Chicken Jerky And Illness

[lilypily]

Thankyou so much wundahoo :)

I'll definitely be making these.

[~Anne~]

I hope your girl will be ok Lilpily.

[OSoSwift]

I do not feed my dogs any treats, foods or anything that is not made in Australia.

I saw a recipe very recently that took two mashed bananas, enough VAN to make it a firm dough, then put it onto a tray like small biscuits and cook until firm but they remain chewy. I can find the recipe if you are interested.

Edited September 17, 2013 by OSoSwift

[sheena]

Apart from the odd bit of dried liver or lamb puff (Australian with no additives) I just make my own Home made treat suggestions With two dogs in training, I go through kilos of treats, so I just make them up & store them in the freezer :)

[Loving my Oldies]

Thankyou so much wundahoo :)

I'll definitely be making these.

Sure does look easy.

Check you oil spray though for nasties. :D

[lillypilly]

If the treats were JerHigh Chicken Tenders made by VitaPet (Masterpet) then according to Masterpet they are made in Thailand.

A couple of years ago there were a high number of dogs in both Australia and the US with fanconi type syndrome - caused by treats made in China.

Buy Australian made treats and avoid such problems.

This link gives some more info

My link

All the best for your dog lilypily - fingers crossed tis all good.

xx LP xx

edited for clarity and grammar

Edited September 17, 2013 by lillypilly

[lilypily]

Thanks everyone. Well I got the results and vet thinks she has Cushings She goes back to the vet tomorrow for the day for more tests.

Her liver enzyme's are up and so are her red blood cells.

Regarding the jerky, I have to take in another urine sample in the morning. If there is glucose in her urine then it would be the jerky and we'd have to wait it out for a few months and hopefully she would recover. In saying that, the vet does think it's Cushings not the jerky.

I'll update tomorrow with the result of her urine test.

Now i'm off to do a lot of reading about Cushings

[persephone]

here is a thread on cushings ...

LINK

[lilypily]

Thanks pers :)

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I keep getting the pituitary tumours when mine get Cushings, if it's the adrenal form of Cushings you can have surgery. I've had 3 dogs that have def. had Cushings and one that was thought to have it.

My old BOrder Terrier cross girl, Dixie, actually lived for 4 years after diagnosis on medication - it was pretty awful meds too - toxic to people so I had to wear gloves and be very careful feeding it to her. I had to let her go when she began hallucinating due to the tumour pressing on the wrong part of her brian.

Now the medication is much improved, I've got my Westie cross in his 3rd year of medication and he's been very well for that time. He's had 3 lots of Cartrophen injections over the 3 yrs as he has cruciate issues.

I lost another dog in 2010 when both his cruciates went - the vet suspected he'd got Cushings but it was undiagnosed and it can destroy the ligaments. He would have been over 12 yrs old, he didn't respond to the Cartrophen.

This year my old Maltese was diagnosed with Cushings in March and he was about 14 so we didn't put him on medication and then he started to have fits. I lost him in May.

Lifespan without meds is usually estimated to be up to a year, with meds up to 3 years. The medication for my Westie cross is $95 per month.

Edited September 17, 2013 by dogmad

[lilypily]

Thanks Dogmad, i'm sorry about your guys

Lil recently had a ACL repair surgery. I asked my vet if that could be linked, he said no, but her fur isn't growing back properly and he said that's linked.

Even though it's unlikely i'm praying for glucose in her urine this morning.

From my reading, it's not just the cost of meds, there are a lot of vet visits for blood tests. Is this correct?

[lilypily]

Nope, no glucose in her urine so the chicken tenders have been ruled out (still will never buy them again) .

So she's currently having the low dose Dex testing and hopefully we get the results on Friday, if not early next week.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Thanks Dogmad, i'm sorry about your guys

Lil recently had a ACL repair surgery. I asked my vet if that could be linked, he said no, but her fur isn't growing back properly and he said that's linked.

Even though it's unlikely i'm praying for glucose in her urine this morning.

From my reading, it's not just the cost of meds, there are a lot of vet visits for blood tests. Is this correct?

Cushings definitely causes a change in fur growth, their fur doesn't grow properly.

I don't do all the vet visits for blood tests. When my Border Terrier was diagnosed, it took months of back and forth and cost around $4000 ...

The vet in question then wanted me to take her back every few weeks for blood tests at the cost of $500 each time.

