Do We Over Medicate Our Dogs

[sandgrubber]

On the other hand, both homeopathy and prayer fulfill the first dictate of the Hippocratic Oath: they do no harm. That may not be true of some of the medications we commonly use on dogs.

That's a good point, however I think the exceptions should be noted - where effective treatment is foregone in favour of homeopathy or prayer. Or where risk is increased on an unproven principle (e.g homeopathic "vaccines"). I've lost count of the number of times I've seen Rescue Remedy suggested where a dog might benefit greatly from an anxiolytic or given effective behaviour modification.

Good point.

[sandgrubber]

Homeopathy can never work, because the treatments are just water.

Really? See, if you're making that as a sweeping statement to all homeopathy, that's where I disagree. I can certainly attest to Calendula Tea having tremendous results for the applications I have put it to. And because of the Calendula, I've been able to steer away from anti-histamines, cortisone. So saying "Homeopathy can never work" is a huge statement that in my experience is simply wrong.

Calendula Tea isn't homoeopathy.

Tea is made by brewing the flowers in hot water. Where as Homoeopathic remedies are over 99% water and a possibly indiscernible amount of calendular.

Calendula is a well known mild herbal treatment because of the chemicals it contains. Homeopathic remedy doesn't contain any of these useful chemicals.

I plead guilty to bringing Calendula into the argument. My maternal grandmother loved the stuff. She was born 120 yrs ago, and swore by Calendula cerate ointment (which everyone in my family uses and swears by, including my now-deceased father, who was a top-of-the-class Harvard educated physician). She bought if from homeopathic practitioners . . . and I think of it as homeopathic.

My Dad was fond of saying . . . with respect to alternative medicine . . . that there are pearls among the trash. There's also a lot of trash in market-driven modern treatments. I think we all need to keep an open, and critical, mind with respect to medicine.

[Steve]

Do we over medicate our dogs - yes absolutely definitely. Are there alternatives to using commercially prepared meds - yes absolutely . Herbal and naturally occuring chemicals can and most definitely do work but sorry guys in my opinion based on my experience and qualifications in herbal medicine Homeopathy just simply doesn't work. Go ahead muck around with it and give it a go but if the consequences of it not working are potentially serious I certainly wouldn't gamble on them. Don't assume either that those things which do occur naturally which are good to go for humans are also O.K. for dogs.

If you want to control a potential risk from parasites or viruses you need to assess what the risk factors are for your dog in your geographical area, research the life cycle of the parasite or virus and the drugs and chemicals which are recommended and make informed decisions.

[espinay2]

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen Rescue Remedy suggested where a dog might benefit greatly from an anxiolytic or given effective behaviour modification.

That's true, but save for when it's an immediate and urgent danger of irreversible harm, isn't a homeopathic remedy such as Rescue Remedy better to try first, rather than reaching for the drug cabinet? See no results in the very short term if not immediately, then move on to the 'big guns' so to speak?

Nitpicking, but Rescue Remedy isn't homeopathic. It is a Bach remedy based on a combination of flower essences.

[SpotTheDog]

On this

I will vaccinate my dog yearly because we travel a bit and up to date vaccs are important to travel arrangements.

I used to worm him once every three months, never heartworm treat and ever flea treat and never tick treat, because we were in Victoria and he never suffered mossie bites, fleas or ticks.

Then we moved to Townsville.

Since getting here, he's had a massive allergic reaction to something and we don't know what. A severe breakout of hives, two hotspots on his neck, he's been given corticosteroids and he's on three weeks of antibiotics. The hives were clearing up and I was delighted, but I think he got another hotspot last night on the top of a rear foot (and I always thought hotspots happened on or around the neck for some reason). We were just coming to the end of the corticosteroid course too. The ilium neocort cream is on the back foot and he's still working through his antibiotic course so there's not much else I can do.

