ahicks51
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Posts posted by ahicks51
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There are a number of papers floating around out there about helminth (worm) therapy for management of a variety of human diseases. The nice thing is they're cheap, and require no meds. On the down side, you creep out anyone you tell about 'em, and.... well, that's about it. (Most people would be grossed out of existence if they could see the other stuff that NORMALLY lives in their guts- worms don't even measure up.) A limited number (~10-20) of carefully selected species of worms cause virtually no harm to the host, but can cause dramatic relief of symptoms for a variety of diseases.
While doing research on this, I discovered Ancylostoma caninum is remarkably similar to those species used with humans, and would be well-suited to use in dogs except for the fact that the host would be re-infected every time it stepped out into a contaminated yard, requiring assiduous cleaning of the area after every poop. Most people don't want to do that, I was informed, but the question I put forth to those of you managing hounds with touchy guts: given the choice between a sick dog or a sick dog managed by meds, or a dog whose poop needs to be treated as toxic (picked up, sprayed with bleach) that is relatively healthy- which would you choose?
Note that while other worms may be highly objectionable and even... show up at bad times, nematodes like Ancylostoma caninum do not multiply in numbers within the host, and neither the owners nor the host would know they're there without microscopic examination of the poop.
Now. Let's see if I did this poll right.
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When I get fed "inappropriate" foods on this diet, I get stomach pains 2-3 hours later (sometimes 1/2 hour later, depending upon the lectins in the food), and about 3-4 hours later I get remarkably sleepy- again, depending upon the lectins involved. Another time, I had two drops (!) of Bragg's Amino Acids; not a lot of pain, but I was feverish and slept poorly that night. Next morning- whammo! But nothing after that. Very odd.
With luck, if there are any symptoms, they'll be transient and disappear quickly.
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We had a foster who got attacked by our alpha bitch, and the poor girl had a drain in her for several days.
I am to understand now the scar is barely visible.
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The Chicago Trib just ran a similar article. Now we just need some specifically targeting the osteo that is such a killer around here.
Well, you know, marketing a tyrosine kinase inhibitor for management of cancer in the dog has to start somewhere; may as well be something like skin cancer- although I'm sure they have their reasons.
Now- if you Google up "Gleevec" and "osteosarcoma," or "tyrosine kinase" and osteo, you'll notice this aspect of management has not eluded cancer researchers, either. Of course, with ~300 cases a year in America, this isn't a HUGE pressing concern with human medicine. But- I can smell an off-label use, and I'm sure Dr. Cuoto has thought of this already himself.
In short, a combined management scheme is probably on the horizon. Unfortunately, I'm going to guess that approval for this particular drug cost a bucketload, and given that such a drug may require long-term use, the manufacturers are going to milk that patent for all it's worth, which will mean 10+ years before it's off-patent.
Also note that a cursory literature search shows there's excitement about its use in mast cell tumors.
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There was almost certainly a fast (to prevent vomiting during recovery), but the pain meds may be constipating her if she's been fed in the past 24 hours. You might consult with the vet's office to see what they have to say about post-op stuff.
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So it's in the same class of drugs as Gleevec.
That bodes well.
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The "blood" in the urine is almost certainly rhabdomyolysis; a recent article on it in The Straight Dope is pretty informative, albeit otherwise irrelevant to greyhounds.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2...-you-piss-blood
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An interesting discussion on the subject a while ago:
http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showto...3&hl=nickel
My rule of thumb is "size of a nickel," give or take depending upon the location.
For "treat and release" around the house- wash with diluted povidone iodine, and cover. Of course, that second bit is like saying, "And fix the economy and drive a GM." When they finally figure out how to line a fry pan with greyhound fur, they'll have surpassed Teflon. Rule #1: nothing will stick to greyhound fur. Mercifully, greyhounders are sufficiently neurotic about their dogs that we have workarounds for a lot of individual problems.
Best advice: post a pic and ask what to do if there's any question.
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Double-check with your vet to see if there's another fluoroquinolone antibiotic (of which Baytril is a member). I'd have to make sure, but I think ciprofloxacin (Cipro) is suitable in canines, and it should have the same mechanism of action as Baytril (for which there is no generic- it's still on patent, IIRC). Good luck.
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My only suggestion would be to be on the lookout for any signs of aggression, as vision loss may manifest in the form of fear. Most hounds I wouldn't worry about, but if Minerva started losing her sight, I am certain one of her first forms of expressing this loss would be through her teeth.
