trinabean

Agreed. The itching could be caused by quite a number of factors. It could be environmental or diet-related. Or both. Even though you don't have grass in your yard, allergens like pollens are air-borne. Was the homemade hypoallergenic diet a vet suggestion? Im surprised that beef was suggested, rather than a novel protein. Beef is one of the more likely meats to be problematic, so not a good choice for an elimination diet as far as I'm aware. A dermatologist vet would be my suggestion to deal with the itching, and guide you through an elimination diet if necessary. Funnily enough, my dog was at his itchiest on a prescription 'hypoallergenic' dry food. About 25% of the dogs my vet puts on this prescription food become itchier. He then refers these dogs to a specialist dermatologist for further help. I can't help with the struvite crystals, but others have offered some good advice.Good luck with your dog Will. Frenchies are beautiful dogs.

Interesting thought about the acidic levels of the saliva Dyzney... My husband has a few allergies (mainly hayfever) and used to be allergic to Bruno's saliva in the first year that we had him. He would break out in hives/ eczema if Bruno's saliva touched his skin (Bruno isn't even a licky dog, but he only had to brush against my husband's arm to cause a reaction). Something has changed though, as my husband is no longer allergic to Bruno. The only thing I can attribute it to is that Bruno's diet is very different now to how it used to be. Bruno used to eat commercially available food, but has been on raw elimination diets for a long time now. I'm not preaching raw diets here by the way, rather that we have had to change Bruno's diet due to his own health issues. I do wonder whether a changed saliva PH/ composition is a spin-off of that? Of course, it could be totally unrelated. :laugh: I just thought it was interesting that you mentioned it Dyzney as I've pondered it myself...

Hadn't heard that one before.

What struck me as odd was that although in the beginning of the article it states that the dog was a Ridgeback, the owners had registered it as a Bull Mastiff. So if the owners were ringing the pound and asking about a RR, their dog may well have been there, but was listed as a Bull Mastiff. It's hard enough for people to recognise breeds accurately. I wouldn't be relying on council staff to figure out the anomaly. It would be much wiser to register the dog as the breed it is/ most looks like.

I'm not having a go at you Dogmad, but the situation sounds like it was quite different to how the media portrayed it. Do the media ever issue a correction on these sorts of stories? I agree, the media should issue a correction. Owner with the JRT was obviously very irresponsible and stupid - I have a JRT myself and whilst she's friendly, she doesn't appear that way and recently a friend had looked after her - loosened her collar which I hadn't realised and as I walked her, she slipped her collar, ran across the road to greet a Maltese and scared the crap out of the dog, its owner and me. My concern with the elderly having very strong dogs is that one fall at that age and they may never get up. I rehome to elderly people regularly, most recently a 76 yr old. They generally don't have heaps of strength at that age and most don't want to even be pulled slightly by a dog when out walking. That sounds like a valid concern Dogmad, and one I hadn't thought of. Edited to add: Mind you I suppose it depends on the dog a bit? A lady I know is in her 70's and had the most beautifully-behaved Boxer girl. The dog was well-trained and calm, walked beautifully on lead. She was a more mature dog though too, not a boisterous pup.

So with more of the facts known now, the article should read more like this: I'm not having a go at you Dogmad, but the situation sounds like it was quite different to how the media portrayed it. Do the media ever issue a correction on these sorts of stories?

I do feel sad for those who have had awful experiences whilst walking their dogs, especially posters like Spikey who probably won't get another dog because of it. My dog has been rushed numerous times by dogs whose owners often leave gates open (grrrr) or garden in unfenced front yards with their dogs loose. A couple of times we've been attacked silently from behind and I had no warning. One huge dog flipped Bruno on his back and pinned him, the owner called his dog off luckily. My goofball boxer offered a playbow straight afterwards. I still find the local streets safer (or at least more predictable) if I stick to a familiar route, than the walk trails around the nearby lake. Sadly, I seem to be one of the few people to obey the leash laws there. It's a nature reserve, the number of loose dogs (and owners with minimal control) is astonishing. If nothing else, the area is riddled with tiger snakes, you'd think people would be more cautious. I'm lucky in that so far, my dog has a happy-go-lucky temperament. It seems to me that many of the incidents in this thread are simply solved, albeit not by the people and dogs being attacked. If people obeyed leash laws and contained their dogs to their yards/ homes, many of these incidents would never have occurred..

Yes, that was a horrific incident Stan's mum.

Yes Jed, he is pedigreed and on limited register. His sire did very well for a number of years in the showring here in WA.

Westiemum that's such good news. I hope her stitches heal well.:) Thank you LabTested. He seemed to be back in full form about an hour after surgery. I was more phased than him.

