Stacy ~

Sounds like you are doing all of the right things. If you had a problem with
yeast (which you would surely recognize having gone through it before) you
could reduce or eliminate grains and use a yeast & fungal detox until it went
away.

It is good that you actually had the allergy tests done, and I fully
understand why you would feed him whatever he'll eat.

I am starting the BARF feedings again myself and we are also feeding 4x a day
for the same reasons you are. I have an almost 6 month old pug puppy that
was just not really growing much and so I had to be sure he got enough. The
parents are putting on their "winter weight" since it has gotten so cold so
early in the season. Their new winter coats look fabuloso! I just gave them
all a flea bath and didn't have to clean the furcatcher out once! That is
one tight coat. I wish I looked that good. :)

I had to tee hee at this statement:

<< he's feeling so good, he just had too much energy and was burning
everything he ate and then some. >>

A wonderful side effect of BARF.

<< Plus, the other thing is that in the winter, we've generally had a
problem with him collapsing and haven't been able to figure out what causes
it -- had his heart checked, etc. At this point, we've pretty much
attributed it to allergies. >>

Wow, how horrifying. I have pugs which probably are prone to a lot of the
same problems as boxers due to the brachycephalic structure of the head and
breathing apparatus. If allergies were the culprit, I would suspect a slight
swelling of the airway, thus cutting off his air supply and causing a
fainting spell. In relaxing his muscles, his airway is restored. Since he
would still not be able to breath deeply, he would feel sluggish after this
and perhaps be "off feed." Does this make sense? Do you think that in this
instance that yucca, as a natural anti-inflamatory, would be helpful to him?
Or have you tried that already?

<<Am I the sucker or what?>>

Aren't we all??

cat donnelly
nw arkansas
purelypets.com