Erny

The hair has all grown back and its not oily at all. If you rub the skin, she has flaky white bits that go through the coat, it really looks like dandruff. I understand the flaky white bits you talk about. I refer to it as "scurf". My dog will have this from time to time. His is yeast based. It tends to show when his system is running 'low' (i.e. it is trying to deal with something else) and this is when the yeast numbers grow in excess. Is it the coat you're feeling for oiliness, or the skin? Sorry, don't mean to be harping/doubting your answer …. just uncertain that I'm being clear. Glad the bald patches have grown back. If the coat was poor and/or the bald patches were still evident in one shape or form, I'd be pondering a thyroid issue. Not totally ruled out but far less likely if there's no other issues.

VizslaMomma - the Vet has checked and confirmed no hidden issues. I would simply use Calendula Tea as something to wipe out the part of the ear you can see, just from time to time and only as necessary. If the ears are clean and there is no major itching issue, IMO there's no need to engage routine cleansing procedures. A bit of "don't fix something that ain't broke". Just check your dog's ears - THAT's the "general maintenance" routine part :) .

I'm not Steve and she will, I'm sure, be able to add more in terms of advice and info, but if it were me I would use the Calendula Tea to wash your dog in. Is there an oiliness to the feel of the skin (usually identified by the residue on your fingers after a good bout of handling)? Could be yeast. Could still go back to diet. I'm assuming the bald patches grown back?

This is fantastic!! I've wanted for a long time for people to turn to the use of Calendula Tea and see if they too can provide relief for their dogs' skin ailments, avoiding potentially unnecessary antibiotics and cortisone. I am stoked that this thread was made and that it has attracted the following that it has, and that so many people have tried it and become amazed at the effective results. Yay for so many dogs who would be sighing with relief and whose health is not otherwise knocked about by side effects to the aforementioned drugs. These aforementioned drugs have their place, mind ….. but if they can be effectively avoided then all the better for our dogs. Whoot whoot!! Also, great offer Julie!! Generous to a fault, as you are, and what a great cause.

If I want to wash my dog's feet only, I brew the tea and put it in a used but empty (washed out) butter container (my dog is a large breed, so a smaller container for the smaller dogs would be better - less tea needed) and have him stand in it for a few moments or so, one foot at a time. A quick pat to take the excess wet (especially between the toes) away and voila!! Glad everything else went well. And I like the "neutral" smell. Something fresh and unmasked about it. :)

I've only just begun to use Calendula as at least a 'part' treatment for Mum's psoriasis. I have been using "MooGoo's" lotion designed for use with psoriasis up until now. It has helped Mum's skin and even some other age-related odd skin growths quite a bit. Without looking, I can't remember what it comprises of, but I quite like the "MooGoo" range of lotions. If it is psoriasis of the scalp - Mum copped that badly and I've really attained great improvement with another couple of products we got via a Skin Care Clinic. If you want the names of these, let me know.

I use Ross Wilson. He works from Coburg Health and Nutrition Store in Coburg (Vic). Ph. 9354 8007. If you contact him, tell him I sent you. Between my dog, my Mum, my girlfriend and myself (not to mention several others), he knows me pretty well :) . You can give him a call to chat first, if you'd prefer. He's pretty flat out and this can sometimes delay his return calls (understandably) but he's pretty good.

I'm no expert on this, but I think I'd be inclined to skip the cream and just use Calendula Tea rinse as I suspect the latter would be more inclined to not only cleanse and stop bacteria, but also assist in keeping the pores open to clear. Just my guess, but I'm sure Steve (Julie "Shalarm") would have more info.

That's good news, Aurelia, if not perfect news. But all the same, recovery sounds more likely. Don't want to send you down the garden path, but I know if it were me, I'd be investigating what natural supplements might well assist in conjunction with Veterinary treatment/s. To do this, I'd be sending a hair sample to Ross Wilson for dna testing. The hair can be a wonderful tell-tale for what's going on in the body (e.g. inflammation) and what it is needing. The good part about this is that it is non-invasive and you don't have to take your dog anywhere to be poked or probed. Just post in.

