Hope

I see Hope for Rossi gal.


This is a write-up of the events leading up to the Hope for Rossi gal. It is a lengthy one, as I have included  specific details to provide a clearer picture.  Anyone who might be reading, hopefully I do not bore you out.


Rossi gal was diagnosed with Demodectic Mange or Demodex. I had been battling her Demodex for over a year. Initially, I did not know it was Demodex, as the first few vets who attended to her, were unable to diagnose her condition correctly.


It started off with hair loss on her face area when I picked her up from the shop, which the sales person dismissed it as a "minor issue" that can be resolved with some fish oil. The vet who saw her, said it was a bacteria infection and prescribed some medication. Very slowly, her hair grew back. I was so relieved then. I thought Rossi gal would not face such a condition anymore under my care.


Little did I realise the hair loss would come back again with a vengence. This time, it was on her body. At first, it was a vaguely noticeable patch with little hair. Daddy and I thought it was just our imagination. Later, when it became a small hairless patch, I became concerned and told Daddy, who thought it might be due to skin sensitivity. We applied some cream on the area and continued to monitor for a while more. Eventually, the hairless patch began to expand. That's when the alarms rang loud in my mind that she needed medical attention.


I took her to the vet. When the vet saw the patch, the very first thing she asked, was her food, which was quite expected. That time, Rossi gal was on Chicken Based kibbles. She advised that Rossi gal be switched to fish kibbles as this could be a food allergy. With this, she tried to promote a GOOD brand of fish-based kibbles sold in the clinic to me. It's one of those brands seen in the vet clinics. But I wasnt taken in by her sales talk, cos at that time, I have already learnt about reading ingredients on pet food labels and knew this was not an optimum food.


I changed her to a Fish-based kibbles. However, despite being on it for some time, her condition did not improve. Instead, her bald patch continued to expand and become more obvious. The patch became inflamed too. I got very worried and took her back to the vet. This time, she checked her skin and was undecided whether or not to do a skin scrape.


Initially, she suspected it could be demodex, but quickly dismissed it as soon as she said it. She said, it dun look like demodex, it cannot be. Then she checked her anal glands and diagnosed it to be an anal glands problem,whereby her glands were full and not expressed, so she tried to reach behind and bite at them, causing her to bite at her body, thus resulting in hair being bitten off and fallen out. I believed in her diagnosis unsuspectingly, cos she was the vet. At that time, vets were the High and Mightly "Know-it-All". their words were sacred and I hang on to each and every word for Rossi gal's dear life.


Rossi gal's condition got worse. Flakes were forming on her bald patch, on top of the skin inflammation and widening of the area. Again, I took her back to the same vet. She was again undecided whether or not to do a skin scrape, but in the end, she didnt do it. The reason for her hesitation was, skin scrape was a "painful & skin-deep process" that she rather spare Rossi gal of. So SWEET, right? This time, her diagnosis was "Fungal Infection",where she proceeded to prescribe some anti-fungal meds for Rossi gal and assured me at the same time, she was very confident that hairs will grow back on Rossi gal's bald patch.


But things didnt turn out well. After the meds, Rossi gal's bald patch continued to deteriorate. That was when I switched to another vet at the same clinic. This male vet diagnosed her problem to be bacteria dermatitis cos at that time, angry rashes started to form on her bald patch and also various parts of her body. He prescribed the usual meds..antibiotics and steriods. Same as the previous vet, he was reluctant to do a skin scrape too. After the meds, Rossi gal's inflamed skin settled down. I was glad, hoping hair will start to re-grow on her bald patch. But after a couple of weeks, her skin flared up again, over her bald patch and the rest of her body. It was worse than before. I took her back to this vet again, whereby he decided she needed another course of meds. Well, the same happened again. It was a vicious cycle over and over again. In total, this vet gave Rossi gal 3 courses of antibidotics and steriods!


So I changed to another vet at another clinic, as I have heard good reviews about it. Her diagnosis was food allergy combined with fungal problem. She proceeded to prescribe meds and a cream to apply on the bald patch. The cream caused Rossi gal's skin to become even more inflammed and even more flakes to form. Her skin became greasy and itched badly too. I told the vet about this and she looked at me in a suprised manner, stating that there was NO known side-effects, so any side effects were NOT possible. She told me to continue administering the cream on Rossi gal and I listened to her. My Stupidly Blind Steadfast trust in Vets. The same symptoms arose. I called up the clinic to look for the vet, but she was off duty for that day, so I talked to another vet, who advised me to stop using the cream.


