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1/8/01 Letter to a
Reader
12/17/2000 Clarence's Progress Report
Notes on Cis and Clarence, as of 11/27/00:
Since I've put all 4 dogs on the
nutritional regimen, I've decided that in order to really track
their progress I should make some further notes here about each dog and
what we've done to make them healthier and more comfortable, to date. I've
always fed only super-premium foods, but I've switched foods regularly in an
effort to find one that met all my criteria: it had to provide the most
nourishment in the least amounts fed; it had to stay IN the dogs; my
dogs had to like it enough to eat it, and it had to be easily
attainable. I'm in the process of switching over to Flint River
Ranch, at the time of this writing.
Clarence came to me last March (2000), and was/is
a Gimpy Old Guy -- hence his nickname "Ol' Geezer". He
urinates on himself periodically (just little dribbles, nothing major...
smells like an old drunk {grin}). He's arthritic in his front end
(licks his front hocks alot), and dysplastic in his rear (tell-tale
bunny-hopping). He's frequently on Ascriptin, to keep his pain at
a manageable level, and on Rimadyl when it's unmanageable via the
Ascriptin. His coat is very thick and coarse, from years of poor
nutrition and weathering. My main goal with Clarence is to make
his Autumn years as comfortable as possible... he's just a wonderful old
guy.
Cis is My Girl, and I've had her from the age of 3
months. Many of the articles I've written on the more serious behavioral
problems (such as those on sound sensitivities) came about through my
experiences with Cis. I've learned much from our time together:
because of Cis, I've learned about positive reinforcement training, and
T-Touch, and Calming Signals, and Clicker Training... and just how
rewarding it can be to communicate with a non-human being on an
other-than-verbal level. She's taught me to always look farther
and deeper, and to question everything. Because of her health
problems, there have been several times in her short life that I've
nearly given up the battle... I'm one of those people who value Quality
over Quantity, above all else. Each time though, God has seen fit
to inject enough *something* into her, to keep her going... each time,
I've hesitated just long enough for her to rally, or rebound. I've
always felt, though, that her time here on earth would be very much more
limited than even that short "average life expectancy" for the
breed, because of her anorexia and dysplasia. Because
of the hope and support I've been given over the past 2 years, and
especially the advice and counsel I've received in the past week from
Linda Arndt and Mike & Stan Stansbury, Cis and I have been offered a
"stay"... and so I've started this journal to track what I
hope will be Cis' recovery. Cis' Journal
11/25/00
Many of you know that my Cis is very
poorly bred, and has lots and lots of both physical and emotional
problems to show for it. We've suffered through a *horrendous*
sound sensitivity, anorexia that nearly caused me to put her down
about 6 months ago, dysplasia, ear infections (I've been struggling
with her ears for about 2 years). Cis will be 3 years old, in
December.
Her physical health has suffered greatly,
recently, and I've been fighting with myself alot. Her hips look
worse every day -- she's lost musculature in her rear to the point
where you can readily feel the outline of the ball of her hip joint,
and it feels like they're coming out of the sockets further and
further. You can readily count the vertebrae in her spine, and
her ribs. I had nearly reconciled myself to the fact that, when
her hip luxates out of the socket, it will be time to put her down...
I felt that, given her physical state, she wouldn't benefit from
surgery -- I *refuse* to let her suffer.
A man called me last week, from a company
called "BioPet". They make dietary enzymes, both for
humans and companion animals. He had seen my articles on the
website, and wanted me to try his products... but before I did, he
wanted me to consult with Linda Arndt, who is a companion animal
nutritionist out of Indiana. He gave me Linda's number, and set
things up... I called her, and she's given me hope.
We talked for over an hour, and I learned
a little about nutrition in the process (this stuff can be SO
confusing!!) I know now that there's a big difference between
dietary and digestive enzymes... I'm not quite clear on those
differences {grin}, but I know that I was only supplying Cis with one
type -- she needs *both* (any dog living on commercially-prepared
foods needs these for optimum health). I also learned that
recurring yeast infections in the ears signal a much deeper-rooted
problem -- it's called a *systemic* yeast infection, and it's a yeast
infection that's taken up residence in another part of the body
(usually brought on by use of antibiotics... these cause an
"overgrowth" of fungus and bacteria, because they kill off
the *beneficial* stuff as well as the bad stuff!). With Cis'
anorexia, we're betting it's in her digestive tract. To get rid
of this infection, I add 4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to their
3-gallon water reservoir each time I fill it. It's already
started working (3 days)... Cis' stool was loose and mucous-y
yesterday -- a sign that her body is flushing out the yeast from her
bowels that the cider is killing off.
Yesterday morning, Cis pulled a
"Zoey"... she sat behind me while I fixed her breakfast, and
CRIED. For the first time, ever!! She is now eating *4*
cups, twice daily (that's DOUBLE what she's EVER eaten!!)... as she
fills out, I may need to actually RESTRICT her intake!!
All of this has occured simply because I
started putting cider vinegar in her water... I didn't get the enzymes
until yesterday afternoon. I've started all the dogs on them (Rody,
too!), and they're all getting the vinegar.
Linda Arndt is a long-time Dane breeder,
and has lots of useful articles on nutrition, feeding, bloat, yeast
infections, etc. on her website at http://www.daneworld.com/LindaArndt.htm.
She's done her own feed-trials, and has researched heavily and
extensively using her own dogs and others'.
BioPet (the makers of NZymes) has a
website at www.nzymes.com, for
anyone who's interested in learning more about them. I'm
watching my dogs closely, and I'll give updates as I see changes.
Note: if you mention that you learned
about N'Zymes on PAWSitive Solutions!'s site, you'll receive a free bottle of N'Zymes
with your first order!