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I hate to say this, but even with all the diagnostic might you could throw at it, at 13 her age is a mitigating factor in treatment. There would be few options other than palliative care, given a firm diagnosis- so the best bet would be to look at those options immediately if you were to pursue any other route. She is fortunate to have made it to 13, and I'm sure the months you have given her have been quality ones.
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I had a friend- now gone from the long-term effects of Agent Orange- who insisted to his doctor that he did better when given a dose of sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SXT, or Bactrim). This is going back 4 years now, and I can't seem to find it in emails, but he had all sorts of horrible stomach problems that just... disappeared with SXT. Weirdest thing.
What is the longest course of doxy he's been on? You say he feels warm when off the doxy; have you ever checked his temperature to see how it varies?
Do you have any blood panels, specifically those results concerning inflammation (C-reactive protein and sedimentation rate) that you can share?
What is he normally fed when not given Ensure, and what is his stool quality?
ETA: Ever had a stool culture done?
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Ok Aaron, so you're telling me that I can go ahead a play naked again in the sunshine now
I've been avoiding it for years
So long as you don't shower for two days afterwards! Pew.
Note that oral vitamin D is very safe; although being a fat-soluble vitamin, your body doesn't get rid of it quite as well as the water-soluble vitamins, it's safe up to at least 3650 IU/day- about 9 times the USRDA. Someone challenged others to find any case of toxicity at up to 10,000 IU/day (25 times the RDA), and none could be found. In one instance, some poor guy was consuming 50,000 IU/day due to someone slipping a decimal place, and although he had some side-effects, they all resolved once he backed down to where he could be.
(As an aside- swimsuit-level clothing on a sunny beach = about 1,000 IU/minute from endogenous production. Supplementing with a few thousand IU/day is probably not harmful, and has been recommended for some folks with cancer.)
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The newest research is showing that sunscreens are pretty much the opposite of what you want to use. Most are effective at blocking UVB, which is what causes the burn we get from exposure. However, it's also the UVB that converts cholesterol into cholecalciferol (vitamin D). The reaction is something like 7-dehydrocholesterol --> cholecalciferol, with irradiation of UV light around 296 nm wavelength.
Now, it's the UVA (shorter wavelengths- higher energies) that actually cause the damage to the DNA. Unfortunately, until fairly recently, sunscreens only protected against UVB. So- you wouldn't get the burn, but because the UVA went right thorough, you still got the skin cancer risk. This is presumably why skin cancer rates have been soaring in industrialized countries. This is also true of window glass: it absorbs UVB, preventing the burn, but allows UVA to get through- causing skin cancer.
And that bit above about the formation of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is important as D3 regulates immune response- including to cancers. If you don't get the UVB, then you don't present the correct immune response to cancers- making skin cancer more likely. Worse, because it's formed in the skin, it's possible to wash away much of the D3 that's formed in the skin if you shower or bathe within 48 hours (!) of sun exposure. Hardly a concern for the dog, but very important to us humans.
Lastly, many of the compounds in skin lotions aren't safe, and then we spread them over the largest organ in the entire body- the skin- facilitating their absorption.
Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place. Now nobody knows what to do about preventing sunburn.
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Has anyone suggested an endoscopy to see what's going on in there?
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Terro is more effective, and you can use it the same way ahicks describes for Borax.
You can also dump soapy water down each ant mound; won't kill too many of them but it seems to make them unhappy enough to move house.
P.S. If it's fire ants, get some little sections of fence to fence the mounds off from the dog and use the heavy-duty insecticide. No other way to get rid of those.
I've heard with fire ants, if there are two mounds you can take a shovelful from mound 1 and dump it on mound 2- and vice-versa. I presume you have to be slightly faster than the ants, or to Vaseline the handle pretty low.
Now, one trick I pulled with the big mound-building desert ants locally- absolutely fascinating: when we finished up with the explosives synthesis for this one compound, we always had dry ice left over, with no way to store it for the next synthesis which could be weeks away. So, I dumped this big block of ice on an ant mound- and they tried to savage it, with ants climbing upon their frozen brethren to attack the dry ice. It was more than the physical object being there- the carbon dioxide must have been a trigger for them. Anyway- after the second application, the ants went dormant. The mound did nothing for months, and when it did, there were far fewer ants. There's no residue, and by the time the ground warms back up, there's no way to hurt a dog. I suppose one could also dig into the mound, dump in some dry ice, and cover it back up- but some of those hills are DEEP.
