XTRAWLD

Run free. I must admit, that pic of her "flying" made me chuckle. Perhaps she's zooming around up there right now like that.

Heartguard chewables isn't recommended for Kasey due to his allergies - go figure. We have tried topical and I can't stand it because of the mess it makes. We switched to Sentinel.

I'm so saddened to hear this. My heart breaks for you and Neko. May he no longer feel any pain and is running and jumping with joy wherever he may be.

Hot dogs! Messy, stinky and effective! For cleaner times, dehydrated lung works great too.

Prayers and thoughts are working - time to pour it on folks. Yay Neko! Keep improving buddy!

Oh Neko.

A suggestion by one of our vets, a salt & warm water solution, however this was only for minor irritation that Ryder was experiencing. If you can find a little bowl to tuck under there to immerse it, that is best....and wipe down with a wash cloth soaked in the same solution, a couple of times a day.

To be completely honest, Kasey's allergies started when we moved in with my parents during a few months. We were moving from a house to another house, so the timing wasn't right and we lived there until the homeless overlap was over. I wouldn't say we moved into the healthiest of environments (smokers house and really old carpet), from our smoke free home. Being one that has run the gammut with Kasey trying to diagnose and find the root of the problems, puzzle pieces started to fall together - the move may have just been the last straw that broke the camels back. Opti could have had an underlying allergy all this time, and the change of environment could have completely threw him. Opti may have just hit his tolerance level. Kasey essentially wore his allergies on his face, his ears would breakout first and the rest of his head would follow, including under his eyes. He had some good days where he wouldn't itch as much, or look better, but it would always come back. It took forever to get the allergies under control, but they finally are now with meds and education. It takes a lot of trial and error and testing. We only tested via blood and not skin, because Kasey could not tolerate being off meds long enough for a skin trial, but if Opti isn't currently on meds, you might consider doing a skin test right away. Once you have testing done, you can figure out what they are allergic to and make efforts to right the ship. Kasey has food and environmental allergies, I'm not sure if there is any thing called stress induced allergy, however I do agree with the above statement that stress can amplify existing problems. We have a university here with a vet program, so Kasey was a perfect subject for students and it wasn't as expensive as it could have been, but it is by no means cheap. However, I could not look at Kasey and NOT help him with this. Good luck and keep us up to date with your progress.

Wow. What do these smell like as they are consumed? I know the aroma in the house when bully sticks are consumed is not pleasant....

I'm sure everyone reading this thread, including me, are just astounded at this story and the constant turn of events. My heart goes out to you and Neko. This is heartbreaking. We all wish he could get better. Sending thoughts and prayers to you all.

What ultimately turned out to be allergies in Kasey, our vet initially thought they were hot spots that were bothering him, he would scratch, bleed, scab, possibly infect and repeat. His second potential scare was scabies, a burrowing mite which is highly contagious. Let us know how you make out.

I vote for strong barrier as well.

Awh, Neko.

So second mention of Fresh Factors. We currently give him Green Lipped Mussel but only occassionally. He has an allergy to Kelp and GLM is shellfish related so in a stretch that could cause him to breakout. I called them to ask about shipping, It's $25 to send 2 small bottles here. Will think about it and potentially order this weekend. Fresh Factors contains Kelp. I'm hesitant, but I think I'll give it a go. A recent turn of events involving his allergies, we started feeding raw chicken (he's allergic to chicken). For the most part, no serious allergy outbreak. I can only hope it'll be the same for kelp.

Kasey does something similar to that (neck stretching and nearly a wheeze), however it involved with lip licking. We discovered an inflammed esophogus from acid reflux. Pepcid was recommended and problem solved.

Over the past couple of weeks we have noticed Kasey, 10, become more hesitant about jumping up the stairs from the basement to the main level (he does a flight in 3 bounds). We live in a bungalow and do not really have any need for him to go down there, however he likes to be with us if we are in the basement. This was the first sign. Over the past couple of days, he slowly gets up off his bed, not with a major struggle I'd say, but with an evident slow and effortful rise out of his shaking hind end. Last night he decided to move from his bed in the bedroom to the living room for a portion of the night - not unusual. However, he wanted to come up to sleep with me around 3 am. I was alerted to the sound of his paw scraping the laminate - an indication to me that he wasn't able to really get a grip anywhere to push himself up. When I got up to go help, (I usually just put my foot close to his foot so he has something to push off of and he's able to get up), he was already up. I invited him up on the bed, and he jumped up after hesitating, and he didn't fully clear the edge of the bed as gracefully as usual. He's losing his gracefulness when requiring power from his hind legs. These small signs are starting to make me wary of his hind end getting weak. Once he's up and standing he's fine, his legs don't fall out from under him, it just seems like jumping up takes effort, and getting up from a crunched lying position is just the same. What is this? What can I do to ease him into a better state of seniorhood? Is it arthritis, joint or muscle related? Thoughts are appreciated. He'll be going in for his annual medical next month.

Boy, what a saga. Neko stay strong for us buddy!

I recall as well.

Well that doesn't look like fun. Sending good thoughts for fast recovery!

Welcome from Brampton!

Lotsa thoughts over here.

LOL love it. Kasey has a really low growl, and we are able to ask for it on command, as well as stop it when asked. LOL I so want to try this. To get them to growl on command first, your dog has to be a natural "growler" I think. Kasey's growl escalates only as asked into a full bark. We simply stop him before the bark with a reward. He eventually associated asking and stopping with food.

Loved reading his story. God speed Harold.

You know, it never fails in my house - if we take Ryder out for a run, guaranteed he'll come back in a couple hours a little stiff. It's his "weekend warrior" type deal - using a different set of muscles for play time that he's not used to. To be honest, I haven't really found a "cure" for it, although we've been giving him Green Lipped Mussel as an additive for a year now and I think that's the only thing that shortens his downtime.