HEALING OUTSIDE THE BOXSometimes what appears to be an illness in a dog is the unintended result of our activity or our inappropriate animal husbandry. When a dog "looks funny" or "acts funny" most of us, as dedicated dog breeders, assume that an illness is involved. Occasionally we might need to consider this situation outside the box.We have a wonderful dog named Buddy. Buddy is sterile. He is now four years old but he has never been a part of our breeding program. However, he gets the same care and attention as our breeding animals. We raise only Lakeland Terriers in our kennel.Buddy seemed like all the other Lakeland Terriers on our farm until one day he appeared to have a seizure. He seemed to lose control of his leg muscles. He slumped toward the ground and his eyes seem to lose focus. Tony saw this happen. He went into the kennel and held onto Buddy until he recovered normal functioning. Tony and Lafe and I discussed the incident extensively. None of us were sure whether Buddy had bumped his head or had some other accident that would explain this odd behavior. After much discussion we dismissed it as a sort of fainting spell though I did mention it to my veterinarian a few days later. A week or ten days passed and the incident occurred again with Buddy seeming to have a fainting spell. We are intensely involved with our dogs all day every day. However, it did occur to us that he might have had such a spell outside our view or attention. I sometimes have light headed periods as a result of hypoglycemia so I figured maybe dogs had a similar vulnerability. I did call the vet and take Buddy into the vet's office. The vet examined him, found nothing clearly wrong and advised us to keep an eye on Buddy. The vet didn't see the situation as life threatening at this point.As the next few weeks passed the incidents became more frequent but they never seemed to last for more than a few minutes. Buddy seemed healthy, happy and in great spirits at all other times of day except when he had these spells. It reminded me of my childhood when the adults would whisper about Aunt Jennie's "spells". I guess that was adult talk for an old spinster acting weird.On several more occasions I discussed this situation with my vet. He didn't feel that Buddy's spells were life threatening and, though he did offer advice as to potential medications to control the incidents, we had not yet settled on a medical program. We kept Buddy under close observation. And we began to do a great deal of research on this particular condition in dogs. Most of our research yielded nothing conclusive. Meanwhile the frequency of Buddy's seizures had become almost daily.During this period some old friends came over to visit and meet our Lakeland Terriers. We introduced them to Buddy and explained his peculiar situation. Michelle talked to me about food allergies and more specifically discussed the fact that some dogs are allergic to either corn, wheat, soy or dairy. Our discussion concluded but in a few days she called me back and reiterated that I needed to check our food for the presence of any of the afore mentioned ingredients as well as various food additives. The food additives are ingredients such as food coloring and preservatives.The frequency of Buddy's seizures had become almost daily.At that time I was feeding a rather well known dog food that came in pretty little red and green and yellow and brown kibbles. I guess it was designed to give an unsuspecting dog owner the impression that it was providing a well rounded diet for these happy little critters. It clearly contained corn and probably all of the other potential allergens. It rather clearly involved food coloring.Armed with this new information I returned to my vet's office and had a lengthy discussion with the office manager. She advised me that I might want to try one of the premium dog foods that contained none of these potentially harmful or damaging ingredients. She suggested that I try either Blue Buffalo or Taste of the Wild. The point was that I needed to locate a food that was free of corn, wheat, soy, dairy and food additives.I located Taste of the Wild in one of the local stores and bought a special bag of it for the exclusive use of my pal, Buddy. On day one we mixed the Taste of the Wild food 25% with 75% of his old food. On the second day we mixed the Taste of the Wild 50/50 with his old food. That day Buddy had a small seizure that only lasted a few minutes. On the third day we used 75% new food to 25% of the old colored kibbles and then on day four he was totally switched over to Taste of the Wild. Buddy never had another seizure and has continued to this day "cured" of whatever was causing his problem.Incidentally, as a further refinement regarding dog food, we eventually found that Buddy could eat Royal Canin, even though Royal Canin does contain grains. My assumption is that Buddy was not allergic to the grains but had a frightening allergy to food coloring and the other fillers and preservatives in the first dog food we had used. With the help of a very smart lady, Michelle, and a caring and resourceful veterinary office staff we were able to take care of a problem that appeared initially to be an illness. I had spent several years unintentionally poisoning my pal, Buddy, by feeding him a food that was inappropriate for his little body. We sometimes need to think outside the box.Stephen BennettTheodosia, MO
