Stitch

I am going to try to phone the vet and ask what is the next step as far as the diet is concerned. That will give my bank account some time to recover!!! :laugh: Apparently they can have Z/D diet for as long as you want to feed it to them as it is a complete diet but I would like to try to get rid of my girls farts which are silent but deadly!!! so that will mean trying to fine tune the diet. I believe that what set the whole episode off was Omega 3/6 oil added to her dinner so that's off her menu now but so is the chicken too. The specialist vet said that the term IBD covers a range of possible illnesses/problems and the only way to get an exact diagnosis was to get a biopsy under general anaesthetic.....we are not up to the stage yet!! ETA: I look forward to hearing what your vet has to say. :)

Unfortunately it is impossible to say what agrees with them unless you do the elimination diet...and I believe what you are eliminating is the protein source. Apparently they can be going along fine and then if they have a bout of IBD they can then become sensitive to the protein source that they were OK with previously. I don't know why that is but I can relate it to myself....if I have a gastric upset I find I can't eat the food I ate just before I got sick for a while.....weird!! The Hills Z/D is about $55 for a 3kg bag and Hills told me it didn't matter whether I fed the cans or the dry. At least with the dry they can chew it and that helps to make them feel they are actually eating something. The canned food just gets hoovered down and I object to feeding something which has water as its first ingredient. I wonder if there is an elimination diet that has been already prepared available for dogs?

I really need some help from DOLers with experience with IBD to work out what I can feed my old girl now. Recently she spent nearly a week at the vet hospital with an episode of haemorrhegic diahorrea/irritable bowel. I was extremely worried and thought I was going to lose her as she was vomiting and pooing blood but the vet specialists pulled her through even after she relapsed. She has been home for about 3weeks now and is on Hills Z/D diet and eating well. She started off on the cans and is now eating 2 cups of Z/D dry per day. I have just started to mix Protexin in with it and it appears to be helping as she has put on weight and seems to be feeling much better however after each meal...she gets fed twice daily...she farts something fierce...and I mean stinky and her poos although formed, tend to be on the soft side and again very stinky!! She was never able to cope with liver and I know Z/D uses liver as its protein source but in an altered form which makes it hypo allergenic. So, here we are stuck on Z/D diet and not being sure what I can feed her in the future and if there is something better I could be offering her. The main worry was that she may now be sensitive to the protein source she was eating prior to the IBD attack. That protein source was chicken as I was cooking chicken, veges, pasta, etc. for her. I would not like to try to feed her chicken protein again or at least not just yet, but I am also fearful of the process of finding out what she can eat in case it brings on another attack. Has anyone had any experience with 'what happens now'???

Their prices don't seem that cheap to me but then it will depend on where you live and if you can buy dog stuff locally. One crate is pretty much like the next as long as they are collapsible, have good catches and there are no manufacturing faults. Check out eBay and your local stores first then decide.

Hills Science Z/D in cans has only 3% protein content. It's first ingredient is water. I am not sure about the total salt content but it would be low. Not a cheap alternative but there if you need it.

Don't know how big those chin rests are but they look like the travel pillows that you put round your neck. They are sold in most pharmacies, bag shops and bargain stores. :) Maybe you could adapt one of them to suit?

As Erny will tell you, Calendular Tea does take the redness out and it will help a little with the itchies. Also there are many products on the market for itchy dogs....Malaseb tends to be a bit harsh on the skin and I wouldn't use it unless it was for a specific problem as indicated on the bottle. Today I have bought a big bottle of Alloveen shampoo plus the conditioner which I am going to use from now on in most cases. There are a LOT of dogs with skin problems....can be environmental or sometimes dietary. The best way to find out exactly what the problem is, is to take your dog to a doggy dermatologist vet. Otherwise it is just guesswork!

The more prongs there are the more coat it removes. I would be thinking a 12 would be enough however if you want to remove more coat then go for an 18. It just depends on how much hair you want to leave.

Well then, this should bring them out!! LOL Why is it that a pet brought in when the practice is 'pet emergency' ie out of normal hours, and that pet is hospitalised, charges THREE TIMES the cost for hospitalisation when compared to the pet brought in during normal working hours?? I recently did both, the dog was brought in to pet emergency at 9pm stayed 2 days in hospital, discharged, relapsed and brought back during normal working hours, admitted for a further 2 days and then discharged again. I know that emergency vets are usually a totally different company however sometimes the 'totally different company' is owned by one of the partners in the normal working hours practice. I also realise that getting vets that are prepared to work overnight would be difficult and I presume more expensive but three times the amount seems incredible!

Erny, one of my lot has itchy skin with red spots down the spine. I was NOT intending to use dandruff shampoo on her but I asked the question cause I was curious and it may come in handy to use prior to a show. I am taking her to the specialist skin vet tomorrow (I think it may be a bacterial/fungal thing) however I did apply Calendula tea down the spine. It took the redness out but still left the itch. Does Calendula tea, if continually applied, stop the itches in most cases? I have only applied it once so far.

Having just experienced a combined attack of haemorrhegic diahorrea and IBD with one of mine I am now extremely careful with what I feed. It took my girl over a week to control the bleeding (both ends) and she was in the vet hospital twice...the second time she had a relapse after they took her off the drip. She was extremely ill and lost heaps of weight...all over eating a little oil which I added to her meal. Some dogs just can't tolerate oil or fat in their diets....and also some dogs can be just fine with it then one day something sets it off and from then on they can't tolerate fats. I have 4 that have no problem with fat/oil and 1 that does. Now my girl is on Hills Z/D for the next month or so then we will see what we can wean her on to. So my advice is if you notice that your dog can't tolerate added fat, then do everything you can not to include it in the diet.

Interesting - do you know what brand they use?

Recently a fellow showperson said to me that they use human grade anti dandruff shampoos on a dogs coat if it has scurf and it 'cures' it quickly. I was under the impression that the pH would be different between a dog and a human?? Anyone have any experience/knowledge on this subject??

Anyone used the solar powered, sonic/pulsing snake repellers eg. Pestrol Snake Repeller? Are they are waste of money or do they really work?? Love to hear from you if you have used them!

Thank you Nekhbet, I have some Protexin!!

No, not hair in the mouth. I have ceased to give chicken necks as they tend to suck them down like spaghetti without chewing and we had a choking scare. He doesn't get a chance to eat anything he isn't supposed to. Wild duck poo is highly prized around here but ducks don't get much of a chance to land so it would only be the odd well placed bomb dropped from high above. :) Do charcoal tablets work??

One of my pack has bad doggy breath. He has been vet checked and there is nothing medically wrong with him but he loves to puff on me :p and it is definitely not good.

Thank you for that Augustine....I will visit Safeways.

Augustine, Which is the best for coat and skin...meal or oil??? What would the meal dose size for a medium sized dog? Espinay, I saw the Stoney Creek website but it seems rather expensive. I am now confused as to whether I should be using meal or oil???

Which is the best brand to buy and where is the best place to buy it?? I believe that it has to be cold pressed and kept below 30C or preferably in the fridge. Health food stores have it but it costs about $30 Does anyone know if it is available anywhere at a more affordable price???

Are you on tank water or town water? Have you tested the pH of the water you use?

Wouldn't feed any of them however I know of a large breed dog that had terrible skin problems when it was on Supercoat. When changed over to Pal the skin problems were greatly reduced.

I have decided to feed them 3 times a day for a few days and then go onto twice daily feeds. I fluctuate Espinay2 between just giving the boiled chicken and Hill Science Sensitive Stomach or feeding the BARF of an evening. What I don't want is to overdo the fatty food and BARF does have a fairly high fat content because of the bones/marrow it contains. Last thing I want is a skinny dog with diahorrea.

Yes, it must be very stressful in there so I am giving them lots of quiet times at the moment. They are eating like horses and will hoover up what I put down in about 1minute....I hate to see dogs like that!!

Just got two imports out of quarantine and they are sooooo skinny. They were on Advance dry in quarantine. I will be feeding them 3 meal per day but I want to be careful I don't make them sick by feeding rich (fatty) food too quickly. Normally I feed BARF but initially I fed them boiled chicken mixed with Hills Sensitive Stomach yesterday evening....this morning I fed Nutrience Puppy mixed with doggy porridge (no lactose). I need a lunch time feed idea??? I thought about feeding chicken necks midday but wondered if it would be too taxing on their digestive systems this soon as I was planning to feed them BARF of an evening......not sure if I should wait a while to feed BARF or not??? What do you all think?? Any ideas would be appreciated.