Rural Mississippi was my home, but in my adulthood, I had lived and moved all over the country; from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles and several more in between. In 1994, my mom became very sick and I returned home to Hattiesburg, Ms. I had gone full-circle. A beautiful bearded collie mix that I named "Thor" found me or I found him, or we found each other. Vets can estimate a dogs age by its teeth structure and eleven years old was his educated guess.
It was a typical summer day in Lumberton, six a.m. but something was very different. Thor, who usually woke me up at about 6 a.m. was not in the bedroom. I walked around the house which was a large three bedroom and found him in the living room staring at the wall. Thor was generally very attentive and every day ran to the door where I hung his leash and put it in my hand and began a "special bark". I always go the message. "I wanna go out Daddy". Not this time. Just a strange stare. I said, "Thor". No response. I walked over to pet him and this usually very affectionate creature walked away from me and continued his eerie stare.
Had I exposed him to or fed him something that hurt him by accident? Finally it hit me. A few days prior he was itching nonstop so I rushed him to the vet when he was itching nonstop and the Advantage gel was not working, or so I thought. The vet recommended it might be a food allergy and until he could figure it out, to give Thor an antihistamine daily which I did. I rushed Thor back to the vet and this time he was certain it was "canine juvenile seizures" and wanted to put him on several drugs that would erode and shorten his quality of life. Though the vet was ready to write the prescription, I was not ready for Thor to take it. I told him I would go home and sleep on it. I took Thor home and the first thing I decided was to take him off the antihistamine. Within 24 hours the unresponsive staring stopped, but he was still moving very slowly. He would not eat his dry food, which he seemed to love as it was the highest quality on the market with plenty of real meat and vegetables. He only ate a few bites and he barely drank any water. I hadn't a clue what was wrong but he seemed to be going down fast. I knew at thirteen, he was old, and probably not long for the earth, but I was willing to find out if there might be a solution.
I compulsively studied the Internet inside out. There were all kinds of fad diets, herb potions, etc. all claiming to bring a nearly dead dog or cat back to health. But when I explored it further, it was often a multi-level scheme, with very little nutrition or "life-force" by the time it reached one's pet's mouth.
Then I found Dr. Ian Billinghurst (www.DrIanBillingHurst.com) in Australia. He is part allopathic/part holistic vet and veterinarian surgeon, and full of good information. He had just published a book about the B.A.R.F (Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods) and was generous with his time and knowledge with back and forth emails. He led me to other sites such as www.Shirleys-Wellness-Cafe.com and www.BarfWorld.com. I joined forums and groups and debated with others as I started Thor on the diet.
Thor still very sluggish and sleeping in the living room on the floor for about three or four weeks. He had always jumped on my bed with me at bedtime and slept at my feet. One night, as I turned out the light, if heard him in the room. He barked twice and jumped on the bed. He had the energy of a puppy. We generally rarely slept apart.
The next day, he grabbed his leash and demanded a walk which were about 2-3 miles. He went through it with no problem.
Several years went by and we moved to the central Arkansas mountains. Thor adjusted beautifully and even at 18 years old was walking 5 mountain miles. At times I could barely keep up with him.
His favorite meal was ground organic hamburger with various organic vegetables ground in a food processor. He also loved watermelon, raw chicken and pork (with the bone attached) and numerous other raw goodies. The secret seemed to be raw. I added a number of herbal tinctures. Most of them were tinctures; many from the Amazon Rainforest. I added flaxseed, CO Q10 and some other goodies.
From the time Thor was 13 until he turned twenty one, when Thor's heart began to give, he spent his life without a vet visit. He had simply stopped getting sick. I stopped having him vaccinated and bought my own homeopathic vaccine nosodes which worked fine. Though I sadly watched him slow down dramatically upon reaching twenty two, I knew it was time. When he could not leave his blanket in my bedroom, I had made a promise to myself that I would have him put down. The vet talked me out of it twice, and I slept on the floor with him on his blanket, his last night with an alarm clock, waking up every four hours giving him morphine. He stopped breathing about 6 a.m. on December 11, 2007. I buried him atop his favorite mountain near the closed part of the upper Dogwood Trail. I still think about Thor daily as he was the first dog that was my shadow. I'd had dogs all my life but this was the first time I worked at home, and was at home most of the time, and Thor was always at my foot by my desk as I worked on my cartoons. He inspired numerous of my comics about cats and dogs, which I showcase on my websites and manufacture on products in my online shops.
One day when I'm ready, I want to find another dog at the shelter, and he/she will start on the B.A.R.F diet from the start. I'm often told Thor was lucky to have someone who cared so much about him. Many of them are not dog-lovers and would never understand that Thor gave me so much more than I ever gave him. One was the ability to love unconditionally. I grew to believe that dogs and cats are temporary gifts from God so that we can unblock and really learn to love and care deeply about those who love us, and even those who may not. They simply teach us to truly love.
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