Thank you very much. I have spent a long time lurking, and pulled up plenty of good information on here. This is an amazing site with some amazing people that have a tremendous amount of knowledge about this great breed!
Our vet had us put her on a home cooked meal diet with many of the same ingredients/items you mentioned, and plenty other. There was no change at all, except she was coaxed into eating it easier than her regular dry or soft food. She has never had blood in her feces as one of her symptoms, though. Prednisone is the med she has been on as well, along with a few others. The vet has also mentioned "MCT" oil, which she wants us to go pick up this week ?
We definitely do NOT want to euthanize her, but if treatment regimen after treatment regimen and different ideas/approaches do not work, we're not sure what to do...especially considering it is a hereditary/genetic disease that will never go away. It honestly does not seem fair to Luna to have her living this way for years to come...she would never to be able to enjoy a dogs life
Wow, I did not expect to run into another person on here who had purchased from there. I am extremely glad to hear he is doing well! Luna turned 2 back in July, 2008, and it wasn't until after that point when she suddenly began with these symptoms. We researched all the documents that Wanda Smith sent to us, and our research turned up that she was actually born to a yorkie couple that is owned by a Bill & Sue Guerin out of Taneyville, Missouri. We never knew that until much later after we had taken delivery of Luna.
I find it extremely ridiculous and insulting how the "Moonlight Kennel" website states the following:
"We do not possess a USDA license or a broker's license and do not sell puppies to either pet brokers or pet stores"
"Wanda is not able to keep up with the demand for Yorkies and Schnauzers by herself and does occasionally list puppies from other breeders. What does this mean for you? Many other sites list other breeder's puppies and try to disguise the fact that they know almost nothing about the dogs being listed on their sites. In many cases the person listing the puppy has never even seen it. At Moonlight Kennels, NO YORKIE OR SCHNAUZER PUPPY WILL BE LISTED THAT HAS NOT BEEN PERSONALLY EXAMINED AND PRONOUNCED SATISFACTORY BY WANDA. That means that even if you choose a Yorkshire Terrier or Miniature Schnauzer puppy that Wanda did not personally breed, you still get the benefit of Wanda's extensive experience."
Funny how in our case she did exactly what she stated that she doesn't do; she brokered a deal. I'm sure she made a killer profit as "the middleman". My favorite part of all is the line about being "personally examined and pronounced satisfactory by Wanda". She doesn't state that she will only outsource a pup from a specific breeder, or if she has any criteria for outsourced pups that she did not breed...instead, her words indicate she can just simply find a pup from anywhere, give it the once over, and "pronounce it satisfactory". I would not doubt that she picked up our Luna from some sort of puppy mill for pennies on the dollar and "re-sold" her to us with an insane profit margin (we paid a pretty penny).
I also came across the same line about them "retiring" a couple of weeks ago, but I have not been able to find it again. Maybe they took it down ?
I am seriously debating flying up there to missouri as soon as I can get some time off work, just to research these "kennels" and take some live footage/pictures for all to see, then confront Wanda Smith in person and record it. My only concern is that I know most of these areas, especially in that region, are very very rural areas where everybody knows everybody, and outsiders are usually not welcome and met with hostility... we will see. When the time comes, I will definitely report back to YT exactly what transpired.
Again, thank you all for the tremendous amount of support you've shown. It's great to know that so many people out there actually do care!