Reviews of Home Remedies for Mange

If you have a dog who you think may have Mange or are planning on adopting one from a shelter (places that are often full of this disease), you may want to read this information and keep it handy.

I want to thank several recent viewers for their recent suggestions on complimenteary medical treatments for Carmella. I took a long look the other night at what's out there in the way of home remedies and found some useful information I'd like to pass along.

One cream to treat the itching I was given a link to mixed both natural herbs and Hydrocortisone together. The natural ingredients would be no problem for Carmella but the Hydrocortisone is steroid-based and my reading suggests that any steroid could weaken her immune system in the long-term. Also this cream did not claim to actually kill the mites. I was particularly interested in remedies that do and in how they work.

There were several remedies out there that looked quite promising, some of which had pages and pages of positive reports. I've included the safest and (as far as I can tell) the most effective in this post, although there are some comparisons mentioned with agents that I would not recommend putting on your dog (such as Pyrethrum or Pine Sol).

One is a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide and Borax called Ted's Mange Cure.

Here is the exact formula below for any of you who might need it for your dogs now or in the future. (Re-printed from this site http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/dog_mange_cure.html with slight correction for grammar and clarity. The originator is from Thailand);

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TED'S MANGE CURE:

Ted from Bangkok, Thailand writes, "The best cure for dog mange is to mix a 1% hydrogen peroxide solution with water and add borax. Dissolve thoroughly. Wash the dog with it once a week. Do NOT WASH THE solution left on the dog with ANY WATER. Do not wipe the dog dry. The solution will take effect on mange. The treatment period should not be longer than a month or two. The dog will probably not be resistant as the treatment is painless. This has worked well for me."

More Exact Measurements (excerpted from various emails on our Reader Question & Answer Section)

Ted replies, "A definitive recipe is add 1-2 tablespoon of borax per 500 cc of 1% hydrogen peroxide solution. To make a 3% hydrogen peroxide to 1%, roughly get one part of 3% H2O2 plus two parts of water. Then apply them on the dog. Wash with this solution daily, no rinsing. If it doesn't go away, I have found mites, or mange to have a large "beehive" hidden somewhere. In which case, quarantine the dog in a small area that is 100% sterile."

"Approximate measurements are 1 bottle of 500 of 3% H2O2, plus 1000 of the cc of water, plus heaping 3 tablespoons of borax. Stir until most of borax is dissolved. The borax is past the point of saturation here so you will see some borax around. Technically the concentration is around 1.5% H2O2, and this is a bit stronger because by the time we finish with it, the H2O2 gets reacted with other things, and by the time we used it is is usually ends up near a 1% solution anyway."

"You need to get put as much borax until it no longer dissolves in a pail of water and forms a precipitate. This is a saturated solution of borax. Add H2O2 to about 1% concentration to a pail of water. Soak the entire dog, several times. Keep the dog wet for some time. The borax will destroy the eggs from laying under the skin which causes the mange. Get some solution and spray or use this to wipe all floors so the dog will not get re infected. Repeat this every week when bathing.

This is not a perfect cure, but my dog now no longer has mange. My dog was completely cured. You can try other chemicals such as sodium perborate, which is more convenient since you don't need to add the hydrogen peroxide."

"The solution (borax or preferably sodium perborate) is to be applied AFTER the shampooing and rinsing. The sodium perborate should remain on the dog after the bath. You will not rinse this at all. It must remain on the dog throughout the day so that it will act continuously on the bugs."

"However, I do recommend a less toxic form of borax, which is sodium perborate if you can find one. The secret is that borax (plus hydrogen peroxide) will work better then most other remedies I have tried, this includes mineral oil, neem oil (no, neem oil does not kill the mange as effectively as sodium perborate) I have tried it in my "mange colonies", and commercial brands to kill insects don't work. Hydrogen peroxide DOES NOT KILL mange, I USED IT SIMPLY USED IT AS A CATALYST for ordinary borax in case you cannot obtain sodium perborate. Mineral oils simply prevent oxygen from reaching mange, but that didn't stop it. I have tried naphta, bentonite clays, DMSO, potassium permanganate, light fluid, etc. They all worked temporarily, and it just came back. I must make a strong statement that the formula (borax+h2o2 or sodium perborate) works bests and it is broad spectrum. You can use it to control mange, mites, fleas, and lyme disease (initiated by those crawly insects).

