zayda_asher

How're their poops the next day? Mine would be really hard if I gave them that much bone in one go... I spread out thier bone through out the week... but if it works for you Cool. It is a great site and people are very friendly... Quite possibly as the chain would rub the neck.... Ok, so you really want to make sure they are getting a good variety of meat, both red and white and other foods too so they are getting all the stuff they need to keep them healthy whilst they are growing. Yep. I get straight salmon oil which is more expensive than mixed fish oil, but I have a dog that is allergic to a couple of fish (Sardines being one). If they aren't allergic then the blended fish oils are fine... :p Dan

And how old are the dogs? How many necks do they get in one day? That sounds really light on for bone... Dan

Is there a variety in the meats they are being fed? You definitely need the fish oil for omega 3s and the vit E... this will all help them keep coat condition. Most farmed meat has very low levels of omega 3s. Thier coats should not be drying out that quick after a swim. Here is a good group to get info on raw diets from, very relaxed and friendly http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BARF-lite/ I also recommend the moderator's book: http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DN208 Dan

What do you feed them? Are they getting fish oil & Vit E in their diet? Dan

Good luck with the injections... hope you guys are doing ok with them!! With the food you should see all those things come back as signs of allergies... When they get a reaction their digestive system stops working properly and you get the runny poos / farts etc as they are trying to process the food. Nasty! Antihistamines are good... If you find out all that he is allergic to and do stuff to minimize contact with those things and control the environment you shouldn't need to use steriods at all... My dogs never have steroids. With the mould allergies, keep the environment as warm and dry as possible will really help. I've found that keeping them rugged up when they go out makes a huge difference too: the damp makes a big difference, so I am looking at getting a dehumidifier if the humid weather keeps up in summer here too. Patanol eye drops really help if he is getting gunky eyes from the mould allergies. The resichlor is really good stuff if they have scratched themselves bloody. EP they need to complete elimination diet and sort out if and what the dog has food allergies to before they consider new food. There could be several things in those products that he is allergic to and its irresponsible to suggest a food product to someone doing elimination trail No because you can't prove such a thing! If the dog is allergic to any of the ingredients they will react, if they are not allergic to any of the ingredients then they will not react. A food allergy is an immune mediated response to a protein, it does not matter what form it is in, if the dog is allergic to that protein it CANNOT have it!!! There is no such thing as a hypoallergenic protein source. Spikey: Good luck and keep us posted... when you have the full list of allergies post it up and let us know. Oh, also give me a run down of his symptoms again and I'll let you know of anything else I have found that works. Cheers, Dan

Cool, I thought from the way you spoke that may not have been the case with your dogs. It does happen to a lot of people though... and the average person doesn't realise that this is what happens with a vaccination! Dan

Its also been shown that vaccination also lowers immunity for awhile (which is why they say stay away from others for a couple of weeks after vac), as many dogs are vaccinated right before kennling they ofte pick up KC in the kennle because their immunity was lowered due to the vaccination... Dan

Actually the new research suggests that Kennle cough only lasts about 6 or 7 months any way, not even a year.... I have some stuff from Dr Dodds in the US if you would like me to email you the articles then pm me an email address... I also recommend reading Catherine Diodati's "Vaccine Guide for Dogs and Cats" and Catherine O'driscoll's "Shock to the System" A lot of GP vets have not closely looked into the vaccine issue and are not au fait with the new research. Actually they are saying now that once a dog has had its puppy vacs and its one year booster it has all the immunity it will gain. Yearly boosters in no way will give the dog any more immunity. Dan

All of you take care! Dan

regarding the Parvo booster, does the Vaccine batch change annually (during manufacture) to keep up with the latest mutations? Does anyone know? Are they made locally or imported? Has the CSIRO done any studies on it? They cannot put a new mutation into a vaccine until it is out there in the world, which means animals have caught it... same as with the flu vaccine: there are several strains and the injection will only eve cover two or three... Its why you can be vaccinated and still get what you have been vaccinated against. Dan

Good luck searching out the info... itsinteresting reading With the lump, they will often go down a certain amount and then stop, so keep an eye out for that. For example Asher's went from the size of a golf ball down to the size of a pea and that's where it stopped, wouldn't go any further until given the Thuja and then it finally cleared. So keep your eyes peeled, and feel for it because they can stop disapearing, but you think they have gone because they are so small... Dan

Yes, its really important to report these things.. I forgot to mention that, been a long day! Its because they don't get reported that they don't think they are common / problematic... Dan

Good luck! If your dog has had this sort of reaction I would recommend some further reading on the issue... they can get worse and lead to other issues as well with dogs who do react. I also recommend looking up Dr Jean Dodds on google. She is an Immunologist in the States that has done a lot of research into vaccination and the problems it can cause when over used. Cheers, Dan

Glad to Good luck, you should get a lot of good info from them as well... Also if you are not comfortable getting the injections done sometimes your own vets will do them for you... Let us know how it goes! Dan

Actually its not true that they are less common in dogs... many people just don't take them back or the vet doesn't know what they are looking at. I recommend Cathrine Diodadoti's "Vaccine Guide for dogs and cats" and Cathrine O'Driscoll's "Shock to the System" which you can order from www.dogwise.com Thuja is a homeopathic remedy. You should be able to get it from a homeopath, some naturopaths or some helathfood stores. Dan

