The Whole Puppy Dog

01/15/2024

Meet Miss Mouse!

Mouse has lived with her Mom, Lacey in Louisiana since she was rescued 8 yrs ago.

This sweet girl has been diagnosed with lipoma/liposarcoma and chronic pancreatitis. Her Momma explained that Mouse has been surviving on Royal Canin low fat food for most of the year.

Her vet recommended Purina EN low fat gastro food but that made her tummy hurt and caused terrible bloating.

On top of the commercial food, Mouse has had several rounds of antibiotics and steroids as a precaution 🙄. Seriously, it says that in the notes!

Digestive enzyme supplementation seems to have helped Mouse digest her food but her Momma wanted something healthy to help her girl get back to her pre pancreatic condition.

We have our pups for such a limited amount of time that we owe it to them to make sure they aren’t in pain and can enjoy their food as much as we enjoy ours.

Our game plan is to increase the antioxidants that will decrease her fat blood levels and stop the lipoma from growing. With brightly coloured fruits and vegetables we will provide her with the highest levels of antioxidants. 🥬🫐🥕

Her diet will consist of lean meat, organic poultry and fish. Omega 3 fats and high quality protein will give Mouse the tools she needs to begin her road to recovery!

Our work is cut out for us though since Miss Mouse doesn’t like fruit or veggies! Stay tuned… we have ways to hide the green stuff! 🥬🥦🫛🥒🥝

01/15/2024

Jujubi Pupdate!

On January 10th I spoke with Tracy to get an idea of how Jujubi has been doing on her healing journey.

Her first response was “She’s feeling good! She was sprinting through the house today after breakfast. I haven't seen that energy in a long time.

“It’s amazing to think that just last month I wasn't sure what would happen.

I hate to say this but between the internet, the dog Pancreatitis face book group, and the vets, I wasn't sure if she was going to pull through, especially after the prescription diet failed, I just didn't know what to do.”

On Saturday I checked in for another progress report and to ask for new pictures. Tracy asked me how I got started with this work and I explained why I was so upset that our vets are not willing to look at the new science of nutrition and the power it has to heal. Tracy responded by saying:

“Yeah, but they have limited knowledge, when I told the vet to test Jujubi for pancreatitis, she said it rarely shows up on the test. “They told me for snack give her rice and don't give her anything else but a prescription diet kibble, nothing else ever. If that is not discouraging, I do not know what is.”

Status report this week has been fantastic!

“Jujubi got up with me this morning for her breakfast, had a strong appetite, played up n down stairs running. I haven't seen that energy since she got sick in November.

She was crying for more food n playing with toys chasing them. So happy to see it. Yesterday she was more lethargic but still went into town for a walk n bath.

She still struggling with getting that pre pancreatitis energy/happy dog back but today is a big win.”

I asked for some “happy” pictures to share with you. Tracy said these are her happy pictures!

01/14/2024

Meet the mighty Titan!

Titan’s Momma, Chrissy contacted me just before Christmas hoping I could help her heal his tummy. From early in his life, Titan has been plagued with pancreatitis, gut and malabsorption issues.

Her main concern was that he had been losing weight and his poo was indicating his tummy was not digesting his food. Lots of soft mucous covered poo, I know many of you have to deal with this regularly.

Titan is master of his domain. He eats twice a day and will only do so if someone is sitting on the floor and feeding him by hand. (We need to put food on his plate that doesn’t require coaxing and hand feeding.)

Many of you know that this is not an easy process when you have a very picky eater! Have you considered the possibility that your pup knows best?

What are you talking about Christina? Think about this…

Titan’s blood test results indicate he is deficient in Vit D, calcium and low in protein. Hmm 🧐

On top of Titan’s tummy conditions he has a regular habit of licking his paws and suffers from separation anxiety. We know about the gut-brain-axis so doesn’t it stand to reason that the licking and anxiety are closely related to his deficiency or critical nutrients like protein and calcium?

Healthy food for our dogs is not found in a bag or a can. Outrageously priced prescription foods hold very little of the natural nutrition they need to be healthy!

Titan’s vet recommended a couple of well known recipes including ground turkey, sweet potatoes, collard green and dried beef liver. He was also eating a commercial grain free kibble to complete his meals.

Those ingredients are not inherently bad for Titan but they do have consequences.

Ground turkey can be very high in unhealthy fat, putting increased pressure on his pancreas to produce the lipase enzymes needed to digest that fat.