Thank you Schnauzer, it's encouraging to hear that your dogs lived to a good age after MCT. :) Yes Staffyluv, allergy issues seem to be associated with MCT's in the reading I have done so far. It makes sense. I know Bruno's immune system is under stress from his various allergies. Yes, I hope so Bianca.a. Smooch given. :)

And thanks for your thoughts Yonjuro, CHA, Bianca.a, MelissaS and Jed. :) Jed, I am looking into Vera Koller's suggestions. I think Clemevi may be dropping off some medications to me that relate to the protocol Vera uses. I'll let you know how that goes. I have to work out howit fits with Bruno's current medications. Bruno's ear seems to be healing well. Apologies for hugeness of image....This is a week post-surgery:

Thanks Anne, and yes, Bruno is only two and a half years old. I'm grateful for the experiences shared by others. I must admit, the palliative care forum is not a place I expected to be searching, while my dog is still this young. Thanks Dogbesotted, I do agree that it is manageable. I hear what you are saying regarding it being an opportunity to be proactive. The thing is, I'm already pretty flat out proactively managing Bruno's atopic dermatitis, colitis and food allergies (and the daily workload that entails). One of my children has some health problems at the moment too, so between the various vets, surgeons and specialists I'm doing a lot of running around. I will get over this hurdle and move on with things. I do find it ironic though that while I was diligently following vet advice and doing my best for Bruno, he was ultimately let down by a vet clinic. All those elimination diets and challenges, immunotherapy and skin treatments amount to diddly-squat, if the clinic lets a cancer result slip through the cracks and go untreated. Ah well... Thanks Ruthless. Hi Westiemum, do let me know when you get Sarah's result. Fingers crossed it's benign.

I am a wally sorry, I should have taken into account not everyone knows Noisheisms...but brain wasn't really with it yesterday. But happy to say Scout is all back to normal today, ate all his breakfast with gusto :D He slept like a log all last night [i stayed up as long as I could to keep an eye on him, ended up falling asleep around 3am]. He's been outside on a tether to do his morning ablutions, as I don't want him racing around like a nerd. But he's walking nicely, no limping and taking his tablets like a gentleman lol. I think 'dooshing' is a very fitting description of that double-pawed boxer manoeuvre. I pictured exactly what Scout had done. It's a keeper, I'm going to use the term 'dooshing' from now on. I'm glad to hear that scout is home and doing well, and that's good news about Koda too.

Thanks everyone, I have updated and started a new thread in Health/ nutrition etc forum.

I thought I'd better move to this forum since it's about a health condition. As per my thread in General, the background story is that Bruno had a lump on his ear aspirated at a specialist clinic and sent for pathology 3 months ago, along with a variety of other tests. Somewhere along the line, someone stuffed up, and the aspiration results were lost /misplaced/ not communicated. I asked about it when I was there last week and the bungle came to light, culminating in a vet phone call to me on Friday afternoon to inform me that the mass was 'full of mast cells' and would need to be removed ASAP. Bruno had surgery with my normal vet (a very good vet and surgeon) on Tuesday. This afternoon my vet called, and the news is not what I was hoping for (was willing it to be only grade 1, clean margins). The lump removed from Bruno's ear was a grade 2 mast cell tumour and 'marginal' rather than clean margins. The vet explained that pathologists are always pessimists rather than optimists in their grading. He is confident that he removed all of the tumour, but we need to be watchful, particularly around the surgical site. If the tumour re-occurs on the ear, Bruno will have to have the whole ear removed. The tumour was right above the main blood vessel that supplies the ear. So the ear skin/tissue can't survive if that vessel needs to be removed as part of a second surgery. And now we have to be vigilant, as Bruno could develop MCT's anywhere on, and in his body. It's not the worst news, but it's not exactly the best either. And I recieved the news in the midst of a school run and busy afternoon. I held my tears in for 5 hours until I got my kids to bed. I haven't had time to process what this all means, or to look into treatment options etc. yet either. While Bruno was under GA, the vet looked at his hips/patellas too (he 'skips' one rear leg intermittantly and has a stiffness in his gait). The good news is that his hips and patellas are good, there is no obvious reason for the 'skip.' The vet does think however, that Bruno most likely has some degree of Spondylosis in his spine, -whatever that means.... I'm too tired and devastated to look anything up tonight.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I do appreciate the DOL community support. Most people I know think that a dog is "just a dog" and wouldn't understand. The surgery went well. Bruno being Bruno, the mass was of course located right on top of the main blood vessel that supplies the ear. Not the easiest spot for the vet. I won't get the pathology results until Friday, so it's a waiting game now. Apparently he was a sweetheart and behaved himself for the nurses/ vet (phew!) :) Ruthless, I do hope Bruno is as fortunate as Trixie too. Westiemum, I hope Sarah's pathology comes back as nothing serious. Rather than clog up 'General' I will start a new thread in 'Health/ nutrition' to update when I know more.

I'm glad the breeder has been back in touch with you Boxbright. I agree with OSo, the breeder was probably shocked and upset at the news. I do hope your little munchkin will be ok, with no long-lasting effects. Barking and seeking the nurses attention does sound like a good sign. Fingers and paws crossed here for Bailey.

