dogbesotted

Staffyluv, here is some info received back. The group sends heaps of prayers for Ollie as well ( and they form a pretty powerful prayer circle too) http://www.southpaws.com/news/Newsletter-F...2001/page8.html http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_lomustine.html http://www.gcvs.com/oncology/pwc/chemoinformation.htm Hopefully our dear Ollie is feeling much better today.

I dont know that it is a matter of a particular shampoo..I suspect that because the fur around the hindquarters is not drying quickly because it is thick and felty that may be causing the problem. I still think you should bite the bullit so to speak and get your dog professionally groomed ASAP and then you will be able to manage the coat better yourself. If a dog is well groomed, without dead fur clogging the coat they are healthier and happier as well. I use Aloveen shampoo and conditioner but I make sure my dogs are dried off....they have no matts and felting so dry quickly.

oh good..glad to see you responded Hesapandabear! as you well know i am not a groomer.

Poor boy! From what others have said on the canine cancer list...it does sound like Ollie is reacting to the chemo from yesterday. Any possibility of speaking with the oncologist and getting him some meds to settle any nausea he may have? what chemo ddid he get yesterday and I'll post a question on canine cancer list and hopefully get back with some personal experiences. Loads of hugs

it sounds to me like your girl needs a professional groomer to sort out the hindquarter area. Where are you located? the fur sounds like it has matted and become felt like. If this is the case then the area will take a long time to dry, keeping the skin damp and allowing a smell to develop. If the matting is bad, she may need to be clipped. do you feed raw meat? if so and your dog will not eat raw red meat, try giving very small pieces initially stir fried in a small amount of butter, then gradually increase the size of the pieces and lessen the cooking time, just searing the outside. This sometimes works well. you can also try adding some green veggies to her meals..very small amounts at a time - about a dessert spoon full or even a teaspoon full to start with. Just chicken is not good.

feeding just chicken is not good. dogs need some red meat in their diet as it supplies the L carnitine which white meats do not. what is the condition of your dogs skin? is it greasy and flakey? and what is the condition of her fur - soft or hard and brittle? brushing alone will not help with a double coated dog..you need to be able to get right down to the skin and remove the dead fur from the coat. I use wide toothed combs and brushes but I am sure that Akita and malamute people will be able to give better advice than I can. Maybe a professional grooming session may help initially.

yippee! gotta love that (fat) little guy. With Lucinda it took a little while for her holistic meds to kick in I think. They do not take effect as quickly as the other stuff. Ollie sounds the same. =For the first weeks after surgery Lucinda was in terrible shape ...but when she bounced back she bounced high. Hugs

ok everyone here is some food for thoughT: http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/11/11/1434 http://www.treshanley.com/cic/rotties.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...9&dopt=Abstract Hypothyroidism in dogs: 66 cases (1987-1992) Panciera D L Dep. Med. Sci., Sch. Vet. Med., Univ. Wis., 2015 Linden Drive West, Madison, WI 53706, USA Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 204 (5). 1994. 761-767. Full Journal Title: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association ISSN: 0003-1488 Language: ENGLISH Print Number: Biological Abstracts Vol. 097 Iss. 009 Ref. 122309 Sixty-six dogs with hypothyroidism were identified from dogs examined over a 5-year period. Hypothyroidism was diagnosed only if the dog had a low, resting serum thyroxine concentration and serum thyroxine concentration was not higher than the lower limits of the reference range 6 hours after IV administration of bovine thyrotropin. The prevalence of hypothyroidism was 0.2%. Neutering was determined to be the most significant gender-associated risk factor for development of hypothyroidism. Neutered male and spayed female dogs had a higher relative risk of developing hypothyroidism than did sexually intact females. Sexually intact females had a lower relative risk. Breeds with a significantly increased risk, compared with other breeds, were the Doberman Pinscher and Golden Retriever. The most common clinical findings were obesity (41%), seborrhea (39%), alopecia (26%), weakness (21%), lethargy (20%), bradycardia (14%), and pyoderma (11%). Low voltage R-waves were found on 58% of ECG. Clinicopathologic abnormalities included hypercholesterolemia (73%), nonregenerative anemia (32%), high serum alkaline phosphatase activity (30%), and high serum creatine kinase activity (18%). Serum total triiodothyronine concentrations were within reference ranges in 15% of the hypothyroid dogs. Response to treatment was good in most dogs, but those with severe concurrent disease or neurologic abnormalities were less likely to respond with complete resolution of clinical signs. and so on....

hmm. smelly dogs. Is your girl getting a bit overweight? does she wolf her meat down? drink and urinate a lot? Could be worth testing thyroid levels. thyroid imbalances often lead to smelly dogs- and with some thyroid disorders secondary infections in the skin which makes them itchy. I am thyroid obsessed as I had a hypothyroid dog who suffered terribel problems for well over a year ( with frequent vet visits) and no one suggested thyroid. yet he was classic hypothyroid in his symptoms.

