I got this nice note from Randy Handwerger, who has a heated covered pool in East Hampton (RandyProductions.com, S.S. Aqua Dog Swimmer) where she does rehabilitation and exercise for dogs instead of surgery or after it. She called in a donation to the new NPR station on 88.3 during our fund drive and I thanked her on the air – and commended her excellent services. She wrote:

I just wanted to a little line and say THANK YOU so much for being so sweet and giving me such a great plug on air!’What a nice surprise!

I am not kissing up when I say really do listen to your show!’I tend to be swimming dogs when the show is on so I listen when I am working on the computer as podcasts.’I still keep leaning new things and save the ones all about knee surgeries since the information keeps changing and so many of my clients use my swim-aquatic rehab before, after, or instead of surgery.’Cuz of you I now recommend every person one and every animal use Nordic Naturals fish oil and Platinum Performance supplements – myself and my cat and dog included!

So thank you immensely and please keep up the good work so I can keep teaching this ole dog new tricks!’By the way I am also furthering my learning by taking a canine massage certification this winter in FLA. for more canine anatomy proficiency.

Charlotte just joined Tracie’s Club so she could feel free to email me any time with questions and concerns about her three feline girls. She told me she was offering them raw frozen food for the first time and was surprised at how they fell right in love with it. She said she would go out and get a bottle of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 pet oil to round out their diet, and would be getting some for herself, too, since she suffers from terrible arthritis.  I was delighted to know her whole family would soon be on Nordic’s fish oil, but I wanted to add the kicker that would help to kick those joint problems in the butt – so to speak!

So I wrote her:

Charlotte – I’m about to rock your world. I used to take two Advil a day to be able to play tennis — various sore joints, aches etc.

I became friends with Dr. Alice Villalobos, the official oncologist of both radio shows, and was delighted to learn that she prescribes Platinum Performance for ALL her animal patients. But then she told me something I had never known: Platinum makes a human version and she & her husband — both very athletic — have been taking the human version for years.  It’s called Ortho-con and comes in capsules.

I have now been taking 6 capsules a day for 2 years and I play very competitive singles tennis 4-5 days a week. And guess how many Advil I’ve taken since starting Platinum?? Zero.

Platinum has other human products too. It comes in a powdered form (like what we give our dogs & cats) and they have a great energy bar made entirely of it.

Please call them (800-553-2400) and say you’re one of my very special listeners and ask what their best product for you would be — wow, will you be happy soon!

Tracie

I got this message from a man whose dog has chronic skin problems:

I called in to your show regarding the skin infections on my 2 year old female Boston terrier. You suggested I give her ground beef (or chicken), boiled with carrots for 2 weeks. I assume I drain off the fat after it boils. Correct? You said I could make enough for 2 weeks and freeze it in packs.

I’ll get antibiotics from the vet one more time to help clear it up.

You said to go to www.dogbible.com and there was a downloadable diet there. I went there and got the message “DogBible.com is currently undergoing a major upgrade.”

Do you have a diet in a .pdf?

By the way, my last Boston (this is my 3rd) lived to 12 years old. He was born with a bad liver and the University of Florida vets at the vet school, said he would not live to age 4. Apparently, I take good care of my babies.

I look forward to your input. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Thanks from Ron

Hi Ron – I’m so glad you got in touch because I need to clear up the advice I gave you. If I recall, you said you dog had recurring skin infections and your vet was using antibiotics to clear them up but they would recur – and maybe was also using prednisone tablets?? In any case, my suggestion of what is called an “elimination diet” was for two reasons: to clear your Boston’s system of the poor ingredients and even toxins in the commercial kibble which was her exclusive diet, and also to remove any of the ingredients which may have been causing skin reactions or allergies. So yes, the idea of feeding a bland protein source (be it chicken, beef or lamb) with chopped or grated carrots and rice is the way to do that. Of course all fat should be drained. A tablespoon of plain yogurt with every meal is great too, especially being on antibiotics.

I need to add that this diet would be a good one for the life of the dog, as long as you supplement it with a full balanced product like Platinum Performance. I recommend it to everyone as the finest and most effective glucosamine/chondroitin/omega-3 joint formula, but it is also the ideal way to provide all the vitamins and other nutrients a dog needs if you are home cooking. You can only buy this supplement direct from the company in California and you can find the link to the company on my website, as they are one of the first sponsors of the work I do. However, my website is the name of my book, THE DOG BIBLE, so you need to put in www.TheDogBible.com and you’ll get right there. I do not have any recipes on the website, but many blogs and Q&A’s on nutrition. The book I am a big fan of that does have super recipes is Liz Palika’s book THE ULTIMATE PET FOOD GUIDE – it is linked on my website and you can listen to my interview with her on DOG TALK by going to that section of my website and downloading the show. While you’re there, put your email address in the spot indicated and you’ll start receiving the pod cast of the live show every Saturday afternoon, which is my gift to everyone.

If you buy a copy of THE DOG BIBLE – which I humbly recommend because of the extensive nutrition information – please send me your mailing address and your Boston’s name so I can autograph a bookplate to her to put in it. I will also send you a sample of the most amazing healthy food from THE HONEST KITCHEN, which is a raw dehydrated food with protein, vegetables and carbs made from human grade ingredients in a human food factory.

