stormie

Crap Yep, we've done moth eaten here too... Hope it clears up quick for you this time. It's interesting that the boys' hives got to staph infection, must be something to do with the difference in predisposition to get secondary staph or yeast perhaps... Asher didn't really get itchy with his hive bout either, but itchy and sore with the staph after. Thankfully he's not predisposed to hives! Yeah I'd say its just the fact that the skin gets so inflamed and irritated from the hives, just leaving it open for staph to run wild. We don't get hives all that often here thankfully - the only time I've seen him with them was when he was eating fish but they weren't as bad as they were this time. He only seems to get them on his neck and down his back too and occasionally down his thighs - has never affected his face or belly.

Glad to hear he's doing better!!! Fingers crossed he's ok in the long term... Do the hives turn into staph infection (is that what the pustules are?) - the one episode of hives Asher had turned into the worst staph infection he's ever had!! Good luck with the new regime. Yep - turns into major staph infection Sucks because whenever he gets a staphy area, his hair falls out from the raised pustule area, so you can imagine at the moment, he's looking quite moth eaten. Least I got to it early this time and starting AB's pretty much as soon as the hives broke out, but he's still looking quite bumpy, though thankfully not as bad.

If you've fed rabbit before, I wouldn't be using it for an elimination diet, even if it was 18months ago. If he does have food allergies, he may have developed them to the rabbit during the times you've previously fed them (even though he may not have shown any signs at the time). The idea is to feed something the body has never encountered before, to ensure you get true results.

Thanks, FTPO. His skin is looking much better today, so we will probably start the diluted regime tomorrow. As much as the reaction sucked, I guess atleast we know we are injecting him with the right allergens. Good luck with the recheck and ciggie quit!

I have done an elimination diet on raw/prey model. I used horse meat as I was able to get muscle meat, brisket as well as horse offal, so it worked pretty well for us. He went without eggs for most of it, but I was able to get some quail eggs at some stage to use. As for probiotics, I just use the human ones - Inner Health Plus. You can get it in powder or capsules. If anything, I think doing it raw is much easier and can give better results as you are really refining what you are feeding, where as the commercial foods still have so many different ingredients in them. Goodluck!

Pcarr - have you tried teaching your pup to associate the harness with something really exciting and fun? What about food? Beagles are usually pretty food orientated, could you try bringing the harness out and putting it on before each meal and leaving it on while she eats? Same with play in the backyard - harness goes on and then the play time begins! Goodluck!!

Hives are still up... Whenever Orbit gets hives, they always end up turning into a sea of pustules. It's so frustrating Got him on AB's now and getting antihistamines to help. Thankfully not overly itchy. Will see if I can get a photo of him tonight or tomorrow (or when he's ready to get out of his jammies!). New regime involves diluting an amount of each vial with saline, and starting the regime all over again with the diluted form. Once we've gone through that, we will start the whole regime all over again with the full strength stuff.

If you're nervous, I'd start with smaller turkey necks. Big enough to need a good chew, but the bone segments in them would be small enough to be unlikely to cause a problem should a chunk be swallowed whole.

Not choked, but our old Goldy died from eating chicken frames. She had eaten them on many occasions, but unfortunately this time, for some reason she just swallowed a whole lot of it raw - including the wish bone. She was old and suffered a bit of doggy dementia, so had thrown up and somehow managed to aspirate some vomit. We xrayed her and saw the wish bone whole in her stomach and knocked her out to operate, but she had damaged too much of her lungs through the aspiration and couldnt maintain a high enough oxygen saturation. We had to put her to sleep. But, I still feed raw. I know that every bone I feed there's a chance something might go wrong, but I guess it's the risk I'm willing to take for Orbit's overall health.

Definately agree re getting out into the public. Though I'm sure there will still be plenty of breeders who will turn a blind eye He started to get a little itchier lately, but he got into some kibble a few days ago too, so I was hoping it was just because of that. Thankfully no itching yet with the hives, but he often comes up with them first, and the itching can follow a day later. Given him some antihistamines today, so hopefully it won't come to that.

update from us - after a gradual build up, we hit the 1ml mark yesterday for Porps injections. Unfortunately it seems we're just pushed past his thresh hold and he is covered in hives today. He's ok, just all down his neck and back and flanks is hivey. We've since been told this is classed as a severe reaction, so no more jabs for 5 days and we'll be having a new schedule sent to us next week, involving diluting etc. Strange how he was ok on .8ml, but 1ml seems to have just been too much. Silly boy - why can't things just be straight forward!

