Oh the things we do for our pets!

I'm an animal lover, through and through. I tend to take better care of my pets than I do myself. They have good food, nice beds, are driven 25 miles to their "favorite" place so they can run and swim. You get the idea.

Finley is no exception. She lives the good life. About a year and a half ago, she started losing her hair along her sides. Not completely bald but enough so that she looked kinda naked if she was wet. I tried a slew of at-home remedies: switching to sensitive skin food, fish oil pills, and a ton of things recommended by those at Whole Foods. Nothing worked. Finally I took her to the vet and they were 99% sure that she had a thyroid problem as the thinning hair on the sides was indicative of a thyroid issue. Several blood tests and a lighter wallet later, it was not a thyroid problem. In fact, they couldn't find anything in her results. They gave me some prescription shampoo and conditioner that was not only expensive but also wouldn't let me return when it did nothing. The vets were perplexed and wanted to start trying out whatever test they could think of on her. I decided against it. Not only had her hair loss stabilized but I'm not going to shovel out hundreds of dollars at my expense because you have no idea what to test her for. However, around August of last year, her hair started filling back in and I thought the problem had fixed itself.

Recently, she's started losing the hair again and you can tell it's bugging her because she's constantly scratching her back. Hesitant to take her to the vet again: they still have no idea and want to "try" her on steroids to see what happens. No thanks! You're not pumping her full of steroids which are beyond harmful and do serious liver damage. I went back to Whole Foods instead. The lady in the supplements area was super knowledgeable and handed me a vial of Neem Oil, explaining what I needed to do.

So last night, yellow kitchen gloves on and vial in hand, I start working on the Finster. She didn't mind the doggie massage she was getting. They forgot to mention this stuff reeks to high heaven. Kind of a cross between peanut butter and garlic. Not real appetizing. And I have to rub it into her fur which makes Finley stink like a garlicky peanut butter sandwich.

I hope she appreciates this.

Posted by Mandy at 9:44 AM