If you’ve read any of my other guest blogs you’ll know I’m always looking for stories about dogs who have been helped through illness by switching to a raw diet. I hope that other owners who’s dogs are suffering in the same way read these stories and are helped.
I stumbled across Kuzco on a Facebook raw feeding group and approached his mum as this is a story that needs to be spread as far and wide as possible. It is very powerful because of the photographic evidence, as a huge raw feeding advocate even I was a little surprised at the power of raw feeding, I think because of the speed of recovery.
Kuzco isn’t in the 1,000 raw fed dogs photos yet because I want you to read his story and see his photos first, I do have a lovely photo of him with his raw meaty bone ready to post soon though. Here’s his story:
“The story and photographs starts November 23, 2010, but two Summers had passed (ie. 2009 and 2010) where we had to watch that Kuzco did not get sunburn on his bald spots. His loss of hair had been happening gradually over time. It was the Spring of 2010 that the vet suggested blood work and urine tests to rule out any medical problem (and to confirm that the hair loss was cosmetic). It was October 22, 2010 that Kuzco started his raw food diet.
November 23, 2010 … vet said nothing could be done about the hair loss problem of our long haired Chihuahua (3/4 bald with a rat’s tail!!). Kuzco was not happy and his appearance seemed to be affecting his self esteem.
November 23, 2010 – this is 1 month progress after being put on raw dog food diet on October 22, 2010
Vet explained it happens a lot to the smaller type of dogs (after a number of expensive tests were done on our dog!). On our own, we explored the option of raw dog food for our dog and on October 22, 2010 decided to put him on raw dog food for a minimum of 6 months. Through family connections, the owner of Back to Basics Raw Pet Food (http://www.backtobasicsrawpetfood.com/) was referred to us and thus began the journey.
After 2 months on raw dog food diet, our dog’s skin was less inflamed, hot spots were disappearing, and new hair growth was definitely happening. His teeth were whiter than ever, his eyes were no longer goopy; his nose was moist instead of being usually dry and he had no “doggy odor”!
December 28, 2010 – 2 months since start of raw food diet
January 22, 2011 – Look at the difference in just 3 months!!!
A much happier Kuzco. He is looking GOOD! Every area that was bald before has new hair growth, including tail. Kuzco has got his “Prince” attitude back! We happened to bring Kuzco in for a weigh-in at the vet’s in January 2011. A vet (not ‘our’ regular vet) overheard us talking (enthusiastically) with the receptionist about Kuzco’s progress on raw dog food. The vet made it clear that he was opposed to raw food diet for pets and said Kuzco’s new hair growth had nothing to do with raw food diet. I respectfully disagreed with him.
February 19, 2011 – Wow!!
Kuzco’s progress in just 4 months was proof to us that the ‘cosmetic’ (non-medical) problem (diagnosed by a vet) was a dietary issue … fixable by getting to the root of the dietary lack. In other words, high quality kibble wasn’t meeting our dog’s dietary needs while raw dog food obviously was giving our dog what nutrients he needed to consume in order to have a healthy beautiful look. To all those people who were skeptical and thought I was imagining the new hair growth at the beginning of the process (and a bit crazy to put him on raw dog food) … well … the proof is in the photos!
It’s common sense that handling raw food means proper washing of hands, utensils and cutting boards, etc. To me it’s the same hygiene as handling food for human consumption.
Our long haired Chihuahua is so much more happier and healthier since his diet was switched to raw dog food. He is so gorgeous with his lush shiny healthy coat of hair. We always get compliments when out and about with him at the dog park.”
July 17, 2011
If you want to see more photos of Kuzco’s remarkable hair regrowth, check out his facebook album here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150116839916013.321408.664686012&type=3&l=d6f06aed27