He's been pretty much on house arrest since his flare up, so I'm now wondering what environmental thing it is that's triggering him. I had thought fleas from another dog at daycare, but since he's been inside there are no fleas on him or my cats, unless he picked one up out in the yard (clay soil, damp, wet at the moment - likelihood?)

Basically as soon as his antibiotics are over, he'll be on Panoramis once a month (all-wormer with flea and tick preventention capabilities), daily antihistamines during the wet season and reactive neocort if he flares up.

Not happy, Jan.

[Mason_Gibbs]

Get him allergy tested maybe???

[SpotTheDog]

Get him allergy tested maybe???

The vet's feedback appeared to be 'clear it up first and then we'll come to that'. He's had a skin scraping which was negative for more sinister underlying reasons. I'm not sure how effective allergy testing in dogs is, given there is such a broad range of potential allergens (especially up here?)

I've been racking my brains for changes, but seriously after moving from Victoria to Queensland, nothing's different and yet everything's different.

[Mason_Gibbs]

My dog has terrible allergys he had blood tests and intradermal testing done by the dermatologist, he is on desensitization injections, been doing it 4 18 months, fantastic outcome

And for at it's worth normal vets ie not dermatology specialists actually know hardly anything about allergies, they are very complex.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Mason_Gibbs

[SpotTheDog]

My dog has terrible allergys he had blood tests and intradermal testing done by the dermatologist, he is on desensitization injections, been doing it 4 18 months, fantastic outcome

And for at it's worth normal vets ie not dermatology specialists actually know hardly anything about allergies, they are very complex.

Mason_Gibbs, what age was your dog when his allergies started to show?

My guy is almost 22 months old, so nearly two years, and has literally never had a problem like this until we moved to Townsville, and even then he's been up here since 4th November last year and the first evidence of a reaction came after his third attendance at doggy daycare, which was about two weeks ago. He went on a Thursday, was fine, went the following Tuesday, was fine, and then the second Thursday, or third day he'd been there, I picked him up and he looked ragged. I thought he was dirty and had been mouthing other dogs, so I washed him that evening but he still looked rough. I thought he may have been scratched badly or scuffed by rough play and still didn't realise that what was happening was a major hive breakout under his fur. It was actually the groomer at dog daycare who approached me and said 'about that allergic reaction...' and asked me if I'd given him a flea control spot-on, because they can cause such reactions. It was the first I'd even thought about allergies so I took him to the vet. Once he was shaved it became evident just how bad it was - which was pretty severe.

I've never given him a flea spot-on, so it couldn't have been that. Now I'm wondering if it's pollen, certain grass seeds, or what the hell else it might be. I can ask the vet about allergy testing - I have pet insurance (thankfully) so I can go the extra mile on this and push them to refer me on if it's not clearing up.

I don't understand much about allergies in dogs - haven't done my reading yet. I don't know if it's common or uncommon for no allergies to show through puppyhood and puberty and suddenly appear out of nowhere near adulthood.

All I know is the appearance of what appears to be a hotspot on his foot last night made my eyebrows retreat up into my hairline...

[Maddy]

I don't agree with using homoeopathy. It simply doesn't work. It has no active ingredients. It's useless.

I've found Rescue Remedy works very well. All that alcohol to "preserve" it is most definitely an active ingredient :p (It's also more socially acceptable than carting around a bottle of vodka to deal with stress).

Although Bach stuff is more than just water anyway so I guess it doesn't really count.

Edited to add..

To answer the OP, I don't believe so.

The risk of not using those products far outweighs the risk of using them.

Heartworm, parvo, FAD, all horrible and easily preventable. We should consider ourselves very lucky that we can provide our pets with such treatments when people in poorer countries can't even afford such care for themselves, let alone their pets.

My own dogs are vacc'd on a three year schedule (although sometimes earlier, if needed for some reason), flea treated monthly and wormed every six weeks. They're both oldies but despite the normal problems associated with aging (creaky joints, etc), they're both happy, healthy dogs for their ages and most people are very surprised when meeting the old man hound to learn how old he actually is.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Hardy's Angel