benny123

If it's just for backyard use you may get some here at Petsplus

One thing I forgot to mention before - eliminating all red meat from Benny's diet also helped enormously. Chicken and Turkey were fine but if he ate the smallest amount of beef or lamb he'd have a hot spot within 24 hours.

My old sheppie x was plagued with hot spots and we tried everything from Malaseb to cortisone. One thing that seemed to give him some relief from the itching/burning was witchhazel. I'd dab it on and fan it until dry.

So sorry Carlibud.

RIP beautiful Buddy. My old GSD boys, Ben and Jim will show you around.

So glad he's feeling better. Perhaps he ate something at the park.

I'd be going to an emergency after hours vet right now.

Rest in peace darling old Biddie - gosh, hope the typing and spelling is OK as I can't see through the tears.

Beautiful Sinna, your mum loved you so much and it's obvious you felt the same.

I think you even loved that Siamese cat - what a good girl you were.

My Lab x female experienced this about 12 - 15 months ago after a bath. We didn't realy notice it at first as we have two dogs and bathed her brother after her and then put them outside to completely dry. By the time we noticed there was something strange with her tail the vet was closed. We sougth advice the next day and were advised to just rest her and it would take around two weeks to come good again, which it did - and the poor girl was in pain for some of that time.

Last Thursday after about two hours of swimming in our pool and retreiving balls etc, I noticed when I dried her off that her tail was again plastered to her body (which is unusual when she's being toweled down as she loves it so much). I immediately rang the vet and told him I thought it was Cold Water Tail, sadly he'd never heard of it, but thankfully he Googled. We took her in straight away and her gave her an anti-inflamatory injection and 10 anti-inflam tablets to take home.

She's had three tablets so far (Fri/Sat/Sun) and her tail is completely normal today and there is no evidence of pain.

So, although Cold water tail is not widely known (have yet to meet a vet that is aware), it seems that immediate treatment with anti-inflamatory meds definitately lessen the severity and duration of the condition.

Also, I think once a dog has had this condition there is a strong chance it could happen again. We've had it twice in a dog that is 2 and a half, so I imagine it won't be the last time. At least now we know to seek immediated treatment.

Just wanted to let you know our experience as I'm sure I've read of a few dogs suffering this condition.

I read Ruthless'thread on fleas. Mine are on Sentinel Spectrum, which apparently is only a flea contraceptive (apart from heartworm and intestinal worm control) So, should I switch back to Inteceptor and also use Advantage?? - I think we may have a flea or two

Our girl suffered with recurring UTIs from about 6 months to 18 months old. At about 12 months she also became incontinent - same as your girl, wetting while sleeping.

Apart from antibiotics for the UTIs, our then vet also put her on HRT for about 6 months (our girl is a rescue dog and was desexed at 8 weeks) to see if that would help as he thought she was missing hormones due to early desexing.

She's off all meds now and is 2 years and three months old. She hasn't wet herself since June.

Good luck.

I bought a stack of face washers, wet them, rolled them and froze them in freezer bags (so the water didn't escape into the freezer compartment). The pups loved chewing on them as I think the ice helped their sore gums. When they were finished I just washed them and did it again.

Then I found some odd shaped ice cube trays at Ikea. I bought one shaped like a cross and another that made long (about 15cm) ice blocks. The pups were able to hold onto these and gnaw on them.

Glad the recipes are helpful, poochmad! We are all in this together.

Benny123, I had to look up what lamb fry are and here that might be hard to find in a store. But they sound a lot healthier than the chicken jerky from China! Good for you to be making your dogs wholesome, locally sourced treats.

I think it's just sheep liver :cool: Most butchers sell it.

I buy a human grade lambs fry.

1) Lightly poach it until it is a little firmer than fresh.

2) Cool long enough to be able to handle

3) Slice it into thin pieces about 3-4 mm thick.

4) Place on a lined (baking paper) tray/s and put into the oven at about 150C until completely cooked and dry.

5) I store this in kitchen paper lined container in the fridge.

My dogs will do any thing for this treat - Beanie has done (almost) cartweels, tapdanced, walked on her hands with her back legs in the air - anything to get attention and get one of these treats.

ETA: Kitchen paper in No 5. and....you house will smell, so then put some fresh rosemary in the hot oven and the house will smell nice again.

I moved to Pro Plan Selects Lamb & Oatmeal when Nutro was no longer available. It's made in the USA ( I think) but claims to contain NZ and AU lamb:

- The #1 Ingredient is real New Zealand and Australian Lamb, raised without hormones

- Formulated without ground corn, lamb by-products or artificial colours or flavours

- Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, including DHA and EPA

- Formulated with antioxidants, including those from Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Blueberry Pomace and Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

Lamb, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, chicken meal (natural source of glucosamine), pearled barley, oat meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), dried egg product, fish oil, pea fiber, dried beet pulp, natural flavor, potassium chloride, calcium phosphate, salt, dried sweet potatoes, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, blueberry pomace, dried tomatoes, calcium carbonate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, choline chloride, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), niacin, copper proteinate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

I'm assuming it's irradiated when it enters AU :rolleyes:

This is so sad . What a wonderful boy protecting his family.

