posted
We have the cutest little dogs, by all accounts.
I am not an animal person, never was, never will be. Got them a couple of years back because we thought it would be good for the kids with all that they and our family have been through.
I purell myself whenever I pet them. I totally scheeve when they jump up on the couch especially when I have a pile of clean laundry waiting to be folded. It grosses me out when they try to lick me or any of us. You get the picture. But I really do love them and appreciate them in my own way.
Anyway, one of them has been dealing with all sorts of issues the past year and a half or so: skin problems, bacterial infections, fungal infections, ear infections. She is a delicate little creature and has suffered more than she should have to. Seeing her scratch herself and her skin all red bothers me.
She is such a sweet thing, but has yet to meet a surface she won't pee or poop on (which drives me nuts...she just pooped on the way to the vet in my car 2 times....2 very, very big smelly times, and she is tiny and had already gone out!)
We have taken her to the vet umpteen times because of the scratching/biting and her red skin and the results have been less than satisfactory. There are a few docs in the practice, and we've been to all of them. They are good but haven't been good enough.
At one point I took her to a holistic vet for a second opinion. He was so beyond useless it wasn't funny and cha-ching, we still had to pay for him and his uselessness.
So we go back to the original vet office yet again because the poor thing's lady parts looked swollen and and she was licking them. I never noticed her lady parts before, but her licking them was not normal and they looked raw and red.
The last thing I felt like doing was going to the vet yet again especially since my little one has not been feeling well and I've been majorly upset about that---a post for another day.
I take this poor little thing into the exam room. The vet tells me the dog has very severe allergies and her lady parts are swollen because of a raging bacterial infection (apparently he forgot that we knew over a year ago she was allergic to dust and that she had bad skin problems that led to bacterial and fungal infections).
So he proceeds to tell me that he knows we discussed the possibility of her going on cyclosporine and I interject and tell him we never discussed that.
Half my mind is fried because of all the crap we've been through, but the half of my mind that still works is razor-sharp and knows word-for-word medical convos I've had whether human or dog.
Yay for those of us like me with half-minds! Our half-minds are better than most who still have their whole minds, but that's a post for a different day.
He goes on to discuss keeping her on the temeril for now---a dog combo of prednisone and antihistamine---which I insisted on several weeks back because she was suffering so much, and adding an antihistamine and an antibiotic along with the cyclosporine, as well as a special shampoo and conditioner. Sounded like a good, reasonable plan...finally!!
And then, he had to go down the path of "But I really think the best thing to do would be for you to take her to a dermatologist because what's-her-name would really be the one to identify what exactly is going on"
Snap. No really, I did. I snapped. Because as he was saying this, I was wondering why he or his colleagues didn't even mention a freaking pet dermatologist during the 89 other visits and megabucks we had already spent.
It just came out of me very loud and apparently others in the office heard me:
"Listen, let me tell you something. My family has been through absolute hell the past few years with Lyme disease. When I tell you we've seen over 20 doctors I am not exaggerating. We've spent tens of thousands of dollars out of our own pockets to try to get our kids well. If you think for a freaking minute that I have the time or money to go to a damn dog dermatologist, think again. I am lucky if I can go to the freaking supermarket by myself and spend a minute or 2 in the meat aisle. You just laid out a plan. Let's do it and try to get her better"
The vet reacted positively (like he had a choice) to what I said and agreed to implement his plan without us having to go to another doggie doc. Hopefully the meds will work for our little pooch.
So it seems like this pup is one of my kids...with all her infections and health problems and oh yes, dietary restrictions, not to mention the go-round with her vets.
-------------------- You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
---Eleanor Roosevelt Posts: 748 | From somewhere | Registered: May 2010
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glm1111
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 16556
posted
Awwwww, Sorry Alana for all the aggravation you have between trying to care for your family and now your doggie.
It crossed my mind that the vet never mentioned the possibility of parasites. Or did he? Allergies can be a symptom of parasites/worms, so common in animals. Any thoughts?
Gael
-------------------- PARASITES/WORMS ARE NOW RECOGNIZED AS THE NUMBER 1 CO-INFECTION IN LYME DISEASE BY ILADS* Posts: 6418 | From philadelphia pa | Registered: Jul 2008
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momlyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 27775
posted
I am so sorry you are going through this with your dog. Maybe this will help.
My dog has Lyme and probably cos too, although I am still not sure which ones. One day she would not get up to eat. Doxy made her better. After 3 weeks and no more doxy, she couldn't walk again and started throwing up.