After this incident, I again changed to another vet, also in this same clinic. This vet was known to be good and meticulous in her diagnosis and was known to be very gentle with furkids too. By this time, Rossi gal's bald patch was already a big glaring patch. She was shocked to see the extend of the baldness. She plucked out some hairs on Rossi gal's bald patch and examined the hairs under the magnifier machine (not sure what its called). Like the others before her, she didnt think to do a skin scrape on the patch too. She asked for the food that Rossi gal was having. At this time, she was on fish-based kibbles and Raw Dehydrated food. Her diagnosis was it could be food or genes or a combination of both. She advised me to put Rossi gal on vegetarian kibbles or the hypoallergenic diet from her clinic. I chose the veggie kibbles. With this vet, Rossi gal was given 2 courses of antibiotics and steriods.


Throughout all this while, I bought Rossi gal supplement after supplement, changed kibbles after kibbles, switched vet after vet, all the time hoping to see improvement in her condition and hair regrow. But I was very disappointed that there was no signs of hair growth. When I take Rossi gal out, seeing my friends' furkids and other people's furkids with a full coat, I will be very depressed for Rossi gal. But I never gave up. I told myself as long as I persevered on, one day, her hair will definitely grow back.


Finally, I made an appointment with Dr Ly from ARVC. I have read alot about him and his use of holistic methods. I decided to bring Rossi gal to him, hoping he could help her. Till then, all the other vets were giving me more or less similar diagnosis. I wonder what Dr Ly's diagnosis would be and what would be his treatment plan for Rossi gal.


It was my first time at ARVC. The place was packed, no doubt, to see Dr Ly. Despite being there early, I waited more than 2 hours from my appointment time before I got to see him. When Dr Ly first saw Rossi gal's bald patch, he exclaimed at the extent of its size and severity. The bald patch was indeed quite big at this time. After some initial examination, he asked if a skin scrape was done before, I answered No. Immediately, he took out a blade and declared he will do a skin scrape on the bald area.


He examined the skin specimens under the machine. His diagnosis was "Demodicosis", also known as Demodectic Mange or Demodex. He told me it had nothing to do with food or bacteria or whatsoever. It was mites. He then led me to view the mites using the machine. Seeing the mites for the first time made my skin itch and blood boil. It's these damn mites that have been eating away my gal's hairs!


Every furkid will have demodectic mites, but they would not pose as a problem, so long as the immune system is able to keep them in check. But when the immune system is poor and unable to keep them in check, the mites will become a problem and multiply in numbers, leading to hair loss. There are basically two types of Demodectic Mange, Localised and Generalised. Localised is mainly hair loss on the face area. Generalised consists of a wider area, whereby hair loss can occur on various parts of the body. Rossi gal's demodex is the generalised one.


After all the wrong diagnosis from all the other vets and so much unnecessary medication, I finally knew what was wrong with Rossi gal. Dr. Ly prescribed oral Ivermectin for killing the mites, Hepavite caps for protecting the liver while on Ivermectin (which he said, its a Poison.), Sang Hwang(Wild Lingzhi) with Panalog for application on the bald area and Domoso roll-on for reducing skin inflammation. The charge was a whopping $500. Consultation at ARVC, especially with Dr. Ly do not come cheap. But I am willing to pay, for I knew Dr. Ly is good.


At this time, I have changed her to a Homecooked Diet, hoping it can help her condition. While giving her homecooked, I came across alot of information and testimonies on raw feeding. I have also read that raw is actually the best for furkids with skin problems. Cooking the food kills off much nutrients and enzymes. I was, of course, very keen on raw when I read all these. But I couldnt bring myself to let her go raw. The thought of raw meat and bones, especially the bones scared me. It's the Psychological Barriers at work in my mind.


In  my research, I read up both positive and negative aspects of a raw diet. Positive things like better health, good teeth, shiny coat and abundant energy and Negative things like bacteria and choking on bones. But the advantages of going raw clearly outweigh the disadvantages. I started to think about raw and how I can go about doing it. Then I decided to go along with Homecooked first while reading up more about raw and working to break through my psychological barriers.


After a few visits to Dr. Ly and being on Homecooked, there was still no visible progress on Rossi gal other than mini, fine sprouts of hairs that never seemed to grow further. Besides applying the Sang Hwang on her skin, I started to let Rossi gal take the Sang Hwang Caps orally, as I learnt that LingZhi can help to boost the immune system, which was what she needed to fight the sickening demodectic mites.


