Kimi the Shar-pei's Mum bought one of our starter boxes as typical for the Shar-pei breed, poor Kimi suffered so badly from yeasty inflamed skin and her Mum had this to say initially -
"We are struggling with our Shar Pei, Kimi. She has presented with some moderate to severe atopic itching/inflammation/yeast during the last year which has been building up considerably and we have tried food trials, vet medications (which she seems to be a little sensitive to eg. Nexguard Spectra, Apoquel, Cytopoint). She is a rescue, 5.5 years old and we have had her for almost two years and we SO hope that this food helps.
I'm really not keen on the Purina HA with the ingredients in it (I did read your article!) but we decided to go with what the dermatologist advised us to do to start with.. pretty much because we had hit a brick wall after trying almost everything for a year or so.
Our normal vet told us about Give A Dog A Bean to mix with the Purina HA to make it more palatable and that's how I came to order the sample box. Well we tried Kimi with a little taste of the 'Give A Dog A Bean' this morning and I haven't seen her this happy to eat something since we started this food trial! So it will definitely be going into her next meals and I will be ordering some more tins shortly.
I had a feeling she would like it when I read up about it and the ingredients.
I am also ordering some 'Allergone' spray as one of the suggestions for her itching/inflammation was dust mites. I looked at the Indorex spray and after reading up on it and the reviews, it seems to be a bit 'harsh'.. and I don't want to exacerbate my asthma as some of the reviews alluded to this."
2 weeks later, I received this email from Kimi's Mum -
"Hello Arielle
I thought I would give you an update on our Kimi. After some tests were performed, it turns out that not only does she have all her skin problems, but she also has stage 3 kidney disease.
We think this could have been at the root of all her skin inflammation/itching/weepy eyes/irritated ears etc. She was on steroids for her skin inflammation but these actually 'unmasked' the kidney disease 🙁 and we really thought we were going to lose her not long after the diagnosis.
I am pleased to report that she is currently doing really well.. and I feel a lot of her current health is to do with the Solo Vegetal kibble! 🙂 We are feeding her the kibble, together with some supplements (oh the Omega Daily Oil!). She does have Give A Dog A Bean and some extra veggies too and she is thriving at the moment and her skin is so much better. The only way you would know she has the kidney disease is that her breath is awful!!
She went for a check-up yesterday (first one following her diagnosis) and our vet was a little shocked (but also very pleased!) at how well she is doing. The vet said our methods were a little unconventional (no drugs!) but what we are doing is obviously working and Kimi seems happy and the best she can be at the moment. (Our vet was VERY interested in what kibble we are using!)"
What a joy to read that Kimi's skin AND kidney disease could be controlled with pure plant-based ingredients from Just Be Kind!
READ MORE ABOUT KIDNEY DISEASE AND PLANT-BASED DOG FOOD DIETS HERE
Dr Arielle Griffiths Vegan Vet (Book a teleconsult with Dr Arielle here