Sweet potato also requires additional support from the pancreas to produce the amylase needed to break down those carbohydrates.

Beef liver is a very powerful ingredient and one that I use with caution in all of my pups menus. Vitamin A is quite concentrated in beef liver.

In dogs, excess vitamin A is stored in lipid droplets as well as in the kidneys. It is fat soluble and excreted through the kidneys. That puts a lot of extra work on your pup's kidneys and can lead to early renal failure.

Too much dietary intake of vitamin A is also associated with severe side effects including reduced energy, reduced growth rates, pain responses in the carpal and tarsal joints as well as abnormal bone development.

We are hoping to help correct the painful joints that cause him to limp occasionally. Our focus will begin with feeding the anti inflammatories found in functional food.

Follow along as we begin to heal Titan and teach his Momma how to use fresh fruits and vegetables to decrease inflammation and fat blood levels.

We will be using brightly coloured fruits and veggies since they contain abundant antioxidants. Lean meat, poultry and fish all contain healthy omega-3 fats and high-quality protein and will be front and center in our journey!

01/04/2024

Another reason to skip commercial food.

Blue Ridge Beef is recalling all lot numbers and used by dates between N24 1124 to N24 1224 of their 2 lb log of Kitten Grind UPC 8 54298 00101 6; 2lb log of Kitten Mix UPC 8 54298 00143 6 and their 2lb log of Puppy Mix UPC 8 54298 00169 6 due to contamination of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogene

01/02/2024

Meet Jujubi!

Just before Christmas Jujubi’s Momma reached out to me in a panic about her health. (isn’t that a fabulous name?)

Her road to this illness started when she was just 4 years old. Her vet suggested she try a raw diet to help her tummy and she had her first pancreatic episode.

Since that time Jujubi has had many trips to the emergency. Each episode resulted in unnecessary medication, further degeneration of her tummy and a terrible new diet.

The last trip, in Nov, Tracy was advised to feed boiled chicken and rice. Jujubi was switched from this to a special recipe for hepatic dogs and began dropping weight drastically.

Tracy was feeding her 8 to 9 cups a day to slow down her weight loss. It didn’t take long before the vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain knocked this sweet girl back on her pillow.

“I wish I could have caught it sooner but thousands of dollars at the vet and then I had to tell them what to check for.

The canine pancreatitis support group is just so depressing, all those beautiful dogs and confused owners, including me! Just trying to figure it out why our dogs are suffering.”

In November Tracy was desperate after another episode of diarrhea and vomiting. The docs finally listened to her and did a blood test. Results… her pancreas numbers were over 2000 and her kidney values were way above normal.

We are in our second week of nutritional healing and her improvements have been incredible.

Follow along with us on Jujubi’s path to a healthy puppy dog that loves living her best life!

12/07/2023

Meet the beautiful double OO sisters!

Olive Oil is the baby at just 1 year old and Oopsie is almost 3 years. These lovely girls live in Michigan with their Mom and Dad.

Olive Oil has been with her family since she was 2 months but her sister Oopsie has spent her first 2 1/2 years producing baby’s at the breeders. After 3 weeks with her new family she has begun to come back to life.

When I asked her Mom how she would describe Oopsie’s general health her reply was “sluggish”. A pup of less than 3 years old should be a vibrant and active not slug like and over weight.

Olive Oil would often take hours and sometimes even a whole day before she would eat. That seems to have changed since Oopsie arrived and she has been eating real food. All the kibble is out of there!

Follow along as these beautiful girls begin to thrive. Healthy bodies, engaged personalities and two very happy pawrents coming up! 🐾🐾🐾🐾❤️

12/02/2023

Pupdate on our miracle puppy dog Marley!

Today is the start of week 5 for Miss Marley. It’s hard to believe how far this little girl has come from the day her Grandma contacted me to ask for help.

Her concern radiated through line. Vets had explained that Marley’s kidney, liver and pancreas were shutting down. Her fluids were non existent and she refused all food.

Force feeding bone broth was the only thing we could do at that time.

Today you can see from these pictures how far she has come. Her “tude” is back in full force! Can you say Diva?

11/30/2023

Meet the very beautiful Remi. 🐾🐾🐾🐾

Still just a puppy at 2 years old her Momma is hoping we can help her with relief from the constant itch and inflammation.

Skin disease is a condition many of us are familiar with. What many are not aware of is that this problem can occur because of undigested protein moving into the large intestine.

