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NeylasMom

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Posts posted by NeylasMom

  1. If dog hasn't been wormed lately, it's always worth doing two rounds of Panacur even if stool checks clean. Panacur kills giardia, too.

     

    Next, if the antibiotics given were metronidazole and dog was better while on them, keep giving them for a time. Metronidazole has both antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties; most dogs tolerate it very well. If it's helping, I'd keep giving it for at least 3 weeks and probably longer, while you transition from bland diet to regular food. (You can give it for months without causing problems -- it's not like prednisone, NSAIDs, etc.) If you haven't tried metronidazole yet, worth doing.

     

    I agree on all counts. Doesn't seem like food is likely to be the culprit if this came out of nowhere at age 10. Sounds like worms or another parasite/bacteria to me. The change in foods could be exacerbating the problem - sometimes when you have persistant diarrhea, the intestines get inflamed and they need some time to calm down even after you've eliminated the source. I would feed something she will find easy to digest until she's had a couple of weeks to recover.

  2. If you're talking about extractions, she may have already progressed to periodontal disease, which can't be addressed even by feeding raw bones. I would second Ola's suggest to start with something a bit easier and see how she handles them, but given what the vet is recommending, I might do the dental and then start giving RMBs to help with the issue in the future.

     

    I hope that's not the case, and if it isn't (she just has gingivitis) then the RMBs will reverse the damage.

     

    FYI, feeding frozen is fine, but I wouldn't in her case, again because her gums may be sore. No reason not to give raw meaty bones to a dog with kidney disease either. I believe others have said phosphorous is the true culprit with kidney disease but if you're concerned about protein levels, most raw meaty bones hover at or just below 20%.

  3. I have heard that bad breath has more to do with diet/stomach issues than mouth/teeth condition. Or maybe its a combination of the two?

     

    Bad breath is a symptom of gingivitis, which is a precursor to periodontal disease. Gingivitis can be reversed with proper teeth care, periodontal disease cannot. Additionally, in the last decade or so periodontal disease has been linked to a multitude of other serious health problems, including heart disease, kidney failure, diabetes, preeclampsia, etc. in both humans and companion animals.

     

    Here are some links I was able to dredge up in a quick search online and of IVIS. I'm only posting the first few I found. Lonsdale's book Raw Meaty Bones (you can read the entire book online) also gives excellent info on the subject.

     

    Heart disease

    Preeclampsia

    General article

    In companion animals

    More companion animals

     

    It makes me really sad to see someone making fun of owners who brush their dogs teeth daily. Even if for some reason you choose not to believe that periodontal disease will lead to other health problems, the cost to you and the stress on your dogs of annual teeth cleaning under anesthesia and eventually extractions, etc. and painful disease should be enough to encourage people to do anything they can to keep their dog's teeth in good shape.

     

    Anyway, I voted no bad breath, as a result of a raw diet. Neyla came off the track at 4 1/2 with horrible teeth. The vet recommended we do a dental when she was next anesthetized. I put her on a raw diet and at our next annual exam he raved about her teeth and the cleaning was canceled. She's now 8 and has never had a dental. Zuri just came to us in August with beautiful teeth and I plan to keep them that way. By the way, we've never brushed, but I do applaud those who need to and do.

     

    Jen

  4. Panacur also removed giardia cysts, which Drontal plus doesn't, but if you know your dog has giardia you're probably going to treat with metronidazole anyway. So which one you use depends on a number of factors. As Meredith said, we deworm with drontal plus, but our vets all LOVE panacur. I have to explain to each of them when they want to prescribe panacur why it's perfectly reasonable for us to just use our stock of Drontal plus instead. I cannot tell you how many don't even realize that drontal plus exists. They're only aware of drontal, which does not cover everything panacur does. For us, it's easier to get the drontal plus at a reasonable price (though still quite expensive for us) and we deworm all of our dogs when they come and 21 days later since so many come in with worms anyway.

  5. Get the TBD panel. Swelling in multiple legs, including swelling/limping that comes and goes IS a symptom of TBDs. You can start treatment with doxy in the meantime, but if it's Babesia you'll need to treat with Imidocarb. It might not be, but why not rule it out?

     

    I second (or third or fourth...) finding a vet you're more comfortable with, particularly one who knows the symptoms of TBDs (or recognizes that TBDs are common in greys and don't always present as you might expect).

  6. I don't want to scare you, but get a tick borne panel done... if neg... get that x-ray....

     

    Actually, get both at the same time. It may mean you end up spending more money, but if it is cancer you want to know as soon as possible. Really hoping that's not it. Babesia or other TBD also popped into my head. Please keep us posted.

     

    Jen

  7. Lynn, do you know why it isn't used much anymore? Thanks so much for the info.

     

    It's still used although chlomicalm does seem to be the "go-to" SA drug of choice. I had my dog on it for a while for SA and it was the drug a friend used to get her dog over SA. Have you tried searching through this section and the behavioral section? I posted when I considered putting Zuri on it. It has another name too - Elavil I think - so I'd search for both.

     

    Zuri was on it for a total of about a month or so. No side effects, may have mellowed him out a tiny bit. It helped with his SA, but not enough. When we reached the max dosage and it still wasn't totally addressing it, we stopped it. If you have more specific questions, that might help us give you the info you're looking for.

     

    Jen

  8. I voted twice a year. Once for yearly exams, bloodwork, etc. and then once a year b/c I'm a crazy mom who suddenly decides her dog has pannus b/c she has slightly goopy eyes. Mostly though we don't need to go (knock on wood) - I attribute that to them being raw fed and therefore having a lot less health problems (ie. goopy eyes that went away as soon as they were put on raw). :)

  9. Here's what it says it does for cats:

    "New!! "Advocate" ( from Bayer ) topical spot on control - Kills Fleas, Flea Larvae in your cats & Kittens enviorment and surroundings. Puts the squeeze on fleas, flea larvae, Prevents Heartworm Disease, Controls & kills Roundworms, Hookworms. Controls and kills Ear Mites."

     

    It doesn't say anything about ticks, which is really the only reason I use Frontline Plus. I'm also not a big fan of using anything new, especially on greyhounds, and would caution others from it as well until there's time to see if people report problems. That's just me though. I appreciate the suggestion. :)

  10. I've order Frontline Plus from Petshed before and just came across a post mentioning deadfleaz, which is even cheaper. Has anyone used either to purchase heartworm preventative? I know that a Rx is not required in Australia, but obviously is here so my question is will they just ship to the US or do they do the same thing as online sites here and require your vet's info. Or do they not ship these meds to the US at all.

     

    Also, has anyone had any bad experiences with either company? My petshed experience was great, but I sort of forgot about them and started ordering from EntirelyPets since that's where I get Neyla's joint supplement. Now that I have a second dog, it's time to switch back!

  11. I think Kennelmom's Erin has become the poster dog for what can happen. I hope others will at least learn from your experience Heather. I've been fostering for about 4 years (50 dogs plus others that I've dogsat) so I think I know a good bit about these guys, but then someone surprises me. Like when Neyla, in a split second, picked up a feral cat from the bushes and started to try to kill it (thankfully it scratched her well enough that she let it go). I honestly was shocked at how fast she moved, from totally still to cat in mouth. Point being, until you see each individual behavior you probably don't realize the potential for what can happen, even if you know greyhounds.

     

    Also, someone mentioend that these guys aren't more viscious than other breeds, which I agree with. But they do get competitive when they run around (or in their minds, race). And a nip at higher speeds can easily turn into something much worse. It does tend to be worse when the weather is cooler and as it gets darker. I never really thought about why (anyone know?), but I've definitely observed it to be true.

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