Our Rescue Cavalier
Fin soon after arrival
This is a true story about Fin – a pedigree cavalier spaniel with horrendous allergies to almost everything. Bred by us, Fin was a superb little puppy, showing no hint of what was to come. As responsible breeders we took him back when we heard about his problems and immediately set about treating him.
He came back to us at around 3 years old, having at some point between 8 months and 18 months developed severe allergies to almost everything. His condition had gone largely untreated for around a year before we got him and his distraught owner was at the end of her resources – the only other option open to her was his euthanasia.
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Fin at his Worst
Fin came to us with hardly any hair, infection oozing from every orifice and was obviously suffering and depressed. He often wouldn’t get out of his bed until 9am. His skin was red, dry, itchy, scaly and flaking. We immediately consulted our vet, Donaldson & Partners – see link on the right of this page – for a diagnosis and prognosis. We started bathing him daily in a specially formulated shampoo and treating him constantly with ear and eye drops. He embarked on course after course of antibiotics and a very restricted diet, and although he improved to a point, his recovery plateaued out and our vet started talking euthanasia again. “Don’t go there” I said.
Having spoken with Charles Barrett, our Homoeopathist, we asked our vet to take Fin’s blood which we sent to Charles who made a potent remedy (we are fortunate to have a vet who is open-minded towards homoeopathy). This remedy, along with several others are given to Fin twice a day.
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The change within 2 months was noticeable. He had a much improved coat, his skin was smooth and the infection much reduced. He still gets flare-ups of itching and infection from time to time, but he is a much happier little dog. Our vet had no explanation for his improvement and said “If I ever have the misfortune to treat another animal with as many problems as Fin, I’ll be referring him to your man in Spain” – Lets hope he does just that!
His baths are now once or twice a week, and his ear and eye drops every few days. We noticed in the autumn and winter he is worse, but improves in the spring and summer. He will lay outside “sunbathing” for hours if we let him. Another consultation with Charles brought a new remedy to add to the arsenal for use from autumn to spring.
Fin receiving Light Therapy
On the internet, Anne read about red and blue Light Therapy for skin conditions. Light Therapy – particularly light at blue and red wavelengths – can help acne sufferers achieve healthier skin in two different ways: by killing the bacteria and also soothing inflammation. Like Acne sufferers, Fin’s skin was infected and inflamed. Could Light Therapy help him? There was only one way to find out! We bought a Lumie Clear unit to use on Fin. Fin has taken to the Lumie Clear Light Therapy Unit well. He has to wear yellow goggles as a protection for his eyes but is relaxed about the whole thing, usually going to sleep in the chair. The Lumie Clear Unit seems to work best if his skin is infected, less so if he has a yeast flare-up.
Best of all he is up with the larks, has started playing and enjoys going to training class.
We introduced Fin to a pro-biotic Supplement Bionic Biotic concentrate. Within a month he was much brighter in himself and was moving around more.
As time progressed, the use of steroids and his lack of exercise, due to the fact that he cannot be walked on grass, meant that his weight increased. We bought a treadmill for ourselves, but also with Fin in mind. He took to it really well – here’s his first video using the treadmill. As he is so food motivated, he was easy to train. He does 5 minutes twice a day and is doing well.
