benny the dog

If you've seen the movie Vanilla Sky, you probably remember the scene with "Benny the Dog", who was frozen in a lake for several months and brought back to life, preserved. The event was used as a premise for the movie, in which actor Tom Cruise has himself frozen, to be re-animated in the future.

All sci-fi musings aside, I often wonder where my family would be if our dog from a few years back could have been alive today. He was one of the best tempered dogs I have ever seen in my lifetime, and the kids would have loved him. He was a spunky little westie who lived to please the people around him, even when he was in pain. This poor little guy was diagnosed with severe skin allergies when he was around eight years old, reportedly the result of generations of westie inbreeding. This is a very common problem with the breed, according to research that we found on the internet.

He was on several medications over the years, although few seemed to do any good. We tried lotions, creams, pills...you name it. We even took him to an expensive "dog dermatologist". Nothing seemed to help. Eventually, the steroids that the vet had been giving him for years to try and "slow down" his scratching gave him something else instead - heart disease. It got so bad that he couldn't walk up a few steps without falling over, out of breath. Eventually, we had to make one of the hardest decisions of our lives - to put him to sleep. We still get a little misty eyed to this day when we think of him. He was that good of a dog.

So, when I see new products being developed for canine skin health, I get a little optimistic that other dogs may not have to suffer like he did, but I also get a little depressed thinking about our poor westie. One such new product is Dermaxol. Here is a product that is being advertised as being "99% effective" at reversing skin ailments in pets. On top of that, it is also all natural, so it won't lead to any unexpected nasty side effects like the heart disease that took our little companion from us.

I also like the fact that Dermaxol can be taken orally, so there's no sticky or oily lotion to rub on their fur. They also offer a 100% "iron-clad" guarantee, so it sounds like a no brainer for skin problems.

I know I don't cover "pet" topics too often on this blog, but I figured that if there are any other pet owners out there with pets having similar skin problems, you should know that there are alternatives to dangerous "band-aid" products like steroids. All steroids ever did for our dog was make him sleepy and lethargic and give him heart disease. If I could "bring him back" and give him this product today, I would. Unfortunately, he left us before this technology was discovered.