Oh crap Zayder The poor girl. And I totally here you re. being hereditary. I've heard of plenty of breeders who have just passed off allergies as 'just a bit of a reaction to X grass', and even some that have lied about allergies, and low and behold, lots of their offspring/decendants have had bad allergies. First thing our derms said we should do when we have an allergic dog, is to notify the breeder. Things not so good here either. We hit the 1ml level for his injections yesterday and today he woke up covered in hives So now more injections for 5 days and we're going to have to dilute them now too. Why can't things just be straight forward....

Hi Snuffysmum... A raw diet is simply a diet consisting entirely of raw food. The two main types of raw diets people follow are the prey model diet, and the BARF diet. I feed a raw diet, based mostly on the prey model diet. For breakfast Orbit gets mince, and for dinner he gets raw meaty bones, like roo tails, turkey necks or lamb flaps. I also give him offal on the weekends, such as liver, kidneys and tripe, along with hearts and some raw eggs. He gets left over vegetables occasionally (when I dont feel like eating mine ) and also eats bits of fruit here and there. I switched to raw not only because I felt it was a more natural diet and thus a bit better for him, but also because he has allergies to certain foods, so this way I know exactly what he's eating and can help control his allergies.

Please get a new vet - the one you have is being dangerously irresponsible with your puppy's LIFE So many chemicals, so much challenge to a baby's immune system..... OR, maybe the vet is doing the right thing, by starting a process of elimination with regards to the itchies. Maybe the dog has scabies? Revolution can be used to treat scabies. When Orbit started itching as a pup, under DERMATOLOGISTS advice, we were started on a process of elimination. The first being fleas and scabies mites. Even though no scabies came on up scrapings, it doesn't mean they're not there. Just because you can't see fleas, it doesn't mean they are not there. If your dog is atopic, it may have a flea allergy, in which case, one bite from a flea is enough to cause itching for many days. I would start speaking to a vet familiar with atopy and start working on a plan. If your dog has food issues, you should look at doing a proper elimination diet, rather than just changing foods. No point switching if for example the problem is chicken, as chicken is in everything!

yep - our simple scale and polish is a 10min procedure

It is a VERY routine procedure and most vets should be able to do it.

Stitch - I know that there are risks with any anaesthetic, but generally, it is quite safe. Your vet wouldn't suggest a GA if he/she didn't think your dog was up to it, and if you are concerned, you can always have a pre-anaesthetic profile done to make sure she is in good health. If she has teeth that are bad enough to require a dental, I wouldn't leave it too long, as it will only get worse and require her to be under GA for longer, particularly if teeth need to come out. Also, dirty teeth can lead to other health problems to internal organs if left to get bad, and if this does happen, the risks for GA increase. The sooner you get it done, the shorter the period she will be under GA, the less work she'll need done and therefore a cheaper bill for you at the end of the day!!

Wow. I can't believe how much worse this has got since your first post!! Sorry you are going through all this. I think you're making the right decision to go for a second opinion.

I'd be keeping quiet too!! Really sounds like you are getting it all at cost price!! Score!

Wow, Munchin - that's an amazing price. Not sure who your test was run through, but I know that the COST price for our SPOT test and the 6 vials (green blue and red) was $500 - each thing being $250. So how you got all that for $540, I have no idea, but you've scored yourself a great deal there!! FTPO - fingers crossed everything goes ok with Benson coming off the Atopica. Bugger about the hot spots :D Orbit's going ok - we're up to 0.8ml of each tomorrow. He's been a bit itchier lately, but that could also be because I've cut back on his cortisone. Hopefully that's what it is, and not the injections, though I guess it's normal to see itching from the injections, seeing your jabbing them with so many allergens!!

May just be an off day. Orbit had a couple of days a couple of weeks ago where he didn't feel like eating. Unusual for him, but he was still his normal self so I wasn't too worried. Couple of days later he had a bit of diarrhoea. Few days later and with a bit of meds and pumpkin, he was back to his normal self. She may have a bit of an upset tummy, but like Erny said, keep an eye on her and watch for other signs. Hope she's ok

I've always been wary of my dogs drinking really cold water. When I fill up water bowls on cold mornings, I always make sure I put some hot water in their to warm the water up to room temp. Glad that **** is ok!!

You might also just have a gassy one!! Orbit is on an all raw diet and gets probiotics too, and he gets gas often. I find some meats are worse - lamb for example gives him really stinky ones. As does broccoli!! When he was on dry food, I actually found the higher quality foods like Eagle Pack Holistics and Artemis made him worse.

This is a myth... it is not legal for meat to be sold for human consumption, to contain any hormones or antibiotics.

Well, I must admit I bought them cause they looked cute , but I had success with his other coat so figured these would only be better. Yep, it helps because there's less of him open to absorb pollens and other allergens. I keep them on him all day and will mostly take them off at night before bed, cause he ends up under the doona with me anyway hehe