Remedy for Bloat & Stop and Chew Your Bones!

Hello peeps! Its Apollo Boy here. As you guys know, bloat is a very serious condition for dogs. It can kill so quickly that dogs who bloat when they are alone can be found dead by their owners when they return home.

Kola had experienced bloat before, and M rushed him to the hospital. We were quite disappointed at the conventional treatment actually. The vet told us that Kola would be put on drip and monitored to see if the bloat goes away. They'll administer painkillers and antibiotics as needed. And if the situation called for (meaning the stomach twists), they'll operate on him. (St Kola: Thank God I don't have to go through that again.. but that's cause i'm already dead isn't it?)

We were pretty shocked at the treatment, but since we aren't educated in veterinary science, what did we have to say?

Anyway, remember Auntie J from the land of far far away? She recommended M a product called Parvaid.

Its main purpose is to treat Parvovirus actually, but since parvovirus attacks the gastro-intestinal tract, parvaid can do wonders for vomitting, diarrhea, fever, dehydration and of course, bloat, just to name a few.

This is an all-natural product made of organic herbs, and the best part of it is.... IT WORKS! M gave Candy 10 drops of Parvaid for every 15mins she was bloated and she started burping till she was no longer bloated.

M brought Candy and the box of Parvaid to Dr Hsu the next day and it turned out that Candy was bloated because she gulped in alot of air. Dr Hsu agreed that she was no longer bloated and the Parvaid was probably the reason the bloat went down.

More bloat info: http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm

Parvaid info: http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/parvaid.html

Ok, the reason Candy gulped in alot of air was because she was holding her pee pee in the whole night (about 13 hours) and probably got stressed. We found out later, it was because that stupid bitch (Candy: HEY!) didn't chew on the chicken bones long enough and swallowed them. The bones ended up being stuck in her rectum because it was too painful for her to pass it out. Thankfully, Dr Hsu managed to pull the bones out and Candy was fine after that.

So remember peeps, please make sure your poochies chew on their bones long enough and not just swallow! We learnt a very big lesson this time. M feels so guilty Candy went through all that pain because she didn't supervise enough. =(

Our Yum Yums

I overheard M chatting with her friend, and she mentioned that she would be changing some of part of our diet into organic because of the Black One's recent liver disease. She thinks that Organic is the way to go, so that Apollo, Tinker and I wouldnt get caught by the Liver Disease Monster. I told her that only Black dogs will get caught by the Monster, since the Black One is well, Black. But she says no, that isnt true.

Our yum yums will be listed here from now on. (M: This is just what they'll have generally, not specifically for every meal. That will be in a later post.)

Our Main Diet:

1. Raw Meat & Bones - M said that it will cost too much to change our diet entirely into Organic, but she'll try to convert most of it or at least use free range meats if possible.

These are some of the stuff we eat:

Free Range Lamb Kidney

Free Range Lamb Heart

Free Range Lamb Liver

Free Range Veal Liver

Free Range Veal Heart

Free Range Empress Chicken (Whole)

Free Range Chicken Carcass

Organic Beef

Organic Chicken Breast

Lamb

Mutton

Game Hen

Lamb Shanks

Salmon

Cod

Beef Lungs

Beef Liver

Young Organic Chicken, for us and grand-ma!

Free Range Lamb Heart

Free Range Beef Marrow Bones

Free Range Veal Bones

Free Range Veal Heart

Free Range Veal Liver

2. Veggie Blend - M has always bought Organic veggies for us to eat, and they are deeeeeelicious. We eat almost any kind of veggie, RAW. That includes but is not limited to carrots, cabbage, butterheads, xiao bai cai, nai bai, french beans, and many many more!

3. Yogurt - As some of you may know, M makes yogurt for us herself, with the help of some bacteria. All along she used normal cows milk from the supermarket to make our Yoggie, but from now she is only going to use Organic Milk.

Organic Yogurt stored in a glass airtight tupperware

4. Goats Milk - I love this the most as I get the MOST! It is not organic as far as we know, but its fresh from the farm.

