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Can Anybody Out There Help My Poor Puppydog?

Staffyx

By Staffyx,
in Health / Nutrition / Grooming

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Staffyx

Staffyx

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I require much needed advice! I have a 2 year old female staffy x ridgeback with 'Lupus' the medical name is Discoid Lupus Erythematosus which is a autoimmune disease that attacks the dogs skin, her nose is badly affected to the point where its turning pink and the whole thing is almost pink now, its also scabby and sore. I have been to the vet and she is on treatments that are doing nothing to help the spreading of this horrible condidtion. I also have her sister who didn't have any signs of it at all for the first couple of years but is now starting to show signs of it appearing on her nose also. Wondering if there's anyone out there who know's about this condition and has any suggestions for treatment or even anybody that know's of any support groups i could speak to about this or even a skin specialist that i could liase with. I know this is a lifelong problem thats always going to need treatment but i would like to control it so its not so sore all the time and also stop it from spreading on her sister's nose. The nose starts off black and when exposed to sunlight gradually goes pink, when pink it burns when in sunlight and is extremly sore :laugh:

Can anybody out there help?

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Staffyx

Staffyx

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I would be looking at holistic vet treatment ( in conjunction with conventional treatment ) I think. It is a matter of getting the immune system back into balance.

By teh way...with a dog with a compromised immune system..no more vaccinations.

I didn't think you could combine them both? Holistic and vet treatment i mean..

What do you mean by no more vaccinations? What is the danger involved there?

Sorry if am asking a lot of qusestions but im really wanting to learn more about the canine body function in order to be a better puppy mummy :laugh:

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dogbesotted

dogbesotted

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hey you dont get to know anything if you dont ask questions. thats how we all learn.

My Lucinda ( mast cell Tumour) was treated both conventionally and holistically for a while, and then we changed to holistic only. The two are not mutually exclusive but both vets MUST know what other treatments are being given. With Lucinda both would discuss her treatment.

Vaccination should only be given to healthy dogs and a dog with a compromised immune system is not healthy.

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Staffyx

Staffyx

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hey you dont get to know anything if you dont ask questions. thats how we all learn.

My Lucinda ( mast cell Tumour) was treated both conventionally and holistically for a while, and then we changed to holistic only. The two are not mutually exclusive but both vets MUST know what other treatments are being given. With Lucinda both would discuss her treatment.

Vaccination should only be given to healthy dogs and a dog with a compromised immune system is not healthy.

Ive wanted to treat her naturaly for a while as i believe there is a lot of natural treatments that are very effective. As i also turn to a homeopath when im sick as i think they get to the bottom of things rather than just write you a script like a normal doc and get you outta there so they can see their next patient. Being that this is an autoimmune disease thats life long does that mean she can never be vaccinated again? Or when her immune system is boosted and shes looking better maybe then she could have her annual vacc? Your girl is gorgeous! Thanks for not being bugged about my questions i really appreciate it as i need all the help i can get with this one.

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Staff'n'Toller

Staff'n'Toller

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If she's on regular cortisone she shouldn't be vaccinated anyway as the cortisone renders the vaccine ineffective.

If you need or want to, just give the lowest available i.e. C3 instead of C5. But yes, you would want her to be looking very well when you do it.

Google ' dog titre testing' this is a blood test that gives a good idea of your dog's levels on antibodies for each disease that we vaccinate against. You may find her immunity quite high so vaccination not needed at that time. One or all of the tests may need to go to the US (I'm not exactly sure as things are changing all the time).

If you let us know what State you live in eventually someone will be able to give contacts of holistic vets in your area. Also be very careful about using fleat spot ons as they can affect the immune system too.

I have a subscription to the Whole Dog Journal, it is fairly cheap for an e-subscription, and there are alot of articles you can buy for a small amount once you are a member, about vaccinating, immunity, immune system supplements etc. Whole Dog Journal

Cheers :laugh:

Mel.

Edited by Staff'n'Toller
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ShesaLikeableBiBear

ShesaLikeableBiBear

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Hi Staffyx

Panda developed D.L.E. (sometimes known as Collie Nose) in 2003 and it is now totally under control, with no sign of it for the last two years. Luckily it was only on his nose.

Vets first had him on prednisone which I baulked at, as at the time he was only 2 1/2.

We tried a multitude of remedies inlcuding Vitamin E, and eventually used Aristocort (spelling may be aristocourt) a cortisone cream for humans.

A dog with DLE needs to be kept away from the sun's U/V rays as they aggravate it. I was quite worried moving to QLD from NZ, but we haven't had a problem here at all.

Please feel free to pm me for further info. :laugh:

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dogbesotted

dogbesotted

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No problems..hopefully others will jump in too. Where are you located? Lucindas holistic vet is in Sydney ( I am in Qld but she still treated Lucinda with the help of my conventional vet).

here are some links:

The morris foundation : http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/lear...iscoidlupus.asp

[PDF] Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Dog: Diagnosis and TreatmentFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML

the disease known as discoid lupus. Discoid lupus is considered a mild variant of SLE ... Criteria for the Diagnosis of Canine Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ...

dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2756/1/2003+Kearns.pdf

I am looking up my holistic dog book...

Edited by dogbesotted
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Staffyx

Staffyx

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If she's on regular cortisone she shouldn't be vaccinated anyway as the cortisone renders the vaccine ineffective.

If you need or want to, just give the lowest available i.e. C3 instead of C5. But yes, you would want her to be looking very well when you do it.