I said I couldn't afford that. The meds were very expensive, over $100 each month and she was very well on them. Trouble is she had to have surgery a couple of times and go off the meds, then on a drip - it was horrendous. He asked me if I loved my dog - I was staggered. I had 2 dogs at that time and in just 3 years had spent thousands on their vet care at that vet. I changed vets. My new vet was horrified at what the other vet had charged me and done. At 12 they would not have put my BT through all that.

Never mind, I did have her for 4 happy years.

Trilostane is so much better!

[lilypily]

Thanks Dogmad, i'm sorry about your guys

Lil recently had a ACL repair surgery. I asked my vet if that could be linked, he said no, but her fur isn't growing back properly and he said that's linked.

Even though it's unlikely i'm praying for glucose in her urine this morning.

From my reading, it's not just the cost of meds, there are a lot of vet visits for blood tests. Is this correct?

Cushings definitely causes a change in fur growth, their fur doesn't grow properly.

I don't do all the vet visits for blood tests. When my Border Terrier was diagnosed, it took months of back and forth and cost around $4000 ...

The vet in question then wanted me to take her back every few weeks for blood tests at the cost of $500 each time.

I said I couldn't afford that. The meds were very expensive, over $100 each month and she was very well on them. Trouble is she had to have surgery a couple of times and go off the meds, then on a drip - it was horrendous. He asked me if I loved my dog - I was staggered. I had 2 dogs at that time and in just 3 years had spent thousands on their vet care at that vet. I changed vets. My new vet was horrified at what the other vet had charged me and done. At 12 they would not have put my BT through all that.

Never mind, I did have her for 4 happy years.

Trilostane is so much better!

Thanks for your reply. What a horrible dodgy vet! I'm clinging to hope that just because the vet thinks Cushings is on the table and she's been tested, doesn't mean she has it. But if that is to be the case then it's further testing because something is wrong. She is so lethargic and flat

[lilypily]

Just a quick update. Lily does have Cushings

I have my first batch of 'chicken tenders' in the oven now. Hope they work out.

[Lily123]

Sorry to hear about Lily's diagnosis. My Lily has recently been diagnosed with Cushing's - there's a recent thread in Health/Nutrition/Grooming with some information in it. If there's anything else you'd like to know (not that I'm an expert but just because it's so recent) please feel free to ask. My Lily is doing very well and I'm sure your Lily will too.

[lilypily]

Sorry to hear about Lily's diagnosis. My Lily has recently been diagnosed with Cushing's - there's a recent thread in Health/Nutrition/Grooming with some information in it. If there's anything else you'd like to know (not that I'm an expert but just because it's so recent) please feel free to ask. My Lily is doing very well and I'm sure your Lily will too.

Thanks. Sorry to hear about your Lily too . My vet isn't working today, so i got the results via another vet. She was saying not to treat yet ( the med used would be Trilostane). I'll ring my vet on Monday to see what he's thoughts are.

I'll head over to the other thread to ask more questions :)

[lilypily]

UPDATE.

It's been 10 days since Lil's diagnosis of Cushings and in that time I haven't been able to contact our vet - he was at a confrence all last week. I have rang today and left a message for him to return my call. I'm wondering if the test is sensitive enough to tell at what stage/level Cushings disease is at? The vet who gave me the test results over the phone just said 'yes she is Cushingoid etc etc'.

Because she is getting better She hasn't had a accident overnight for a week now (she was having 2-3 every night for months) She is brighter, the excess drinking has stopped Even her tummy is looking less round/pot belly.

I'm not denying she has Cushings, her fur hasn't grown back from her surgery 3months ago. But it must be early stage???????

Since I stopped those bloody chicken tenders her health has been improving day by day. I do think the chicken tenders have played a big role

People please please please do not feed this rubbish to your dog!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just slice a chicken breast and put it in the oven for 2hrs or so. Easy peasy and natural and you know exactly what is going into your dog.

I will update again when i have spoken to my vet. He was very interested in the chicken jerky's.

[Rosetta]

Glad she is improving. I haven't read the whole thread but have you written to the company and stated your suspicions?

[lilypily]

No i haven't but i think I will. My vet agreed that the chicken tenders were contributing to her symptoms. He told me her levels of cortisol (I should of had a pen on me) but she is definitely Cushingoid.

Seeing as her health is actually improving, he said not to treat her. If down the track she becomes ill then we will commence treatment.

Edited September 30, 2013 by lilypily