Dog Blog : Anything goes: Tuesday, Sept. 16

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Anything goes: Tuesday, Sept. 16

Posted by dogblog

Posted: September 16, 2008 - 8:29 pm

Looks like everyone behaved while I was out of town :), so here's a new anything goes topic to discuss anything you'd like. I'm still catching up with the last one.

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8 September 17, 2008 - 5:35pm | mwolf

Another recall

This is about a week old now. There is a voluntary recall happening due to possible Salmonella contamination. Some brands include: Pedigree, Ol' Roy and Special Kitty. Full details and products affected at http://www.petcare.mars.com/

7 September 17, 2008 - 5:19pm | sondrals

Update on Kane

Well I picked up Kane, had a conversation with his vet about her findings, she said he was the easiest scope she's ever had to do (should I be proud of this?! eh mayas well, not too often is he good at something!) She didn't find anything too scary, mostly just inflammation, no indication it's the "bad" kind of IBD either. All his blood tests are still normal so that's a plus also. She said she is guessing the tests will come back mild to moderate IBD with food sensitivities. Hopefully it can still be controled mostly with diet and deal with the flareups with steriods. The biggest thing is going to be he can have NO foods other than his own.. so that should be interesting!

For right now until we get the results back we're starting the natural remedies, doing a chicken and rice diet and staying on his normal meds.

And now.. I'm off to tend to staggery wide eyed woozy dog :-|

September 18, 2008 - 7:59am | shannon_dewandel

hows Kane this morning

Just wondered if you had a kane update for us, hope he got thru the woozies! I sure hope you find just the right diet for him so he can retain his groceries. I had a dog who developed cushings disease, people get it too, and she was always starving. Cushings makes you look fat, but you aren't getting the benefits of the food you eat. She ate anything she found she thought might just have a food item associated with it, and she kept gaining weight (a thyroid thing). The drs kept telling us we needed to put her on a diet, she was, and was starving all the time. Poor Kane, I know what you are going thru, at least from a commiseration stand point.

September 18, 2008 - 8:36am | sondrals

He seems

back to his normal self this morning, last night he was wobbly and woozy and pretty obsessed about the bandage on his leg, so I just took it off before he decided to chew his leg off to get it off.

He about mauled me for his bowl of chicken and rice this morning. I also started him on some natural supplements which he gobbled down with his food, well ok he took one out and played with it on the living room floor before eating it but still...

My previous dog had Cushings, we ran into the same thing, he always "looked" chunky, we kept putting him on diets, he never lost weight. At the time he passed he had a softball sized tumor in his stomach and a golf ball one at the base of his skull.

The vet said IBD is a lot easier to deal with than cushings... so i'm hopeful we can get him settled back down and back to his "normal" life.

September 17, 2008 - 9:20pm | caribcrazy

Excellent IBD website

I googled "IBD" and also found a great website that has personal stories from dog owners that discuss IBD, diet, meds, alternative therapies, etc. I copied the link:
http://www.geocities.com/ibdogsintl/whatis.html

September 17, 2008 - 8:29pm | dogblog

Good news

I think he needs a sign around his neck that says "Don't feed me."

September 17, 2008 - 8:14pm | caribcrazy

Go Kane!

I'm so glad to hear he is okay and doesn't have the bad kind of IBD (what is IBD?). It's always extremely frightening to have something wrong with your dog. Steroids scare me, but we used them for Marley when he had juvenile cellulitis and they worked really well. He was on them for about 2.5-3 weeks or so with no ill side effects. Poor Kane! Poor you!

September 17, 2008 - 9:15pm | sondrals

IBD

stands for inflammatory bowel disease, it's basically his bowels are reacting to something, they dont know what causes it, it could be vaccinations, a parasite could set it off, or food allergies (or a thousand other things). Anyway, it affects how they absorb their food, causes chronic vomiting diarrhea etc. With Kane it was just bloody mucousy diarrhea ALL the time and he always acted like he was starving which now makes sense because he truely is starving although he's eating a ton of food. He also likes to eat non-food objects which is a sign of it (but doesn't always mean they have it, some dogs just like to eat weird things!)

