Preliminary Results of Homeopathic Remedies

I'm noticing that on the nights he takes Calc, he breaks out the next day and on the nights he takes Graph, he clears up the next day.  I'm watching this more closely to be sure it's an accurate assessment.

Added Second Homeopathic Treatment

Ziggy had some improvement on the first homeopathic remedy and the nzymes product but I decided to add the next set of remedies provided by Dr Loops (Graph LM/3 and Calc-C 30C).  I started them on Saturday Dec 3rd.  I've noticed some yeasty stuff in one ear so I've had to clean that more.  Also the bleeding foot has returned.  The bleeding foot started when we were in Virginia and the doctor there did surgery and removed two cysts from his foot but stated that it would probably return since it's related to his allergies.  It did return within a few months but then stopped when we were in Florida for 7 months.  It has returned after 2 months in Pennsylvania.

I don't know if this indicates the cysts are returning or if it's the homepathic remedies helping to push the toxins out of his body.  I'm going to wait another week and make a second appt at the VCA Animal Healing Center for a follow-up visit.

Improvement with New Homeopathic Remedy

Dr Loops sent two remedies: Graph LM/3 and Calc-C 30C.  Before receiving them, I had to quickly find a local vet to replace Banfield and found the VCA Animal Healing Center.  Dr Gabriel is recommending a full thyroid panel but also prepared a homeopathic remedy consisting of galium-heel/lamioflur/hespar/traumeel.  I'm giving Ziggy 5 drops 3 times per day.  Started that on Monday evening. Today is Saturday and he is doing much better.  The skin seems to be healing and drying out.  The ears are clear.  He sleeps through the night better without the breathing problems.  Dr Gabriel also recommended an enzyme kit from Nzymes.com which I just received and will be starting Ziggy on it this weekend.

I feel that I should wait and not give Dr Loops remedies just yet.  Otherwise, I won't know which remedies are having which effects.  Dr Gabriel is also interested in knowing what Dr Loops is sending so I want to go by her recommendation as well.

The Nzymes website has a list of foods that yeasty dogs can eat.  I'm considering trying out one of the dog foods they are recommending but I think I will ask Dr Gabriel about that as well and maybe it's better if I wait for this skin issue to finish clearing up before changing his diet.

Skin Issues that Will Not Heal

This latest round of skin breakouts are not healing up even though he is on medication.  I have to wash his skin every morning with the Malapet/Malaseb shampoo and everyday by mid-afternoon he's breaking out and smelling yeasty again.  It's ongoing and I don't know what to do to resolve it.  This infection is on both back legs and under the front left armpit.  Here are latest pics.

Pennsylvania Allergies

We're in Yardley, PA now and Ziggy's allergies have gone crazy again.  We have Banfield here so I was able to get him right in to a vet who had instant access to his medical records.  She's very nice and I like her a lot.  She put him on Ketoconazole but that wasn't enough to solve the problem so I had to go back and get him on an antibiotic.  I hate doing that but it's the only thing I can do to get this under control.  He was itching and biting and licking all thru the night and totally miserable.  I may have to reconnect with Dr Loops and try the homeopathic option again.

Doing Better on Prednisone

Ziggy's skin and ear issues have greatly improved by staying on a low dose of prednisone.  He takes a small 5 mg tablet every other day with lunch.  I really prefer natural remedies as opposed to pharmaceuticals but in this case, it keeps him stable, more happy and keeps my vet bills down.  So I will continue that for now and post more updates later.

Eye Issue

The grooming shop where I take Ziggy for grooming damaged his cornea with a flea treatment (that I'm not entirely sure he needed) so had to put him on a few eye ointments and some meds to clear that up.  He's doing much better now and the eye is healed up.

Latest Health Update

The doctor at Banfield put Ziggy on fluconazole for the skin infections.  It helps a lot but after it's done, the infections usually come back. 

He got an eye infection this past week (the blue eye) and the brown eye is not making enough tears.  So we're doing artificial tears in the brown eye and some ointment in the blue eye - Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates and Dexamethasone Ophthalmic Ointment USP (I swear that's the name of it!).

I decided to remove the corn from his diet because it's a grain and also any corn that is not organic is GMO which can aggravate (and cause) allergies so we don't need any of that.  I've also switched from turkey back to chicken and added some new veggies (see the new chicken diet page).

Colloidal Silver Minerals and other natural remedies

Someone recommended that I research colloidal silver and colloidal minerals with vitamins in regard to pet health.   I found this spray called 'Vitamist':
http://www.vitamist.com/Colloidal_Minerals_p/coll.htm


I recently purchased some colloidal silver:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BSZBHS

I also read that putting 1-2 drops of iodine in the water tends to help dogs with health issues.  I have some Nascent Iodine and will probably try this.

Another sore came up on Ziggy's foot (same foot, different location) and I'm using Manuka Honey which seems to be helping it to heal up.
http://www.amazon.com/Sterile-Australian-Honey-Management-Creamed/dp/B0018XX0WI/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1303824955&sr=8-15

Ziggy is being treated at a Banfield Vet clinic here in West Palm Beach.  He is taking Fluconazole pills which is helping to clear up his skin.  Also some "Medically Formulated Wipes" from GlenHaven.  The doctor said I can use these once daily in addition to the MalaPet shampoo (which is really good and contains the Ketoconazole).  These seem to work very well.

