A Reality Check

It's been a while since we've posted a message on Sailor's Log. We have been dealing with some semi-serious health issues with Sailor. When we first got Sailor home we had decided, with help from many other Newfie owners, that we would very gradually change Sailor's food. At the same time, we gave Sailor his first bath, and he began exploring the property with us in an ever enlarging area from our front door.

Shortly after all these things, Sailor began loosing his outer coat. That beautiful black puppy fuzz that we had come to love petting and brushing. He was itching badly and every movement of his rear paw against that fuzzy hair, left tufts all over the house. Sometimes he would just yip so loudly and then begin to itch like crazy. His undercoat remained intact, and there were no rashes, red spots, or hot spots anywhere on his skin. Then his normal puppy hunger stopped dead in its tracks. He just wouldn't eat. So began our nightmare.

After several consultations and visit to his vet and groomer, we have still not narrowed down any reason(s) for Sailor's hair loss, itching, and loss of appetite. Although, the vet had said that he wasn't processing his food right, and that the hair loss was probably caused because he wasn't absorbing the nutrients that he needed, so he was blowing his coat. He recommended a complete change of diet to yet another food.

Of course during his visit to the vet's office he got his 12 week shots. Shortly after these shots, he got watery stool and threw up his foods. We then went to a very bland diet of boiled rice and hamburger to quiet his tummy. We also talked through some of his habits during the day and discovered that he quite regularly visited the area around our "burning bush" next to the corner of our house. On this bush there are some berries that he was nibbling on every time he went out to explore. Could they be causing some of his problems? And, the vet discovered that his lymph glands on his rear legs were swollen. Would this ever stop?

After a week of the bland diet, we began introducing his new food to him mixed into the rice and burger. Success at last. He was eating, and his weight was beginning to climb slowly. And, although his outer coat continues to fall out, his beautiful "milk coat" is growing out and filling in the gaps nicely.

During his daily inspection, we began combing his hair aside to reveal his skin in the areas he itched the most and dropped some hypoallergenic baby oil onto his skin. This quickly reduced and relieved his itching. His groomer has now given him another bath and used a natural moisturizing conditioner on him. Almost all itching has stopped, and he has quit the hair loss. He is looking very unique though, black patchy fuzz and the grayish undercoat peeking through in the areas where the fuzz is gone. Check out this link to see a video of Sailor and his "big" brother" wrestling. You can clearly see the patches of hair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ8WjeclWy4

At 14 weeks, Sailor has gained his way to a much better weight of 40 pounds. And, at 15 weeks, he is at 42.5 pounds. Our breeder had said that he would gain about 2.5 pounds per week, so we believe (keeping our fingers crossed) that he is on his way to recovery. His lymph nodes actually shrunk back down to almost normal.

Keep Sailor and his family in your prayers as we continue the journey of absolute love and devotion given to us by this wonderful new member of our pack. He is the sweetest little guy, and we have just hated that he has been so sick.