It’s springtime!  Here at Tigertail Foods, we are all ready to shed our winter garb and go outside and play.  And when we head out, we will have a new friend joining us -- Bree!

As some of you know Ann lost one of her best four-footed friends, Max, last year.  He was a wonderful companion and could never be replaced, not in our hearts or the household; however, life got to be a little too quiet for Ann, Cody and the cats, and so she contacted Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles Rescue (http://www.grcglarescue.org/) in hopes of finding the right addition to the family.

The call came mid-February that a beautiful blonde Golden Retriever girl had come into the rescue and would Ann consider perhaps fostering her.  Bree had a problem that made her almost unadoptable.  She had such horrible allergies that one half of her body had to be shaved down. She had a large wound on the top of her head from scratching.  Her flank and legs were covered in scabs from chewing and ripping.  Bree had fleas – and some of the skin damage was caused from flea dermatitis, but it was obvious that her allergies went far beyond just fleas. 

To find out exactly what her allergies are, we are having a new – new to us – test done.  We were under the impression that to discover the scope of allergies, one had to go to a dermatologist to have the skin tests done.  But it is possible to now perform the same, to an extent, test through a blood sample that is then sent off.   One of my Goldens, Duke, had this done recently and we found that he was allergic to all kinds of grass and corn, but most surprising was that he was very allergic to chicken!  One of the main ingredients in our very own food!  He is now on a modified version of the Tigertail diet.  This reminded us that even the highest quality ingredients can not safeguard against an allergic reaction.

To help Bree’s skin heal, Ann has been using our emu oil – applying it right to the problem areas and adding it to Bree’s food.  Taken internally, emu oil’s anti-inflammatory properties are far more effective as it is able to go to work from the inside.  (By the way, when Ann checked this with our supplier they said that while there is no proof other than anecdotal, they agree that emu oil acts like a natural NSAID without any potentially harmful side-effects.)  We have been amazed with the results!  In two days the differences were terrific.  Pink, healthy skin emerged from under the damaged and traumatized sites.  We are beginning to see peach fuzz grow back.   We couldn’t be happier with the results of the emu oil.

As for Bree, she is a delight!  She is a loving and happy girl that fits right in with her new family.  In the last week of February, Ann signed the adoption papers.  Bree is in her forever home.

In the best of health,
Alexis

The whole family (minus the cats) . . .

Bree, Cody and Ann (left to right)