After her bald patch recovered, I was so relieved and had thought the worst was over. After this ordeal, I thought it would be easier for me to maintain her health through diet and natural supps. Then the thinning issue came up.
There were 3 things I suspected that could have led to the thinning:
1) 'Relapse' of Demodectic Mange
But then again, hair have already regrown and covered the big bald patch on her body. The hair on Her tail used to be very bare and thin with patches of hair loss. Now the hair on her tail has regrown too. She has quite a bushy tail now, compared to before. Other smaller bald areas like her thighs have signs of hair re-growing too, though slow.
Furthermore, her raw diet and the other immune-boosting supps I give her, should help in keeping her Mange under control. (Mange is a immune system-related condition.) So what's with the thinning?
2) The 'Antibiotics+Hormones Free' Chicken
I give Rossi gal a mix of organic and 'antibiotics+hormones free' chicken, but between the two, I give more of the latter. I used to think 'anti-biotic+hormone free' is quite as good as organic, cos the butcher referred to them as 'they are not certified organic only.'
But recently, I realised how very wrong I am. (Thanks to *Iris for your detailed sharing on the vital differences between them & Thanks to *Regina for sharing your experience on feeding them. Thanks for showing me the 'light'.)
I had always attributed Rossi gal's increased scratching, outbreak & softer poo to her super sensitive skin. I had always thought the farming, sodium level etc of this chicken were fine, since I had read from its website that they use "special" farming methods. How very wrong I am! Ignorant me! I wondered if the damn chicken contributed to her thinning. So much for free of antibiotics+hormones. Scam.
So from now on, no more of this so called 'antibiotic+hormone free' chicken (& their eggs) for Rossi gal. Ban them! I will only use organic chicken(& eggs) now.
3) Thyroid
Last, but not least, it's the thyroid. One of the symptoms of a Hypothyroidism, is hair loss. She is exhibiting this symptom in particular, but not the other symptoms I have read about. However, I would not know if she is having a thyroid issue, unless I take her to do a thyroid test.
Thus, I made the appointment with her vet for the thyroid test. This was also a test that we missed out during her blood test last year. I needed to know if her thinning was due to her thyroid. Then from there, I can know how to help her more effectively.
The Thyroid Test
We waited two hours from our appointment time before we saw her vet. When he saw Rossi gal, he commented that her furs were nice and pretty, one of the positive results from going raw. He emphasized to us Never to change from raw and to stick to raw all the way.
(Sidetrack: With all the rubbish I had been reading from kibble supporters, I told him that there are people who do not believe in raw. He looked up at me and said, "That's ok. It's here. Look at the Japanese. They eat raw foods and they live long lives. Breast cancers in Japan are very little too." Words from an enlightened vet, how very rare here. This is for the kibble supporters : Wake up! Dump those damn biscuits and give your dogs some Real Meat!)
We proceeded to show him the thinning sides and expressed our concerns. He examined her and said, her body looked fine, except for the thinning, which was not normal. He agreed that this could be a sign of a low thyroid. Blood was then drawn from Rossi gal for the test and we waited about 20 minutes for the result.
The result:
As per the result of her thyroid test (T4), her thyroid is fine. However, he still suggested to put her on a low dose of natural thyroid supplement. (*We had informed him at the start of the consultation that we did not want any medications. We were looking into natural treatment options/supplements, which he agreed.)
 |
| Natural Thyroid Supplement,'Thyroid Activator'. It's a herbal supplement meant for humans. |
 |
| The List of Ingredients |
I was really glad that Rossi gal did not have a thyroid problem. But what's wrong? The vet was baffled too. I asked if high sodium levels in food could cause thinning, but he said that functioning kidneys will be able to filter the sodium out through urination. Then I asked if it could be genetics, he said it's possible. Oh, he did not attribute it to the relapse of her mange.
With this, we went out to the waiting area.
A New Discovery
Just as my mind was exploring ways of how I could help Rossi gal in this case, the vet suddenly came out of his room and beckoned us to go in again. I got a scare. I was thinking, could there be anything seriously wrong with Rossi gal that he discovered at the last minute?