I've tried flooding ant mounds in the past by taking a scoop of soil out of the center, then putting a hose in it to trickle for several days. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.
One last thing to use: ant baits with Fipronil, such as "Combat" brand ant gel. Put a blob of it on the mound, and cover it with an overturned clay flowerpot. Fipronil is the same active ingredient in Frontline, which is applied directly to the skin. Just keep 'em from eating it, and surely whatever tiny amount of residue might be on the ground when the pot is gone days later will be close to zero risk.
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Boric acid ant bombs:
1 cup water, 2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons boric acid ("Roach Pruf" or similar)
Mix. Add to cotton balls. Put cotton balls in baby food jars. Pierce lid with a nail to allow ants in and out. Safe for pets.
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Probably a high bilirubin.
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In the summer, we walk late at night- sometimes it never dips below 90F. The dogs vary in terms of endurance, but some will pant or breathe heavily for an hour or so afterwards, and that's only after a mile walk (at night!).
There's also adaptation- dogs and people will acclimate to reasonable differences in temperature from 72F. Make sure there's plenty of water- and if you have hard tap water and live in a harsh climate, consider getting an RO unit. It's less work for the kidneys.
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Ehrlichia- one of those nasty tickborne diseases (TBDs). Certainly a possibility.
Rat poison is easier to reverse- lots of vitamin K for warfarin. That should be fairly obvious, with blood in the stool and/or urine.
Most likely, they'll already have a tick panel in progress, and he'll be on antibiotics by now- well in advance of any test results. The heartworm itself can be enough of a problem, but I don't think that alone will cause a low red blood cell count.
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Coco had a tail laceration- somehow he got it caught on a piece of an old car sitting in someone's driveway. It was probably 3/4" in length, and you could see the tendons in the tail.
No antibiotics, no stitches- it closed on its own in about 2 days, and now you can't even see where it was- although he DID lick all the fur off the area while it was healing.
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Restricting exercise might raise the risk?? Holy moly, that's new to me.
But in a study of a population where people might restrict exercise in dogs whose familial history shows an inclination towards bloat, that's pretty much the result you'd get: Bob and Mary don't let Spot run because Spot's sire died of bloat. Net result: they restrict exercise before and after feeding, and Spot bloats and dies anyway. High-risk animal and all that.
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I thought the most recent studies showed that a raised feeder does not, in fact, help in preventing bloat and might even make it more likely.
There's a lot of superstition about raised feeders preventing bloat, but the only refereed literature on the subject indicates it increases the risk in susceptible large and giant breed dogs (217% and 199% relative risk, respectively). Restricting exercise before and after feeding increased the risk (162% relative risk in large breeds, and dropped it slightly in giant breeds (94% relative risk).
However, greyhounds weren't studied. Moreover, because if one believes a given animal may be prone to bloat, they might be treated differently (withholding food before and after exercise, raised feeders, etc.). That would totally hork up the results. So it's tough to gauge from studies like these what one should do to prevent bloat. Univariate results like these are good for showing that doing X is correlated with Y as a response; it isn't quite so hot at saying "to prevent Y, you need to do X."
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I don't even know as a vet could get stitches in there. It's a miserable part of the dog to have to work on. The skin's thin enough to begin with. Coco's was bad enough that I could see bone- and a lot of it. It was only about 1 cm in length, but it would STRETCH. Agh!
Healed over just fine- cleaned out and inspected regularly. Even ordinary tap water is antiseptic from the chlorine- provided nothing got in there intentionally, I wouldn't go bonkers trying to find iodine RIGHT NOW.
Ibd Therapy Poll
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
Well, it's *a* hookworm (there are a few- genus Ancylostoma and genus Uncinaria), and unless I've really screwed up on the life cycle, they don't multiply within the host. They throw LOTS of eggs (tens of thousands), but they do not hatch within the host. They require re-infection from the environment, which is trivial as usually the dogs poop all over the place, and the eggs hatch out and the larvae come in through contact with the ground. If one cleaned up afterwards, this wouldn't be an issue (although it would be very difficult).
Large numbers will cause D, yes; a small number of helminths may be undetectable, and many animals would be asymptomatic- until, of course, the eggs in the yard hatched out, the dog trotted around the yard, and picked up more. Hence the need to be reeeeeealy careful about picking up every last critter. Or living in a climate where the eggs can't hatch and live. The life cycle of A. caninum, as I understand it: