MiniMum

Yeah, it is a bit of catch 22 isn't it? He has itchy/scratchy/atopy issues so I gave him a little flaxseed which he seems to handle ok. Maybe the sardines on top of that was just too much.

Have to agree with this. The vet gave my guy a cortisone shot as a diagnostic tool to check for allergies. He didn't scratch for nearly a week, then it all came back Agree with this wholeheartedly! We are in the middle of sorting out our guys allergies. He has had the intradermal testing and as soon as we clear up an issues with one of his ears (a complication caused by the allergies) will start on desensitising for the airborne allergens. For the contact allergens (grass in his case) we were given a conditioner yesterday that seems to be working . There are other threads in here about itchy dogs which you may find some help in too. ETA

- I hope you can get your confidence back. Didn't realise it could be that bad Agreed. My vet sells but doesn't push dry. Having said that, he isn't knowledgeable about raw diet. Thanks dogmad . My guy was rather loose this morning (a rare occurance), and the only new thing he had was sardines in oil. I was wondering if that could have been the cause. If it doesn't clear up, I'll try the pumpkin or sweet potato (he loves them both), will investigate further.

Have just come back from the derm. It is still mostly about his ear, but it is nearly there. For the first time since he came to live with us he could have a thorough ear examination without being sedated. Things are much better, but not shiny, so we still have an ear regiem(?), but much reduced. Also have two conditioners to use - one for the contact itchies and one for when he has little sores. The Aloveen is to be used on the other bits. Think I am going to get him his own toiletries bag . At least this time they mentioned desensitising in the future.

Oh my, I'm seriously impressed with the food and the presentation.

This is just gorgeous

Nightlight and tree

Water. I just loved the play of light on the splashing water. I can never get things like that properly

I don't have anything pink, but here are my purple "pinks" Just selected the flowers by colour and greyscaled the rest, gave it a fuzzy border

Oh dear, it us such a minefield, isn't it? It is interesting that fish showed up as being a problem for Oribit in the tests though. Did they show up many other food problems? I mostly feed raw, but have tried some dried foods. The only ones TD likes aren't good enough to be a complete diet or make him itch. I tried the Hills Sensitive Skin, but he didn't even like the smell of it . The derm hasn't mentioned desensitisaton, but it has all been about TDs ear so far, so maybe it will be different tomorrow. TD also has dustmite allergy. But then, so is my asthmatic son. With my son I use eucalyptus oil when I wash linen and hard surfaces. This really helped my son, and I'm hoping it does the same for TD. I just have to remember to wash all his blankets too. Think I'll be pulling up the carpet soon too (its only in the bedrooms anyway). We haved been washing TD in Aloveen (suggested by vet, not derm), but it makes no difference. He has run out now and it'll be interesting to see what the derm recommends.

Yes, the food thing is a hard one, isn't it. My derm doesn't seem to think testing for allergies/intoleranced to food is worthwhile, so I guess we are going to do an elimination diet of some kind. Finding the novel protien will be hard for us too - think there might be only rabbit and goat left. (unless we do the crustacean or crocodile thing, but can't even afford to do that for us, much as I would love to ). I believe its quite possible for allergies/intollerances to develop in time. I suddenly became very intollerant of wheat about four years ago. I also sometimes wonder if what the particular animal has been fed on could make a difference with reactions when we feed it our dogs. Did the weather this summer cause a problem for you or Orbit?

Hi Zayda Asher and Stormie - just thought I'd ask how you and your guys were going. Stormie, I'm glad the phenergan is working for Orbit. And I like the sound of just eliminating one thing from the diet, might have to try it that way myself. TDs last visit to the derm ended up being only about his ear again - it was still badly infected, he had to go under GA to have it checked properly. So he needed stronger drugs - $80 for the antibiotics alone. It does seem to have done the trick though, so hopefully now we can move onto the atopy. We are having our next consultation tomorrow (he's been away), and I really want to get going with getting to grips with the allergies. I've spent the summer watching and making notes and so far have noticed that turkey and kangaroo seem to be okay, Aloveen doesn't help and you can't avoid grass. Like you Stormie, we have had good and bad days. Everyone who suffers allergies has had a hard time of it this summer here. As an example, I usually get hayfever OR sinusitis - but this year had a lot of both. So its hard to guess what TD would have been like if it had been a "normal" summer. We have had a bit of rain and a lot of sun, so it is also a good year for weeds. OH and I have just come in from pulling up more wandering jew and turtle plant and are now covered in itches ourselves .

Thought I'd put this in for "Look Up".

Hi emmark, our guy came to us when he was 7 months. He had been fed "doggy devon" and dry food. He was underweight and had constipation. We now feed raw and he is a good weight and has no constipation issues. Our vet says he is very healthy. I'm no expert but the research we have done suggests that when you feed raw you should give 2 to 3% of their body weight in food every day. So TD gets around 250g a day of RMB and barf patty, half in the morning and half in the evening. I have tried different combinations but what seems to be working best is 100g of the patty and 150g of RMBs. However, we do keep an eye on him, his fitness, bodily functions and weight and will adjust accordingly. The RMBs are: chicken necks, turkey necks, lamb, beef and pork off-cuts, chicken wings and legs, all which we get from supermarket and some butchers. Sometimes as a treat he will get lamb neck chop. I also check out the reduced price meat in the supermarkets I also make up a mix of vege/oil/vitC pulp which I mix into mince (kangaroo at the moment, got that from a pet store), which I also freeze in portions.

Oh there are so many lovely shots here. I was away for the start of the January one but would love to join this one. I have only just this minute opened up a Flickr account so I can attempt to do this

Just did a quick google, and if its silica gel (thats what most of those little packets are), it should be fine. There are often warnings on the packs to keep away from children and pets, but apparantly thats in case of choking on the pack itself. This is from a vet site: While it is indeed true that it is not meant for consumption, with most ingestions silica gel produces only mild stomach upset which typically resolves with minimal to no treatment. If very large quantities are eaten, however, such as with ingestions of multiple packets or mouthfuls of kitty litter, intestinal obstruction is a possibility- especially in very small animals. Silica Gel Information

I am careful up to a point. Some bones do have a lot of fat, and if I can pull it off easily, I will do so, as I don't want my boy to have a weight problem. I feed different types of RMBs as I think variety in his diet is both enjoyable and good for him. Some bones are fatty, but most are lean, so it kind of balances out. I believe overweight dogs are more prone to certain diseases (as are humans) such as pancreatitis. ETC

I feed mostly on the bone, but a small portion is roo mince with the veges, flaxseed oil, eggs etc. On the bone meats include beef, chicken and lamb. I bought turkey necks for the first time yesterday and he had a half for breakfast - he chewed on them for ages, but ate every last scrap

Thanks badboyz, appreciate that

Our little guy has Atopy and I have been using Aloveen, but I'm not sure if it has helped stop the itchys (he does smell good though :rolleyes: ). I have been thinking of trying EPO instead, but the dermatologist may want him on something else (taking him back next week). Does anyone know where I can get some to try on Brisbane's southside?

I do this NOW. I used to carefully squeeze the capsules into his barf mix . Then one day he seemed very interested in the capsule, so I thought I would shut him up and gave it to him. He loved it

My vet calls bones "natures toothbrush". Have to wonder who is sponsoring this guy's association - his comments seem a little directed

How horrible for you and Chai Thank you for warning us

Hi, can I say I know how you feel. We have a boy who was to be used as a backyard sire and fed bottom of the barrel stuff. Both his ears were in a terrible state when he came to us too. At first all was okay, but then the scratching began, along with chronic ear problem. After ongoing but unsuccessful treatment for his ear, our vet eventually gave our guy a cortison injection to see what would happen. All his symptoms stopped, which indicated allergies. We have since had the pinpricking (intradermal) tests and found he has atopy. This is all very recent for us and we have yet to begin treatment for the allergies as his ear issue is paramount. In our case, I'm glad we had the tests done as now we have a starting point for helping our little guy. This time of year can be bad for allergies, so it could be a seasonal thing. For some reason this year is bad here (Qld), worse than usual (I know because my son and I have allergies) We never had blood tests done, but the initial cost for consult with the specialtist and the intradermal testing along with meds was about $500. This is what TD looked like following his tests, poor baby. Good luck with it all.

I have an older version of the sunbeam and it works fine on fruit, veg and meat good luck with it