Then Dr. Ly began to paint a more grim picture of Rossi gal's skin condition. He said that the hair follicles on her bald patch were 'dead' and her hair might not grow back. This was a sign of very poor immune system. When I heard this, my heart grew cold. It was like a dagger was plunged deep into my heart. My heart ached so much for my poor little sweet baby gal. I went into depression mode. After everything I have done, it all came down to nothing?


No! It can't be! I Cannot and Won't settle for this. I braced myself up and continued to research on what can be done for Rossi gal. I started her on another new supplement, TF+, which was able to build up and educate her immunity to fight against the Demodectic Mange and a range of other conditions. I also started to check out the commercial raw diet brands available, with particular interest in Dr. B patties.


The turning point came during the last appointment to Dr. Ly. I have actually stopped the oral Ivermectin weeks before this appointment. He did a skin scrape on her bald patch. After examing the results, he declared that her mites were in control, she can stop the Ivermectin. (I'm secretly glad that I stopped it much earlier, but of course, I never told him.) For the hair re-growth part, he was still grim, repeating again that her hair might not grow back.


But the next thing he said, gave me Hope. Quoting him word for word, he said, "The best thing you can do for her now is to go on a Raw Diet. It might help her. Anyway, its healthier too." This was the turning point, where I finally brought Rossi gal's diet to another brand new level. Yes, Rossi gal will go raw.


Within the next two days, I contacted Barf Singapore and made some enquiries about Dr. B patties. As my fridge was still quite packed, I ordered the patties about 1 week plus later. Meanwhile, as I still got some raw lamb shabu in my fridge, I let Rossi have her first taste of Raw first. Oh! She loved it! Finished up and asked for more. As she was already having raw blended veggies in her Homecooked, so there was no problem for her taking it in her raw diet as well.


Then the time came for her to start Dr. B patties. I ordered two boxes, as I was confident she will enjoy the patties. When I first presented some of the patty to her, I was expecting her to chomp it down like the lamb shabu I gave her. However, to my surprise, she sniffed and nipped at the patty, then turned her face away.


Rossi gal is not a fussy eater. She eats almost anything as long as it's edible. But she rejected the patties.


I fasted her, hoping to induce hunger in her to eat the patty. She very reluctantly ate some here and there, but can never finish up the whole patty. I knew she tried her best to eat, she was really a good gal. For the next few days, it was like this. I could feel she was unhappy with eating the patties. So I stopped. I gave her some raw lamb shabu and her appetite immediately returned. I could see her happy little face again. Then I decided to go into doing my own (DIY) raw diet for her.


As for the remaining patties, I gave them to my friend who wished to let her furkids try them.


I began to read up and learn how I can do a proper raw diet for Rossi gal. Now, I'm still reading and learning to see how I could improve her diet. Till date, Rossi gal had been on DIY Raw for 2 months & 2 weeks.


Now, here comes the part where I finally see the fruits of my efforts. After so long..After so much heart-ache, tears and hard work..Somewhere late last week, I started to notice some dark pigmentation on her big bald patch At first, I thought it was due to the lighting, so I didnt think much about it. But I just couldnt help noticing the tinge of black on her skin. Then I started to be concerned, as I read somewhere that the blackening of skin was not something good. I began to get worried.


When I got home that day after work, I grabbed Rossi gal onto my lap and examined her skin. To my utter Delight, the black pigmentation I worried about, were actually Hairs growing out! I shrieked in joy and screamed for Daddy to come over and look. He quickly scrambled to switch on all the lights and closely screened through Rossi gal's skin like an Archeologist examining a priced artifact. The corners of his mouth curved up into a bright smile.


Indeed, Rossi gal's hairs are growing back.


Since then, both of us have been examining Rossi gal's bald patch everyday. Day by day, strands of hairs are growing out more and more noticeably. The black pigmentation is covering up the bald patch. This is something I have never seen before when she was on kibbles or raw dehydrated, not even when she was on Homecooked. (She was on Homecook for 3 months plus.)


But on Raw for slightly over two months, I have Results.


I see Hope. I feel Hope.


And I am Overwhelmed with Joy! :D


Raw is not a miracle diet, but it definitely did great wonders for my Rossi gal.


In my own space, I shout out loud, RAW is the BEST diet to give our furkids whom we Love so so Much!


RAW is the BEST!


*I'll be posting before and after pictures of my gal later on.