I know that sounds a little bizarre but it makes perfect sense when you look at the gut as being the “traffic circle” of most chronic diseases. To control this process we need high quality, clean protein with easily digestible nutrients.

A healthy microbiome is associated with healthy skin. This tells us that bacterial diversity in the gut actively promotes improvement in skin disease.

Remi’s skin holds up to one billion bacteria per square centimeter. Research supports the idea that the skin microbiota plays a fundamental and complex role in controlling skin physiology and immunity.

Our goal is to rebuild the microbiome in her body. 🦠 🐾🐾

To resolve Remi’s damaged skin we are going to concentrate on repairing her gut while continuing to battle the surface bacterial imbalance.

Remi has been getting soaking tubs with epsom salts every day which is a lot of work for her Mom but it seems that Remi loves her baths. We are jazzing up her soak with natural healing factors.

Tackling the problem of atopic dermatitis requires we address both the outside bacteria as well as the inside source of that bacteria. It can take a long time to correct this kind of condition.

Our mantra will be lots of patience and lots of love ❤️

11/12/2023

Marlie is graduating! 🐾🐾🐾🐾🎉

When she started with us we had several goals:

Priority one was to get a handle on her pancreatitis by keeping the pain to a minimum and control the diarrhea that was a regular part of her day.

To do that we needed to remove the commercial prescription food and unnecessary medication.

Most importantly our goal was to bring back Marlie’s appetite and reintroduce the pleasure of eating whole food.

Her Momma, Emily is very happy that we have solved the puzzle of how to select the nutrients her body can thrive on and give her back her happy little girl!

11/11/2023

"I Am The Night. I Am Batman!"

This is Batman, his Momma Melissa reached out to me this week in a panic.

“Last weekend Batman began stumbling around like he was drunk. He has a history of seizures, neurological attacks where he gets stiff. It’s very scary.

This last time he was not himself and just wanted to be held quietly. When he did need to walk he moved slowly and stumbled.”

Batman is 12 years old and has had stomach troubles for several years. Melissa has tried all of the commercial sensitive tummy foods like Purina Sensitive Stomach; these would cause him to get bloated every 3 to 4 days and then he wouldn’t eat.

Feeding Batman was a daily challenge. He rarely ate everything in his bowl, no matter how many toppers his Momma added.

Itching was a seasonal problem but had grown into a situation where he was biting and licking all the time.

Batman’s vet has tried one drug after another. The problem with this is that one drug creates a side effect that requires another drug. Yes, all of the pills in that picture below were for a 13 lb puppy dog!

This is truly a tale of caution…

A plethora of prescription drugs including:

* Metoclopramide, for nausea relief,
* Tramadol which acts as an anti-anxiety medication,
* Methocarbamol that acts on the CNS (the nerves of the brain and spinal cord) to control painful muscle spasms.
* Diazepam (Va**um) which acts as sedative, muscle relaxant and anti-anxiety drug.
* Trazadone which is typically used to manage short-term canine anxiety issues.
* Famotidine is a special antihistamine. It is used in a situation where stomach irritation is an issue and ulceration is a concern.
* Apoquel

Our goal for Batman is to wean him off all prescription drugs and begin to rebuild a balanced, functioning microbiome.

Nutrition is the base requirement for a happy, thriving life for you with your companion. I’ve seen it over and over. A strong immune system starts with a balanced tummy.

“Lunch was a humongous hit!”

Watch as Batman begins to heal and is once again living his best life!

11/07/2023

Meet Shiloh, she is as pretty as her name! 🐾🐾🩷

Shiloh is Judah’s sister. Judah started my 3 week nutritional program in July after suffering from pancreatitis. Vets and his family were worried he was not going to recover from.

Marilyn is here to tell you that opinion was wrong! Judah is thriving and running the household under his own rules.

Now it’s time to heal Shiloh’s tummy and make sure her immune system is strong, her tummy begins to heal and can digest the nutrients we are feeding her.

Shiloh has had almost 2 years of consistent weekly diarrhea. Her Momma has tried all of the “so called prescription” foods and none have made a difference.

Recurring ear infections and painful joints are other concerns we are hoping to address as well.

Follow along through Shiloh’s evolution to becoming a thriving puppy dog that can hold her own with her feisty little brother Judah!

09/04/2023

Meet the beautiful Grace! 🐾🐾🐾🐾

Sweet Grace is just 5 years old and far too young to have had 2 pancreatic episodes in the last two months. Her Momma has been very concerned that these will continue and become more severe.