Anyway -- I am writing because she also had dry, itchy skin -- and here is what I did for her (and it worked). I soak plain oatmeal in water. I use one of those measuring cups for getting the stock from gravy, you know the ones with a spout at the bottom? Then I pour the oatmeal-ly water all over the affected areas and let her sit like that(At least 10 minutes). She is small enough that she fits in the sink while I do this.
In the beginning, I would do this once or twice a week. Now, I do it once or twice a month. Her itching is gone and she is growing hair back where she had gone bald from itching. I hope it works for your dog.
Good luck!
-------------------- May health be with you!
Toxic mold was suppressing our immune systems, causing extreme pain, brain fog and magnifying symptoms. Four days after moving out, the healing began. Posts: 2007 | From NY/VT Border | Registered: Aug 2010
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posted
I tell my daughter she needs to be a vet dermatologist. We took our allergic dog to one 5 or 6 years ago, and they are expensive. I paid more for that than I did for our daughter's first visit with Dr. J!
Our dog was allergic to many things and we did the shots for a while, but it didn't help.
Now, he is on raw food and steroids every day. He does well enough unless I forget his pill.
Have you picked up the cyclosporine yet? That was pretty expensive also.
Hope your dog gets better soon.
Posts: 984 | From US | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Sorry but Blue Buffalo is grain-free, not carb free. And carrots have carbs too.
Most dry dog foods have carbs. If you want to go carb-free you need to look at raw food. Best site is http://rawfed.com/myths/ and the Yahoo group rawfeeding
Many dogs with allergies have been helped by removing grains from their diets or moving to raw feeding.
Linda
Posts: 24 | From New Jersey | Registered: Aug 2009
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dmc
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5102
posted
linda you're correct, thank you for correcting my mistake.
Alot of dogs have wheat, gluten intolerance similar to us.
a great holistic info source... from Dr. Mercola's website
posted
I just started giving our dogs two tsp.'s of coconut oil per day.
I am doing it as my own experiment.
It seems to help me tremendously , so why not a dog?
My one dog is so gross!!!. If a child is over at our house, and forgets to flush and put the toilet seat down,,,,thaat dog will go in there and start licking the water, and trying to eat the poo in the toilet !!!!
So EXTREMELY GROSS!!! We've had kids at our house that have had accidents and the dog found the underwear and started to lick it clean,,,,, thinking it was doing us a favor or something.
I love dogs,,,
but know, with all I know about ticks, bacteria, and viruses,,,,
I am almost tempted to give them away,,,,
well, we are definetly not getting anymore dogs every again,,,,
we sanitize like crazy,,,don't let the dogs lick us,,,,etc. etc..
even our LLMD was almost begging us to get rid of our dogs....
now they only go outside just to do their business,and even then they are on a very short leash.
We are lucky that they are little dogs that don't need or beg for walks every day,,,, but with all that bacteria that they have inside them,,,,all they end up doing is just laying around the house sleeping all day....
I am thinking of asking our vet to run some tests and give our dogs medication,,,,but it is still one more chore that I don't quit have energy for yet......
-------------------- I am not a doctor. I have no clue. Posts: 606 | From somewhere out there | Registered: Sep 2009
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Andie333
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7370
posted
We feed our pup Merrick Beyond Grain canned and dry food. It's been great for him.
Our previous dog was very sick with Lyme and other things. We fed him a raw diet: ground turkey, fresh fruit and veggies. He lost weight and lived about 4 years longer than anyone imagined he would.
As soon as this puppy grows up, we'll likely start feeding him a raw diet, too.
Andie
Posts: 2549 | From never never land | Registered: May 2005
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Gael, thanks I am convinced both the dogs have parasites. They eat worms!!! Ugh ugh ugh. How could they not have parasites? The vet never mentioned parasites. I was hoping the stuff we give them every month (the lotion on the back of the neck and the heart-guard or whatever it's called) helped prevent that??
Momlyme, maybe I am naive, but I thought the Lyme vaccine would protect the dogs against Lyme? Sorry to hear that your dog had to go on doxy (don't we have enough problems with kids??). The oatmeal is a good idea. We have done the oatmeal dog shampoo/conditioner, but I'm guessing the last ingredient is oatmeal.
jkmom, when your daughter becomes a vet dermatologist let me know When I heard "vet" and "dermatologist" used in the same sentence, I knew we were talking megabucks. But I can't believe that it costs more than a visit to Dr. J. and that was a few years back!