There's a lot more to it than just that, but thats kinda the jist of it. some of the time it can be managed by diet and short courses of steriods when they have a flare up so we're going to hope for that and toss in some herbal remedies also

September 17, 2008 - 9:23pm | caribcrazy

Thanks for the information

I googled it and found a great website. I posted the address above. Hopefully, you can find some good tips and it's always nice to read about others going through the same thing. And it talks about the different types of IBD too. Poor Kane! Hopefully, you'll be able to find something that he can eat that doesn't irritate and hopefully, he'll gain some weight. All dogs have their toes crossed. I think Kane and Marley are going to get along great as Marley is turning into a big goofy boy once they finally meet!

September 17, 2008 - 9:34pm | sondrals

Yeah

I've googled it about 300 times lol, I keep finding more and more info, it can get overwhelming and scary at times. Kane mostly gets along with everyone (dog wise) he just chooses to ignore most of them because he's too busy chasing THE ball.

September 17, 2008 - 5:27pm | mwolf

Sending good energy

Sounds like mostly good news or at least not terrible news. Sorry to hear you two are dealing with all this. I'm sending good energy and hugs to you both.

Take care,
Melissa

September 17, 2008 - 9:16pm | sondrals

Thanks!

We need all the good energy we can get. Right now I'm exhausted, in a way it is kinda of a relief but i'm still a bit down about it.

6 September 17, 2008 - 4:30pm | LindaandDaisy

Alaska Dog News online with Mike Lewis article.

AlsoThis month:

•My Life as a Sled Dog: Morgan, the sled dog who wasn’t.
•Alexis is Found! a heartwarming story about a community and love for a dog.
•Mat-Su Animal Shelter News
•September –November Dog Event Calendar
•Welcome! Anchorage Animal Care & Control News
•Alaska Dog News is 6 months old - In pictures
•Understanding Canine Dominance By Jenn Lewis, MS
•Gov. Sarah Palin signs veterinarian externship bill bringing veterinary students back to Alaska (couldn’t let a pet related Sarah story be ignored).
•Sled dog season kicks off with the 1st annual Willow Mushing Symposium with Lance Mackey.
•Far Country Animal Hospital starts 1st Alaskan Canine Blood Bank
•and More.......

Download the PDF at www.alaskadognews.com

Advertising supports the production of Alaska Dog News. To advertise please contact Image Works Publishing.

You can sponsor a shelter page for $60 – contact us for details

New! We have heard from some readers that they would subscribe. Send us an e-mail and how many copies you would want each month. Subscriptions may be available beginning in 2009 based on demand.
Is this too much of an ad? I beg forgiveness.
Enjoy L
lindahenning@imageworkspub.com

September 17, 2008 - 5:07pm | dogblog

Woohoo! 15 minutes of fame

Thanks, Linda, for giving the Dog Blog some love in your awesome publication. You've got some great information in there again this month!

5 September 17, 2008 - 12:57pm | dogblog

Anybody been to these vets?

Veterinary Specialists of Alaska
Northern Lights Animal Hospital
Pet Emergency

Those are the three I've been told that have scopes that can examine the inside of a dog's nose. I'm just wondering if anyone would recommend one over another.

September 17, 2008 - 2:44pm | caribcrazy

Yes Pet Emergency

I took Marley to Pet Emergency and saw Dr. Doty. She's wonderful. Not sure who would do the actual scoping though. They are superb and I was impressed with the cost since we took Marley in late on a Sunday night for the puppy strangles aka cellulitis back when he was a much smaller puppy. The cost was very reasonable even though they gave him a shot. I was expecting we'd have to pay a over $200 and it was around $130.

September 17, 2008 - 2:25pm | funhog

Yes--Veterinary Specialists of Alaska

I had one of my fosters operated on by Dr. Edwards with PT from Dr. Chang. My old Ganik had back problems, who was seen by Dr. Priddy. All top notch and very caring folks. I've seen them out and about town and they ask about my dogs, even to the point of remembering their names. The only problem is getting in to see them...they are pretty busy.

September 17, 2008 - 1:58pm | shannon_dewandel

vets

Been to PET, Pet emergency Treatment, recently with Ivy. I thought the Dr I saw was good (shannon somebody), but don't know much about the rest of them.

