stormie

Maybe time to seek a new vet Agree 100%. I really think Lucy needs some cortisone

What particular type of dry food are you currently feeding? Come pop into the Dane sub breed forum - lots of very knowledgeable people and we're all happy to help!

wow gees Pheebs, poor Lucy! What you have described sounds so much like an allergic reaction to some sort of sting/bite etc, so I can't work out why on earth the first vet give meloxicam and not a shot of cortisone?!?! Meloxicam would do absolutely nothing for that sort of reaction and is likely the reason she couldn't be given the glucocorticoid (cortisone) by the second vet, because of the increased risk of gastrointestinal ulceration when you give the two together. Fingers crossed her swelling and hives settle down soon - poor thing must be in so much discomfort...

There's no problem in using Frontline and Sentinel together. Sentinel doesn't kill adult fleas - it just effects development of the larvae etc, making them deformed and unable to hatch. Most of our clients are on Sentinel and most of them report that they rarely have a flea problem, though over summer they occasionally need to use an additional product which will kill the adults, eg Frontline or Advantage/Advantix. I wouldn't like to say there is an end to the tick season on the Northern Beaches. I believe on the Central Coast they can see paralysis ticks all year round, so it's just as possible for this to be the case on the Northern Beaches. Your vet should be able to tell you what the situation is like there for ticks though. I wouldn't be changing what you are doing.

That's a pretty normal size incision when you're taking out something you're not sure what it is. You need to make sure you completely excise the lump, so you take a lot of the surrounding tissue as well.

Hi Otesha, We currently have a lovely Golden Retriever patient who is making a great recovery from IMPA. His flared up a week or so following a vaccination and he has been treated with Cortisone. It's been about 4 months now since diagnosis and his cortisone dose will be ceased within the next week or two - so far so good and no sign of relapse. He has suffered some terrible side effects from the cortisone - muscle wastage being one, but probably one of the worst has been the calcinosis cutis, where calcium deposits are formed in the skin. Wishing goodluck to your friend's dog

This happens in all industries. You pay different prices for things at McDonalds or Woolworths, depending where you are. Things are this way because that's what the public have chosen - we chose this by the governments we vote in. By law, vets aren't allowed to all get together and work out pricing so they are all the same - if this happened, there would be no element of competition and prices would only go up, because people would have no choice. The fact that vets can and do charge different prices means that people are free to shop around to find a price they are happy with and generally, prices are kept as low as realistically possible because they need to compete with near by vets. I'm sorry, but I don't have much sympathy for that man. If he couldn't afford to have the surgery, then he should have just left the cyst on. I see no point in potentially risking the dog's life to do 'home surgery', to remove the lump.

that's great!

all I see is a promo for the news

ooh that would be great if you could find it!! I totally understand the action of how it works in people, but like I said, the amount of gas in the stomach of a bloating dog is far greater than that of a human feeling bloated, hence why I was saying I'd love to see some scientific data is to its efficacy in bloating dogs. I'm not completely doubting it works, just saying I'd love to see some proper evidence that it does, that's all.

Simethecone works by breaking down the surface tensions of the small air bubbles in the stomach, thus causing bigger bubbles to form, which theoretically, are easier for the stomach to pass. I know how it works I was meaning I'd like to see studies done on its success rate with dogs that bloat as to whether or not it has proven to make a difference.

You know what I think has been one of the best treatments all up for Orbits allergies so far? many refills of a glass of wine

Nope, I don't see that either. I think the most common side effect in terms of behaviour, is more of being agitated and restless rather than being happy and chilled out. Orbit pants a bit more on pred days and tends to have more ants in his pants. I wouldn't say he's 'happy'

I'd love to see a proper study done on it. Because as has been said, the drug is designed to work in the bowel, not the stomach and the amount of gas in a dogs' stomach when its bloating is a huge amount compared to what people get when they are bloated/gassy. Yes, dogs can be obviously bloating with having torsioned - hence why some cases can be fixed with a stomach tube. I would love to know whether it was the DeGas that dissipated the gas, or whether the fact that obviously the stomach hadn't rotated if they were able to get pills down, and the gas escaped naturally. Personally, I don't think I'd be trying to get DeGas in if Porp was bloating. For one, they're usually retching, so there's a fair chance they may not get down to the stomach anyway and secondly, if they've torsioned they won't get down. I'd assume it would take atleast 10-15mins for the capsule itself to dissolve too and the liquid to make it down and I wouldn't like to be waiting that long to see if they're gonna work. I think having a stomach tube on hand, assuming you know how to use it correctly and NOT force it if it won't get through, is much more of a possibility of doing anything. But that's just my personal opinion. I'm not saying those that say it work are wrong - I'd really like to see work done on it to know whether it was actually scientifically proven to work.

