THUMP THUMP THUMP – The sound (again) of Bolt waking Brent and I up at 2:30am, 3:30am. 4:30am and so on. Every dogmom and dogdad out there knows the thumping sound of their dogs paw hitting the floor over and over again as they scratch. He would scratch and scratch and scratch. We’d wake up to clumps of his fur on the bed and on the carpet. His skin was red, dry, peeling, and black in spots. So, I did what any dogmom would do. I took him to the vet. The vet gave us “hypoallergenic” food in case he was having food allergies. They told me that he had a skin infection, gave him antibiotics, and sent us on our way. After his first meal of that kibble he was puking up stomach bile. Which was the ENTIRE reason why we switched to feeding raw which you can read about here. So we stopped the food but kept going with the antibiotics. Two weeks later, we got more antibiotics because it wasn’t working. Two weeks after that, I was losing my mind!
I remember sitting with Bolt in my lap, petting his balding body as tears ran down my face. There was something wrong with my furbaby and I couldn’t figure out what to do. To all the moms out there, human mom or dogmom, this is the worst feeling in the world!Your baby is sick, you can’t take the pain away and your lost. Nothing is working! I cried to my own Mom about it. She knew the pain but as comforting as it was, it wasn’t helping Bolt. There was no way I would give up. I decided to go a Facebook dog community and ask for help. The amount of support and advice I got was incredible. Multiple people suggested seeing a holistic veterinarian. Dr. Levy at Holistic Vet Care was a name that came up by many people. I made my appointment and she has changed Bolt’s life.
I should also note that prior to this I had my reservations about holistic health. Still, I think some of it is questionable but as I learn more, I believe in it more.
We went to see Dr. Levy. Bolt barked at her, A LOT! He’s reactive and doesn’t play well with others, to put it lightly. Our visit was 2 hours long and very thorough. Come to find out, Bolt was detoxifying through his skin. He was pushing toxins out of his body! Wait a second…I LOVE Bolt so much and I had been poisoning him! What!?! There is no way!
As Dr. Levy looked at his vet records from the day we got him until his last dose of antibiotics she was appalled by the amount of meds and vaccines that Bolt had been given. He was overdosing on the same meds that were supposed to be keeping him safe from fleas, ticks, and heartworm! At first, I didn’t want to believe it. When I checked the timeline, it was absolutely clear.
June 2015 – Time for monthly meds right? I gave Bolt his flea/tick meds, a topical medicine that goes between his shoulder-blades. Along with that I gave him his heartworm medicine. Bolt does not take pills so we tried a new topical kind.
July 2015 – Bolt is scratching all the time! His skin begins to flake and he’s shedding like crazy.
August 2015 – Bolt is losing CLUMPS of fur. He has black spots on his skin that eventually turned to scabs, that flaked and fell off and took his fur with it.
September 2015 – I go NUTS! This is when the tears came and Bolt’s fluffy fur was no longer what it used to be.
The overdose began in June when I combined two topical meds. I didn’t know any better. Our vet recommended it. They are the expert, not me! The next month was when all the scratching began, then the scabs, then the loss of fur. Once I checked the timeline, I was convinced! He really was reacting to too many drugs in his poor little body!
So…it was time to help him detox, instead of trying to cover up what was going on. We took him off ALL medicine, including his flea and tick, heartworm, and vaccines. He continued to eat raw and we used natural flea/tick spray when he went outside. Two months later, the black spots stopped and he stopped losing his fur. By December, he was back to his adorable fluffy self! My holistic journey is just starting. I’m excited to learn more and share more with you about natural care for your pets.