September 17, 2008 - 1:14pm | robynandbatman

Vet Specialists

I've been to them a few times to deal with Batman's allergies- they are expensive, but knowledgable and friendly. Leelani is the receptionist and she has volunteered with Friends of Pets forever, so a good staff as well.

September 17, 2008 - 1:40pm | Akdogsports

Veterinary Specialist

They're nice folks. I have seen Dr. Preziosi (Dermatologist) and Dr. Chang for physical therapy things with the dogs.

Leilani is an old friend (well... she's not 'old' LOL!).

Good luck with little Eddie.

Liz

September 17, 2008 - 4:56pm | dogblog

Thanks everybody!

I spoke with Dr. Schmidt from Northern Lights Veterinary a while ago, and she spelled out the procedure pretty clearly. She also seemed to echo my vet's advice. Wait a little longer. He could have just irritated it.

I guess scoping Yorkie noses is no easy trick. They're so tiny and have so many crevices that the scope can't see into every nook and cranny. It sounded like there's a relatively low chance of finding something. They also flush with saline and use air, which increases the chances, but she certainly didn't encourage me to rush into it.

I'm going to see how he does tonight. He hasn't sneezed all afternoon, but I'm one good sneezing fit away from going through with it. After all, if he's still sneezing in a week, that will be the recommendation anyway. I'm thinking, why wait?

4 September 17, 2008 - 10:46am | shannon_dewandel

yorky sneezes

Did the sneezing stop? My parents had a dachsaund when I was little who got a foxtail stuck in her throat ('67) and since my dad had been a vet he just layed her on the kitchen table and made my mom hold her while he removed the foxtail from her throat. Immediately after that he did the same for me (forceps to remove the foxtail from my throat) because I wanted to see if foxtails would stick in my throat. Note to self, don't do that again, because they stick in anyone!

September 17, 2008 - 11:08am | dogblog

Nope

He sneezed 8-10 times last night, fairly violently, then was fine through the night. He woke us up around 7:30 with another 6-8 sneezes. I decided to drop him off at my vet. He's leaving town this evening and is terribly busy today, but I want his opinion before he leaves. So far, he's only been examined by an emergency vet. She could find no outward signs of him having any problems.

September 17, 2008 - 11:33am | shannon_dewandel

icky foxtails

might just not have been long enough when she looked at him???? Hopefully your regular vet can find a definite cause. My vet is still thinking that Ruby's chin abscess might have been caused by some sort of vegetation that worked down through either her gums or soft palate under the tongue, but could find nothing in the abscess to show what it was, maybe it was a foxtail. She eats grass and stuff all the time, pretty weird. I've heard that indicates a diet problem, but they get Iams diet food, and eat vegs occasionally from me, so not sure....

September 17, 2008 - 11:52am | dogblog

Grass

I've Googled that a few times, and always leave more befuddled than when I started. I don't think the experts are even sure why dogs eat grass. Some say it's because of a deficiency in their diet. Others say they eat it so they have an upset stomach and are trying to throw up. Others say they just like it, and it doesn't do much good or harm.

I tend to think there's something in there that they crave or lack, so I've started tossing some veggies in with their food. Not sure it's made any difference but I feel a little better about it.

September 17, 2008 - 3:11pm | chris_goff

Grass, non GI distress.

I read that dogs who are not in GI distress will eat grass just "because" they want something vegetation like, so when Finn's eating some grass and he is not trying to barf, I give him chopped veggies and he polishes them all off. I also buy bagged cole slaw mix, wash it and put a small amount on top of his dinner.

September 17, 2008 - 3:18pm | shannon_dewandel

Veg matter

Great suggestion, I'll try and see if Ruby will slow down on grass if she gets say Greenbeans instead. She loves to eat grass, and never does a puking action or anything afterwards, so I always figured she just likes salads hahahaha.

September 17, 2008 - 6:20pm | chris_goff

Ruby Tuesday, who could ....

Sounds like your backyard is a Beagle Salad Bar :-D

3 September 17, 2008 - 10:26am | jarnold

Quotes

Yesterday -- Happiness to a dog is what lies on the other side of a door.

Today -- You own a dog; you feed a cat.