If it does nothing else Westiemum, I hope this thread has done some good for your Sarah. Do get it re-checked, for your piece of mind. I really hope all is ok for her. :) Thank you for your kind words Melbomb. I'm not sure that I have handled things well. To be honest, I'll probably be a total PIA client from now on. I'll be nagging and double-checking vets forevermore! I have emailed the clinic and requested an explanation and a review of procedures. I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. Although human error can always happen I suppose. I have recieved a reply - a formal apology and apparently an internal investigation started on Friday. The day that I was first given the news. They will be in touch when more is known about the failure in the system. Thanks Perse and CrazyCresties for your thoughts too. Bruno is booked in for surgery tomorrow morning. The mass with be removed from his ear. And there is a new lesion on his leg that came up during last week, that will go too. I will update once I know what grade they are. I might start a new thread in Health/ Nutrition forum for that.

Thanks SSM, and that's a good idea re. asking for a copy of everything for your own files. I have copies of most things (a huge amout of paperwork for all the ongoing allergy stuff), but alas, not the aspiration result. Thanks Diva, I may do that. For starters I will be writing to the specialist clinic and asking them to explain how this fell through the cracks. Thanks Helen, I will try to take it one step at a time. I appreciate your perspective and it's heartening that Lucinda lived so well despite her MCT. I must admit, I haven't slept very well since Friday and I have a knot in my stomach about today's vet visit. I just want to know where we stand with the tumour and the prognosis. I will LBD, he still has the awesome orange ball you gave him. :) Thanks Jed, I received your pm about the treatment. I do hope they can get good margins on his ear. I do wonder how they can remove it without disfiguring his ear entirely though, it's not near an edge. It is close to the fold and right near the centre, a largish lump.... And yes. He most certainly was hit with the $hit stick. Need to add a few more $$$$$$$$'s to $hit to be accurate. A big thanks for the well-wishes and input Darien, Kirislin, Aussie3, Indigirl, LisaCC, JulesP, Melzawelza, Staffyluv, RedAngel, Ari.g, and Coogie. And Staffyluv, I have now completely read Ollie's story! We have a vet appointment at 1pm today with our very good vet.

As some of you will know, my dog Bruno has allergies. I have been taking him to a dermatology clinic for immunotherapy and they are overseeing his diet too. Our normal dermatologist is excellent, however on our last visit we were seen by a new dermatologist. She explained that she was taking over some of the caseload as our normal dermatologist is very busy, and was away at a conference that day. She seemed to want to start from scratch, and ordered a whole lot of tests and did skin scrapes etc. that had previously been done. I thought it was overkill, but at least she seemed thorough. My main concern was about a lump that had appeared and grown quickly on Bruno's ear. She aspirated the lump and sent all the scrapes and samples off to pathology. She said she would let me know if there was anything to be concerned about. She then gave me the instructions for the food re-challenge and asked me to come back in 3 months or once he had completed the diet challenges. I was in contact via email once or twice about the diet but didn't see her again. Every 3 weeks we are at the clinic for allergy vaccines to be given by a vet nurse. This week a vet nurse let me know that the new derm. vet went home (overseas) for holidays and did not return. I asked her to check Bruno's file to make sure that 'no news was good news' re the tests done 4 months ago. Nothing about the tests was immediately apparent in the case notes. The nurse promised to chase it up with pathology etc. and let me know. So now I've had a call from another derm. vet to apologize and let me know that unfortunately, Bruno's lump sample contained 'a lot of mast cells.' It needs to be surgically removed and graded ASAP. He mentioned mast cell tumours and margins. I was shocked and didn't really understand what he meant until I got off the phone. I was just trying to hold back tears to be honest. After reading a bit about mast cell tumours, I'm now angry. Bruno's results have been sitting somewhere for 4 months, meanwhile giving the damn tumour time to grow/ spread. Surely there should be procedures in place to hand over clients cases properly when someone leaves? I have an appointment with my regular GP vet on Monday, to discuss surgery. My dear Bruno is only 2 1/2 years old. He has had a rough trot with atopic dermatitis, food allergies, 'boxer colitis' and a heart murmur. I love him to bits but am dreading the road ahead. Edited: Tried to fix the title. Fiddle-farted around, then gave up!

My reasoning would be that for the majority of breeds that originally were utility/working breeds, ear and tail docking were performed for preventative reasons as you mentioned. But the work and activities etc that justified that prevention is no longer as prevalent, so there is no longer any need for docking for most dogs and the procedures are just cosmetic. But dew claw removal is preventing the risk of the kind of injuries that some dogs can obviously still get, just from getting them caught on things, etc. So it's not like the preventative removal was ever linked to particular activities that the dogs no longer really do. Agreed Alkhe. I for one am glad that my dog's breeder had his dew claws removed. Other Boxers I've known have had awful dew claw injuries. Much worse to deal with as an active adult dog than as a neonate I think....

That worked well for us Nushie. We did take our time and get him used to the Dremel (see my post #19). :)

What a stunning dog . :)