I know they're not cheap, but what about looking at getting one of those Roombas? A friend of mine had one and they just turned it on once or twice a day and it really helped to keep the hair under control.

Mylanta is both an antacid and a gas medication. Degas is simethicone alone. Bloat happens in the stomach, not the bowel and I don't see how simethicone would work to prevent it. I'm happy to hear the theories though. I have wondered this too. My understand was that DeGas worked in the large bowel. Also I don't believe that dogs bloating is the same mechanism as a human with flatulence or bloating. When a person feels bloated, its very different to a dog bloating. But, if it doesn't hurt to give it, I guess you can only try, so by no means am I saying people shouldn't give it.

De-Gas does nothing for me

Fingers crossed for you. If she is still eating her new diet, I would think that the rate of weight loss would be too rapid for a dog that is still eating. Try not to worry until you get the results back, though unfortunately it's not uncommon for such results to come back inconclusive. I'm sure you and your vet will get to the bottom of it. Goodluck!

Interesting regarding the raised feeding thing. I feed raw now and every time I give him RMB's, he will take them to a chair or something else raised, to elevate them himself! I figure this is more comfortable for him than stretching down to eat, so his meat meal in a bowl is fed raised too. I don't do it for the bloat factor but because it seems to be more comfortable.

Many now disagree with this being done so its a dilemma either way,i wouldnt get it done on my guys just in case Interesting, seeing a number of specialists/breed specialists are all for it. But each to their own I guess. I had it done. I'd much rather do it now, whilst he is healthy and his stomach tissue is healthy, than be doing it after he's bloated and already in a compromised situation. The tacking isn't meant to prevent bloat - the idea behind it is that the stomach can't rotate as it's tacked in place. So if they do bloat, you have a better chance of being able to relieve it via stomach tube, which otherwise you may not be able to pass through if the stomach has torsioned. And thanks for sharing that Stonebridge, I've never heard of a case of a pup bloating before. Trocar's can be and are used in dogs, though I know my vet wouldn't do it unless it was a matter of only having minutes to spare.

No one knows why some bloat. You could feed two dogs the same foods and one could bloat and the other may not. If the ingredients in food was the cause, why aren't more dogs bloating at a younger age, when first fed that food? Generally they seem to bloat as adults, rarely as young dogs. I've also seen dogs that bloated many hours after their last meal and also seen one bloat directly after feeding, in its crate. Personally, I think if you have a breed that is very prone to bloat, you should consider having a gastropexy done when they are desexed. It won't stop them bloating, but it can stop them torsioning, which is what often causes the complications leading to death. It's done routinely over in the USA and I'd like to see it done more often here too.

Orbit's hives from the fish took a week or two to clear after ceasing the diet. I'm pretty sure the hives following the injection were gone after a few days. He's been on constant cortisone throughout these though, so I'm not sure whether they would have stuck around longer without it.

I have used it a bit with good results. Mostly I end up using it on patients that are too difficult to medicate (cats that are devil spawn, and dogs that are like rabid land sharks) but the results have been quite good. I have mixed feeling about slow release injections too, but I'm also well aware of how poor compliance at giving twice daily meds can be. Does his skin start with true urticaria, the soft slightly inflamed welty lumps and then progress to staph, or are you just starting with folliculitis that gets worse? (I've seen both, so it's just a general question). Do you usually cephalexin or amoxyclav for skin? Using the high doses? We get both, Rappie. Occasionally he gets bad bouts of urticaria but thankfully I haven't dealt with a bad bout of that for a while. He got it bad when he was on a fish diet and had his worst when he hit the 1ml stage of his desensitising injections. Mostly though, it is folliculitis which if I don't get under control, degenerates. We use cephalexin, mostly at the 30mg/kg rate. This pic is from the 1ml desens. inj. Not the best pic, but you get the idea. He was like this all down his back.

Would you consider a rescue? There are often plenty of staffy x's and other short coated, medium sized dogs/pups looking for homes in rescue

We had legislation at our last clinic that stated that even the second vet clinic cannot request the records to be sent over. If we've referred someone to a specialist, they can call us asking for the history/referral. But if it's just a client changing vets, the clients themselves have to be the ones requesting the info to be sent/faxed, not the vet. My previous boss was very strict about this, after having local competitors requesting patient histories for people who'd just come in to buy over the counter products like shampoos etc. Anything that had the clients personal details needed to be requested by them.