About

We’re Jeff & Michelle, and this blog is for Sasha, our 9 year old German Shepherd Dog.  She has been having some skin problems and we are going to try a Raw Milk Diet to cure her, and this blog will chronicle her journey with photo updates.  First, some background.

Us:
We are not vets.  We are not scientists (or even science geeks).  Neither of us has a degree in animal nutrition.  What we do have is a deep desire to have healthy pets and to achieve this without the use of pharmaceuticals that have plagued our animals and caused the very problems we are fighting against.

Sasha: 
Sasha is a pure GSD from a reputable blood line.  Her health history for the past 8 ½ years has been relatively good.  Minor bumps & bruises along the way, but no major health problems.  Until now.  A few months ago, she began itching, scratching and chewing at her skin causing hot spots that eventually turned into a full-blown skin infection on her belly and legs.  At times, it begins to clear up and then almost overnight, it’s back again.  Her immune system is simply too weak to fight off the infection and fully heal itself.

Our thoughts on non-natural substances:
Vaccines.  For decades, the veterinarian and pharmaceutical industries have told us we have to have our dogs vaccinated against deadly viruses every year to ensure their protection.  Studies have proven the initial vaccinations they receive provide several years of protection, if not an entire lifetime.  I will not attempt to rehash all of that information here.  If you’re interested in learning more about the over-vaccination of our pets, please do an internet search for Dr. Ronald Shultz or Dr. Jean Dodds…and prepare to be amazed at how sheepish we have been.

Antibiotics, steroids and other pharmaceutical drugs.  The use of antibiotics kills off the healthy gut flora (where the majority of the immune system lives).  Steroids are immunosuppressive; thus, they turn off the immune system.  Both can wreak complete havoc on your pet by not allowing it to heal itself naturally as it was designed.  Every pharmaceutical drug that you introduce to your pet is a toxin of some form (and yes, this includes the “safe” flea/tick preventatives).  Your pet’s body then has to work harder than it was designed to do in order to rid those toxins, taxing every organ in their body.

What happened to Sasha:
As we began to think through the timeline of what we’ve been dealing with, all of this became very clear to us.

While we had previously made the decision to not vaccinate our pets yearly (or even every three years as the new guidelines are finally beginning to suggest), we do still have laws requiring rabies vaccines – and well, we are law-abiding citizens.  So…in early June, Sasha got her rabies vaccine.

Within two weeks of that, we brought two new dogs into our lives.  Unfortunately, they brought with them a nice case of giardia (think nasty little stomach bug).  Our vet urged us to put all of our dogs on Panacur (Panacur is a “safe” anti-parasitic drug, fenbendazole) as giardia is highly contagious.  We obliged.  In hindsight, we learned that a simple $10 jar of all-natural food-grade diatomaceous earth could have done the same thing and saved us a whole lot of money and wouldn’t have introduced a toxin into their bodies.

Within a few weeks of this, we started smelling something on Sasha… like she’d had diarrhea and it was on her fur or tail.  After a few weeks of this smell and giving her what we deemed a “butt bath,” we decided it was something more.  We took her to the vet and found out her anal glands were infected.  Two (yep, two) antibiotics were necessary to treat this issue.  So, we obliged.  Mind you, the girl has never had a problem with her anal glands, and her stools are perfect so there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t be emptying properly on their own.

In the beginning of October, Sasha began chewing hotspots on her hind quarters.  During the same time, our cat Max had fallen very ill.  Basically, we put a funnel on Sasha’s head so she wouldn’t chew and tried to bathe her and watch what was happening, but we had to turn most of our energy to Max.  By the time Max passed away just a few weeks later, Sasha had developed an insane skin infection.  Off to the vet we went, but this time we’d started putting the puzzle together and we were adamant that we were not giving her any more pharmaceuticals.  Vet said it looked like she had gotten bit by a flea and was having an allergic reaction to it.  We treated the house, the yard, the dogs, the cars, everything you can think of and completely rid everything of any hint of flea and ensured they wouldn’t reappear for a long time to come.  And they have not.

But fast forward to now…Sasha still has the skin infection.  Like we said, it comes and then starts to heal and then reappears.  Her immune system is just not strong enough to kick it all the way out.