Interesting. I will make a comment tho. I feed my dogs raw bones but I do not feed big bones like the one illustrated. Always brisket bones ( lamb or beef) they are soft bones. If they are crushed with a hammer they do not tend to splinter into shards. Occasionally my guys will get a joint with bone in it so that they have to spend a deal of time gnawing the huge amount of meat off. They really enjoy thses feedds. The bone tends to get ignored after the meat has been gnawed oof..unless I leave them in the paddock. For my dogs behaviours with meals they have to gnaw and tear at...it is mentally and physically pleasant for them. It also works well for the couple of "fatties" i have. Takes them ages to finish a meal instead of opening the mouth and breathing the tucker in. LOL

Holly - I dont recommend anything. Just what I was advised by my vet. It appears the dosages we have both been recommended do work. I dont know about the intestinal worming doses as my guys get herbal supplements for that . It would appear that from the dose recommneded by my vet and his comment that there is a high safety margin for dogs that are NOT sensitive to ivermectin that it is ok. He said the dosage for demodex fro example is high and daily. again I would always be guided by ver recommendations.

Great that you have an expert available now. Keeping fingers crossed for a simple explanation. I dont really think it is Vit K toxicity..but was amazed to discover that info. Good to tuck away for future reference. when my boy Morris had thrombocytompenia..they initially thought it may have been rat bait and tested his blood coagulating time. apparently that was in the normal range. so the vet suspected Thrombocytopenia so blood was driven ( by me) to the lab on the saturday. The needle prick where they took his blood from would not stop bleeding and he developed a haematoma the size of a medicine ball ..it was scary. he had his first blood transfusion that night. Morris was an acute case and I could see him deterioriate by the minute. It is possible for the thrombocytopenia not to be severe or acute...in which case other symptoms may not be present. I am keeping you in my thoughts.

A quick explanation from a farmer LOL. As you will see the amounts of active ingredient "ivermectin" vary according to product. So all IVOMEC is not the same it is merely a brand name. Ivermectin is the active ingredient. IVOMEC is the brand name for the product produced by Merial Australia Pty Ltd. The differences in the product are as follows: CATTLE beef cattle. IVOMEC® Antiparasitic Injection for Cattle IVERMECTIN 10mg/mL IVOMEC® Pour-On for Cattle IVERMECTIN 5mg/mL IVOMEC® Plus Broad-Spectrum Antiparasitic Injection for Cattle IVERMECTIN 10mg/mL and CLORSULON 100mg/mL IVOMEC® EPRINEX Pour-On for Beef and Dairy Cattle EPRINOMECTIN 5mg/mL SHEEP IVOMEC® Liquid for Sheep IVERMECTIN 0.8g/L IVOMEC® Liquid with Selenium for Sheep IVERMECTIN 0.8g/L SELENIUM 0.4g/L (as sodium selenate) SO IT IS VITAL TO ALWAYS CHECK

exactly - that is why I have specified the Ivomec I am using ie .8g/L and I also stated to consult with your vet before useing

Pampas, Check this out: drug allergies and reaction. Right down the bottom of the list it mentions Vitamin K ( poisoning or overdose) causing purpura which is the bruising ( petechiae are small purpura are larger). http://www.labbies.com/drugallergies.htm I dont really think this is relevant but worth noting I guess. I assume that your dog is on Vitamin K1(Phytonadione) as Vit K3 is not effective against rodenticide poisonings. also modern rodenticides remain in the body for up to six months so Vit K should be continued for six months "Anticoagulant rodenticides (Vitamin D3, brodifacoum [d-Con® Mouse Pruff II, Enforcer® Mouse Kill, Havoc® Klerat®,Ratak Plus®, Talon®, Volid®], bromethalin[bromathone®, Contrac®, Hot Shot® Sudden Death®; Ratimus®, Tamogen®11, warfarine [d-Con®]) Vomiting, abdominal pain, bloody stool, lethargy. If ingestion has occured less thn 12 hours you may induce vomiting; give activated charcoal slurry. Follow-up care: Vitamin K treatment by veterinarian. The new generation of rotenticides can persist in the body for up to six months, as the liver keeps changing them to another form of antioagulant, therefore treatment should continue for at least six months" from http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0175.htm