I have actually compared side to side with neem oil, mineral oil, apple cider vinegar and others here in Bangkok and this is the most wide spectrum cure I have found. Borax prevents denaturation of DNA/RNA in dogs and I currently use this as life extension for dogs. For example a ribose sugar, deoxyribose sugar, and various sugar that causes accelerated aging in dogs can be slowed down with supplementation of dogs indirectly when you do the borax wash. "

"Prepare peroxide 1% solution, add 2-3 tablespoon of borax to that cup. Stir and wait for a couple of minutes for the borax to dissolve. The formula doesn't require an exact science. The importance is to add enough borax until the solution is no longer soluble and well past saturation."

"...The reason why it is not working is YOU CANNOT RINSE THE DOG OF borax and peroxide solution with any shampoo or water. After bathing the dog, keep the dog that way, no drying no rinsing. This is why the dog has not improved. Also BORAX is added DIRECTLY to the 1% hydrogen peroxide solution and no water is added separately, otherwise the solution is too weak."

TED'S UPDATE7/12/2006: "I have reviewed all the dog's mange treatments both by my own tests and by many contributors. It appears that many people have trouble obtaining materials, such as sodium perborate hydrate, so I revised the remedy to hydrogen peroxide plus borax solution applied only once or so every week. The solution of sodium perborate hydrate is very much similar when borax and hydrogen peroxide is added. Some have either substituted hydrogen peroxide with benzoyl peroxide.

The problem about benzoyl peroxide is the upper limit by which you can use it without effect the dog as it is somewhat more toxic if given beyond a 10% concentration. 5% is usually a safe concentration. Benzoyl peroxide because of its toxicity is somewhat of an insecticide, while hydrogen peroxide is not, what it is in the original formulation is that it is a penetrant allowing the borax to go through the skin. Now some did not like hydrogen peroxide due to its limited supplies, so they make use of apple cider vinegar. For me a regular vinegar will do. Both a vinegar and hydrogen peroxide has two similarities. It is both a penetrant and when added with a safe insecticidal material such as borax, which has an toxicity on LD 50 equivalent to that of salt, this is the preferred method. However, one should not use boric acid since there are reported deaths associated with boric acid but not borax.

Boric acid is not recommended for use as it is much more toxic than borax. Borax's toxicity is about 3000 mg/kg, which is the equivalent toxicity to about that of salt. (check wikipedia). The idea is to make a solution of borax so that the solution can cover the entire body and penetrate through the skin of the dog to kill the demodex mites, for example. To use a spot treatment by pure powder will take an infinitely long time as it does not get to it through the dog's skin.

In some cases, people have tried neem oil, mineral oil. Both of these have similar effectiveness, but in different ways. Neem oil prevents the Demodex fleas from laying eggs by modifying their hormones, while mineral oils are moderately toxic only to the demodex eggs, not necessarily killing them. However, both are very limited based on my tests in really killing the insect. You see, borax will both kill the eggs, modifying the hormones and their eggs by drying them all at once. The weakness of borax is limited solubility and limited penetration of the skin which you need either vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, benzoyl peroxide (toxic), MSM or DMSO solution. Ideally 10% DMSO should be preferred.

Pine Sol has limited insecticidal effectiveness, being a contact insecticidal, and does not provide lasting killing power once it has evaporated and does not kill living fleas, but it does kill their eggs somewhat. Only a fairly concentrated solution works and it does not prevent re-laying of stray eggs by the dog. In other words, the use of neem oil, mineral oil, benzoyl peroxide, and vaseline will not prevent the recurring of mange since eggs are not just on the dog, but can be anywhere in the house. Therefore re-infection is at issue. The one magic that borax has over its neighbors is that the borax powder that the dogs leaves in the house will kill the eggs even after the dogs no longer has mange and re-infection is therefore next to impossible. However, borax has limited effect on killing the larger mites and fleas, but not mange.