Also he provided "Resortin Skin Ointment" but licking it is not allowed and Ziggy is a licker.  I tried placing it on his leg/foot and bandaging it up but he acted like it hurt (or stung) so I wasn't really comfortable using it.  I'm using the Manuka Honey instead, placing a dab on the sore and then wrapping a bandage on it to keep him from licking it off.

Improvement in Florida

The first weekend in March, Ziggy and I relocated to West Palm Beach, Florida.  I knew that he always did much better in Florida so I watched and waited and now one month later, he's actually doing much better.  The only treatments I'm doing right now are:
- Epi-Otic ear cleaning every other day
- Mometamax ear treatment (about 1-2 times per week)
- Malipet shampoo (used to be maliseb) wipe-down every morning and bath every 2 weeks.

He is really doing much better, the skin looks better, smells better and he is more active than he was in Virginia.

I'll continue to monitor his progress but I'm hopeful that he will continue to improve in this new climate.

Online Homeopathic Remedy Finder Results

I entered as many of Ziggy's symptoms as I could into this tool at http://www.abchomeopathy.com/ and it came up with Sulphur as the best remedy for his skin issues and some ear issues but not all of the ear issues. 

Here is a copy of the results:

The homeopathic remedy which best matches your symptoms is Sulphur Of your symptoms, it applies to these:



ear; discharges from ear;
ear; discharges from ear; offensive smelling;
ear; discharges from ear; offensive smelling;
ear; discharges from ear; offensive smelling; sour;
ear; inflammation; skin erysipelas;
ear; inflammation; inside; ;
ear; itching; in ear;
ear; itching; bowl-like part, by ear canal; ;
extremities, limbs; dryness; hands; ;
extremities, limbs; dryness; hands; skin of hands like parchment;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; blotches; red;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; red; blotches;
skin; chapping;
skin; cracks;
skin; dry;
skin; dry; burning;
skin; abnormal growths;
skin; inflammation;
skin; inflammation; skin erysipelas;
skin; inflammation; skin erysipelas; worse after scratching;
skin; hair falls out;
skin; itching;
skin; itching; gnawing, biting;
skin; itching; must scratch; until it is raw;
skin; itching; worse scratching;
skin; itching; spots;
skin; itching; tickling;
skin; moisture;
skin; sensitive;
skin; generally unhealthy;

However, it is not relevant to the following. If any of them are central to your case, you should consult the remedy grid (click next again).

ear; discharges from ear; left; ;
ear; discharges from ear; night; ;
ear; discharges from ear; cheesy;
ear; discharges from ear; gluey, sticky;
ear; discharges from ear; gluey, sticky; morning;
ear; discharges from ear; offensive smelling; like rotten cheese;
ear; discharges from ear; thick;
ear; discharges from ear; yellow;
ear; inflammation;
ear; itching; in ear; better rubbing;
ear; itching; in ear; comes on suddenly;
ear; odour;
ear; skin; fungal growths;
ear; ear wax; dry;
ear; ear wax; dry; peeling off in scales;
ear; ear wax; thick;
ear; ear wax; yellow;
extremities, limbs; dryness; fingers; ;
extremities, limbs; dryness; lower limbs; ;
extremities, limbs; dryness; feet; ;
extremities, limbs; hands and feet; odour of feet, offensive, without perspiration;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; blotches;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; mottled;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; red;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; red; in spots; ;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; thigh; marbled;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; thigh; white, in spots;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; ankle; red;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; ankle; itching skin disease;
extremities, limbs; skin; discoloration; foot; red;
extremities, limbs; skin; goose-flesh;
extremities, limbs; skin; goose-flesh; thigh; ;
extremities, limbs; skin; goose-flesh; leg; ;
extremities, limbs; skin; wrinkled;
extremities, limbs; skin; wrinkled; leg; ;
skin; cracks; burning;
skin; cracks; offensive smelling;
skin; dry; rough;
skin; abnormal growths; fleshy;
skin; thickened, as if hidebound;
skin; inflammation; skin erysipelas; chronic;
skin; inflammation; skin erysipelas; recurrent;
skin; itching; better bathing;
skin; itching; painful parts; ;
skin; itching; on going to sleep; ;
skin; sensitive; right side; ;
skin; sensitive; left side; ;

Skin Irritations Flaring Up

Ziggy's skin condition has escalated in the past week or two.  He licks and bites on his legs and feet a lot.  The bleeding spot on his foot has returned (indication of the cysts).   The skin seems to clear up and do well for a couple of weeks, then it worsens.  He smells very yeasty.  I bathe him with the Douxo shampoo and that seems to help a little but it's only temporary.

His ears seem to be doing ok.  I clean them every day or two and apply the Mometamax.  Not sure if that is keeping his ears clean or if it's the homeopathic remedies.  He's been on the latest round of remedies for about 3 weeks or so.

He's usually very lethargic but has occasional bursts of energy (usually after eating or coming in from his walk).  I'm wondering if I should add a multi-vitamin to his diet.  Current diet is turkey and vegetables (peas, corn, carrots, green beans organic frozen veggie mix) and the powdered bone meal supplement.  He also drinks a little organic whole milk after his meals.  Could the milk be causing some of the skin issues?  His snacks consist of greenies and the Bravo dry-roasted chicken breast strips.

Here are some pictures I took this morning:

Back left leg. 

Very red and raw from licking and chewing.

Inside of back legs.  It's actually redder than this picture shows.

His foot bled yesterday so I bandaged it up overnight and so the blood has dried. 

He's licking at it right now as I type.