The other thing that is indispensable for any dog with skin issues is an omega-3 fish oil and the only one sold for pets that has the seal of purity and freshness from the Norwegian government is Nordic Naturals. I have invited them to be website sponsors because of my high regard for the unmatched excellence of their oil, so you can read about them on their page on my website. Most good pet stores carry it or you can go to www.petFoodDirect.com and order it and get 20% off by putting catchat or dogtalk as the coupon code. My dogs’ coats have developed a high shine and they shed less since they’ve been on it.

It certainly seems clear you love your dogs and care for them beautifully – what a shame that the professionals in your life (and that of most dog parents) haven’t steered you well about nutrition. Kibble alone – even the highest quality – cannot be a complete diet any more than eating breakfast cereal three meals a day for your entire life would satisfy or properly nourish you. Please do stay in touch and good luck with her skin.

Tracie

Wow – this one really made my hair curl, as you can see from my replies below. Thank goodness Guy had a whole lot better solution to his little dog’s bladder infection than the fancy internist. Good grief, Charlie Brown!

Hello. I had a question that I wanted to run by you. Our dog is a Jack Russell mix, female, and almost 11 years old. She eats Science Diet (mature formula – dry). Our dog has had some problems this year, and one of your regular listeners said that I should contact you for a second opinion.

Four separate times this year, she developed a serious bladder infection — serious to us since she had lots of blood coming from her urethra when she urinated. The first time that happened this year, they did an ultrasound and found no stones or abnormalities. She responded to the antibiotics and it went away. That was the first time — the same exact thing happened three more times this year.

On the most recent occasion, our vet referred us to an internist, who also did another ultrasound and found no stones or abnormalities either. The internist, also notated that (1) her urine was too alkaline (during all 4 events this year, they documented her urine Ph at about 8 or around there), and (2) that her vulva was too far tucked into her area down there (and she thought that perhaps bacteria was getting stuck in-between her legs and growing into her bladder). For the latter issue, she recommended a vaginaplasty to remove some of the skin and pull her vulva back to where it was exposed.

After going back to our regular vet, he advised that he didn’t want to do the surgery because he would have to remove a lot of skin to expose her vulva. We only wanted to use the surgery as a last resort anyway, so trying some other options first was fine for us. He placed her on a prescription food to replace the Science Diet (he put her on Hill’s W/D because it’s supposed to acidify the urine). We are also, daily, using a gentle baby wipe to clean her vaginal area.

The prescription food is pretty expensive ($60 for a 30lb bag). Our friend suggested that you might have some alternatives for acidifying her urine. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Guy in Oklahoma City, OK

Guy, you need to read my website and The Dog Bible to discover how poor her nutrition is and is definitely part of the problem

That internist worries the pants off me: she wants to do vaginal surgery on an 11 year old dog because WHY?? A recurrent bladder infection? Holy cow. That’s hitting a fly with a baseball bat if ever I heard overkill!

1) Although your vet is more conservative, nonetheless this internist was his choice. Doesn’t reflect real well on him.

2) Unless you’re deeply attached, I’d be looking for another opinion or vet. There are much simpler ways to manage a baffling situation, and you want to begin by eliminating diet as a cause, no matter what it says on the over-priced bag.

3) Both vets are entirely negligent, in my humble opinion, for not questioning the diet. My book and website have ample proof of how dehydrating and malnourishing that diet is. Get her on proper food immediately.

4) She doesn’t have bladder stones or crystals so why treat for them? She had an infection — that can be as much an overall health/immunity issue as anything else.

5) Urinary pH changes hourly, so a value has no meaning if taken once or even ten times if you aren’t controlling exactly when you’re taking it. Even then, there are wide variations and it’s not really proof of anything. Pretty sad the vet doesn’t know that.

6) Get some Platinum Performance supplement to put into her new real food diet (my website is full of answers about this) so balance her nutritional intake.

7) Don’t try to mess around with changing urinary pH: it’s tricky if impossible to do effectively and urine that is too acid creates a whole other set of possible problems.

Hang in there but PLEASE use your own common sense and instincts. For example, the baby wipes are a good idea. Cheap, non-invasive, and effective. Good for you.

Tracie

I got this question from a regular listener:

Do you know of any spices or oils harmful to cats?  I have a Maine Coon cat and he goes crazy when I use the spice cloves and oil, which seems to drive him crazy like catnip. Also do you know if olive, coconut or almond oil in his food or rub on his coat, which seems to be dry and dull. Thank you.

I checked with Dear Sally for some specifics and then forgot that I hadn’t sent it on to you. Forgive me!Sally didn’t know about powdered spices (although the herb valerian is attractive to cats) but we both know that essential oils are no-nos, while hydrosols (by-products of essential oils) are acceptable. The first article mentions clove oil as not recommended. Some good links follow:

http://www.littlebigcat.com/
http://www.holisticat.com/aromatherapy.html
http://www.thelavendercat.com/3201/index.html

Re: the coat issue – what are you feeding him? If it’s dry food, please go right away to my website and read blogs & Q&A’s and get rid of that Kitty Crack right away. As soon as you switch him to wet food you need to add Omega 3 fish oil for his skin and coat and he should be much better in a matter of a week. Cats need the Omega 3 oil from an ANIMAL source – the best brand with purest oil is Nordic Naturals – read about them on my website. Putting oil ON the cat is useless and just makes a mess. The value of coconut oil is not clear  – the fish oil is the only way for the cat’s body to absorb it.

Tracie