
05/12/2025
Welcome, Otis and Tiffany
Hello again to our fantastic Warriors! 💙💙💙
We are so happy to have you welcome a new pair to our healing family. They are Otis, a 14-year-old Sh*tzu/Yorkie and his loving Momma Tiffany.
Tiffany contacted us in early November 2024, asking for help with Otis. She told us that he developed vomiting and diarrhea after being away from home.
A trip to the vet revealed that Otis had increased kidney and white blood cell levels. Momma was also informed that Otis was suffering from a collapsed trachea.
The above was all added to a known history of cataracts, arthritis and dental concerns! Was it even possible to improve life for Otis?
One thing we know for sure is that no challenge is too great at PDWs!
Our first step was thoroughly reviewing Otis’ medical information and Tiffany’s concerns. We then identified our priorities:
Develop a kidney-friendly diet to prevent further organ damage
Alleviate Otis’ arthritic pain by lowering the inflammation in his body
Support his collapsed trachea with muscle-strengthening nutrients
Correct his tummy balance to heal his gut lining and prevent the vomiting
Develop a nutritional plan to slow down his cataract development
Improve his oral health
With our priorities known, we had to identify goals to meet them!
The use of functional foods to decrease his systemic inflammation
Develop a renal protective diet to eliminate further kidney damage
Correct and maintain his calcium and phosphorus intake to ensure his metabolic system functions effectively
At the beginning of their program, Tiffany stressed that while she was concerned about several conditions there was one area that was of prime concern: Otis’ extreme coughing and collapsed trachea.
The cough Otis has been experiencing has been very troublesome for them, and she was very hopeful that some improvement might be seen.
As an update on their progress, we thought hearing directly from Tiffany would give you a good idea how Otis is doing. With her permission, we are sharing it with you:
“Yes, he has improved since I sent the first message drastically, I started him on the pork loin and white potatoes the first two weeks after he got sick until I received your menu and he had rebounded great then I got your menu and he’s been staying good he acts more like a puppy now and my bigger dogs benefit as well. Otis’s coughing since switching his food has drastically went down and he’s a lot perkier and seems to actually get rest now where before he didn’t because he would cough all the time his breath is also getting better a little bit at a time”
“Thank you, to me it’s amazing how big of a difference it has made with the coughing. He used to cough so much we thought about possibly having him put down who knew just changing his food would change the coughing. I used to feel bad for him because the vet said there was nothing we could really do. It was just something that happens in smaller breeds. I'm here to tell you it’s definitely the food that was a major instigator for it. Makes me even question if he actually has tracheal collapse”
It is wonderful for us to receive these positive updates from our Mommas! Otis and Tiffany are still learning but every day they are healing and finding new life. That's what makes a PDW smile! 🐶🐶🐶🥳😍