I found that adding 1/8 teaspoon per liter of water of borax added to the dog's water will cause the larger fleas to dry up and die at the same time. My dog for some reason likes to eat something like more than 1 gram of the sodium perborate crystals whenever he feels sick and the fleas just die off. The borax modifies the dog's blood and kills the mange inside out. This is why borax, i.e., sodium perborate, is required for mange, but not anything else due to preventive re-infection of the mange by the powder of the borax that destroys the eggs where the dog sleeps and where it walks around throughout the house.

VASELINE: The problem about using vaseline as an insecticide is that it has limited killing of eggs, but its weakness is that it is not a penetrant, and therefore the frequency of applications will take at least once every other day. Additionally, the hair of the dog will prevent proper application.
Some have went so far as to not use a solution of borax with hydrogen peroxide as a rinse then followed likely, perhaps a borax powder after bath. On the argument of being effective only as a spot treatment. Since dogs do not have sweat glands, not using a rinse will prevent the borax from absorbing into the skin to kill the mange under its skin. So this is not going to work. You need both borax as an insecticide, the water as the solution which to spread it to the skin surface, and a reliable penetrant to get it through the skin, such as vinegar, msm, DMSO, or even hydrogen peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide is both a penetrant and insecticide, but at higher concentration is somewhat toxic for dogs and as a result you are pretty much limited by the maximum concentration not to exceed beyond 5% being a preferred safety. I would prefer to limit myself at 3%.
I therefore suggest, not to get you lost in the woods, is that whatever formulation you use, always stick with borax and borax derivatives, such as sodium perborate monohydrate being the main insecticidal chemicals for the dog.

Pyrethrum is o.k. but in very low concentration of about 0.1% - 0.2% to prevent skin irritation for the dogs near the skin infection areas. The second mix you need is always the penetrant and the third formulation is appropriate dilutions in water. To provide lasting killing effect, non of these chemicals should generally be non-volatile insecticidal mixtures, which unfortunately most recommended are, with exception of perhaps borax and bentonite. Bentonite causes eggs to dry, so they can be used also, but they have no insecticidal mixture as borax and borax can performs both killing the insect, modifying the hormones to prevent egg laying, becomes a stomach poison for the insect, and at the same time causes their eggs to dry up.

I therefore will remain very flexible about what penetrants you use including hydrogen peroxide, benzoyl peroxide (limited concentration), and vinegar. It must be noted that when formulating any mange it must be noted that they must be non-volatile and the chemicals should cause microscopic residues around the house so that re infection of mange is prevented, including mites and fleas.

I think this wraps up the basic theory and application of mange treatment, and hopefully other people will make a more effective formulations in the future at least equal or better than the original formula I have proposed. Just want to tell you that there are many ways you can treat mange, but the issue is one of toxicity, re infection, toxic levels, which portion kills it and how, and which is the penetrant (which is the key to it all).

Penetrant is important, the chemical must reach the target demodex under the skin. Usually hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, DMSO, and MSM will do that. It must be reminded again that borax, to work most effectively, must be prepared with the penetrant as a solution without washing it off, followed by a small amount of borax powder to be applied if you wish.

Other applications other than this such as using as purely powder form is NOT going to work."

500 cc = 1 pint or 16 ounces.

1000 cc = 1 quart or 32 ounces.

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I also found another remedy using lemon. The principle of both these remedies is the same; to dry out the Mange mites so that they could no longer live in her skin.

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Topical Lemon Solution

3 Lemons/Qt. of boiling water
(or fresh, organic lemon juice)

Thinly slice 3 lemons and add to 1 quart boiling water
Let steep overnight
Strain and store in refrigerator
Pour or spray on dog’s patchy areas 2 X/day

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Lavender

10-15 drops high quality Lavender essential oil
½ oz. Almond or Jojoba oil

Apply twice/day to affected areas

Diet: Feed 100% grain free raw, whole food diet with addition of a good quality fish-body/wild salmon oil EFA and natural Vitamin E. Give 100 IU Vit E for every 1,000 mg of Salmon Oil.