while ivermectin is being discussed: here is link to Ivermectin toxicosis: http://www.safe2use.com/scabiesboard/ivermectin/iverm.html you will also be interested to note that Ivernectin is used to trest humans for: River Blindness and skin parasites

from my local vet. I I have gone back to the bottle with directions on it. and it says 1ml per 15kg. Ivomec .8g/L just spoken with a vet and the rate advised for heartworm is 0.0075ml per kg. but there is a wide safety margin for non invermectin sensitive dogs. ie for demodex the dose rate is 80 times greater given daily. does this make sense.

The dose rates that Holly gave are much higher than the ones i was given. 1ml per 15kg body weight. ALWAYS check with your vet regarding these doses. It is far safer to do that than risk overdosing. JHMO

Good...you know we are all thinking of you and Ollie. Bless that bully tenacity. Give him hugs from me. You can have one too if you like.

that is very positive news. A quick question : is Ollie still on pred? as that can affect the blood resulst for thyroid function. ""Prednisone/Prednisolone use is likely to change liver enzyme blood testing and interfere with testing for thyroid diseases."" "TOTAL T4 CONCENTRATION Total T4 concentration (TT4) is the amount of total (free plus protein-bound) thyroxine measured in the blood. It is the predominant hormone made by the thyroid gland. While it has some biological activity itself, its major purpose is to be converted to T3, the more active thyroid hormone, in the peripheral tissues of the body. The free portion of T4 is the active available form of the hormone, while the protein-bound portion serves as a reservoir for hormone in the circulating blood. The protein-bound portion of TT4 can be lowered by non-thyroid illnesses, other hormones (cortisol) and certain drugs. Drugs that can lower protein-bound T4 (and therefore TT4) include steroids (cortisone, prednisolone, prednisone, etc.), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (phenylbutazone and others), anticonvulsant or seizure drugs (phenobarbital), certain potentiated sulfa drug antibiotics and potentially other drugs. Therefore, a dog with normal thyroid gland function could have a low TT4 due to lowering the protein-bound portion of TT4. It is very important that the veterinarian evaluating a dog for thyroid function know about all medications and any other medical conditions that the dog might be suffering from. Results of the measurement of TT4 can be misleading if one of the above mentioned conditions exist. from: http://www.goldstockfund.org/Edu/Health-Thyroid.htm edited to add: that you just need to monitor his reaction to thyroxine carefully. Casper ( hypothyroid) had his T4 levels tested every 8 week initially until we got his weight down to normal and his meds were adjusted as his weight went down. Overdosing can make the patient agitated and irritable. ( I have this on good authority from a friend of mine who has hashimotos and is on thyroxine ).

Pampa, I have PM'd you some links that may help to give you a broad oversight of thrombocytopenia -- also with autoimmune haemolytic anemia there is usually thrombocytopenia involved. some of these links I did not send you specifically 2 & 3 Is your dog on any other medications besides Vit K? as "" Immune mediated thrombocytopenia is associated with some medications, especially sulfa/trimethoprim antibiotics. Other medications and treatments may suppress platelets without inducing immune suppression, such as chemotherapeutic agents. Short periods of thrombocytopenia may occur after vaccinations with modified-live viruses. "" For those interested thrombocytopenia is associated with: vaccine reactions, erlichiosis, babesiosis, cancer , infectious diseases and others. here is an oversight but certainly not totally inclusive. 1. http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_immun...mbocytopen.html 2. http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/Diseases/immune%2...bocytopenia.htm 3. http://www.idexx.com/animalhealth/educatio...edge/200402.jsp

I use the ivomec ( ivermectin) sheep formula. Its easy cos i have sheep LOL. I think it does all except tapeworm ( sma efor the sheep I use a yearly white drench for the tape worms). The sheep formula is suitable for dogs. the cattle formula is not as it has a higher amount of active ingredient per ml if that makes sense. I have sheep scales which double as dog scales. I think tho that I will be changing to the daily heartwormmeds as soon as I have them all tested again.

my thoughts too Dougie! Maybe start with a flute of orange juice and Krug Champagne ( for discerning gourmets) then eggs benedict. Seriously tho I would not stress out. he will not starve himself to death and you really do not need to be running in circles trying to please him. Give him whatever you choose to feed, if he does not eat withing say 15 - 20 mins. take it all away until dinner time, then repeat.

what sweet and uplifting news...yay Ollie Dog!