What we’ve done to help resolve the infection:
These were not all done at one time.  Some did overlap depending on the remedy.  All were done with enough tenacity that we believe they should have resolved the problem.  In other words, we didn’t just do something for a day or two and give up.

• “Prescription” shampoo from the vet when we first got the flea allergy dermatitis diagnosis.  Chlorhexidine is the active ingredient in these types of shampoos.  It is a chemical antiseptic.  This helped to soothe her irritation to some degree, but it still never healed.
• Aloe Vera applied to her belly and the back of her legs to help soothe the inflammation and heat.
• Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinse.  ACV is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral.  We mixed a mild solution of ACV with water and cleaned the affected areas.  Using this 2-3 times/day helped to clear the infection out, but as soon as we stopped, the infection came back (suggesting her internal system still hadn’t healed).
• Added acidophilus to her diet.  Acidophilus is a probiotic to help rebuild the healthy gut flora.
• Added ACV to her diet.  ACV is a prebiotic…which is food for the probiotics.  If you really want to learn some awesome uses for ACV, do an internet search.  It might just blow your mind.
• Homeopathic remedy for bug bites.  Hard to tell if it helped or not.  She seemed to itch less, but it may have been because we were doing some other things at the same time.
• Boosted her Omega 3 intake.  Omega 3s are anti-inflammatory, and let’s face it, that red belly is inflamed.
• We started her on Chinese herbs.  Within a few days, she was fully inflamed again.  I do believe that given time, this may help.  And should this Raw Milk Diet fail, then we will try the herbs again.
• We have had a full blood panel, urinalysis and fecal exam by a vet.  Everything came back perfect.

So here we are.

How we decided on the Raw Milk Diet:
Those of you who know us, know that we already believe in the curative powers of raw milk.  We sell it at our store on a daily basis to help dogs with gastro-intestinal issues, food allergies, a food topper for picky eaters and as a general nutrition supplement among other things.  After having a discussion with Jacqueline Hill of Answers Pet Food about Sasha, she suggested a 30 day Raw Milk Diet.  She shared several stories with us about the diet healing several problems, some of which were considered incurable.  Additionally, she has used raw goat’s milk with her own dogs to help with issues such as persistent runny eyes and continual ear gunk build up.  We did some further digging on our own.  The basic premise is that milk closely resembles blood and it can improve and make new and better blood.  Over the course of 30 days, it’s like an entire blood transfusion.  With new, improved blood circulating, Sasha’s body will completely detox and be able to heal itself.  In the early 1900s, Dr. J.R. Crewe (founder of the Mayo Foundation) published an article discussing the use of raw milk as a curative treatment.  This is the “old school” cure, and it was documented by one of the most well-renowned physicians of his time.  Ultimately, we are “food” people and believe that healing powers live in living food.

How it works:
Super simple.  Determine the amount of calories Sasha needs and feed her those calories in raw milk only.  No treats, no other foods, no snacks.  Just raw milk and water.  For 30 days.  We will have to feed it to her in small amounts but frequently throughout the course of the day.  No more “2 squares a day” for her.  Note:  I have the luxury of taking her to work with me all day so this works nicely, but for those that can’t, you could give her small amounts every 30 minutes from when you wake up until when you leave for work and then after you get home until bedtime.  The added benefit of me taking her to work is that I can take her for frequent potty breaks, which she will need. 

Worth Noting:
The sourcing of raw milk you use for your pet is EXTREMELY important.  We ONLY use raw goat’s milk from Answers Pet Food.  Learn more about this product, and others from them (which we feed our pets) by visiting their website:  www.answerspetfood.com

The raw milk should be handled just as any other raw product (e.g., clean utensils and bowls after use, wash hands, etc.).

Also, it is illegal to purchase raw milk for human consumption.  The milk we are using is solely for the use of our pets.

We are *NOT* anti-veterinarian.  Just the opposite, we are very pro-vet.  But it is so important to educate yourself and have a vet with whom you can have an open dialogue and who understands and respects your choices and decisions, and one with whom you agree philosophically.  A vet who just prescribes a pill or a shot for everything is not a vet at all.

It’s so unfortunate that we have learned much of what we know through mistakes we’ve made, but we hope that you will learn from our experiences and begin to search and learn ways to make better decisions for your pets’ health.