Google ' dog titre testing' this is a blood test that gives a good idea of your dog's levels on antibodies for each disease that we vaccinate against. You may find her immunity quite high so vaccination not needed at that time. One or all of the tests may need to go to the US (I'm not exactly sure as things are changing all the time).

If you let us know what State you live in eventually someone will be able to give contacts of holistic vets in your area. Also be very careful about using fleat spot ons as they can affect the immune system too.

I have a subscription to the Whole Dog Journal, it is fairly cheap for an e-subscription, and there are alot of articles you can buy for a small amount once you are a member, about vaccinating, immunity, immune system supplements etc. Whole Dog Journal

Cheers :laugh:

Mel.

Hi Mel,

I live in Melbourne and am not sure of anybody that's good in thier field in the holistic area or even an animal skin specialist would be fantasic ro speak with re this problem. If you or anyone else knows of anyone that they think would be helpfull i would be very grateful for their response. She is now currently on Vitamin E, Vitamin B3 and also a cream called Elidel and another one called Neotopic-H lotion. She was also on a few different other tablets when this all first started which were steroids and they did seem to stop it from spreading at the time but the vet didn't want to keep her on it so she was weaned off. What flea treatments are effective for a dog with D.L.E? I am currently using Advantage but i wasn't aware that it had any impact on her immune system so thanks heaps for the tip. I will research the Titre testing to as i think that would be extremly helpfull. Thankyou for the advice on getting the whole dog journal, thats something i will definalty do as im trying to get all the information i can get on this particular disease. Seeing as its lifelong i wanna try and maintain the best possible health for my girls as i can.

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Staffyx

Staffyx

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No problems..hopefully others will jump in too. Where are you located? Lucindas holistic vet is in Sydney ( I am in Qld but she still treated Lucinda with the help of my conventional vet).

here are some links:

The morris foundation : http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/lear...iscoidlupus.asp

[PDF] Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Dog: Diagnosis and TreatmentFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML

the disease known as discoid lupus. Discoid lupus is considered a mild variant of SLE ... Criteria for the Diagnosis of Canine Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ...

dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2756/1/2003+Kearns.pdf

I am looking up my holistic dog book...

Thanks for the link on the morris foundation, the more opinions and idea's of different treatments i can get the better as my vet which they are fantastic but im sure they havn't treated many dogs with this condition as they seemed quite puzzled as to what to treat her with. I have tried to attach a photo of her so you can see how bad it is, didn't work last time but i have my fingers crossed this time. I have done some research on this condition and seen some photo's of other dogs but none that i have seen so far seem to have it as bad as my girl. post-13582-1163851746_thumb.jpg

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Staff'n'Toller

Staff'n'Toller

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I don't know a huge amount about the condition either, but the dogs I have seen are managed well on cortisone...

This Vet is supposed to be really good, I haven't had cause to need to call her yet but if I do then I wouldn't hesitate.

Dr Margaret O'Riordan

Tel 03 9480 1823 - if this number is wrong PM me and I will try to locate her for you, I'm in Melbourne.

I got her number from here

I searched the whole dog journal under the keyword lupus and it came up with many articles although none that I can see that are specifically about Lupus. It would be worth emailing the editor to see if they have done one. Definitely the Vaccine related ones are worth buying: Hot shots, Shots fired and Are Spot on Flea Killers Safe?

Good luck with your research,

Mel.

Edited by Staff'n'Toller
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Lab_Rat

Lab_Rat

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Check out this website www.rr-oona.com/index.html that I found a while ago when I was looking at different RR websites. Theres some info there about causes, trreatment etc and you get the chioce of reading it in a couple of different languages!

I hope you find whats right for your dog as it sound like it can be a life tome struggle. :laugh:

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Staffyx

Staffyx

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I don't know a huge amount about the condition either, but the dogs I have seen are managed well on cortisone...

This Vet is supposed to be really good, I haven't had cause to need to call her yet but if I do then I wouldn't hesitate.

Dr Margaret O'Riordan

Tel 03 9480 1823 - if this number is wrong PM me and I will try to locate her for you, I'm in Melbourne.

I got her number from here

I searched the whole dog journal under the keyword lupus and it came up with many articles although none that I can see that are specifically about Lupus. It would be worth emailing the editor to see if they have done one. Definitely the Vaccine related ones are worth buying: Hot shots, Shots fired and Are Spot on Flea Killers Safe?

Good luck with your research,

Mel.

Thanks for the contact Mel much appreciated, i will look into taking my girl up to see her. If you do find anything at any stage about this condition feel free to pm me as i would love the info. Ive been doing a lot of research into this, i think its time to get broadband! hehehe extremly time consuming but hey i love animals so its also a hobby for me to read up on them. I am currently taking her to see Dr Robert Jones, dont know if youv'e heard of him?? But he's supposed to be very good also. Although ive been taking her to his clinic but other vet's have been asessing her. Will keep you posted on her progress. Thanks once again.

Skye

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Staffyx

Staffyx

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good luck with it all

Just make sure you keep your dog out of the bright midday sun.

Hi,

Thanks for the words of wisdom but if only it was that easy :(

I work in retail so im not home during the day and i have put a shade sail up to protect her but she actually enjoys laying in the sun making it extremley difficult. I would leave her inside but i have tried that before and she and her sister dug holes in my plasterboard. Luckily my partners father is a plasterer, but i rent so i really cant afford for it to happen again as it has now all been repaired. Im at the stage where i really dont know what to do anymore, im going to buy a weighted umbrella to put up where she usually lays but if that doesnt work im not really sure

Any suggestions?

Skye

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