NikkiandKane

Oh it’s definitely an adventure! I’m one tired dog mum today. He is eating many small serves of puréed Spd roll so at least his diet could remain unchanged!

Yes, the vet suggested a basket muzzle may be the best way to protect him. he is home now and very sore and sorry, such a shame he can’t understand what caused this situation and learn from it. we will try to clear away as many sticks and rocks out of the yard as possible but with trees around us it’s near impossible to maintain , so I think a muzzle will be in his future. his immediate future is puréed food, antibiotics and pain pills and lots of love. no baths for 10 days might be a problem. Poor little fella

Hi yes he has lots of chew toys of. Different textures and types and he enjoys chewing them. The thing with the rocks is, he doesn’t chew them, just gulps them down. It’s very strange.

Thanks Snook, Im not so patiently waiting for another call from the vet to update me, Apple Watch thinks I’m exercising my pulse is so high! plenty of time to think about what to do. He eats sticks too and we are surrounded by big trees, so that is going to be near impossible to avoid. I think he is going to be inside only and I am very glad he is crate trained already!

Thanks for the support! He is out of surgery, it went well, blockage removed and bowel remained healthy. Poor little guy has a rough couple of weeks ahead and my bank account hurts but I’m so happy he’s ok. turns out the blockage was not foam but rocks!! He likes eating them! I have sprayed bittering agent on them but it clearly tasted ok. He is barely out of my site but now he can’t be at all! thinking a basket muzzle or something when he wants to go outside in future? certainly open to suggestions on how to protect him? edited because I just realised I had typed buttering agent instead of bittering agent and thought that seemed a bit silly.

OMG this little puppy has been hard work. We have been at the vet at least once a week since he came to live with us 8 weeks ago and right now Kane is at the vet... im posting because I’m so anxious and I needed other doggy people to support me. last night our young boy while unsupervised for around 15 minutes, ripped apart a corner of his big sisters bed, nothing too much and I really didn’t realise he may have swallowed some but thinking back, this dog likes to eat rocks and sticks and why wouldn’t he have eaten some foam? about an hour later he vomited and there was a decent sized piece of foam in his vomit, he quickly vomited twice more and both had some foam and dinner in there. then he went to the toilet, annoyed his big sister and curled up to sleep. He sleeps in our room and slept comfortably all night. this morning he was just a bit quiet, ate his breakfast, drank water, poo’d and passed urine and went back to sleep, not too unusual but he didn’t jump up when big sister walked past and was just lazier than usual. i called the vet who asked me to bring him in to be checked. Vet said he thought he was just a bit inflamed in his bowel and gave me some tablets for him and said if anything changes contact him. we no sooner got home than Kane ran over to the lawn and started straining to poo, nothing came out, he then vomited all his breakfast up back at the vet they gave him “markers” to show up in an xray since foam won’t show up and we are just waiting for enough time to have passed to xray and see if those markers have moved anywhere down his diges.... Since typing the above the vet called. He has a blockage and needs surgery right now.... between $2500 and $3500 is what they expect it to cost. I’m in shock.

Great thanks! There are a few there that I know she hadn’t considered. Thanks everyone

Hi Everyone, I have a question, which isnt for me, I dont want anymore dogs , but is for my 22 year old daughter. She has recently moved out of home with her partner and is struggling to live in a home without a dog (our dogs are a big part of our family and she has never lived without a dog to snuggle). She really wants to get a dog to love, she has contact allergies to dog hair which we have discovered are not set off by dogs such as maltese, poodle etc who do not moult much and she is researching a breed who are generally not dog aggressive or wary of strangers. She basically is hoping to find a dog who has a lovely even temperament. Now before you all jump in and say, its in the training and how you raise the dog, we all know some breeds are just generally harder work than others to train. Of course there is always an exception to this rule and most issues can be overcome with appropriate training. She will certainly consider a rescue (proven temperament as an adult). I am really just interested in people thoughts. My family have 2 Amstaffs and a Matlese cross Australian terrier, while she loves the Amstaffs and still cuddles them, she suffers for it afterwards. What do you all think?

Sorry I didnt answer you sooner....Thats an interesting question, the SPD roll says it is a complete diet but doesnt give any detail on the amount of calcium in it, their website says "Calcium/Phosphorus ratio 1:0.7" and also "Salmon in this product contains a rich natural source of natural glucosamine, chondroitin and calcium to assist dogs with joint, oral and bone support." So I hope that this is meeting his nutritional needs? Is there a reason you ask? can you offer any insight?

Kane is still doing well and seems to have had a big growth spurt since the diet change. The previous 2 weeks he barely gained any weight! He still smells like a dog pretty badly and I have noticed multiple times that he feels almost sweaty when I cuddle him, so I suspect sebborhoic dermatitis is still an issue. continuing his medicated baths and washing his jumpers and bedding. not there yet but we have come a long way since this tile last week!

I had the thought over the weekend that there is a chance the allergy was to the cephalaxin which we stopped around the same time as the diet change.... I guess we will know better when we come to the time to challenge. he’s still a smelly little guy and due to his general “moistness” I suspect seborrhoic dermatitis is lingering. The medicated baths will continue for the time being but he remains basically rash free, skin still a little red generally.