We tested her for allergies and she is allergic to dust. We were told about the shots and the only thing that resulted from that convo was major eyerolling on my part. So apparently now I have to keep the house dust-free for the dog. God, I think she is actually my biological child in dog-form.
I got the cyclosporine the other day. The total charge for the visit plus all the meds was $240. I haven't even looked at the bill so I have no idea how much the cyclosporine costs.
Lymetoo, for sure dogs get yeast. She's had all sorts of problems but this is the first time her ladyparts have been swollen, and apparently that's because of a bacterial infection. And we put her on a diet of salmon, duck, rice, sweet potato only...no chicken, beef, wheat. That didn't help at all but we still keep to the diet but give organic carrots with a bit of organic peanut butter as treats.
DMC, I have often wondered why dogs can't take benadryl but are instead prescribed very expensive dog antihistamines. Blue Buffalo is one of the best dog foods.
Linda and DMC, thanks for the link and info about raw foods, Dr. Mercola. I am overwhelmed with the human side of life right now, so I will do whatever I can for the dogs but the kiddos are my first priority.
missing, If I could open the coconut oil jar that's been in the frig for the past 49 months, I'd be a happy girl. Guess it's about time I ask someone to try to open it for me
What a good idea to give it to your animals! I never would have thought of that. The thought of your dog doing the nasty toilet and underwear thing made me laugh. In fact it brought back memories of our dog (now having all the problems) searching and seizing any dirty underwear she could find and taking the evidence into her crate.
Unlike you, I can't say I love dogs. But I do love that they've brought a lot of joy to my kids. So from that perspective it's been worth it, but knowing what I know now, I too am tempted to give them away but I can't because of the emotional connections.
Our doggies are little and on a short leash too...they're basically indoor pets except when it comes to doing their business.
What tests/meds are you thinking of asking the vet about? I'm so burned out from everything myself that that would be the last thing I'd do unless I really had to.
Thanks again to everyone for your advice and insight.
-------------------- You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
---Eleanor Roosevelt Posts: 748 | From somewhere | Registered: May 2010
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posted
missing: It's possible that your dogs are trying to correct for a Vitamin B deficiency by eating poop. Gut bacteria produces B12, so poop is actually a rich source of B12. Perhaps you should start giving B vitamins to your dogs.
Posts: 330 | From Colorado, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
I would be inclined to give up on animals that take so much effort and money. It is difficult enough to deal with lyme in people in a family. Do you really need this?
Sounds hardhearted but you have gone the extra mile already.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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Both dogs enjoy consuming worms from the yard (eeew, yuck, gross). I've brought up the subject of parasites and worms and have received stares akin to "huh" from the vet.
I've also expressed on more than one occasion my concern about whether doggie illnesses can be passed to my children. You'd have thought I said I was a martian.
And the vet actually did see mites on the dog. I have no idea what kind of mites he was referring to.
I will look into the diatomaceous earth or however it's spelled. Thanks Don for telling me about this.
And Lou, yeah, I am so over this. The expense and effort has been through the roof, and it's the last thing I need right now. What you say doesn't sound hardhearted at all---just logical. And I agree with that logic wholeheartedly.
But logic doesn't coincide with my kids' feelings and because of that we have to keep the pets.
-------------------- You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
---Eleanor Roosevelt Posts: 748 | From somewhere | Registered: May 2010
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BoxerMom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 25251
posted
Alana -
We have a dog with all the same problems - allergies, skin infections, hives, yeast (skin and ears), redness, itching...
And she has congenital kidney disease.
We've tried all the dietary changes to no avail.
We tried low dose steroids and noticed some improvement, but I was uncomfortable giving steroids to an obviously infected dog.
She is now on an antibiotic and an antifungal. She was much better for about a week, but now the itching is resuming. But her skin and paws are less red, and her ears are clear.
We are going to try Humaworm for pets, just to see what happens with antiparasitic herbs. Honestly, she can't get any worse.
posted
boxermom, sorry to hear that you have a dog with the same problems.
I am happy that our dog seems to be doing better with all the meds. But I am not happy at all that a hypoallergenic dog is apparently highly allergic and very needy in the med department.
Sorry to hear that your pup has kidney disease....what did the vet put her on for that?
-------------------- You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
---Eleanor Roosevelt Posts: 748 | From somewhere | Registered: May 2010
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I am convinced both the dogs have parasites. They eat worms!!! Ugh ugh ugh. How could they not have parasites? The vet never mentioned parasites. I was hoping the stuff we give them every month (the lotion on the back of the neck and the heart-guard or whatever it's called) helped prevent that?? ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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