Brenda
11/27/00
Cis is still eating 8 cups per day, and not being hesitant about it,
in the least. She seems to be fairing well on the double-dosage
recommended by NZymes, and the half-dosage of OxyDrops. The most
striking change, though, has been the difference in her ear. I had
gotten one ear cleared up through daily washing and powdering, using
vinegar and peroxide as the wash (I've just found out today that I
should be using a solution of OxyDrops and water to do this, so I've
started this, just this morning)... the
other, though, proved to be too much for that method, and continued to
constantly ooze thick, brown icky stuff. This morning, there is
still some slight pinkness, but NO oozy stuff -- there are some
"leftover" flakes, but nothing else!! For the first time
in nearly 2 1/2 years, it looks as though BOTH her ears MAY be
infection-free!!
Brenda
11/28/00
Cis is PLAYING!!
Yeah, I know -- it's a simple thing, and
it's most likely a double-edged sword. {grin} And, I don't know if
it was the vinegar thing, or if it's the NZymes and OxyDrops, or if she
just "didn't feel like playing" until now. I'm chocking
it up to the vinegar, as I've been told by Stan that the other hasn't
had time to really affect her yet... those are more slow-acting.
She's been SCREAMING through the house
today, at INCREDIBLE rates of speed (for a St. Bernard!!),
play-bowing, barking her HEAD off, careening around corners, smacking
into the other dogs, bouncing off the furniture... I've been warned to
make sure that she doesn't over-do things right off the bat.
She's really enjoying herself!
Cis feels GOOD, today!! She's never
played with Rody (the pup) like this before, and she's not played with
Zoe like this for a really long time. She's completely obnoxious
with Clarence -- I had to put her in time-out, because she was playing
too rough with him (grabbed one of his back legs and pulled -- it was
reminiscent of "making a wish" at Thanksgiving. The Ol'
Geezer didn't appreciate it.)
I'm enjoying watching her... give me a few
days to get used to it, and I'll be complaining about all the racket.
{grin}
Brenda
11/29/00 We've
had a minor set-back... I noticed late last night that Cis was rubbing
her ear on the front of the sofa. I called her to me to check it,
and it's inflamed again. I washed the area just with warm water
and a washcloth, and I'll get some witch hazel tomorrow, to try to
soothe it a little. Since it's so inflamed, I don't want to use
the vinegar or OxyDrops to wash it, because I don't want to cause her
further discomfort. There's no drainage, as yet. In
watching her with the other dogs over the past 48 hours or so, I'm
thinking that there's a different quality to her bark, now... she
doesn't get so obnoxiously irritated with Clarence's antics with Rody.
Oh, she still BARKS at him when he plays with the pup... but her hackles
aren't going up, and she's not *challenging* him. The bark's got a
more playful note to it. My son
came in from a friend's house where he'd been staying for a couple of
days, and Cis just went BONKERS over him -- without my saying a word, he
watched her for a few minutes, and said "GEEZ -- what got into
HER??" I'm taking her downtown
tomorrow, to see how she responds to strangers. I've always
classified her as "reserved"... it'll be interesting to see if
there's been a change in *that* respect, as well. Brenda
12-2-00 I've
added photos to try to more
accurately track our progress. This page is pretty
graphics-intensive because of this, but it's worth the wait... it gives
a decent idea of Cis' condition when we started the NZymes and OxyDrops
regimen.
12-3-00 I've added 2 pages of photos that show
her change in attitude better than any words I could type, here...
please visit them, and
rejoice with me!
The dogs are now eating the Flint River
Ranch dog food -- and for the first time, I'm able to give them JUST DOG
FOOD -- and they EAT it! (They are still getting the OxyDrops,
NZymes, and vinegar suppliments) Clarence and Zoe are getting the
regular adult amount, 2 1/2 cups per meal (X 2 daily). Rody is
eating 1 1/2 cups per meal. Cis -- the dog who couldn't
bring herself to choke down more than 2 cups of anything at one sitting
-- is now eating 4 cups twice daily of the Flint River Ranch!! We're
still having occasional flare-ups in the one ear... I've been told that
this is something that will happen from time to time, as Cis' body
cleans itself of the yeast. I continue to wash her ears daily with
the OxyDrops, and I still have her on the double-dosage of NZymes.
All of my dogs continue to receive both the OxyDrops and NZymes, and all
get doses of apple cider vinegar in their water. 12-7-00
Cis turned 3 years old, yesterday. It was a VERY happy birthday. 12/12/2000
Clarence's update: Clarence has been
living with us since March of 2000, and had never allowed me to brush
out his left hip. He'd allow limited manipulation of the right
hip, but would grab the brush after a few strokes... it hurt him for me
to brush him out. I could brush his belly, back, and chest to my
heart's content. Since starting the NZymes, OxyDrops, vinegar and
Flint River Ranch regimen, things have changed with Clarence... on
Tuesday, Clarence allowed me to brush him out from nose to tail on his
right side... then ROLLED OVER, and allowed me to continue on the
LEFT!!! I spent about 1/2 hour on his left hip, as that area
hadn't been brushed out fully since he's been here!! He also
allowed me to trim his TOENAILS in the same sitting!!!
 12-17-00
Cis continues to improve in all ways, particularly in her attitude
toward others, as evidenced in this photo (my nephew is getting
kisses)... she's still eating 4 cups at each meal of the Flint River
Ranch dog food (I can no longer feel individual ribs, or the outline of
her hip sockets!!) I'm taking her to be weighed this week, and
from the way that she feels under my hands, I think I'll allow her to
gain about 7 to 10 more pounds, before reducing her meal rations (Lord,
it feels GOOD to type that!! lol) |
