Classie Corner first featured Dr Chet five years ago. Here’s the background of that historic encounter:
A TRUE animal doctor has been hard at work through the Checkout Classifieds to get tails wagging again for the multitudes of itchy canines.
Dr Chet died about six months ago but the good work of the 10-year-old rhodesian ridgeback lives on.
He remains the icon for a range of herbal products that are credited with an "immediate stop" on itch in dogs, horses and any other hairy sufferers.
Dr Chet’s Herbal Treatments are the brainchild of Ken Inman, of Redland Bay on Brisbane’s eastside.
Ken, who says he is near retirement, formerly worked in the building industry but became interested in herbs through involvement with a naturopath about 20 years ago.
He realised the potential for a herbal assault on Queensland itch, hotspots, fleas and flies in the 1980s, when his dog, shetland sheep dog Mickey, had a bad attack of summer itch, which Ken was able to cure.
Ken said that after working on the details for years he patented a herbal mix in 1994 and gained official status from the National Registration Authority.
He makes the products at a modest factory on a farm near Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
One of the priorities was finding a mixture to give a cooling effect for the troubled animal, with an antibacterial treatment and further additives to kill insects.
He markets the treatments in appropriate sizes for the size range from chihuahua to horse.
"The response I got from a dog owner this week seems to sum it up," Ken said.
"She told me she got the COD package the day before and had already put it on the dog and it was interested again in what was happening around it.
"When they are affected, dogs will spend all their time scratching.’’
Ken says, however, his system requires the owner to be committed to keep up the treatment.
Owners are sometimes disappointed one application does not succeed.
"Probably as with any chronic health problem, a sustained treatment is required," he said.
TAILNOTE: Dr Chet’s owner was Ken’s son, Jason. He – I mean the dog – did not experience summer itch. Ken says Dr Chet received a regular treatment to keep fleas at bay, so avoided the itchy consequence.