Sometimes with lumps from vaccine reactions they will go down to a certain size and never leave. Try the homeopathic remedy Thuja, it can help the lump go down, I finally got rid of Asher's using this (he'd had it for a year and a half)... Thuja is also good to give straight after the vaccination as it helps the system deal with the reaction. Homeopathic Sulphur can also help bring the body back to balance after things like antibiotics, vaccinations and other medicaitons. Dan

Hi! I'm having internet probs at the moment, so I wont be on regularly... But I will make sure I check in with you when I am The Allergen Specific Immunotherapy is expensive, but it does make a difference... That is not the cost for each injection, its the cost for about 4-6 months worth, you get vials and inject at regular intervals. To start with that is normally a low dose at 3 day intervals and then you start spreading out the distance between injections. You start on a lower dose and move up to a full strength dose as their body starts to adjust to it. The idea is to force the body to start getting used to and making a more appropriate response to the allergen. Both my dogs have been / are on ASI, Asher's is being done orally due to a problem with injections with him (he is the first dog here to be properly trialled orally). It normally takes about a year to see a strong / lasting change in the dog, but you may notice improvements before then. And, yep, it will depend on the dog! We took Zayda off her's this year. It definitely improved her condition, however, we did end up taking her off it a bit early as she has had a really hard year and had a small reaction to the ASI, so we decided to stop instead of risking it becoming a stronger reaction. This year has been a bad year for those with allergies and she seems to be maninfesting a new pattern to her allergies which could be the unseasonal weather or could be her allergies changing symptom pattern through age... or even a combo of both! So we think that the ASI on top of this was just an overload for her system... Asher's seems to be going well, although he is also having a lot of problems with the bad season... He'll be coming up for a year on his soon. I've found that using things like homeopathics and herbal remdies to help treat symptoms / boost their immune system etc. help a lot as well... When you've got the full list let us know what he is allergic to and I'll let you know of anything that I've found really useful if he has any of the same allergies as my two. Good luck!! Dan

Should add that of course if you get a definite reaction you take the off the food, only leave them on the food up to 7 days if there is no appreciable reaction. Dan

I'm not totally against vaccination, I believe that we chronically over vaccinate though. There are very compelling reasons not to vaccinate allergic dogs!! PM me a postal address and email and I will post to you (I can email some, but one I only have in hard copy). This stuff all came from personal correspondence with Dr. Jean Dodds who is a top immunologist in the States and has done a lot of work on vaccination. Yep! You put them on the novel protien, normally for about 4 weeks or so to see if they settle. Then start reintroducing foods one by one (completion of testing time obviously depends on how much variety they had in their diet). How quickly they react will depend on the sensitivity of the dog, but you keep them on the food for 7 days, if by the end of 7 days there is no reaction it is safe to assume they are not allergic. My girl, Zayda, is a very quick reactor. If she gets a kibble sized piece of food and it has something she is allergic to in it she will be itching by that night or the next morning. Hopefully you hear about the blood test results soon!! Good luck and let us know! Cheers, Dan

Erny, you could certainly speak to a homeopath... there are quite a few homeopathic remedies that might help Dan

Treating the symptoms should only be a stop gap until you can see a dermatologist and find out the cause (most likely allergies). Once these are identified you can deal with the problem with understanding, keeping them away from things that cause issues and other techniques. Treating symptoms will not fix them and you will still have a stinky dog... you need to get to the dermatologist for proper assesment of the case. Dan

Both of you look after each other! DanXXOO

I can just picture the look of joy on her face when she thought mum was coming to help her win!! :D Hope you are all well... Big hugs to all of you! Dan

Unfortunately this happens... and the truth is some of those vets may not have known what they were looking at themselves.... terrible that they didn't refer you on :D :D Yes, there is as many specialists for our dogs as there are for us! both my dogs see a dermatologist for there issues and it makes a HUGE difference! Fortunately I also have a good vet who picked up on things and referred us quickly! Go and ask for a referral to a dermatologist, if they don't want to give you one then find a vet that will!! A specialist like a dermatologist is expensive, but you've already spent a lot of money and in the long run it will be less than if you keep on trying to sort it out for all of you without seeing one... Hopefully you can get some questions answered by a dermatologist and life will be a bit easier, happier and less stinky for all of you! good luck and let us know how you get on! Dan

Hi, ok, just so you know I have two dogs with severe allergies and have a lot of experience in this area!! Ok, I can say now that if he was tested at your local vets he would've almost definitely been given the old blood test which is very inaccurate and most Dermatologists in Australia wont use it! This test is inaccurate as it can only test for whatever they were reacting to at the time the blood was drawn. If there are no allergens in the system at the time the blood was drawn you will get a false negative! I can also say that he was tested at too young an age by the sounds of it and this also effects test results as they have not fully developed their allergy profile at such a young age, which again can produce false negative results! There is a new blood test, but it has to be sent away to the States for assesment. The standard test here is intradermal skin testing, where they prick the skin with allergens and look for a response. This is for atopic (air born allergies). He would be good to get this done now. For food allergies an elimination diet is required. For contact allergies patch testing with the suspect agent is performed. A skin biopsy is not an appropriate test for allergy. Most local vets have quite a poor understanding of allergies, which is why we have Dermatologists! I would bet and am almost 99.9% certain from you discriptions that you are infact dealing with undiagnosed allergies. At any rate it is a bad skin condition and you NEED a referral to a dermatologist that can assess it correctly with expert knowledge. Have you never been offered a referral to a Dermatologist? If you haven't then that is disgusting as you have been limited in your ability to asses your dog's condition appropriately and it will have cost you far more money in the long run than seeing the dermatologist and getting it sorted out right in the first place! Hope this helps. Cheers, Dan