Absolutely, I have already researched the cost of the dermatologist and ongoing allergy injections. I’m certainly willing to go down that road however I do know that even that is only successful in 70% of cases for atopy. so of course I am going to try the path of least resistance if it appears to be working. the vet also said that because of his age, he may still grow out of this....on the other hand he may progress and worsen , so we will just keep doing whatever we need to do and rest assured if he worsens again we will do whatever necessary to make Kane comfortable.

And to bulk it out without upsetting the overall balance of nutrients. i will definitely look into the meals for mutts, thanks. This dog has a bottomless stomach and I think he is going to want more than the suggested 400gms a day, which will be costly. thanks for the suggestion. I’ll let you know what we do.

Just wanted to update that I am really happy with the progress since the diet change. I have included a photo of Kanes tummy taken on Wednesday which is the day I changed his food and a photo taken last night. This morning I cant even see a hint of rash!! Sorry I know the yesterdays shot isnt great, but he is clear of rash. I know it could be a fluke and for everyone telling me to just go see a dermatologist, I will if we have another break out. I am happy to spend the money if needed but am not made of money and so will wait and see.

You're a little ray of sunshine aren't you? He is 14 weeks old and responded so so well to the change in diet, I dont think I feel like flushing money down the toilet this week. He is currently completely rash free, but thanks for your input. Obviously if we have a recurrence we will see a specialist, we were at the vet yesterday and even the vet didnt think the current situation warranted allergy testing.

Apparently these are not appropriate for puppies. Also, to be honest, I dont like the look of the ingredients, the first ingredient in the Hills brand is corn starch, chicken liver which wouldnt suit him.....and then a bunch of others I cant read and then salt, here is the ingredient list: Corn Starch, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Soybean Oil, Powdered Cellulose, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Glyceryl Monostearate, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Natural Flavors, Beta-Carotene. The SPD is a very basic list of ingredients that lend themselves better to an elimination diet, the Salmon and Tapioca I ended up buying a roll ofhave only the following ingredients: Salmon, tapioca starch, bamboo fibre, sunflower oil, vitamins, minerals, salt, natural digestive enzymes, celery seed extract.

Thanks everyone, I ended up grabbing him a roll of the salmon and tapioca. My thoughts are that it is a still a protein he has never had and we should be able to work the elimination diet with this. It says it is suitable for all life stages and especially good for dogs with skin issues. Praying that we can get him all sorted out free from medications just by changing foods

Hi Everyone, I have started this separate thread to try and get some advice on SPD rolls and diet for my 'itchy smelly staffy pup' (thats my other thread name.) He is 14 weeks old and we suspect is allergic to chicken, due to the fairly severe allergy rash he has been experiencing. I switched him over to plain kangaroo mince and potato a few days ago and the rash has started to really settle down. Today the vet suggested I try SPD rolls to continue with the elimination sort of diet and make sure he gets correct puppy nutrition. So I just started looking into them. I would like to continue with Kangaroo, since we have seen good results but it says it is a complete food for adult dogs and puppies need further calorie supplementation on this diet. I have no clue what I could use to add additional calories without complicating the simple diet. can anyone offer advice? Thanks Nikki and Kane

Morning everyone, After much reading, one of the things I decided to change on Wednesday was to change Kanes diet, again. Not a very good complete food for a pup but I have been feeding him nothing but kangaroo mince and potato with some omega 3 supplements added in. This morning, by some small miracle his skin had really settled down. The rash is still there but not inflamed and sore looking. So we went off to our vet appointment and the vet marvelled at the improvement and we currently feel hopeful that the allergy may be a chicken allergy..... He had his vaccination, so after 10 days he can see some of the big wide world. I need to consider food options which are appropriate for a puppy, the vet suggested SPD rolls might be a good option. I am yet to investigate since we just got home. Any advice? I will keep you all posted. Nikki and Kane

I have just read all through this post and am grateful you have kept coming back and adding info each year. I have a very young puppy (14 weeks) struggling with some type of allergy rash and I am struggling to know how to manage it already!! He has only been with us for 6 weeks and we have had 3 expensive vet appointments and if anything his issues have worsened. I gained a lot of useful information in your thread. So Thanks

Ill report back after tomorrows vet appointment. I doubt we will have any sort of answer unless a skin scraping shows something. Ill let you all know. Thanks for all the advice and support. I think this will be a long road.

No skin scrapings yet, certainly something to ask about on Friday. Im ready to put socks on him to take him to the toilet....I am going mad!!

Oh, I believe it is from the same family as wandering jew? In any case I may have been wrong about it worsening after contact with Scout. Today and yesterday I have kept them apart, Kane has been by my side in the crate or inside generally. His rash looked improved this morning and then worsened so far through the course of the day, without having any contact with Scout. The most he has been outdoors is to go to the bathroom and he has been promptly hauled back inside. We are back to the vet on Friday, I have maybe eliminated a few possible causes but I am none the wiser

Or maybe the Nexgard is what he is allergic to? the options are endless

The other thought I have had last night is that this is an allergy to Amoxicillin.... He was first given amoxicillan at 9 weeks old for the diarrhea issues, it was around that time that the rash first appeared. Then he was prescribed amox. for his rash secondary infection and its been almost 2 weeks with the skin just getting worse and worse. I looked up adverse reactions to amox and skin reaction like this are the most common........ Also, I just saw on the news that there is a bit of an outbreak of Parvo on the Gold Coast so I really hope he can get his Vax on Friday......Sigh.