If the animal is severely disabled/ill, or new to a raw diet, add a high quality digestive enzyme and probiotic supplement. If they are too ill to tolerate a raw diet, then feed a home-prepared cooked diet using fresh foods until they can tolerate raw. As much as possible, feed only pastured, organic, and grass-finished meats.

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For maintenence I found that these supplements were recommended to prevent Mange overgrowth once it is treated:

* Zinc, in the form of either raw, ground pumpkin seeds or chelated Zinc tablet, 10 to 30 milligrams/day


* Vitamin C, 250-1000mgs twice/day


* 100 to 400 IU of Vitamin E daily (discontinue use before surgery)


* ½ to 3 teaspoons of Lecithin/day
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Carmella's mange actually began drying up 2 days after she'd had the dip at the vet's and some of the scabbiness and dead skin began flaking off. I wondered whether I could give her a bath with her regular shampoo to wash away the excess debris. I called Dr. Norwood's office and spoke with Gwen who was answeing the phone and she told me that I should hold off on giving her any baths in between these treatment as it could water down the effectiveness of the dip.

It occurred to me that I better wait before tring the Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide because they recommend basically bathing the dog in it, so in the meantime I'm trying the lemon, just dabbing it on with a soaked paper towel. That shouldn't water down the effectiveness of the dip and hopefully it will help heal her faster.


Last night I found a really good deal at DickBlick.com for the cold-pressed Arches 140 Lb. watercolor paper block to start my Carmella series on. The pages are 12 X 16", so these paintings are going to be pretty substantial. They'll be a good size to put on a bedroom or livingroom wall. I can hardly wait to get started!

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

Carmella's Big Day!

Well the moment of truth has finally arrived. The vet called me this afternoon after I'd brought Carmella over there this morning, and told me he was finally able to find a vet supply company that had Newcastle Disease Vaccine, LaSota Strain. I had no idea that there would be any difficulty finding or buying it, but he encountered alot of barriers along the way. Some companies would only sell it in mass quantities that he could never use up in his own practice, and many other suppliers were actually out of stock.

After much searching he was able to locate one good source and they are going to overnight ship it to him to arrive tomorrow morning. It is arriving none too soon, as the rate of her decline is making this an emergency situation very fast.



Carmella didn't eat very well this morning, leaving half a can of dogfood sitting in her bowl, and still would only drink yogurt juice. Before taking a taxi to the vet's I gave her as much yogurt juice as I could, and took her outside to go to the bathroom. The cab company now charges $5.00 if you don't have your dog in a cage and $1.00 additional if it is caged. I put one of her pillows in there so that she would be comfortable, and she crawled right into it on her own.

Once at the vet's this morning I spoke with a man in the waiting room who was there to have his grey and white Schitzu groomed and we talked for awhile as we waited for the receptionist. He mentioned to me that his wife had once bought a dog from a pet shop that was sick and he insisted she take it back and get her money back although she was attached to it. She finally relented although she really didn't want to, and they did return her money. I told him that the shelter I got Carmella from had you sign a disclaimer, but that even if they hadn't I could never return her as if she was a defective product from a store. I picked her out from a long list of dogs I'd seen both online and at various shelters after several months of being extremely picky. When I found her, that was the dog I wanted, there was no doubt about it, and it would take a thousand armies to tear us apart. I found myself wanting to ask him if he would trade in his wife or his child for a new model the first time they got really sick. His story left me feeling very uneasy, as I knew it was a sign of the times. I looked at Carmella in her carrier and thought "No way would I ever do that to you". She looked back at me and I could tell she knew it too. This dog would follow me to hell and back and I am prepared to return the favor. If that made me a relic, I thought, then so be it. We are all going to be old and get sick one day, and I would hope that when that time comes all of us will have somebody by our side willing to do whatever is necessary, and I am a strong believer that we help create the world we will one day have to live in, so we'd best make it a compassionate one.