Aliwake … Did we already discuss diet? And have I mentioned about getting a hair-DNA analysis done? Non invasive, and can show up imbalances coupled with telling you of some of the possible symptoms which come from those imbalances. This in turn gives you a direction to head in. I found it a great help with working with (*cough* "for") my boy.

I'm in two minds about taking him back out at the moment. I may wait until I get the titre results back from Hemopet. Interestingly though my vet did the new 'in house' test first and received a negative result both times she tried. They suspected it was the test as it is new to them, so also sent it to VetPath. My vet spoke to the head haematologist there last night who was absolutely certain he has no immunity. The tests were batch run with control samples, and other samples which returned positive results, it was just Louis's that showed no detectable antibodies It will be interesting to see the result from Hemopet. Also how the heck do you pronounce it 'teat-er' or 'tight-er' :laugh: I would definitely repeat the test via Dr Jean Dodds. Perhaps this is a rare instance where it proves to throwing good money after bad, however given the results you've so far received are particularly unusual, I would like to reassure myself by having Dr Jean's back-up to be thoroughly convinced. And as another poster has said - your Vets should listen to YOU. I wouldn't re-vaccinate, if it were me. Risk? Maybe - but Dr Jean's tests would rule that in or rule that out. But the higher risk seems to be if you do vaccinate.

I agree with the above. Accidents do happen. Picture a bunch of children happily playing ball or some such, but because two children are focused on catching the ball, they collide with each other as they run. Who is at fault? ….. They were playing. An accident happened. There was no negligence. There was no malicious intent. Should we stop children playing???

Contact can be made direct. Dr Jean is such a lovely person - I don't like to exploit the generosity of her time that she does tend to willingly give, but I'd suggest this is a very important question and one that she would most likely be pleased to be able to assist in giving her opinion/advice on. Edited to add …. I'd also love to know what her thoughts are as well, if you don't mind sharing and if Dr Jean doesn't mind you putting it up here.

:laugh:

I love you all for the vote of confidence, but I have to tell you that my knowledge is limited to what I've read, felt comfortable with. CC - If I were you, I would contact Dr Jean Dodds (USA). Google her and you'll catch her website (Hemopet). To me, Jean is the guru in regards to vaccination regime and suggestions and is the one I have the ultimate confidence in. If she advised "re-vaccinate" I'd have confidence that she wouldn't just be saying it for saying it sake. Dr Jean is one of the leading Vets who have argued against over-vaccinating for a long time. Having said that, I'm initially inclined to say "no", don't re-vaccinate. Sure, IF there is no immunity there is a risk (what that risk is depends on your environment) but what damage could occur to your dog's already obviously compromised immune system if the vaccine booster was again given? I'd imagine that's the question you've already asked yourself. What I am wondering is if you've already PREVIOUSLY conducted a titre test and whether that showed up an antibody count. If it did, it means your dog does have sero-conversion and therefore there is the chance and likelihood that the immunity is at cell memory status. What I'm not certain of is whether the affects of IMHA along with the treatments for it could possibly have counter-acted immunity (really have no idea on possibility of this). These are the questions floating around in my mind and ones you could perhaps speak with Dr Jean about. She is one heck of a brilliant lady.

I didn't mean to counter the information you've given, cavNrott - it's only that I got the impression that there may be a financial hitch with the surgery component (yep - a lot of money) and then followed some well-meaning comments pertaining to pain and potential pts sooner rather than later (all true). By "hasten slowly" I mean urgency needs to be considered and observed, but at the same time, take a moment to breath and think before anything final in terms of consideration to (especially) termination is addressed and/or course of action (taking into account your advice regards 'small window of opportunity' if that initial diagnosis is in fact correct. Yes, act fast, but don't panic. And I say that through experience because there are some things I've done in the past as a knee-jerk panic to do the best thing for the dog (i.e. euth) that I now regret and wished I'd said to the Vet at the time "wait" (at least to give me time to get my head around things; figure out possible alternatives and whether there were any; etc - and I'm not talking days). I hope for the owner that her dog's condition is something that with time may improve.

Sorry to hear of your friend's grave concern and what's happened with her dog. I can't help other than to say "hasten slowly". Sounds to me she's doing what she can. Just tell her to "breath" and whilst there does sound to be some urgency around this, take the time necessary to check out what she can have checked out, don't knee-jerk panic.

