Turbo’s skin had been well eversince when he was a puppy until he
was 2+ years old, about half a year after spaying him. It got better after some medications but kept
coming back again and again throughout these 4 years, the time between one flare-up and another was also getting shorter and shorter. He was on anti-biotics at times when he
got really bad flare-ups, good thing is that he reacted well to steroid cream but it is
not good for him to take too much steroids, it made him thirsty and have bald
patches, and it only treats the symptoms but not the root of the problem. So these 4 years he has been having skin
problems on an on-off basis but it never really go away. In fact, it got worse last year and we were
applying cream for him a few days a week, then it got better for a few days and
started coming back again. The constant
cream-applying drills, days and nights on the e-collar, and the cream/ointments
on him is making our floor very oily and sticky (btw, we are clean freaks!),
it’s just so sad and heart-breaking to see him suffering and itching like
this. =(
See how inflamed they could become, he must be feeling terribly uncomfortable. :(
We also brought him to do food allergy testing but it showed
he wasn’t allergic to any food apparently, which is uncommon. We were really helpless. We thought he might be allergic to something
in the environment, so we bought a S$500+ Air Ionizer which is said to help
reduce the allergens in the air, which might have helped a little, we are not
sure, but no harm trying. We also
started to shower him more frequently to keep him clean, which was recommended
by a doctor during one of his visits to the vet. As much as we can, we would shower him every day
or every alternate day with water and twice a week with the medicated shampoo,
we then slowly stopped the medicated shampoo and used an organic Neem oil
shampoo instead (this one we are using smells pretty nice, not smelly at
all). We think the frequent showering
does help to keep him clean so as to avoid environmental allergens even though
it’s a lot of work, but it does not exactly prevent flare-ups.
We also thought he might be allergic to the preservatives
used in Dog kibbles and snacks if the food allergy test is hmm... accurate? So we decided to start him on a home-cooked
diet where we know exactly what he eats.
Usually they are ok with most veges, so it was mainly the meat we were
closely monitoring. After about one month
of home-cooked diet, his skin has improved tremendously! We realised we were not applying cream and ointments for him anymore and he wasn’t licking his body already. I continued with the
home-cooked diet for a few months or coming to half a year now and his skin is
so nice and stable now. His coat is also getting denser and he doesn’t
seem to shed as much anymore. You can
also rest assured if you order our home-cooked diet because our own dog is
taking the exact same food. ;D
Cheeky Turbo showing off his good skin for photo-taking, kekeke! ;P
See
the difference! Even the old scars are
gone! =D
We still give Turbo doggie treats but we are very selective
what to give him. We try to only give
him those all natural or organic ones or those freeze-dried from original food
kind, so no preservatives, usually those only have less than 5 ingredients kind,
so he still gets to enjoy treats! Sometimes we just give him fresh raw
vegetables like celery and carrots to chew on or some fresh fruits like
blueberries (anti-oxidants good for skin) or papayas (heard from a friend that it’s good for the skin), even better than commercial snacks! Fresh and natural! Try that! ;P
We hope that your dog will also benefit from our home-cooked
diet, actually we would also be happy if your dog benefits from your own home-cooked
diet, what is important is the dogs are healthy and happy. ;D
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