| BARF ||
Gluten & testing ||
Rotation diet ||
Commercial dog food ||
Vaccination ||
Mailing with dr John Symes |
|
the Dutch way || Spike's update, 2007 ||
back |
As I am writing this update, Spike is doing remarkably well. He hasn’t had an episode in 7.5 months now! He is looking good and his overall health is excellent! I can’t remember our last visit to the vet, so it must have been a very long time since we visited him ;-))) Spike has been on a raw meaty bone diet since November 2003. I stopped vaccinating him in February 2003. Holistic veterinarians do not endorse booster shots. From this time on, Spike started to heal slowly and gradually. Every following year showed further improvements. The seizures/cramping occurred less often and were less severe.
A short visit to memory lane:
There was a time Spike suffered from severe epileptoid cramping episodes. Nobody could help us, no vet, no specialist and no scientist.
It was up to me to find a solution for Spike’s suffering.
In 2003 I started to feed him a raw meaty bone diet with vegetables, in particular the BARF diet. The results were startling!
Spike had 14 episodes in this first raw fed, vaccine free, year. The year before (2003) he still suffered from 32 (!!!!) episodes.
Thanks to raw feeding I was able, by trial and error, to find the right foods for Spike.
By feeding him a raw diet I could easily see which ingredient did or didn’t agree with him. I am convinced that if I had kept on feeding him kibble the results wouldn’t have been this good!!
In spring 2004, I finally discovered what was triggering Spike's episodes, “grains/gluten”, I had finally found the solution for Spike and other cramping dogs.
A year later still not totally satisfied with the results (I wanted full remission for Spike)
I e-mailed veterinarian Dr. John Symes (http://www.dogtorj.net/) in March 2005.,br>
After discussing my ideas and findings about grain fed animals and gluten with him, I decided to stop feeding Spike grain fed domesticated animals like turkey, goose, chicken, rabbit and duck. Instead I chose wild rabbit, hare and, wild duck, varied with goat, lamb, horse, deer and kangaroo.
This further improved Spike's condition dramatically with only 7 episodes that year (2005) and only two in 2006!
As I write this, Spike has been cramp free for 7.5 months!!
Spike’s recovery has made his and my life so much easier and so much more relaxed. I hardly think about those terrible years I so often held Spike, cramping, in my arms. It’s wonderful to see Spike living his life as any other normal healthy dog!
Some people, who don’t believe in my gluten theory, might say this improvement is due to old age (Spike is 10 and a half years old now). But those same people are convinced this epileptoid cramping syndrome is a genetic disease. To my knowledge a genetic disease can't disappear with old age.
I am convinced we are dealing with some sort of Celiac Disease. Spike and many other gluten free fed cramping dogs prove my theory right!
The reason why the condition of cramping dogs often improved with old age was food change. Often the owner changed the diet of their older dog to a senior diet or even a kidney diet. Those diets are often gluten free. I saw this happening with my first Border Terrier too, when she was put on a kidney diet.
Spike's cramping has changed my whole view on how to treat my animals. I now try to treat them as naturally as possible.
I not only started to feed them raw, I stopped vaccinating them especially giving them yearly booster shots, they aren't de-wormed on a regular basis anymore, only when they test positive for worms do I treat them for such. I don't treat them with flea/tick repellents, but use the flea comb only.
Spike has been my guide in this. The foods and chemicals he reacted to, I also consider wrong for my other dogs and the cats too.
Another lesson I’ve learned, to care more for our own health, we’ve started eating organic vegetables and meat ourselves and are still doing so ;-)))
Joke Miedema
| BARF ||
Gluten & testing ||
Rotation diet ||
Commercial dog food ||
Vaccination ||
Mailing with dr John Symes |
|
the Dutch way || Spike's update, 2007 ||
back |