2 September 17, 2008 - 9:58am | sondrals

well...

today Kane went in for surgery. He is having a endoscopic biopsy done of his intestines and colon. Saturday before last he started having diarrhea again, I figured it was stress or a bug, Wednesday after doing the chicken and rice and restriction diet I took him into the vet because it wasn't getting better. She started him on his meds and did a stool sample, all clear. By friday the meds hadn't changed much, they gave him an antidiarrheal, it didn't change things much. Monday I had to either make the decision to move forward with the biopsy or wait until after his vet went on vacation for 3 weeks. So I decided to go ahead and move forward with the biopsy and try to get a definate diagnosis and at least know what we are dealing with instead of constant guessing.

Anyway, right now we have an action plan of some holistic and herbal remedies to start with, starting him on a completely new and "novel" protein (duck! yay!), and we will go from there, it takes about a week to a week and a half to get the actual results back... so everyone keep your fingers crossed for us... I haven't been around much its just been a lot for me to process and deal with and on top of it I'm in the middle of the most busy week of the year.

September 17, 2008 - 1:45pm | Akdogsports

Poor little Kane

I'll be sending positive thoughts his way. He's such a sweet boy. I know it is difficult trying to decide if you want them to find something wrong or not but at least if they find SOMETHING you will have an answer. It is so very frustrating with our furry kids having these issues and not knowing why.

Just a thought on the Duck. If you decide he needs a bit more protein than the food has or you want to add something to it I get the raw Duck from Columbia River Raw - it is just ground duck. Anneliese sells it here in town with the Honest Kitchen.

Liz

September 17, 2008 - 2:25pm | sondrals

I might try

that too, at this point I'm not even sure what they're going to have me feeding him tonight let alone indefinately.

I did just talk to the vet tech, he definately has IBD which is a huge blow but not a total surprise. On the plus side they didn't see any signs of cancer or anything else super scary. Now I just have to wait for the test to come back to tell us what type he has...

It is easier knowing that I'm not losing my mind but this is kinda a huge blow for us.. well probably more me than him, he's blissfully clueless.

September 17, 2008 - 2:59pm | robynandbatman

Old Saying

is true for Kane "Ignorance is Bliss"

September 17, 2008 - 5:58pm | Akdogsports

He lives in a very happy little

world all his own. :>

That really isn't a bad thing.

Give him a hug from me.

Liz

September 17, 2008 - 10:07am | robynandbatman

WOW

That's kept you busy! Sorry to hear it, but I'm sure Kane will be bouncing off the walls by the evening. Hopefully these other things will help him out. Batman is on the Duck and Wild Rice (or is it barley) that Wellness makes. It helped him tons with his allergies and is easier to digest meaning less poop-Yay!

All the paws and fingers will be crossed for you and Kane.

September 17, 2008 - 12:43pm | dogblog

Hey, Robyn

Check your hotmail.

September 17, 2008 - 10:18am | sondrals

That's been

the good/bad thing about Kane, he never has acted sick. Even this morning he was running wildly through the house with his toys trying to get me to play with him. I felt horrible leaving him at the vet because he was giving me those "you're abandoning me?!" eyes... but they let him keep his puppy blanket that I slept with for the past 2 days, so hopefully that will be of some comfort.

Is the wellness duck and wild rice the blue bagged one? I need to ask my vet about that one, I'd like to try it, I've got a few options as far as brands, Natural Balance has a duck and potato one also. Of course I just bought a brand new bag of his fish and potato food ugh!

September 17, 2008 - 4:32pm | kariabre

I would be more than happy

I would be more than happy to buy the fish and potato off of you! I was going to buy a new bag for the girls tomorrow since they are almost out of food and my plan was to get the natural balance!

September 17, 2008 - 5:13pm | sondrals

heh you

and natasha can fight over it! :-)

September 17, 2008 - 3:15pm | chris_goff

Aw, sorry to hear this.

I hope all will improve shortly for you and your boy Kane.

Finn and Maggie loved the Natural Balance duck and potato kibble. Loved it immediately.

Sondra, I had a long talk with our vet about Finn's allergies. He said that it takes between 6-8 weeks for the offending food allergen to completely clear the system, and that 3 aspirin in the palm of your hand, that is enough of an offending food to cause a reaction. So if you do decide to do an elimination round rather than the testing, you might want to keep that timeframe in mind.

September 17, 2008 - 10:34am | robynandbatman

Poor Kane

with those eyes, I think I'd have trouble leaving him too!

It is the blue bag and I found it was better for Batman than the Natural Balance. His stools were softer on the Natural Balance and well, I think we've discussed the anal gland topic already. So harder poop is better in my case. It's also a bit cheaper if I remember correctly.

September 17, 2008 - 3:17pm | chris_goff

Same here

Re the looser stools on the duck.

We moved over to the NB venison and the carb option.

September 17, 2008 - 10:41am | sondrals

I think I may

ask if we can try that when we change over. I do like the natural balance and for a while he did wonderfully on it, so either one will do for me, it's just a matter of his vet looking at both ingredients and making a decision. Harder poop is definately better and with Kane it's a joyus thing when his stools are firm lol.

September 17, 2008 - 10:32am | dogblog

Kane

I'll be thinking of Kane today. Sounds like the right course of action. It can be frustrating waiting around hoping for change. Maybe now they'll know and be able to treat it.

You know, though, if they figure it out and solve the problem, what the heck are you going to do with all your time???

September 17, 2008 - 10:45am | sondrals

haha well...

maybe i'll get a chance to relax! It'd do both me and Kane good at this point to just have a day to just be and not have to be rushing around doing things.

They pretty much know what he has, they have to have a definate diagnosis in order to treat it because there are several types of IBD and the treatment for it differs also. Unfortunately the main treatment for it is predisone but on the positive side they are often able to be weaned completely off of it except for when they have a flare up. This also means I'm going to have to be super vigilant about him not getting anything but his own food so no more of him stealing treats from everyone else's targets in Agility class!

September 17, 2008 - 10:27am | shannon_dewandel

sick puppies

Sorry to hear about Kane. I had to take yesterday (Tuesday) off because of more pet vet visits. I guess its the month for the vet. Ruby has had to be in the vets office for two things since Sept 1, chin lump and anal gland deal. Then, monday night, Ivy was sick (the younger beagle). We kept an eye on her, she started whimpering (she never yipes or cries) so we took her to Pet Emerg Treatment at midnight. At 2:30 a.m. we saw her xray and she was full of poop. Kind of embarrasing, but I guess she cleaned up the pea plants we had pulled out of the garden and thrown on the compost pile. She loves peas, evidently too well. Now we know why she hurt, and just wait till it works its way out. Vet recommended wet food (i add water too) to help her keep moist so no problem pooping. Weird month, neither of the girls have had to be in the vets except for the shots and spay job, so I guess they wanted to do it all at once.

September 17, 2008 - 10:31am | sondrals

wow

talk about liking peas! Kane probably would of done the same thing, he likes to maul the garden for goodies.

Kane's issue we have been fighting for over a year, he did really well for a while just by changing his food, but he's continueing to have problems and they appear to be getting worse. I decided that now was the time to deal with it, all I know is thank god for the extra big PFD this year, it's saving my tooshie because this test is NOT cheap.

September 17, 2008 - 10:42am | shannon_dewandel

Good thoughts

I'll keep good thoughts heading Kane's way....Both Ruby and Ivy gave me the "eyes" and it was especially bad because neither of them would follow the tech into the room, I had to go with, then dash back out, basically lied to them to get them in the back room (we all know which one I'm referring to). They are always very happy to see their people tho, like "Yay, saved by mom" or dh, etc. The PFD was a HUGE help, and sounds like for you and Kane too. Best wishes Kane, from Ruby and Ivy, or "da girls".

September 17, 2008 - 10:50am | sondrals

Thanks

it's hard whenever your pets get sick... I'm thankful I at least had the means to deal with it at this point in time. Had it happened any other time I might not of been able to, so yeah the PFD helped tremendously. Thanks for your positive thoughts and I hope Ruby and Ivy are doing well now also!

September 17, 2008 - 11:01am | shannon_dewandel

Beagle girls

Actually, I think the worst is over for the beagle girls. The yard is full of big green poop piles tho, not a pretty sight! Both seem better, and the Ivy girl is back to bouncing (pogo dog) on her back legs, so I'm guessing her belly feels better.

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Anything goes: Tuesday, Sept. 16