We here at the Honest Kitchen are very eager to introduce you to George! George is an English Bull dog that is sadly overweight and has officially qualified for our very first Honest Kitchen Biggest Loser Competition.
Now George wasn’t always overweight. When George was first brought home as a 10 week old puppy, he was immediately switched to The Honest Kitchen Embark diet and grew into the most well behaved beautiful and physically fit bulldog, this was all until his parents thought things might be easier with a new human baby on the way and switched George to a kibble diet.
It was not long to notice the changes in George, his level of energy dropped, he was bored with the food not always finishing his meals and sadly he started putting on the pounds and kept putting on the pounds even when his parent tried cutting his servings down even as far as half the suggested amount!
Finally after much concern from several of their friends mentioning how fat George looked, and George not able to walk his old routine, his parents are going back to Honest Kitchen full Force (no pun intended!).
On June3rd 2009:
George weighed in at a compact 72lbs! His measurements around his armpit area(where his harness fits) is 35″, his belly is 34 1/2″, His waist 32″. WOW!!
We will be keeping track of George’s progress and keep everyone up too date on his weight now that he is on a much healtheir diet.
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I got some really cute pictures of Maxx from his mom Bunny who wanted to share just how much Maxx has fallen in love with The Honest Kitchen. This little guy is so quick his mom can hardly snap a picture quick enough to catch him!! Enjoy!
“I ordered from you about a month ago…And I told you that I was just visiting the US then and that I was bringing the food back home in the Philippines for my Chihuahua, Maxx. Well, I have been home maybe 3 weeks. Got settled in, caught up on work and finally got him to try the stuff I bought from you. I bought a box of Force, But I did get samples of everything else. I opted to try the small samples on him first and he loved it! I cant seem to be able to take a good picture of him fast enough because he is dancing excitedly eating it every time! But I did try and will keep trying to get better shots”.
I did promise to send you some pictures though, so here they are:
June 25, 2009
“Bless You for making such wonderful, trustworthy products!
“I have five “fur-kids” who eat Keen mixed with home-cooked food and I wanted to share one of their stories….
“Abigail is a five year old sheltie who suffered from horrible
allergies (both food and environmental). At three years of age she was miserable all the time; dry, flaky skin, poor coat, scratching constantly and chewing incessantly at her poor feet. She was on a “premium quality” kibble that she would not touch half the time, just sniff her bowl and walk away. I was facing having to put her on steroids, something I was totally against, when I found your food and decided to try it. Below are two pictures of her, the first one is of her at three years old, eating kibble. The second is of her today after two years of eating your food. She no longer scratches or chews herself. Her coat is silky and long, her skin soft and she is much happier. She has gone from a picky eater to leaping four feet straight in the air and barking like crazy for her food. The best part is NO steroids!
“As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
-Ashley Simmons
Abigail Before HK
Abigail After HK
Abigail and Family
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June 22, 2009
June 16, 2009
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May 4, 2009
I love my dog Texi more than life itself. He is a brindle/white, 2 ½ year old male Boston Terrier. However, he is quite the little hooligan.
This weekend I went out to my in-laws house to paint my doors (which I had previously painted red (what was I thinking?). We brought the dogs because they have a large piece of land and we like to let the pups run around. Well, we jumped out of the truck and I stepped into a puddle of mud. It turns out the sprinkler had broken and it had gotten the ground all muddy. Needless to say we turned off the sprinkler.
We went back to the car to unload the doors only to see Texi had stayed behind. Stayed behind and jumped into the puddle of mud that is!!! Not only did he jump into it, he rolled around in it and then army crawled through 10 feet of it!!!!!!! He continued to frolic in the mud for the next 20 minutes. He was so happy! We couldn’t stop laughing (until we realized that we had to put him back in the truck!).
I call him a little hooligan but I think deep down it is really the reason I love him. There is something about a bad little doggie that makes a smile come to my face. I wouldn’t have him any other way.
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April 29, 2009
I thought with the warmer months headed our way that we all could benefit from a little information about the dangers that might be lurking out there in the desert. So whether you love to camp in the desert with your favorite pooch or just like going for hike, be sure to know the symptoms of canine valley fever so you can get your furry friend treated right away.
Do dogs get Valley Fever? Yes, dogs get Valley Fever! Like people, dogs are very susceptible to Valley Fever. Dogs primarily contract Valley Fever in the low desert regions of Arizona, New Mexico and southwestern Texas and the central deserts of California. Dogs accompanying people traveling through these areas or wintering in these warm climates have about the same chance as their owners of being infected.
Valley Fever is caused by a fungus that lives in the desert soil in the areas described above. As part of its life cycle, the fungus grows in the soil (saprophytic cycle) and matures, drying into fragile strands of cells. The strands are very delicate, and when the soil is disturbed - by digging, walking, construction, high winds - the strands break apart into tiny individual spores called arthroconidia or arthrospores. Dogs and people acquire Valley Fever by inhaling these fungal spores in the dust raised by the disturbance. The sickness Valley Fever occurs when the immune system does not kill the spherules and endospores quickly and they continue to spread in the lungs and sometimes throughout the animal’s body. About 70% of dogs who inhale Valley Fever spores control the infection and do not become sick. These dogs are asymptomatic. The remainder develops disease, which can range from very mild to severe and occasionally fatal.
