OK...After 10 days of treatment, I'm ready to give Pet Flora a cautious, qualified thumbs for solving Odessa's loose&stinky stool problem. She has been totally off the Flagyl for 3 days, after a week of gradually reducing the dosage...and is still making perfectly formed,dark poops. Granted, this is not based on a scientifically controlled finding...but since July when I adopted her and the vet put her on Flagyl, every 7-10 days when I would try reducing the dosage, the problem started to re-occur within 36 hours. During that period I had her on a liquid pro-biotic that didn't seem to be making a difference. I definately think that the Flagyl got rid of some kind of bad stuff she had growing in there (in addition to being loose and smelly, the color was yellow even tho she tested neg for Giardia)...and perhaps the extended length of the course of the antibiotic was ultimately responsible for getting rid of the condition. But there was (while she was still on the full dose of Flagyl)a noticable improvement in her stool the day after her first Pet Flora capsule. Her diet has remained the same...I have had her on a diet of Wellness canned chicken (very little if any dry) for well over a month. Anyway...so far, so good, but I'm still going to reserve judgement until she's been completely off the antibiotic for another week. L

Blu: This might be a good time to chat about diet and what we experienced while combating the cancer and chemo treatments. We learned a lot. Give Spencer Canned food high in protein. Keep his carbs and expecially sugars as low as possible. Sugars feed cancer cells. The protein helps a lot. Carrots, and potatoes break down to simple sugars and are often found in foods. When you experience the days his appitite is off, it is a good idea to have a few things on hand. First go buy some powdered goats milk from a feed store. We used the brand Pro Bloom Instant Goats Milk plus Probiotics. You just mix enough to last one day at time. I used a magic bullet to mix it up well and put a little in and mixed with the canned food. Also keep Chicken or Beef baby food on hand. I Spencer refuses food, try the baby food on a spoon and hand feed him. Sometimes this will work and you had even mix with the goats milk. There is a book out on Amazon called the Dog Cancer Book. There is a lot of info in it. One of the canned foods we used when our Shelby's stomach was "off" was a simple two ingredient food called "Wellness Simple Ingredient Lamb with Oatmeal". There are others with duck, etc. Just find the one that smells the best to Spencers tastebuds and keep on hand. Feed stores carry it and you can buy by the case more economically from Amazon too. We made pill pockets out of lot of food items to keep her from getting wise to the scripts. What we noticed was some chemo treatments our dog tolerated better than others. Make sure you always do the blood count appointments exactly on time. Those are important all the way through diagnosis. Never do them at a vets office that can NOT give you the results immediately. We found out some vets mail them off. One weekend it nearly cost us the life of our dog, so use your specialist for this and always ask about the results. It's that important. We had several ER visits when Shelby's BC's got off. I hope you don't have all the same experiences we had and Spencer comes through these coming weeks like a champ. Our prayers are with you. It is rough, and its a good thing to have a support group. I'm so glad you have the insurance and others to talk with on all subjects that my come up. We always wondered if we were doing enough, and it was helpful to talk and even sometimes just vent or cry it out. The worrying has a way of messing with your own emotions.

Lukkiirish, we have the Freedom Harness and love it. We had issues with other harnesses, including fur getting rubbed off, but the Freedom harness solved those problems. It's on sale right now at Pet Expertise since they are moving. Freedom Harness. These are our favorite collars: Mes Amis Collars. My daughter shows our dogs, so we needed something that was strong, soft, and wouldn't damage the fur. As for shedding... turns out that bathing and blow drying your dog regularly really helps. We don't use the Furminator because it damages the coat, so if you use it, be aware that this could be an issue, if that is a concern. This dryer really cuts down on drying time yet won't blow a fuse. And while it isn't cheap, this type is said to last 20+ years. Kool Dryer (Check Ebay for a seller who does a "best offer" type sale for a better price.) We got a puppy about 2 months ago, and I will say that good ol' Kongs have been saving the day. I fill a few with my puppy's food on the bottom, put some soft filling like pumpkin or yogurt in the middle, and a dab of PB on top, then freeze... and he keeps himself entertained for an hour or more. And just for fun, here's a picture of my two dogs. The puppy is my older dog's nephew, so I call this photo, "Say Uncle!"

Comfortis, a pill. My dog has been on it 8 years. This product has been around a long time, for fleas only. We rarely have ticks or heartworms. For us in CA where we can have fleas year 'round, we need this type of protection. As a Westie, Oski is a very itchy breed, so fleas are intolerable for him. Sometimes I go beyond 30 days, but not much. One winter I skipped the pill, but not this year because he has been extra-itchy. No one wants to use these products. It is costly and worrisome. But there is a quality of life to think about. Fleas in the home is horrible, and it's terrible to watch a pet suffer from fleas and terrible itching.