After about 15 minutes a nurse came out and called me to bring Carmella into a room. She asked me how she was doing and I filled her in on the sudden hardening of her pads last night and her reduction in apetite this morning. She had been the first one in that office I'd spoken with on the phone before the first visit and remembered my saying that Carmella looked like a Dingo, and she commented on that again, saying how extremely cute she was. I told her I hoped that Dr. Norwood had the serum and was ready to treat her because I was really worried with the developments of the night before that she would suffer neurological damage. Time was ticking away on my beautiful puppy's life, each minute lost, like a leaf of lettuce being peeled away, leaving a bare and vulnerable center which was her life force. The nurse looked at me from behind black-rimmed glasses and I thought I saw a slight tearing of her eyes, fleeting, but nevertheless very real and very human. I knew that she would take extra special care of my best buddy, as she saw in her what I do; that majestic spirit, that awe-inspiring presence like a tamed wild animal which made it impossible to resist her.

The nurse told me that Carmella was the first dog with Distemper they'd ever had in their practice and that she'd heard about it but had never seen if first-hand until now. She told me that some time ago several shelters had been shut down after an outbreak was reported on the news, but they seemed to be different ones than the one Carmella came from. Even so, it just goes to show that this disease clearly has not been eradicated in this country.

I wonder whether dogs are getting it from wild animals displaced by the destruction of the forest. I remember recently reading about a breed not yet recognized by the American Kennel Club called the Carolina Dog which is thought to be related to the Dingo and wonder now if maybe some Dingoes were released or got loose after having been brought over from Australia. If they'd mixed with domestic dogs then there is an off chance that Carmella could actually be mixed with Dingo, although how recently that would have been in the bloodline is a mystery to me. For that matter I guess someone with a taste for exotic pets could have brought one over recently (I hear you can order just about anything over the internet these days if you can get it cleared through customs), a dog like that could have bred with a domesticated dog. If one became a stray and was not current on their vaccines the puppies may not have inherited any immunity from the mother and contracted the disease or got it from the mother (already infected). Who knows? In any case it sounds plausible to me given the current state of our environment. If bears and wolves show up in suburbia why not Dingos or half-breed Dingos? One has to wonder where these diseases re-emerge from after they were assumed to be almost non-existant in the US nowadays.

After returning home I immediately got online and checked to see whether Dr. Sears had received the message and my vet's phone number to call him. but found out later from Dr. Norwood that he had still not called.

Upon speaking with my vet by phone we decided that Carmella should stay for 7 days in which time all the intensive treatment could be completed, she could be observed closely for any adverse effects, and have medical intervention close at hand just in case it should be needed. This made good sense since I don't have a car and there is only one person I know who could take me over there in the evenings after work, but nobody in the morning, as she will need 2 antibiotic shots a day to fully clear up the pneumonia after receiving the Newcastle's Disease Virus Vaccine I.V. and spinal tap procedure injecting the second dose into the Central nervous system to be sure all traces of Distemper virus are eradicated from brain and spinal chord.

The doctor advised me that because the serum he was using was bird-based rather than dog-based there could be some risks associated with that, but admitted he had really no way fast enough to find a donor dog in the time-frame Carmella would need, so we would have to proceed with the pre-made serum. At this point we have nothing to lose because left untreated she would surely die. I had hoped Dr. Sears would have been able to contact Dr. Norwood in time to send him the dog-based stuff, but with Carmella's recent disease-progression that one or two days might be too long to wait.

After our conversation on the phone, Dr. Norwood faxed me copies of Carmella's test results in case Dr. Sears got in contact with the guy working with him (Daveyo) before he called him.

Then I checked back with Daveyo on the two Distemper messageboards and found that he'd gotten back to me with some more instructions and information about what to expect in the days following the treatment, based on Carmella's current condition.