5. Organic Thorvin Icelandic Kelp - M bought this from far far away, it is said to be full of trace elements.

Organic Thorvin Icelandic Kelp

6. Organic Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth - M bought this together with the Kelpie, mainly to kill our Tickies, and it worked! She also feeds us some of this white stuff sometimes to kill something inside us. She calls them worms.

Organic Food-grade Diatomaceous Earth

7. Bovine Colostrum - From Newwwww Zealand, it is the first food of all beings! Even you humans! M said that it boosts our immune system and so we must have it with every meal, because our constitution isnt very good. WE LOVE THE TASTE!! YEY!

Our Yummy Bovine Colostrum

As for our Treats, M dehydrates them herself! And occasionally she bakes muffins, cookies or whatever she feels like. Her latest creation was Carob Cookies. The picture will b e up soon!

Dehydrated Omasum (the 3rd stomach of the cow)

Dehydrated Lean Pork

Dehydrated Mutton Sukiyaki

Koka Kola..

Now Apollo and I finally figured out why the Black One is called Kola.. As you know, there is a drink called Koka Kola (M: thats Coca Cola), and its a fizzy drink. About 5 days ago, M and D had to rush Kola to the hospital because he was bloated (read: fizzy drinks!).

Day One
We went to Sentosa with D and Uncle H earlier in the day, even Tinker came, but no photos as Uncle H forgot to bring D's camera along.

(M: We noticed Kola was bloated and he didnt even sniff at his dehydrated treats. It was worrying!)

Kola was put on drip and had an Xray that night at Mount Pleasant Hospital, as M didnt know that our regular vet, Companion Animal Surgery, had a 24 hour facility now. (M: They are on call after hours.) The bill was a whooping $660+, grrrrrrrrr, that amount could feed us for slightly more than two months! Think of all the good food down the drain, cause of the Black One.

Day Two
M & D woke up at 8.30am to bring Kola to CAS for further check up. Dr Chua allowed M to bring Kola home, and was told that as long as he stopped vomitting and started eating normally (bland COOKED food they say), he should be OK, another check up would be scheduled in the next week.

However, after 2 hours of reaching home, Kola vomitted FOUR times! Poor poor Auntie G had to clean the floor FOUR times!! M offered him yogurt and boiled chicken but he didnt even sniff! Thats crazy, whoever heard of the Black One rejecting food?! M was worried and called Dr Chua, who told us to bring him back.

He was put on drip again, and his temperature hit above 40deg C. Blood tests and haematology showed liver enzymes and white blood cell count higher than usual. They suspect a liver infection.

Day Three
Kola kept biting off the drip line, so the doctors gave him injections instead. It was slightly more painful, but he deserved it!!!! HAHAHA! On the bright side, his fever had subsided and he was eating. The nurses said he was playful (read: naughty).

Day Four
Doctor said Kola was looking good, no bloat and eating. No fever as well.

Day Five
Kola came home!! Not that we're extremely overjoyed about this, we wished M could've booked him in longer. (M: Hello! This stay cost us $1.5k!)

Dr Lee and Dr Chua both said no more raw food for Kola, only cooked. And that awful Science Diet L/D for two weeks. My gosh! M isnt too happy about that though, she says that she has read some of the books she bought and websites that say raw food is especially important for dogs with liver disease. Of course, these books were written by holistic vets like Dr Pitcairn.

M has ordered some natural antibiotics and liver 'remedy/supplement' to be fed to the Black One. According to Auntie J, the lady in the land of far far away (M: thats the USA), the natural antibiotic can be fed in place of the one Dr Chua prescribed. We arent too sure about that though, we really wish there was a holistic vet in Sunny Island! Anyway by the time the natural stuff come, the medicine from CAS has probably finished. Dr Chua gave the go ahead for the natural liver supplement, after M asked her about it by the way.

Although this is the first time M and Kola has been to Dr Chua and Dr Lee, they are really nice people! Unlike the one at the previous clinic where poor older sis Cocoa passed away in.. I hope IF i get sick, nice people like Dr Chua and Dr Lee will be looking after me too!

M is also revising our diet, the nutritional yeast seemed to have made our skin itchy, so she's stopping that. Colostrum is yum yum by the way, we had it just now. I'll post our diet up after she's done with it, i hope SOOOON. I feel hungry just thinking about it!