Katy on…Sadie’s Yeast Infection
Posted: January 24, 2008 Filed under: Apso Aficionados 2 Commentsor..How we overcame Malassezia Pachydermatitis starts:
When Sadie first came to us in early November 2007, we noticed that she was “itchy” but attributed it to her move from humid Minnesota to very dry New Mexico. I bathed her with “dry skin” shampoo and conditioner, but the itching continued.
By December 21, I noticed that the fringes of her ear leathers were encrusted with yellowish, flake-like scabs that came off when I scratched them, but did not bleed like a true scab covering a wound. She was, by this time, scratching her ear leathers and ear canals furiously. She was also biting her toenails and licking her feet..
Katy, thank you so much for taking the time to write this informative article, complete with photos. About a year ago, in an attempt to help Eli, my husband’s Labrador Retriever with his incessant scratching, I educated myself just a bit about yeast after reading about it in Whole Dog Journal. Here’s what I wrote on the Veterinary page of the website as that time:
One suggestion is that an overgrowth of yeast in the intestines eventually leads to gut leakage. The body identifies these toxins and mounts an attack, which manifests as ‘allergies’. Treatment for ‘allergies’ may provide temporary relief; what is needed for total relief is to decrease the yeast population with the use of diet.
While I haven’t been nearly as diligent with the diet as you, Eli’s diet is largely made up of a raw meat. Yeast – at least yeast in the intestinal tract – feed on carbohydrates, so the approach is to not provide the yeast colonies with carbs. And…I admit to using an anti-histamine to help during particularly bad times.
While still with Julie, Sadie along with several other dogs went through several sessions of ‘itching’. I am wondering now if yeast was the actual culprit. Perhaps Julie will fill in the details… Although skin scrapings showed no irregularities, Julie treated her dogs with Ivermectin (which has the added benefit in mosquito country of preventing heartworms). The itching subsided and we jokingly named the entire episode “The Mutant Mites”. Couldn’t see mites upon microscopic examination, but the response to treatment was positive. The obvious question is would yeast respond to Ivermectin?
I groom a little Scottish Terrier, Wally, every two weeks. He is the nicest little dog, but lives in constant misery. He has been to a skin specialist, has had numerous tests to determine what he’s allergic to, is on a kibble diet that doesn’t contain any of those ingredients. It hasn’t made any difference. Yesterday I asked his owner if he’s been tested for yeast. Yes! She said, “sometimes he has it. Sometimes he doesn’t.” She’s at her wit’s end.
So, what comes first? The yeast or the allergies? The chicken or the egg?
Quick, Inexpensive Grooming Table Transformation
Posted: January 23, 2008 Filed under: Apso Aficionados, Lotsa Lhasa Info Leave a comment“Frustration is the mother of invention”…here is the result of one of my frustrations!” Joyce Johnason wrote. With her permission, I share. Read Quick, Inexpensive Grooming Table Transformation for directions.
I’ve used something similar for years, inserting dowels inside the metal legs.
Julie on..letters..and dogs.
Posted: January 22, 2008 Filed under: FFT Lhasa Apsos | Tags: Julie Timbers Leave a commentDate: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:24:05 +0000
Hi Julie, I never look at our precious Toby without thinking about you. Somehow or other I misplaced your e-mail and stumbled upon it by accident. I am sure you probably don’t offhand remember us. We purchased Toby about 4 years ago at Christmas time. You also had Vienna for sale.I cannot even begin to tell you what an awesome dog he is. He loves the world and all who are in it. Not only is he a very adorable dog to look at, but every one who meets him threatens to steal him when we are not looking. I was reluctant to have a male Lhasa as we also have a male Golden. Toby is our 4th Lhasa but our first male. He will not be our last male. He is incredibly affectionate and when picked up will immediately nestle into our necks and cuddle . He is not wary of children but instead looks forward to the grandchildren’s visits. Our vet who says he has had many reasons to be cautious of the breed keeps asking what we do to have such great Lhasas.I will admit our females have been a bit more snobby but this guy is straight out of a Disney movie. I do believe it is thanks in a great part to your wonderful breeding practices. He was actually potty trained in a little over a weeks time. His coat has been by far the easiest to maintain. We have never shaved him down but keep him about puppy length.I sound like a proud parent and I am. He is so careful about showing favoritism between my husband and myself it is comical. Just want you to know how much one of your precious puppies is loved and I am so sorry it has taken this long to tell you.Toby’s loving family, Tom and Randi Carlson
Rabies
Posted: January 20, 2008 Filed under: Lotsa Lhasa Info 1 CommentIn the past two days I’ve received emails from two different people about Rabies vaccinations. Katy has a wealth of knowledge on the subject, along with very strong opinions. Click Katy and Ken’s Critter Advocacy in the left hand column for resources. Katy, to follow the latest on the research funded by the Rabies Challenge Fund, where would one go?