He said that it is very possible that after both initial shots Carmella might start having seizures or become paralyzed. The first 48 hours after the treatment the immune system goes through a storm, killing the Distemper virus. Soon after, a delayed reaction of the damage that was ensuing becomes fully apparent. This could take about 50 days to start resolving. He assured me that if she does suffer the paralysis it was easier to heal than if she had seizures and not to panic. This sounds very similar to what I was told about my own autoimmune disease protocol (the worstening before it gets better due to a Herxheimer reaction; temporary exascerbation of symptoms while the bacteria is flushed through the tissues and out of the body).

In this case we are dealing with a virus rather than bacteria, but I suspect the same thing is happening when shedding the virus as it's killed. It could be that the toxins released on Distemper's way out of the dog result in increased inflammation of the tissues and organs, and that accounts for the increase in symptoms indicative of which areas had been affected before eradication.

Since my vet has not done this before he told me he'd do his best and do everything in his power but that he couldn't guarantee anything.

I cannot say that I'm not worried, but Carmella's silent strength is part of what endeared me to her in the first place and it is that strength that will give her the ability to beat this virus. She knows that I'm not going to give up on her and that she's home and I'm not going anywhere.

If I have to work with her every day for the next year to get her functioning back to normal, I'm prepared to do that, but she may surprise us all and bounce back alot sooner.

There is something about her that doesn't quit, determined to live to see the day that she can jump into my arms (until she's too big), run, and play, and chew on her toys, chase a ball and bring it back, eat voraciously, and enjoy a long drink of water, to breathe in the warm summer air without coughing or congestion, to learn tricks, and go for long walks, basking in the sun, her reddish-brown fur healthy and glistening.

Help Carmella Get Well!

My shelter dog Carmella (who looks for all the world like a dingo) came home from several days at the vet's today and she seems to be somewhat better after IV fluids, Vitamin B-12, special high protein food, and some new antibiotics.

After piecing together the events in her records from the animal shelter it became clear that the shelter attempted to cover up the fact that she was as sick as she was. No weight was recorded (which I thought odd because that is something vets always do when they take vital signs) and there were several vet checks apparently over the past 2 months all of which said "normal" until the day I brought her home and I'd asked why she was coughing.

Carmella stretching in her bed

It is standard protocol not to vaccinate a dog that is currently sick and though she'd been given the vaccine in May for Distemper my vet noted that they were supposed to have given her some other vaccines later that month and didn't. It seems that the shelter went to great lengths NOT to document the fact that she was losing weight, not eating, and that her health was going downhill. No explanation appeared in the records for their failure to give all her vaccinations.

When all this information started to sink in and I put two and two together (and the shelter did not return my call asking for her weight), I realized that they knowingly gave me a sick puppy, chalking it up to "kennel cough" or a minor "cold" and knowingly witheld important information. It had not been until after I signed all the papers and paid the adoption fee (two days after she'd been spayed) that they showed me to her new cage (which was one of the quarantine cages). Up until that moment all they told me was that she or another dog had scratched her eye. When I saw her in her cage she did not look like the lively dog I'd seen just a few days before, but had a pile of diarrhea next to her and was lying down looking pretty bedraggled. As I was waiting for them to print out all her records I noticed that she was coughing. An employee blew by me as I was trying to ask her what was wrong with my dog, pretending not to hear me. I said "excuse me" several times before she finally came back and asked what I needed. I brought to her attention that the dog was coughing and asked about it. She seemed to be unaware (or at least behaved that way) as though she hadn't noticed but said she might have some "upper respiratory infection". Once called on it she went back and printed out some more records, documented it and had me sign them, then went and got antibiotics from the vet on staff and some medication for the diarrhea, as well as some antibiotic eye ointment. She presented it as if they were just sending the dog home with meds as a precaution and that it might just go away anyway on its own.

After a week of the meds the shelter had given me Carmella seemed worse; not better and was barely eating at all. That was when I took her to the vet because I was really afraid she was going to die.

I wondered how the shelter could not have noticed how much weight she'd lost and that she was not hungry.

