Nigredo yesterday

Here's my guy yesterday. He will be 7 this year. Time flies!

He is such a handsome boy.

Aww. Such a handsome boy.

Hello Myra: the big guy is as handsome as ever!! I love him xx

Thanks ladies. He's still doing well and going strong.

He looks great Myra ... very, very handsome!!

Thanks. He's been a pretty healthy and good man. We never go to the vet except for rabies every 3 years as required by law.

He does have a soy allergy, which I manage fine until someone in MY FAMILY SNEAKS HIM A DONUT and only admits to it when he begins to itch and I see the donuts are loaded with soybean oil etc.

He's also had a small skin tag under his eyelid since he was a little puppy. It isn't getting bigger and doesn't bother him so I will do nothing about it for now.

He has always been sort of lazy, but he does not get stiff at all and he can run and jump and play like a young dog when he wants to. He can jump on my bed and in the car and up on people just fine still (bad).

The one issue I always have with him is FLEAS. Nothing seems to stop them. I can slow them down with him but not stop them. Brownie, my last dog, rarely got fleas. And when he did, brewers yeast and garlic and a flea collar got rid of all of them. But on this tubby man, I cannot ever get rid of them. Recently I got a single dose of Revolution for him after he passed fleas to our cat and they gave her that medicine and it wiped out all her fleas quickly.

It did not work like that for Tubby here. It did help, but he still had fleas. I combed several small ones off his knees and under his tum. And Revolution is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE and it doesn't even work fully. It's like his blood is syrup to them or something. Nothing ever FULLY rids him of fleas. I tried some of the expensive collars and everything. Tried a fish based diet too. Tried everything. They don't bother him TOO MUCH, but I wish I could get rid of them for good with him. Our indoor cats end up with them because of him and everything.

Have you tried tea tree oil on his coat or eucalyptus oil.

Good suggestion Brenda!! Tea Tree in particular being such a brilliant antiseptic will prevent any nasty infections from the bites. Smells nice too and will soothe the itch. Poor Big Boy ... must be hell for him.

Hi Myra ... have you tried Advocate? It is prescribed by the vet so not cheap, but you could get a prescription from the vet and then buy it on line. We used to buy Advocate from Ben without a prescription from memory from a place in Bermuda? We never had any problem with buying prescription drugs from these sites, although dodgy, the drugs were always genuine and did what they were supposed to do. Give Nigredo a big hug from me please ... and one for you!! xx