Here’s my response to which is safer, the one year or three year vaccination:
This is a good article to start with, especially if you’re new to alternative thinking regarding vaccination.
Debby on..the weekend..sisters..and ghost country
Posted: January 20, 2008 Filed under: DRambles on Black Mountain Leave a commentEarly Sunday morning…ahhh. The candles continue to flicker in the library window, adding warmth, a certain coziness, as I sit here sipping coffee, reading email, writing.
Toshimi sent me a note. Yesterday, the 19th was the anniversary of Koyuki becoming part of Toshimi and Tet’s family. She posted about it on her blog, including several photos of a very young Koyuki. Her blog is in Japanese. The characters, the letters that comprise the language are beautiful. There’s a link to Toshimi’s blog in the left hand column. Visit her FFT composite/collage page.
There’s something I’ve just become aware of called RSS feed. My web site skills, my blog skills are basically self-taught, so it could take some time for me to figure RSS feed out. When I do, this blog will alert viewers when Toshimi or Katy or whoever/whatever updates their page. Nate has a facebook page, which is one reason I decided to learn how to blog. I remember the day he and Rick brought Queen Mary III home. Within 10 minutes, he’d taken photos of her perched cattywompus (that’s one benefit to vehicles designed to crawl over rocks in the back country) and uploaded them onto his facebook page. That’s all it took for him to share Queen Mary III with his friends. Wait a minute! Show me how you did that! Just last week I asked him for another tour of facebook, noting the many features, how he and his friends used them.
Jason Steinle, a gifted healer, is my young, bright, handsome chiropractor. That, in and of itself, has been a welcome addition to my life, giving these sometimes-weary bones a new lease on life. Gotta keep brushin’ those dogs! The icing on that cake is Jason’s technical knowledge. He maintains a couple of websites, a blog or two, has done radio and television interviews and is now venturing into interviews for the internet. Additionally, he’s a self-published writer. A great resource, he originally gave me the information on this blog’s host WordPress, explained the many benefits – search capabilities, categorizing, archiving – of blogs. If I can’t figure out RSS feed and how to incorporate it into the blog, maybe I’ll book an extra chiropractic session, to be spent in front of the computer.
That slight diversion, that siding in rail speak, was simply to say one day, the blog – without my input – will let you know when Toshimi updates her blog. Maybe by Koyuki’s next anniversary??
Like a year ago when I met Julie to pick up Koyuki and Edie, along with Josh and Crystal for the Tomu handoff, yesterday I drove to Nebraska. This time is to meet my sisters for lunch. 🙂 Oh. And to return Ranpa.
About equal distance between my hometown, Norfolk, where my sisters remain, and my home in Colorado, we met in North Platte, Nebraska…which is where I met Rick 31 years ago, come to think of it. Arriving 20 minutes before me, Lori and Kelly scouted out downtown and found a Japanese restaurant named Tempura. We settled in for a couple hours of tea, food and laughter. It was really, really, really fun – just the three of us having lunch. I think we should do it more often!
Sleek Sue and I took back roads back to Colorado, eventually joining I-76 in Brush. I love road trips and back roads. As the years pass, I feel melancholy, driving through town after town, rural, dying. Family farms have been swallowed up by corporate farming. Footprints, if you know what to look for, are there. A shelter belt in two rows, forming an L. The skeletal remains of a last barn. I love barns, small quaint towns, church steeples rising above the hills and prairie, beautiful farms. the country. Now I sense ghost country, the Death Of An Era.
Photo by Eugene Richards
In the January 2008 issue of National Geographic, The Emptied Prairie gave me a better understanding of the brief, really, history of farming the prairie. If you’re so inclined, be sure to check out the Photogallery link on the upper left hand side of that page. The hauntingly beautiful images are by Eugene Richards.
Hey! Note RSS feed at the bottom of that site!
Kunza at FleetFire Timbers 