When I'd brought her in the vet told me he thought it was something more than just kennel cough and said that it could be Distemper even though she had been vaccinated for that.

The test that came back today was inconclusive in that it was only an antibody test which would appear positive if she'd been vaccinated the same as it would if she had the disease. Next he needed to take several cultures to look for the actual cells. That will give us a more definitive answer as to whether that's what it is or whether instead this could be pneumonia from a very bad bacterial infection. It may take another few days to get the results of the more recent cultures.

When I'd brought her in my vet told me she had about a 50/50 chance of living and that the prognosis was "guarded". I could not just stand there and let this happen to the puppy that I'd searched for with a fine toothed comb over several months and bonding with. This dog which I seem to have an uncanny psychic connection with had to make it or I wasn't sure I would.

Over the weekend she stayed at the vet's office and meanwhile I researched everything I could online. I found lots of references on Google and on a pet health forum to a vet named Dr. Sears who had a practice in California who has a cutting edge but controversial treatment/cure for Distemper.

Most vets are taught that the disease is progressive and fatal, but this guy claims to have eradicated the virus in a number of dogs by giving Newcastle's disease LaSota Strain vaccine off-label. How it works is that is upregulates the dog's immune system so that it launches a direct attack on the virus and kills it within about 12-48 hours. I set out to get all the information I could on it and not only did I find the doctor's e-mail address and phone number for my vet, I also located the formula on how to make the vaccine in the office.

Apparently this can only work if a dog is in the very early stages of the disease (which if Carmella has it she would be in now). I asked my vet to be ready with the stuff over the next week in case he needs to use it before it's too late. He's reading over the material I gave him and seems open to trying it if it comes down to it. Really if her tests turn up positive there would be nothing to lose by trying it because the other alternative is permanent and progressive damage to the Central Nervous System, suffering, paliative care, then death (not to mention vet bills into the thousands for the remainder of her life).

Having battled a life-threatening disease myself and being saved by an off-label treatment, I know that there is an answer to everything. We just need to find it. Nothing is hopeless and we have to be willing to consider this living being's life worth saving, suspend our judgement as to how we're going to do that, and think outside the box. I call this "The 5th Option"; one which appears not to exist at first glance but in fact does.

My vet was very excited about the possibility of a cure but of course he will come up against those who refuse to believe it's possible and may even think badly of him for entertaining the possibility that this could be effective. I can hear it now; the naysayers who will invariably say that it's some nut, a vet on the fringe who would make such claims without going through "proper channels" and that no vet worth his salt would listen to it or take it seriously. I have heard it all before in human health circles, but I say who cares where the answer comes from and how the discovery is made. If it works and it saves lives then that's what really matters, and if it's what it will take to cure my little Carmella so that she can get well and live a normal life and allow her to get on with the business of being a care-free puppy, then I say bring it on! I did not save her from the "gas chamber" only to watch her die ironically of some disease.

In the meantime my vet bill is growing just from a few days of her being in the hospital and I need to pay it off as soon as I can, as there may be more costs coming, and my income is very small right now.

If you love animals and jewelry, your purchase from my Etsy store http://giftbearer.etsy.com/ would be greatly appreciated! I want to give Carmella all the medical care she needs so she'll have a fighting chance. This puppy has had a hard life already and she's only 3 months old. She's counting on me to take care of the logistics.

I have started a new line called the Carmella Collection which features highly ornate jewelry using pearls and gemstones that is particularly suited for weddings although it can be used for other occasions as well.

Why not come by and pick up something for yourself or as a gift for someone you care about while you offer the gift of life to this little puppy. Helping with these expenses is one way you can help a dog from a shelter to turn the corner. Giving directly to shelters is only half the need. In today's rough economy many people are likely to encounter the same problems I did when they bring home their new addition to the family because it didn't receive adequate care at the shelter. What is supposed to be a happy new start can often be just the beginning of a nightmare that never seems to end.

I thank you in advance for being part of the solution to Carmella's health problems.

Carmella after returning home from the vet Monday, July 14th, 2008, bandaged up from the IV.