(PRWEB) August 9, 2004

Mike Raven, a Mastiff Owner and Dog Fancier, became interested in treating Canine Eczema when one of his female show Mastiffs began to experience severe skin problems, often referred to as ?Hot Spots?.

Mike struggled unsuccessfully for a couple of years with her "Hot Spot" skin conditions using the Traditional Therapies Recommended by Veterinarians, (anti inflammatory drugs (prednisone) and antibiotics). Treatments also included Holistic, Homeopathic, Over-The-Counter Remedies, and Dietary changes, all to no avail. The General consensus of the veterinarians was that his Mastiff suffered from an allergic reaction to fleas. This diagnosis caused Mike a couple of problems: 1. Mike suffered greatly from serious multiple Allergies ( Including Allergy triggered Migraine Headaches, inhaled, contact and injested allergies ) and 2. the climate in Charleston ,Oregon ( Where Mike lived) did not permit dog or cat fleas to breed (No Fleas!). The symptoms Mike?s dog displayed did not correspond to any of Mike?s personal first hand Allergy experience and his dogs had never seen a flea!

Mike lived on the Oregon coast in close proximity to the Oregon Institute Of Marine Biology. Mike was very involved in environmental issues, and learned about the delicate balance of nature from his friend Dr.Bayard H. McConnaughey, a noted Marine Biologist teaching at the Institute about the effects of the environment on Marine Micro-organisms and the delicate balance of Nature affecting their survival.

These concepts gave Mike some ideas which led him to a theory as to the cause of his Mastiff's skin condition. This led him to conduct some simple experiments with his Mastiff's Hot Spots. One of these experiments seemed to clear up his dog?s skin condition.

Mike considered himself lucky to be able to get rid of this problem for his dog, and didn?t think much about it. However, it turned out that several of his neighbors dogs also suffered from Hot Spots. Mike treated 6 dogs in the neighborhood and all 6 dogs responded positively to his treatment.

In 1983 circumstances caused Mike to move to Southern California. It was this move that made him aware of how widespread the Hot Spot problem really was. Mike began to research the problem and found that according to the Cornell University Veterinarian School this problem afflicted an estimated 15 million dogs and cost the public an estimated 60 billion dollars a year. They also stated that there wasn?t any real known solution to this problem and that no matter what you did (with or without treatment) approximately 33% of the dogs researched managed to successfully deal with this skin problem. This left 66% of the dogs skin condition uncontrolled - No matter what treatment was used.

Mike decided to advertise in his local newspaper for 50 dogs that had been previously Veterinarian diagnosed with severe non-parasitic skin disorders which could be photographed and treated every seven days for a period of up to 1 year. He conducted this field test in this manner so as to factor in any variations and failures to follow instructions that the dog owners might do when treating their dogs.

46 of the test dogs skin conditions were completely controlled within 90 days and needed no further treatments.

27 of the dogs successfully treated had a return of their skin problem within 6 to 12 months, and 15 of these dogs had a third relapse within 24 months. By the end of 3 years, none of the dogs successfully treated required further treatments. The 2nd and 3rd re-occurrences of their skin problems were much less severe and more quickly and easily controlled.

One of the dogs in the test died of natural causes (at the age of 17), and had been treated only twice (15 days), however, the owner said the dog had been showing significant signs of improvement.

Two of the dogs did not respond to the treatments.

One of the dogs, a young Dalmatian, was taken by his owners to a Veterinarian Dermatologist who told them ?Their dogs skin condition was incurable and it would suffer the rest of it?s life with this problem?. So they decided they did not want him to suffer so they had him euthanized. The saddest part of this story is that the Veterinarian told them Mike?s treatments would not work and they never even tried to treat the dog.

15 of the dogs in the test had been diagnosed with Thyroid problems as a possible cause of their skin conditions and were being treated unsuccessfully at the time of the test. All of these dogs skin problems were controlled with Mike?s treatments, these dogs were then tested and no Thyroid problem was found and they were removed from their thyroid medications without any adverse effects. Mike concluded that these dogs had been mis-diagnosed as having thyroid problems when in fact, they did not.

Shortly after completing his research, Mike attended a symposium on Canine skin disorders, put on by the local Southern California Veterinarian Association. At this conference the key note speaker was the famous Dr. Alfred Plechner who had written a book about this subject. At the end of the meeting, Mike approached Dr. Plechner and asked if he had any statistical information on the efficacy of his suggested treatments and he replied that ?(He) did not keep statistics but it appeared that his treatments resulted in about a 35% success rate.?. At the time this conversation took place there were two members of the SCVA present. Mike asked Dr. Plechner if he was interested in seeing Mike?s research and the results of the test he had conducted which reflected a 95% success rate. This offer was also made to the two representatives of the SCVA. All of them declined this offer. The SCVA representatives told Mike that they could only accept information from licensed Veterinarians because of liability concerns. Even though Mike had two large notebooks filled with test results and photographs of the dogs in the test right there for them to look at they refused to do so.

Mike decided to shelve the matter until more information could be developed.

It wasn?t until 15 years later that a chance encounter with Dr. Wayne Marteny, of Palmdale California, an equine specialist,working on Mike?s horses, informed Mike that his pet Dachshunds, who traveled with him everywhere in his truck, had Hot Spot problems. Mike gave Dr. Marteny a ?Hot Spot Kit? for his dogs. A few weeks later, during another visit, Dr. Marteny stated that ?The Hot Spot Kit works great, and that is the first time anything worked on my dogs!?. Mike has given several Hot Spot Kits to Dr. Marteny over the years in case he runs into other dogs that need help on his equine rounds. It was Dr. Marteny who gave Mike an ?Economics 101? lesson; ?None of the small animal Vet?s are going to help you, because they can?t make any money from your product. More than half of their business stems from this one dog skin problem alone.?

It seemed that this conspiracy of silence could not be broken without a great deal of money for advertising.

However, maybe there?s hope! Mike began to learn about the internet!

Internet search engines are not motivated to suppress information and therefore are not censored and ANYONE looking for answers can simply enter a few words or phrases such as ?Alternative Animal Skin Therapy?, or ?Canine Skin Treatment?, etc., and can find information relating to this subject.

Mike says that ?Because of the Internet, the cat?s out of the bag, and dog owners no longer need to bark up the wrong tree!?

Raven Pet Products supports Guide Dog, and other Service Dog Organizations, they also support Dog Rescue Organizations and Active Members of the Armed Forces. These folks are eligible for a 20%($ 3.00) discount on each Hot Spot Kit ordered.

For more information, go to http://www.ravenpetproducts.com or call 1-800-888-3647 in the USA.

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