Symptoms - The most common early symptoms of primary pulmonary Valley Fever in dogs are:
- Coughing
- Weigh Loss
- Fever
- Lack of Appetite
- Lack of Energy
Some or all of these symptoms may be present as a result of infection in the lungs. As the infection progresses, dogs can develop a severe pneumonia that is visible on x-rays. Sometimes the coughing is caused by pressure of swollen lymph nodes near the heart pressing on the dog’s windpipe and irritating it. These dogs sound like they have bronchitis. Additional symptoms develop when the infection spreads outside the lungs and causes systemic or disseminated disease. This form of Valley Fever is almost always more serious than when it is only in the lungs. Signs of disseminated Valley Fever can include:
- lameness or swelling of the limbs
- back or neck pain
- seizures and other manifestations of central nervous system swelling
- soft swelling under the skin that resemble abscesses
- swollen lymph nodes under the chin, in front of the shoulder blades, or behind the stifles
- non healing skin ulcerations or draining tracts that ooze fluid
- eye inflammation with pain or cloudiness
Some of these symptoms are very rare and most need to be differentiated from other diseases of dogs. Still other signs can develop that are referable to affected internal organs and may only be detected by your veterinarian. While the lungs are the most common site of Valley Fever in dogs, it can infect almost any tissue of the body.
Sometimes a dog will skip any signs of having a primary infection in the lungs and only develop symptoms of disseminated disease, such as a swollen, lame leg but no coughing or fever, or fever, weight loss, and a draining tract, but eating and not coughing.
Valley Fever is considered a noncontagious disease. Even if multiple animals or humans are affected in a household, each infection was acquired by inhaling spores from the soil. Coughing cannot spread it between animals or people.
Diagnosis - Diagnosis of Valley Fever requires suspicion of the disease from the dog’s history, its symptoms, and the results of examinations and tests performed by your veterinarian. If your dog has recently visited an area where the fungus can be acquired, telling your veterinarian about your dog’s travel history can be very helpful in deriving the diagnosis.
In addition to examining your dog, your veterinarian is very likely to order diagnostic tests to help identify the Valley Fever infection. Common tests include:
- blood tests and blood cell counts
- chest x-rays
- bone and joint x-rays
- Valley Fever blood test (also called cocci test, cocci serology, or cocci titer)
Sometimes tests are negative early in the infection, especially the Valley Fever blood test, and they may need to be repeated in 3-4 weeks to establish the diagnosis. In difficult cases, the routine tests are not very helpful in the diagnosis. Your veterinarian may recommend other tests to find out what is making your dog sick.These tests are often more definitive: Culture of fluid or tissue samples from your dog to isolate and identify the fungus; this is highly specific. Microscopic examination of cell, fluid, or tissue samples to visualize fungal organisms and inflammation in your dog.If your dog is having seizures or other signs of neurological disease, your vet may urge you to get a CT or MRI scan of the brain or spinal cord.
Usually Valley Fever is easily confirmed with basic diagnostic tests, but occasionally it may be difficult to diagnose. In those cases, persistence and advanced diagnostics will be required to rule out other diseases and confirm Valley Fever. Diagnosis of Valley Fever in cats is the same as for dogs.
- Ketoconazole (Nizoral) is the most commonly prescribed and the least expensive. Incidence of side effects is relatively high and the drug is usually administered twice daily with food. Absorption is an issue on an empty stomach and acidification usually improves uptake.
- Itraconazole (Sporanox) is expensive with a moderate incidence of side effects. Administration is once to twice daily with food. Absorption is usually poor on an empty stomach. An oral liquid formulation with much better absorption is available and might be indicated for animals who are not eating very well but need this medication. However, expense may be an issue.
- Fluconazole (Diflucan) is expensive with a low incidence of side effects compared to the other two medications. It is administered once or twice daily. Absorption is excellent even on an empty stomach and this drug is often a good choice for very sick dogs that aren’t eating well.
Treatment - In most cases, a dog ill enough from Valley Fever to be seen by a veterinarian will require treatment with anti fungal medication. Courses of medication are usually extensive, averaging 6-12 months. Dogs with disseminated disease in bones, skin, or internal organs usually require longer courses of medication. Central nervous system (brain or spinal cord) involvement frequently requires lifetime treatment with medication to keep symptoms from recurring.
Oral anti fungal medication in the form of daily pills or capsules is the usual treatment for Valley Fever. There are three common medications used to treat Valley Fever in dogs.
Fluconazole is the drug of choice for dogs and cats with infection of the brain, spinal cord, or eyes as it is the only drug that crosses into those tissues.
Treatment choices vary by the individual veterinarian and patient. Reasons for choice of medication include practitioner’s experience with the drugs, costs, side effects, efficacy, severity of illness, and convenience to the owner. If one medication is unsuccessful, another will often be tried.
For disease of the brain and spinal cord, fluconazole (Diflucan) is the drug of choice. Fluconazole is also the only drug that penetrates tissues of the eye and should be employed in ocular cases.
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