The first thing he said to us was, "Rossi gal is spayed, right?" I told him, yes, at exactly 6 months of age. He then indicated that this could possibly be the problem.
He explained that Mother Nature has put in place the organs for a good reason. But mainly to prevent unwanted litters, vets do their part by sterilizing. There are vets who went as far as to sterilise at very young ages. He gave the example of women in menopause experiencing symptoms like thinning hair and weight gain etc. This was definitely something we did not expect.
Therefore, what Rossi gal was experiencing, could possibly be a hormonal problem (or 'lack of hormones' for her case). She was spayed before her first heat. We spayed her based on the advice of another vet whom we consulted at that time. She insisted this was the best time to do it. I was also looking at the benefits like lowered risk of female cancers, so I went ahead to spay her. I really believed it was the best thing for her at that time.
(I'm wondering too, if her sensitive skin and hot spots, could possibly be partly or a large part due to her hormones.)
The vet then prescribed Rossi gal a natural progesterone cream made from Mexican Wild Yam to see if it could help her.(http://circulartimes.org/Wild%20Yam%20Extract.htm) He told us to apply a tiny amount on her every alternate day.
*Sighz* with *Fingers Crossed*
My boy was on the 'male homo cream' for 5 months by dr lye and this will be lifetime homo since I had sterilize him when he is 6 months old.
ReplyDeleteIt will take some time to see improvement as his fur is very thin and able to see his skin. But now, it gets a bit thicker after applying and taking dr lye skin and coat supplement at the same time.
Thanks for sharing this with me. I somehow got an idea that this is for long-term application, though Dr Ly didnt mention this.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I do not feel comfortable relying on this cream for long term.
But thanks for sharing.
i had hypothyroidism for 2 years and it increased my weight. That is the reason why i started taking bovine thyroid. My T4 levels are back to normal and I've started to lose weight.
ReplyDeleteHi Alan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about the bovine thyroid supplement. It looks pretty good. I like that a hormone+antibiotic free source is used.
Thanks, also for the feedback on the supplement.
Appreciate it.
One thing dr ly helped to ease my mind was not to sterlize my boy. he said will cause hormone imbalance. And he is the only one that believed me that my boy's skin problem stemmed from the annual booster. He was perfect before that.
ReplyDeleteSadly, his treatment didn't bring much improvement.
I believe annual shots do more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe in repeating shots year after year. Instead of boostering the dog to resist diseases, repeated shots can cause damage to the dog's immune system over time. But sadly, many still believe annual shots is mandatory for their dogs.
My Rossi has taken her first booster shot last year. This will be her first and last shot.
A friend of mine was so shocked when I told her I do not believe in annual vaccinations. She trusts her vet implicitly and believes shots must be done on her dogs religiously every year.
In her eyes, I must have been a very irresponsible and uncaring mummy to Rossi. But I dun care, for I know what I'm doing.
If she chooses to keep vaccinating her dogs, on top of all the conventional preventive medications she loads onto them, then so be it, she can continue doing so.
I have tried to warn her, but apparently, my advice has fallen on deaf ears. She chooses to place her trust in her vet..Oh well.
oh, Dr Ly had managed to diagnose Rossi's problem accurately and help her, whereas other vets I took her to, failed to do so. He is the vet I will choose to take Rossi to.
Natural desiccated supplements are suggested by some doctors. Sometimes referred to as desiccated porcine capsules, it relieves the symptoms of hypothyroidism that synthetic supplements can’t and may eventually improve thyroid function
ReplyDeleteAs per Rossi's thyroid test result and my follow-up post, 'An Update'(http://rossi-mycutesyfurball.blogspot.com/2011/05/update.html), Rossi is fine. Furs have grown back on her thinning sides. But thanks for your info.
ReplyDeleteI have been on desiccated porcine thyroid for six months now and I actually feel better than before when I used to take synthetic drugs. My mood is more stable and I have regained energy.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear this. :) Thanks for sharing too.
ReplyDelete