Our trip to our vet, Dr. Jack Biederman, to have Buddy and Bella get treatment on Friday January 25th 2013 went very well!

Yesterday, my son Ed, Bella, Buddy and myself went to see Dr. Jack. As I have mentioned, Bella has the non-contagious form of mange and we've been working to support her recovery using the medication Dr. Jack prescribed and nutrients in food with the home made recipe we've created to boost immunity (see below). If I am not mistaken, compromised immunity is a factor in dogs that get mange. But, please, don’t take my word for it, consult your vet for any and all information and help with your pet’s health conditions. Dr. Jack was pleasantly surprised with just a quick eye balling of Bella...she was better, he said, stating with surprise, "This dog is better." We agree. But, we've been working on this, studying it, strategizing the how tos of it all. Bella's appetite continues to grow and we've gone back to 3 meals a day for her as she's peering over Buddy's dish watching him eat 3-4 meals a day. So, in the last week, we've gone back to giving Bella 3 meals a day since she isn't overweight and her immune system can get a boost with the additional nutrients. Dr. Jack observed: "she's doing very well, most dogs do not respond in 4-5 weeks the way she is. That’s, great!" Couldn't do it without Dr. Jack's patience, support and care. I can't say this enough, the goal is this blog is to share what a pet owner can do to support the professional care of your vet. It is not a replacement for vet care. What we write here is what pet owners can do as adjuncts to quality professional care rendered by a vet, nothing more. Bella was 26 lbs last we took her to the vet. She now weighs almost 33 pounds. Dr. Jack added one more CC of Ivermectin because she's doing so well and we are so grateful to him for his cautious approach. We are working hard to keep up our end of this deal to get Bella into tip top shape doing whatever we can to boost that immune system. Winter has gotten so cold and Bella shivers so much when she's out doors so we've opted not to stress her immunity by having her outside for longer than a few minutes at a time. We're applying common sense, love, patience, some research and we;re getting amazing results. About Buddy? Wow, has he come a long way! Dr. Jack was very encouraging about his progress. Buddy was only two pounds the last time the vet saw him and his life was in jeopardy. He was taken from his mother at only 3 weeks old and used as a bait puppy. He was in bad shape, running a fever, couldn’t eat and the original vet thought he had parvo. Thankfully, he did not. Yesterday, he was nearly 11 lbs having gained that weight in about 4 or 5 weeks. The awful looking wound he had on his back leg was completely healed using Neosporin as Dr. Jack prescribed. I added vitamin E from a punctured vitamin caplet once a day in pace of the Neosporin as I have been Vit. D deficient and I have learned recently the value of vitamins. Also the skin on Buddy's ear had split and Vit. E was used on that along with Neosporin (see above). Buddy got his puppy shots yesterday as Dr. Jack proclaimed him a “healthy puppy.” We would have never imagined that Buddy or Bella would have done as well as they have without excellent vet care provided by Petcare and Dr. Jack and Mitch Biederman. Really, the soup recipe was the brain child of a vet I met at the Animal Medical Center about 35 years ago when I had a very sick cat with a 106 fever. He told me to make a soup of chicken parts particularly of the heart, liver, etc with celery tops and chopped carrot, blend it in the juice and feed the cat it with an eye dropper every couple of hours to keep him just nourished a bit and, more improtantly, hydrated. Of course, the antibiotics were crtical but the vet was concerned about de-hydration from the fever. The cat made it and I never forgot that the soup keep him hydrated and may have well saved his life. It does indeed take a village and a plethora of information to do just about anything. Remember, grandma would say thet chicken soup was Jewish penicillin? While my mother was Jewish, my father was Italian. And, Italian's believe likewise. What't the difference between Italian penicillin and Jewish penicillin? One teaspoon of Parmesan cheese. For the purposes of helping your pet, Jewish Peniciilin is what I use and eat the Parmesan chesse myself. Any caregive could use a little boost in energy! :) One thing I have learned in my life is this: you can’t learn anything when you're doing the talking. God bless the pet professionals who give so much and educate us. See us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/savingbella Thank you. See photos: Bella after:

Bella before:

Buddy after:

Buddy before: