Monthly Expenses: December 2012

Happy New Year!

It's been a whole year since I've been tracking my pet expenses. Though it's shocking to see the amount spent every time I make these "Monthly Expenses" posts, it's been very beneficial to know where the money went and help budget for the future. I will keep doing this monthly and hopefully the numbers will be much smaller this year.

Let's see what we got for the last month of 2012...

December 2012

• Food: $5
• Supplements: $25
• Accessories: $15

TOTAL: $45

YTD TOTAL: $6,285

Food

Didn't spend much on this category this month, since Maya's still working on her big box of Zeal we got in November. She's been doing good on it and it's easier to prepare when we have another dog around or when she's staying at our friends'. All we got were some canned and frozen sardine this month.

Supplements

The supplements we got this month were all from Taiwan. I got a bottle of "Dan Gui Yin Zi" (當歸飲子) to help with Maya's allergies. It was suggested by a friend who studied Chinese Medicine. It kind of combines "Si Wu Tang" and "Xiao Feng San", which Maya were both taking previously. Thanks to my mom, who bought this for me at a Chinese Medicine shop just a block away from my parents'.

I also got Maya a bottle of QBow Chinese Herbal Spray (赫蓓司舒緩噴劑) for pets.  It's made of Chinese Medicine that helps reduce itchiness. Because of it's bitter taste, it can also be used to prevent chewing. I hope this can help stop Maya from licking/chewing on her own feet.

While I was shopping at the drug store in Taiwan, I found a bottle of Mentholatum AD Cream. It is made in Japan and just recently imported to Taiwan. I knew about it because it was popular among moms who have kids suffering from skin problems. It's gentle formula works well for babies, so I guess it should work fine for dogs as well. However, since I've been using it for my own insect bites and dry skin, I did not add the cost to the pet expenses.

Accessories

The last thing we got is also from Taiwan. It's a bottle cap that can be screwed on to any water bottle and the entire thing can be attached to a crate. It wasn't something necessary needed, but we wandered into a pet section of a shop and got it mostly because we missed Maya too much. If we ever need to crate Maya for a longer period of time, especially when traveling, it'll work much nicer than the bowl we attach to her crate now. We can also bring it with us on hikes, since the cap is removable for the base. Well, that was the plan, but besides the one time a put in some milk, so far Maya refused to drink from it, even after a long hike. She somehow got very particular about her water and wouldn't drink from most containers or when we are outdoors. Ah, Shibas!

New Game Plan

We went visiting Dr. A again on Tuesday. He was surprised that Maya's conditions worsened and showed up in an e-collar. Maya got super excited as soon as he stepped into the room, and just like flipping a switch, she started to itch like crazy, rubbing her face against our legs and on the cone. Her skin around the areas with missing fur kind of flared up as well. It's kind of "nice" to let the doctor see first hand how she's been reacting.

I went through the ups and downs in the past few weeks, showed him the hot spots on Maya's feet, and gave him an update on her diet/supplement changes. I told him I was trying out a some new Chinese Medicine, and before I pulled out the bottle of Xiao Feng San, he told me he was going to suggest some "wind eliminating formula", so I guess I was on the right track.

Dr. A still believes that Maya's conditions are caused by blood deficiency, especially after seeing her being so itchy when she's excited. (I think it's kind of like how my thighs itch after exercising, due to bad blood circulation.) He thinks that Maya could be extra sensitive to itchiness, so that given the same conditions as other dogs, it's more severe to her. He also had this theory that smarter dogs tends to hurt themselves more, as they are better at "solving problems" on their own.

He explained to me that Maya's non-stop scratching could be some sort of anxiety, and a mild sedative  drug may help "take the edge off". Valerian root, Alprazolam, and Diazepam are the ones he suggested. Since valerian root is a natural herb while the others are actual drugs, we decided to start with that first. It is often used to help with sleep and anxiety issues.

As for Maya's diet, he suggested a few changes: increasing raw liver to about 1/4 of her diet, and adding some avocado to her meals. Both ingredients should help "tonify" her blood. I asked the doctor about a few supplements I read online, specifically Quercetin and Colostrum. He agreed that those could be beneficial, and wanted me to try them out.

If nothings improves in the next few weeks, he would like us to try acupuncture and vitamin B12 injections on our next visit. Because of his suggestion, I asked whether supplementing vitamin B12 will help, and it got added to the plan as well. He also showed me the acupuncture points, so I can try massaging her at home.

An hour (though I was only charged for 30 minutes) and $90 later, I walked out with another long list of things to try and a mixed feeling towards the visit. The anxiety theory is definitely new, but other suggestions were more like my idea than his. Well, at least they didn't try to sell me anything this time. I guess he realized if I was able to purchase those Chinese medicine on my own, there's nothing I couldn't find.

I don't want to start all the new stuff at once, so I'll probably introduce them one by one in the next  2 to 3 weeks. I'll start with the valerian root first, as it has more potential to have some immediate effects. Fingers crossed.

Vitamin E

As I was shopping for some vitamin E for Maya few nights ago, I came across a product review talking about the difference between "d-alpha" and "dl-alpha". It drew my attention and got me curious, so I ended up reading a lot more about vitamin E than I ever thought I would. I was surprised to learn that the vitamin E I've been giving myself, my parents, and my dog were of the most crappy ones.

Basically, there are two types of vitamin E: natural and synthetic. Synthetic vitamin E, labeled dl-alpha-tocopherol, is made from chemicals and is much less effective. To identify the natural form, which comes from plant oils, it should be labeled d-alpha-tocopherol. With no doubt, we want to stay away from the artificial ones and get the natural ones.

Furthermore, even though most vitamin E on the market contains only alpha-tocopherol, it's actually a complex of eight compounds, including alpha, beta, gamma, delta of tocopherols and tocotrienols. Because alpha-tocopherol is the most absorbable and the most active in human body, it has been assumed to be the most important. However, recent studies showed that gamma-tocopherols and tocotrienols may be more essential, and high dosage of alpha-tocopherol may actually decrease the effectiveness of others.

I remember reading about vitamin E causing cancers a while ago, which caused a bit panic within the household. I dug into this subject a bit more this time, and found out the study was actually based on using synthetic dl-alpha-tocopherol. Vitamin E in its natural from should still be beneficial and could help prevent cancer. Somehow very few news reports mentioned the details, while most of them went with very scary and dramatic titles.

In short, the quality of vitamin E, from bad to good, goes like this:

• dl-alpha-tocopherol
• d-alpha-tocopherol 
• mixed tocopherols (d-alpha-, d-beta-, d-gamma-, d-delta-tocopherols)
• full spectrum (d-alpha-, d-beta-, d-gamma-, d-delta- tocopherols and tocotrienols)

Products

Most brands have dl-alpha products, especially the cheaper ones on the market. Bigger and/or better brands will also have d-alpha types. Just make sure to read the labels. For those who are sensitive to soy, do note that many natural vitamin E may come from soybean oil.

As for the other two types, it's a bit harder to find, and the price may also be few times more. Here are some I found with reasonable price and positive reviews. I am still not sure which one to purchase yet, but for sure I will stay away from the dl-alpha.

Mixed tocopherols (d-alpha-, d-beta-, d-gamma-, d-delta-tocopherols):

• Nature's Bounty Natural E-complex
• NOW Foods E-400 Mixed Tocopherols
• Swanson Premium Vitamin E Mixed Tocopherols

Full spectrum (d-alpha-, d-beta-, d-gamma-, d-delta- tocopherols and tocotrienols):

• Swanson Ultra Full Spectrum E with Tocotrienols
• Q-gel Tocospan the Full Spectrum Vitamin E
• Solanova Tocospan Vitamin E

Reference

Here are some links I found informative. As always, there will be some conflicting information.

• What Is The Difference Between D-alpha & Dl-alpha Tocopheryl Acetate?
• Natural vs. Synthetic Vitamin E
• Cancer-Preventing Pills Backfire
• Vitamin E Does Not Cause Prostate Cancer 
• All About Vitamin E Information and the Best Vitamin E to Take

For further reading, google with key words like: "d-alpha dl-alpha", "tocopherol tocotrienol", "vitamin E cause cancer", etc.

Disclaimer

I am no expert in nutrition. This is just a summary of the limited things I read online as well as products that interested me but yet to try. Please do your own research before supplementing your dog, your family, or yourself.

Life in a Cone

It's been a few weeks since my last update on Maya's conditions. There were some good days, but sadly, more bad ones. About three weeks ago, things started to get really bad. She's been scratching herself much more frequently and started to chew on her feet. It's pretty much in line of what we saw last year, with things being the worst around min-July to August. 

Hot spots on the feet

I've been reading up a lot on Traditional Chinese Medicine and Atopic Dermatitis (異位性皮膚炎) during my free time. It really saddens me to find out that most articles I read are from mothers dealing with their babies' conditions. Given how devastated I am, I can't imagine what those parents are going through. (Which kind of makes me afraid of having a child.)

Favorite "chilling" food: watermelon

Throughout the research, a Chinese Medicine called "Xiao Feng San (消風散)" came up several times. Xiao Feng San means "Eliminate Wind Powder" in English, and is used to "disperse wind, eliminate dampness, clear heat, cool blood and stop itch", which sounds exactly what Maya needs. I was planning to start it after consulting the vet, but he was out of town and Maya's conditions got really bad, so I went ahead and add it to her daily supplements. It's been two weeks since she's on it, and as usually, no magical effects.

Another thing I've been trying is an ointment called "Zi Yun Gao (紫雲膏)". Zi Yun Gao means "Purple Cloud Cream",  and is used to "reduce inflammation, prevent bleeding, eliminate bacteria, relieve pain, promote tissue regeneration, and clear heat and toxins". I like it because it's made of edible ingredients, as Maya pretty much licks off whatever we put on her face. At one point I almost decided to follow some instructions I found online and make my own Zi Yun Gao, but got lazy and ordered a tube instead. The cream has a pinkish color and could stain clothes or carpet if not careful.

Rosy cheeks from the Zi Yun Gao

We started to keep her in a cone about two weeks ago. It actually happened on one of the "good days". She spent most of the day itch free and for the few time she tried to scratch, I was near by to stop her. However, in the evening, I stepped into the bathroom for a brief few minutes, and when I came back out, I saw her whole face covered with blood. I realized then and there I have to keep her from scratching or the wounds will never heal up.

We have to use two different e-collars: a smaller one for walks and eating raw bones, and a bigger one for other times, especially when we are not around. She figured how to poke her back legs into the smaller one and scratch herself in some really weird poses, so we can't trust her alone in it. Her energy has been low and was spending most the time sleeping. The super big cone pretty much stops her from doing anything, which is kind of worrisome.

When will this be over?

So far, she's been a good girl. She would keep turning her head when we try to put the e-collar on or try to "walk" away when we approach her with one in our hands, but she never really resisted in an unpleasant mater, like growling, biting, screaming, or running away, which is a big relief. The most annoying thing is her "attacks" when we go out on a walk. She would bump her head against our legs in order to rub her face on our pants. It usually happens on the second half of our walks, after her body heated up. I know I can't really blame her, as she must be itching badly, but it really hurts! It also looks really silly on the streets, being attacked by a dog's cone.

We have another appointment with the vet next week. Let's see what else he can offer. I really want to get her out of the cone as soon as posible. It's just not how a dog should live, even though she's rocking it with style.

Waiting

Elevatoring

Walking

Staring

Chilling

Napping

Spying

The Perfect Math

I usually mix all the powdery supplements I feed Maya once a week, so I don't have open up so many bottles everyday. After mixing the powder, I would use a spoon to measure the total amount and divide it up for each meal. Sometimes I ended up with some tricky math problems, like "how to divide 18 tsp into 14 meals". I had found some creative ways to deal with it, such as using different size spoons, but I still often end up with uneven amount of powder for the last few meals of the week. It's not really a big deal, but just bothers me.

Today, I found a perfect solution! I can just add her THK dehydrated raw to make up the missing amount to the next dividable number. For example, adding 3 tsp to the 18 tsp of supplements, and now I can give her exactly 1.5 tsp per meal. Since it's only a small amount and I've already been sprinkling it on top of her meals, it won't make any changes to her diet. Why haven't I thought about this sooner?

Figuring out how to eat in the cone.

Maya's supplement "soup". Somehow she really loves it.