Health Update

So I'd love to say this is an update, but not a lot has changed. The mange is stubbornly hanging on. It has stopped getting worse since we started the additional natural health treatments, which is a good thing as she had gone from almost mite free to seeing irritation all over her body again.

Her new family told me about a treatment that is approved in Canada and Europe, but not in the U.S. The medicine, Advantage Multi, is used in the US as a topical flea & tick treatment, and also for heartworm, but isn't yet FDA approved for mange treatment. After reading a few studies about the stuff, I figured it was worth a try. So now I am just waiting for it to arrive in the mail (it's so new that none of the vets in the area carry it yet). Oh, and a BIG thank you to her new family who sent a gift certificate to buy the meds and also a carry bag to transport her in when she's ready to be flown home.

So for now she is getting the Omega3 & Omega6 supplement, pre and probiotic supplement, buffered vitamin C powder, and today I'm going to start adding a little bit of sesame oil to her food. I read on a couple naturopathic pet Websites that the oil is good for the skin and immune system. Kelp is something else that is recommended, but her dog food, Orijen, already has kelp and seaweed in it. Oh, that's the other change that I might not have mentioned. We've switched her food from VF Holistic Puppy to Orijen. Orijen has no grains (70% meat and 30% fruits and veggies) which some people at Ratbone have noticed slow down healing of demodex. She's still on the Ivermectin, however, we will stop that once the Advantage Multi arrives.

When I fix her food in the morning I feel a little like a mad chemist - a pinch of this, half a capsule of that, a spoonful of the other stuff.... Luckily she's not a picky eater and still quickly sucks down all of her food.