As many of you know, I don’t put a lot of faith in allergy tests with one exception. The Nutriscan test developed by Dr. Jean Dodds has proven time and time again to hit the nail on the head.

Given the reliability of this test I was horrified to see Grace’s results from December. Grace showed high reactivity to everything but salmon, beef and eggs.

This presents an even greater limit on her nutrition because of the pancreatitis. Fat content in salmon and eggs means we have to be super careful with how we feed her these proteins. Beef can also be an issue unless you use the leanest cuts available.

When we started Grace was eating Dr. Harvey’s paradigm, grass fed ground beef, yogurt, pumpkin, green beans and a plethora of ingredients (in a jar) just to ensure she was getting the appropriate nutrition. Grace’s Momma asked if I could help her prevent Grace from another scary episode at the emergency.

We are just moving into our 3rd week and Grace is loving her new meals and treats. Her body is beginning to restore healthy hydration and a pain free tummy. All without the plethora of jars!

AND… Her poo is
award winning
outstanding
fantabulous … this week!

Don’t laugh, diarrhea can be very difficult for our puppy dogs and the pain in their tummies is exhausting.

Keep an eye out for this sweet girl and follow along as she begins to heal ❤️

08/06/2023

This is Judah! 🐾🐾

He is 13 and has been having very serious tummy issues since January. You may remember his Momma posted in our PDW group asking for help after being referred to us in July.

Judah has had all of the side effects we have become familiar with in this group. Vomiting blood, unable to stand and blood in his stool and escalating pancreatic attacks.

Judah wasn’t eating and his Momma was forced to use a syringe with pedialyte just to give him the strength to go on.

Months of traditional treatment with harsh medicines and awful prescription food has done nothing but cause Judah to go down hill.

Searching for advice and help in pancreatic FB groups Marilyn was guided to the PDW group and that’s where we connected.

Sadly, my schedule is filled with too many sick puppy dogs. Using whole food is not quick or easy but only healthy nourishment can provide a long term solution.

I provided his Momma with a very basic recipe to keep him in a holding pattern until we could fit him into my program.

This is week 1 and Judah is already feeling better. His Momma says when he sees his bowl coming out he runs to the kitchen with excitement.

Follow along with us over the next 6 weeks and watch how Judah begins to heal and flourish with his new path to long term health.

07/23/2023

Meet Ollie!

This little guy is a Maltese/Bichon Frise mix. He just celebrated his 4th birthday. Happy birthday Ollie 🎈🎊

When Ollie’s Mom contacted me she was quite concerned about a vomiting with blood episode that had happened the week before.

I’m pretty sure that Ollie’s uncomfortable conditions began in June 2022. Mom began to introduce home cooking with chicken, veggies and greens but Ollie was still feeling itchy and frequently had mucous in his poo.

The end of April rolled around and Ollie began scooting so his a**l sacs were cleaned. The vet prescribed Clavamox and Viaderm. In May the vet shaved both of Ollie’s ears and put Ollie on another course of Viaderm for 15 days.

In June his skin developed lesions. Ollie began licking a bump on his forearm. The inflammation concerned his Mom and she brought him back to the vet. A pustule developed on his tummy so the vet ran a culture and determined he had a yeast infection.

Ollie was prescribed Clavaseptin (a clavulanate potentiated amoxicillin) and Memetasone (a gel which provides antibacterial properties for bacteria and yeast).

12 days later Ollie vomited blood again. Ollie was brought back to the vet. Bloodwork showed elevated pancreatic levels and dehydration.

Guess what came next?
Emavert maropitant injection
Cerenia tablets orally once daily
Famotidine Orally twice a day for 5 days
Famotidine Injection
Sulcrate Suspension once every 8 hours before food.
And finally Subcutaneous Fluids

Ollie was given RC canned food for a day then was brought in for a X-ray. No blockage 🙄 (surprise)

On June 26th Ollie was back in for impacted a**l glands. He was then tested for his cortisol and Spec CPL to rule out pancreatitis.

June 27th Ollie was tested with the ACTH Stim test, his bladder was scanned, no stones and no free fluid.

July 7th his Mom contacted me. I suspected a bug in his tummy when he had another very poor quality poo with nothing in his meal to cause it. We started a reset diet.

I recommended a poo sample be tested for bacteria.