I don't post in the breed threads very often (owning two rescue mutts ), but I've followed the birth of these babes.

Hugs to Veanna and her family and LMWS

Run free baby boy.

Healing vibes on their way.

My two were down with a gastro bug about two weeks ago and my girl also had blood in her poo. This is the thread http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=149346&hl=

Both of mine recently recovered from a gastrointestinal bug. Our vet recommended steamed/poached chicken with well boiled mashed potatoes (no milk or butter etc) rather than rice. It was the first time I had heard this as I'd always used chicken and rice, so asked why potato.

She said that as rice is a grain it can still irritate an inflammed bowel, whereas well cooked, well mashed potato requires very little work from the dogs digestive system to process yet it's still bland and very starchy. That made sense to me so I tried it, with great success. It seemed to settle their stomachs much faster than chicken and rice ever had.

EFS

Gastrointestinally, everything is back to normal today for both of them. Except for poor Spud who spent today in hospital with cut between his toes. We've no idea how that happened but being on an acre I guess there may have been something sharpish in the yard that we've not discovered yet. He now has stitches and has to wear a sock for 10 days - this will be fun.

When we saw the vet today I asked her to refresh me on the potato rather than rice with chicken for the bland diet as I was so panicked on Sunday night I couldn't really remember.

She said because rice is a grain it can still be quite irritating on an already inflammed intestine, whereas well cooked and well mashed potato doesn't require much effort (if any) by the dog's digestive system to process. It seemed to work very well with my two and was accepted without a problem - perhaps because of the Lab in their heritage. I think it's worth a try for anyone needing a bland diet for an upset stomach.

No back end action at all today, from either of them. Is this normal when recovering from a gastrointestinal bug?

Well only two miniscule liquidy poos from Beanie today followed by one semi solid this afternoon and nothing at all from Spud. They are still bright and cheerful and came for another drive this afternoon so we could stock up on chicken tenderloins and potatoes.

Thankfully they love the car as going for walks is out of the question for fear of spreading this bug to others.

OH and I feel like we've just flown in from London (very tired in a jet lagged sort of way) but the bedroom is still wrapped up like a Christo creation with another possible sleepless night ahead.

ETA: Thank you all for you kind words and advice. This site is wonderful. It's great to be able to communicate with others who understand the enormous love we have for our dogs and how worrying it is when they are not well. And thank you for the lovely complement poodlefan, yes we are dedicated dog lovers and they are treated the same as any other loved one (if not better )

...and, as if having dogs with the trots isn't enough, Spud has now developed a morbid fear of blow flies

Four more small sloppy poos (with a bit of blood) during the night - all outside as she woke us up. She's still her bright, happy bouncy self; no problems with hydration, she's drinking plenty of water.

Biggest prob at the moment is that she and her brother can't believe there's no breakfast. They're doing relays from the kibble bin in the laundry to the fridge in the kitchen (where the breakfast yoghurt is kept). OH has just taken them for a drive to the newsagent to get the paper to try and take their mind off food.

This is our bedroom tonight - easier to wash drop sheets than replace the carpet.

Pups are now asleep after their big day in the pool when all was well with their bottoms http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry3093850

Thanks poodlefan - yep, it was news to me too but the vet said plain old mash (no milk or butter) was much easier on the intestines than rice, so I'll give it a go. Sound feasible.

No prob with checking during the night - while I was typing the last post my darling caring husband was covering the our bedroom (where the dogs normally sleep) with industrial strength tarpaulins and industrial strength drop sheets (he's a tradesman) so we could keep an eye on her.

Thanks everyone - found and consulted the emergency vet.

Vet seems to think it's a mild gastro bug due small volume of poop/blood and the fact that Beanie is as bright as a button and then suddenly gets the urge to poo and is straining a bit. She thinks the blood is from straining (broken blood vessel) which she has been doing.

Since Spud also had a 24 hour gastric bug (with no blood) she thinks Beanie has caught it and her body is handling it differently.

No food for 24 hours and then steamed chicken and mashed potato (not rice), as apparently, mashed potato is digested more easily than rice.

If no improvement in the bowel movements in 24 hours or if she becomes flat and lethargic at any time, it's back to the vet pronto and with a sample. Sadly we'd cleaned them all up, hosed them away and disinfected the area and she didn't do another one for the vet.

We now have to break the news to her and her brother that they're sleeping in the laundry tonight with the back door open.