31/05/2022
AKITA
WRITTEN BY PAM GRES -USA.
SPLASH AND HER JOURNEY TO GOOD HEALTH. Thank you Shield4Pets/Immunovet!
I had to share this because to us, it was an answer to prayer!
At about 2 years of age our Akita girl, SPLASH had this awful open, oozing sore appear on her head, with bumps developing on her muzzle and around her eyes. We immediately suspected a bite, likely a spider. Whatever it was, it came with intense itching, which resulted in her scratching till there were bloody sores; we decided to take her to Michigan State. They opted to treat it as a bite, and prescribed
antibiotics and prednisone, which gave some temporary relief of itching, but the sores did not heal and more developed.
The itching and bumps became a continuous and spreading problem. We began to suspect pemphigus and returned to MS. After several punch biopsies were done, we were very relieved that the biopsies were negative for Pemphigus, the cause however, remained a mystery. MSU decided to treat it as an allergy, so the prednisone treatment continued, yielding only a slight improvement. The flare ups seemed to clear in winter, and flare in spring, so the condition did appear to be allergies.
SPLASH, was just a 2 year old, a puppy, but she had stopped playing with toys, stopped interacting with our kids, and now appeared very depressed. She was carrying her tail down, her head low and
avoiding interacting; she was so miserable, it was heartbreaking. As you can see what a terribly miserable baby girl she was in the pictures I've enclosed.
In addition to these behaviors, she became VERY anxious, and although she had been crate trained since a puppy, with no previous issues, now she panicked and would break out of the crates. At the same time she would rub her face against any surface she could to scratch the itch on her face. We had been forced to keep on a cone on her full time when the itching was at its worse to reduce the self-mutilation. Each time she was we left home alone, we returned home to a broken crate (seven crates over time), and SPLASH was severely stressed, panting, anxious, a bloody mess. Her eyes were swollen almost shut from rubbing against walls, corners, furniture, whatever she could to scratch the itch. Blood streaks were obvious throughout the house.
Our once happy puppy began to withdraw more and more....she refused to meet strangers, was grumpy and withdrawn even with our family. Our daughter, who had desires to team with SPLASH to compete in conformation, had to stop all classes and give up that dream. SPLASH had long since stopped wanting to be petted, we didn’t know how to show her affection which she seemed to reject. It was very hard on our kids who adored her; they had lain on the floor cuddling and loving on her all of her first two years. They all played vigorously with favorite toys, and we all enjoyed her happy, exuberant zoomies greeting whenever we returned home after being gone. I felt so bad for SPLASH and for our kids that love her so much.
At Judy King’s urging, we started her on Shield4Pets/Immunovet in the spring of 2017, and within a few weeks she had improved moderately. We planned a family vacation to include our two dogs, SPLASH and DONNER (a male puppy we had adopted as companion to SPLASH, the kids and us); leaving her boarded or with a pet sitter was not an option. SPLASH remained very anxious, she could not be left alone, so whatever the family activity, someone had to babysit her. SPLASH had become grumpy toward our rescue pup, going after him on a few occasions. This new behavior was startling to the kids as she had always been tolerant of him as a puppy; the two had been good buddies.
During these two years, SPLASH did not shed like a normal Akita, she had a sparse, poor coat with little under coat.
In 2017 we traveled to OHIO to attend the Akita National, meet up with friends, and especially to meet up with Judy and Barbara Bouyet to discuss SPLASH and her regimen of S4P/Immunovet.
Since significant improvement had been seen, yet the condition did not clear and would sometimes flare. We decided to increase her Shield4Pets/Immunovet with the goal of discontinuing all steroid use. Which we had occasionally resorted to short term use of steroids when the itching worsened to the point of self-mutilation.
2018 UPDATE: We all went on vacation, and this experience was greatly improved over the previous year. SPLASH was much more comfortable, she greeted some strangers on walks, she seemed to really enjoy it which meant we all had a much more relaxed and fun trip. This past winter was good, her skin and mood continued to improve and she grew her first beautiful Akita coat in over two years. But as spring approached I admit we all were quite anxious not knowing what to expect.
2019 UPDATE: This spring SPLASH did NOT have a flare up!
She didn’t have to wear a cone from April through May. She started playing with her toys....she engaged Donner in playful romps, sought out our kids to be petted, and AMAZINGLY, she has been crated 5 times for a couple hours each time; we’ve come home to her relaxed still crated, no self-mutilation from itching. She is always just relaxed and happy to see us.
Barbara we cannot tell you how relieved we are to see her tail wagging, see her beautiful head held high, ears erect, eyes bright, and once again loving life. Shield4Pets/Immunovet has given us back our happy girl.
AND, at the moment she’s shedding like crazy, just like an Akita should. Never thought I’d be happy to say....”YAY...shedding!”