We found levels of 2 strains of clostridium in his tummy. Most of our pups carry this in their guts. Only when levels increase into dangerously high levels and the biome is no longer balanced do we begin to see problems.

So our treatment plan for him is starting a high quality probiotic with natural antimicrobials to stop the bacteria from creating more toxins while we flush the existing load of toxins out of his tummy.

This morning Ollie is doing very well. Solid poo, eating all of his functional foods and playing happily with Mom!

Follow along with us as Ollie begins to heal naturally. No harsh drugs, no unnecessary testing, just good food that talks to the cells in Ollie’s body.

07/16/2023

This is Cooper!

Cooper was given 5 vaccines in one day! 🦠

He began vomiting and refused to eat. This sweet boy developed itchy skin and couldn’t stop scratching and licking. His Momma was desperate to find a way to make him feel more comfortable so they went back to the vet.

💉 The vet chose to give Cooper a Cytopoint shot. I’m pretty confident that was the trigger for a long list of ailments including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and loss of appetite.

Back to the vet and Cooper was x-rayed, given antibiotics, steroids and Cerenia for the nausea. Guess what happened?

You bet, a pancreatic attack that scared his Momma half to death! Now we are cleaning all of that poison out of his body and Cooper is already feeling better. He’s having great poos, eating all of his meals and playing with Grandma!

Cooper is in my new 3 week program. That’s sort of the light version of my 6 week plan. I expect Copper will be healthy and happy by the beginning of August and his Momma will know exactly what to feed him to keep him that way.

We will keep you informed of how he is healing!

07/16/2023

Meet Joker!

This dapper fellow is just 6 ½ years old but his skin has been taking a beating for years.

Joker has been on a wheel of steroids and antibiotics in an attempt to help him cope with staphylococcal infections, paw licking, ye**ty ears and tummy issues.

Joker’s Momma has tried everything to help her little guy get comfortable.

As you know, I am of the firm belief that to solve problems like this we have to get to the source of the problem.

Covering symptoms with antibiotics and steroids is just a bandaid and can never get to the heart of the problem.

We are at the beginning of what could be a long journey to a healthy balance.

Joker is not worried though, he knows his Momma will do whatever it takes to help him heal.

As you can see, he really likes his new food! 🐾🐾🫐🍎🍌

06/28/2023

Apologies in advance for the long message:

Meet Bowie,

At only two years old this sweet boy has had more pain than any puppy dog should ever have. You may have seen his Momma’s post in our PDW group several weeks ago.

In July of 2022 something happened and he was unable to close his mouth and just one month after that his left eye began to swell. After a trip to the emergency hospital they arranged an appointment to see the neurologist and sent him home with painkillers.

A follow up visit with his own vet resulted in antibiotics and prednisone, both of which seemed to show improvement. When those medications ended Bowie reverted back to the symptoms of MMM (Masticatory Muscle Myositis). When his eye began to swell again Bowie was put back on prednisone. This seemed to work for a short while.

In December this sweet pup began to show signs that his MMM symptoms were coming back. The neurologist requests an MRI, muscle biopsy and more blood tests. Swelling in his head muscles and jaw get him back on antibiotics and more prednisone.

Are you following all of this medication?

In January of this year Bowie was refusing to eat, lethargic and unable to stand up. Specialists recommend a longer course of immunosuppressant steroids. Bowie is not improving and the doctors are now suggesting a different antibiotic and a high dose of prednisone for 6 to 7 months 😱

Once again the initial medication seemed to help but in March Bowie is becoming aggressive with the family’s other dog. By April Bowie is deteriorating rapidly. He is lethargic, having trouble drinking and eating, disoriented, his breathing is becoming rapid, he’s panting and can only lay on his side.

All of these drugs have side effects, especially with high dose, long term use. Bowie has sores developing inside his mouth and blood tests reveal his liver enzymes are perilously high.

End of May Bowie’s Momma made the call to stop the medication. In June he is not eating so she tries the prescription food from the vet but he’s not eating that either. At that point Bowie can no longer stand without his back legs giving out on him.

Mid June the vets don’t know what’s going on. Now he is diagnosed with gastrointestinal and liver damage. His diet consists of boiled chicken and pumpkin purée, it’s the only thing he will eat. He is wasting away in front of the family 😔

June 14 Caroline posted in the Puppy Dog Warrior group looking for help. Of course I had to get him in as quickly as possible so we started on Monday this week.

Please follow along on Bowie’s journey back to health. We will keep everyone updated!