Good luck Kayla - keeping for Maxie.

As per Nic.B - My elderly Mum was experiencing a re-occurring, very itchy rash as well. Took to Doctors and cortisone cream prescribed. I didn't use it much but when I did, it didn't make a difference anyway. Hair-DNA test and subsequent appropriate herbal supplements and rash has gone and not returned. Rash related to kidney and liver function which was improved through the supplements. We have to stop stopping our search at "symptom" level, and learn to look past that.

As per what Persephone has written. I am sure you would still be reeling with the shock of this, but anything could have happened. Under the circumstances I think you would find it easier to let your mind rest on the matter and accept that this was "her time". She left without interruption to routine, carrying on her usual activities at home where she would have been comfortable and confident. I'm sorry for your loss and send you best wishes through what I can imagine would be a pretty tough emotional time. RIP, little JRT. Run free.

Thank you, cavNrott. And thanks goes to my dog "Mandela" as well, as he has and still continues to teach me a mammoth amount of learning that I possibly would never have turned my attentions to, if it were not for him. I also think I should thank my previous dog "Kal" (bhcs) as well, as it was through her illness and my too easily (I now believe) thwarted efforts to find out what was indeed wrong (in time to be able to remedy it) with her which ultimately brought her to her demise. After Kal and when I got Mandela and recognised his issues, my ambition and determinations were that I would not be scared to think outside the square, I would not allow panic to have me treat him conventionally (and blindly) in more than a hurry than I needed to but rather to research and ask questions first, and I will not quit to try to find out …… "why". I trust my dog and what he has to tell me, and that teaches me all the more.

That's a really good point actually. I know adding any extracts including calendula extract to any type of formula the extracts must be added under 40 degrees celsius in order to gain all the benefits. I suspect the sample principle applies to calendula flowers in that you may lose some of its benefits if placed in boiling water. I'll do a bit of research on that one and let you know. I'm sure I read (but can't recall where) that the water should not be "boiling". I don't believe it said what the temperature should be at. I tend to boil the kettle and because I'm usually busy doing something else whilst I'm waiting, the water is usually hot, but considerably off the boil. I tend not to add cold water from the tap either, because I like boiled water for the fact of killing off any inherent contaminants that might be in the water. I do this all the more so conscientiously if I'm using the tea for bathing my dog's eyes, but I generally make it standard practice anyway.

I agree with essentialdog - this is something I've recommended ESPECIALLY to those who are using it to treat skin irritations. You may be able to get away with holding it over in the fridge for a day, but for my boy (given that his skin condition was threatening to secondary skin infection), I brewed daily, twice daily, three times daily … as the need dictated. It is, after all, only like brewing a cuppa - you just need to wait the extra time for it to cool. And don't forget the tip that Steve gave, and that was that you can feed your dog the left over slops (save if you've used the tea in a stocking as a sponge, as it would then be contaminated) in its food.

Hey cavNrott I confess I don't have any strict "ratio" and tend to err on side of making the tea a bit stronger than I would depending on the severity of issue. As a rule of thumb, I tend to work on 1 tablespoon of tea to 1 or 2 cups of water, but then my boy does have issues and even though the symptoms might not be apparent at the time of bathing with it, I work with this in mind. As your dog doesn't have any skin issue, my guess is that 2 tablespoons to the litre would be quite adequate. I err on the *generous* side because I find measuring out the tea in tablespoons isn't an exact science, given that it is light and bouncy and not mulched up so much that it settles. And it's hard to explain *grab a bunch* over the internet, lol. I don't follow my *rule of thumb* when it comes to putting it in a bath tub with a couple of inches of water in it, simply because of practicality/feasibility purposes. In this, the amount I put in depends on a couple of factors and those are (a) how severe/problematic are the symptoms; and (b) how much Calendula Tea I have left and how much I might still need for further treatments. But I do like the water to be at least a gold yellow in colour. A slightly paler yellow colour would, I expect, be ok for general use as opposed to treating irritated skin. No-one's ever taught me. I just worked this out for myself so I go by 'feel'. I could be wrong and maybe I use more than I need to.