has increased.  He likes to play more often and also he seems to be more tolerant of hot weather.  He will actually stand out in the sun in the middle of the day smelling the bushes instead of panting and trying to run for cover in panic mode.

He is behaving more like a real dog and not a sick child.  I'm very pleased with results so far and will continue on the raw diet.

Ziggy's First Week Recovery

I am so amazed at how fast Ziggy is recovering after only one week on the raw diet. I started doing a 50/50 combination of cooked/raw but after more research, I found that when switching to the raw diet, there is no need to transition. So around mid-week I just simply stopped feeding him the cooked food and went strictly raw.

I've noticed a few interesting changes in him. First... he smells wonderful. He used to smell yeasty most of the time but now he smells like a clean, healthy dog. It's a very pleasant smell. He's also drinking more water, his poop is more solid and he is behaving more like a normal dog than a sick child.

He seems to look forward to meals and he enjoys the tearing of meat off the bones and crunching up the bones. I wish I had known years ago what a true raw diet would do for him.   He has suffered so much and I've spent so much money on vets and medications.  He is really just beginning to live a happy healthy life.   By changing his diet, I'm hoping that I can extend his life substantially.

I have stopped the homeopathic remedy for now because I want to see what the raw diet will do for him.  If he continues to have minor allergy issues, then I will start him back on the remedy and see what happens.

I have purchased a detox solution for him and hoping that it will help push the remaining toxins out of his body so he can make a full recovery.  I just received it in the mail today and will be starting it this weekend along with a probiotic to get the good bacteria into his system.

Here is a video of Ziggy's first raw chicken:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3iqsiKyCFA

New Attempt at the Raw Diet

I was doing research on essential oils for dogs and ran across this interesting website with an article that reiterates the importance of having a dog with allergies on a raw diet.  Here is the link that talks about yeast infections in dogs:  http://www.thewholedog.org/ArtYeast.html.  This article also states that it's best not to feed vegetables because dogs really do not need them.  But if you want to feed veggies, certain ones should be avoided (the ones I feed Ziggy).  So I am changing over to a very very small amount of dark leafy greens with the majority of his meals being fresh/frozen raw meat.


I just started the new diet this Memorial Day weekend and I'm already seeing some improvement in his skin.  I packaged up various meats in the freezer and will be mixing different ones based on his dietary needs.  I found some really good videos on how to prepare raw foods (listed below) that I have decided are good resources for my research for Ziggy.


Raw model prey diet - Rottweiler puppies 6 weeks old 
Short brief description of a raw meal prepaired for 2 Rottweiler puppies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHSwB1rZdng
A list of what we feed is on our page here:
http://vdrrottweilerbreeders.com/prey_raw_diet_rottweiler.html


Raw Feeding Basics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDtliKYQ0IM&feature=fvwrel

My Raw Dog Kyia (for fun and amusement)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiqvM5QLjFc

Shih Tzu eating RAW diet (educational and fun to watch)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vahd4Gwa8dA&feature=related

So far Ziggy is doing very well on his new diet and loves it.  I'm doing a 50/50 mix of cooked and raw because he has been eating my home-cooked diet for years and I want to make sure he is transitioned properly as to avoid upsetting his digestive system.

Here is a picture of his lunch today:
Cooked chicken and veggies, raw lamb meat and raw chicken livers.

Another really good website I found exposes the myths about feeding raw:

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html

Here is Ziggy's first raw chicken leg... enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3iqsiKyCFA