"So before subjecting a child to elimination of a large number of items that are part of a healthy diet, it would be a good idea to look at other, well-understood risk factors first." Hmm, I disagree with this. There is nothing in dairy that is critical to human development and health that cannot be found in another source. My children, and this will probably blow your mind, have never eaten any dairy products. They also do not have any kinds of developmental issues. On the contrary, they are above average developmentally according to the regular visits with our pediatrician. They have also never had an ear infection and have never needed any antibiotics or medication of any sort. The only thing they have ever suffered from is mild colds or flu. While this is a small sample size it demonstrates, to me at least, that there are ways to grow healthy children without dairy products. As I understand it the benefit from elimination (or reduction) of dairy is to reduce the production of mucus. There are other foods that can increase mucus production as well (wheat for example). This can help when you get a cold, sinus infection, etc. from turning into an ear infection. Commonly, mucus will get trapped in the middle ear and become a petri dish for bacteria resulting in an infection. I think it is sound advice to recommend removing dairy from the diet as long as any lacking nutrition is compensated with another non-dairy source. This method was used by my parents and grand parents with everyone in our family. So, as far as I am concerned it works.

Hi twolips i wil definatly be back on to let you know how i get on im definatly doing the right thing getting it checked out i know that much like i said i am trying to be positive and optomistic its the only way to go otherwise i think id go insane this is such a difficult time in out lives aint it , im so pleased you have beat the monster gud for you hun , you gotta remain positive girlfriend , i am a fighter like you obviously are , how old are you lori? are you perimenopausal ? i am 46 and had a hysterectomy when i was 30 had 1 ovary left in and had no symptoms of menopause until last sept i started with palps like a bolt out of the blue then this year the flushes and everything started what a minefield of confusion , all i seem to do these days i fill in my monthly symptom checker chart do research and comfort myself by coming on here everyday to reassure myself the way i am feeling is quite usual for my age ,my fella is only 27 but we have been together for 11 yrs and he is very patient and understanding he deserves a medal lately i swear anyway take care i look forward to another chat to you ok shelly ps i am in England where are you?

not sure how your vet managed to rule out allergies.. .that would be my number one guess, as stomatitis itself is sort of related to an allergy, as is ear shaking in most cats... Just because the stomatitis is gone does not mean the allergic or autoimmune tendencies are. Allergic inflammation of the inner ear, eustachian tube and into the mouth can certainly cause discomfort though I have no idea how to determine what your cat might be allergic to (often this is the case... if not a food allergy, which it isn't' about half the time)- There are no good tests in cats to determine what they are allergic to.. and it could be 'allergic to itself' (autoimmune condition)... which is pretty hard to do much about other than treat with something like a steroid (be careful if trying steroids in a fat cat- can lead to diabetes).. had that happen with a patient of mine...got rid of the stomatitis, and for the first time in the cat's life, it was pain free... and it proceeded to gain a huge amount of weight and quickly became a diabetic... probably a more complex and difficult disease to deal with all the ramifications than is stomatitis... but at least not usually a painful one.

Ask your vet for ponazuril instead of albon for the coccidia. Ponazuril actually kills coccidia, unlike albon (albendazole) which is only a coccidiastat (inhibits growth). Most coccidia we have been seeing is very resistant to albon now, but we've been permanently curing dogs and cats of coccidia with ponazuril. If your vet is unfamiliar with this medication s/he can get the info from me. Ponazuril is actually a medication for horses used to treat ECM. I also use it on rabbits for E. cunniculi.