Question by Matt: I think I changed my dog’s food to fast. Please Help.?
We recently adopted a 2 and 1/2 year old yellow lab. He is from Indiana and we are in New England. The dog came with a ziplock bag of food he was currently on (Prism by Eagle Pack). I found quickly that this food was not easy to come by at all so I opted to try a new food (Nutro Max). I knew that I was meant to stretch out the food over a week or longer during the transition process and I thought it was strange when I ran out of the old food after 4 days (It turned out the I was feeding him too much over all… almost double what he needed per day). I just continued with the food I had since prism was expensive and could only be bought online in a 30 lb bag, even from a specialty store. NOW, it has been two weeks to the day since we have had Bruce, our dog and he has been having scant amounts of bright red blood at the end of each stool.It seems to be no more than a tsp. worth of blood that is bright red and the stool is soft but mostly formed, not runny or frequent and no vomiting associated. I researched that this could be from a rapid food change, which turns out to be a problem when you cannot get the original food!
At the moment (being just today, I have started him on rice and boiled chicken mixed with his new food to try and ease him into the food we currently have).

We were just wondering words of advice, other strategies, similar problems. I also considered it to have the possibility of an allergy and trying to change the food all together (Eukanuba is my next choice). When should I start to see a difference in the stool? Does my plan of mixing the rice and chicken seem like a more positive approach?

Best answer:

Answer by Leslie Goudy
good thing to do but your dog’s digestive system might already be weakened and he might have giardia or coccidia i probably spelled this wrong but those are common bacterial infections in intestines and it is contagious and can contaminate your yard

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Question by Misty: dogs have super fleas?
Have 2 large dogs, with fleas that will not die,I have used flea shampoos, treated the yard, the house, and frontline didn’t seem to work eaither.I wait a week after a bath, then apply, and I am applying on the skin.I just tried adams flea and tick, let it sit for he time it says, rinsed and half the fleas died, but their are still alot alive.Can they become resistant to the active ingridients in the shampoo’s, sprys, etc.?Are they supposed to die on contact with the shampoo or die slowly? last week i bathed the dogs, the next day, they were infested again,like I never gave them a flea bath. our german shepard has a flea allergy and has severe itching with 1 flea let alone infested with them.does advantage have the same active ingridiant as frontline? advantix?

Best answer:

Answer by Sugar PIe
If you used Frontline, did you use the right dose for your dog’s weight? Did you wash it off giving them a bath right after you put it on? Did you put it on correctly?

I’d say it’s time to consult a vet.

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Question by conusgypsy: My dog’s hair is falling out in clumps, what could be some causes?
He’s losing his hair in large clumps. There are no bald spots and the skin does not appear discolored or have a rash. He is scratching quite a bit and he is 11 years old. Can he be losing this much hair from scratching due to allergies or could there be another cause. I worry a bit more with his because he is becoming elderly.

Best answer:

Answer by Oli Uk
Hair loss in old dogs can be caused by mange or other infections because they are much less able to resist it though the skin would usually look sore
It is unlikely to be an allergy developed this late in life (unless something has radically changed in his environment or diet)

Sadly it can also be caused by hormonal changes that result from cancers or the result of liver problems
If your dog seems a bit “down” and miserable about life, I would talk to a vet about what is going on

If your dog is happy still, it may just be a case of eliminating the possibility that it is mange or some other easily fixed problem and then living with the problem until your dog has had enough

I don’t want to be negative or upset you – I have nearly deleted this answer before I finished , but i guess you are thinking along these lines anyway
It may be something really easy to fix so it is well worth trying to find out what the cause is

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Question by Whitestar: Why do my dog’s symptoms seem worse on Temaril P?
My dog has had some raspy snoring at night, so I took her into the vet. This is her second visit. The first time I was advised to give her Benadryl or Claritin, which seemed to make things worse. I took her back and this time they examined her nasal passages, x-rayed her, and did an allergy test. The results of the allergy test will not be known for at least a week, but she seems worse when she’s laying on carpet, which is why I suspect allergies. She also has a number of food allergies.

Anyhoo, the x-rays showed inflamed bronchial tubes. My dog is almost 100 pounds and the vet prescribed 4 tablets every twelve hours for a week, followed by 4 tablets once a day for another week. I do need to discuss with the vet why so much and for so long; the manufacturer suggests 3 tablets every twelve for dogs over 40 lbs and cut in half after four days.

My dog has had two doses as recommended by the vet; her snoring and raspiness are worse, and sound quite wet now.

The vet won’t be open for several more hours and the manufacturer support line is closed as well. Any insight, anyone?

Thank you in advance.
Thank you for your advice-I’ll definitely follow through with it. I’m also concerned because my dog is drinking water like a fiend and actually had an accident on the floor. We’re talking an awful lot of water. It also smelled bad; the dog is prone to occasional urinary infections, and I know the immune system could be lower with Temaril P, but I’m now concerned about polydipsia and polyuria. Is it safe to stop giving it to her until I get through to the vet?

Best answer:

Answer by Ellen
Hello there! Temaril P is a wonderful medication, however it does not work with every condition or with every dog. I have personally seen that it does tend to work better with skin allergies. The dosage prescribed is within normal limits. Remember, he is a large dog and needs more medication. With the inflammation in his lungs, I am very surprised that he was not put on any antibiotics. Generally speaking, this would be the first order of business, to take care of any infection. Now, bear in mind that I did not see the x-ray and do not know if there is an enlarged heart or not. Sometimes this can cause this issue as well as something known as a collapsing trachea, which is very difficult to catch on film.. With that being said, Temeril P would not be used for either condition. Also bad teeth can cause coughing and tonsillitis .The second thing that is usually done is is some sort of bronchodilator (something that will dilate his airways to make for easier breathing) Albuterol is the name of the medication or a steroid which will take some of the inflammation down or both. Either way, a second opinion or another trip to the same doctor is in order. I fully understand the doctors thinking. This is the time of year when allergies run rampant and cause a huge amount of discomfort. However, it is not always allergies and or allergies can lead to a secondary infection. My advice , if you should choose to return to your usual Vet would be to gently mention the use of antibiotics and perhaps some cortisone for injection followed up by a treatment with prednisone. I know that most owners shy away from these medications , but they work. and work well. If the Temaril P were going to work , it would have. Clearly, this is not an allergic reaction that can be cared for with this medication. You would have seen improvement within 24hrs. I highly suggest another trip to the Vet of your choice. Your little guy has suffered through enough. It is definitely time to get rid of this. I hope that this has been of some help to you and was not too long winded. If there is anything that I can do for you, if you need advice or to just vent, simply e-mail and I will do my very best to lead you in the right direction. I wish you the very best of luck and a speedy recovery for your little guy (or not so little

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Question by Rachel D: Two dogs who are very itchy?
I think I’ve covered every base already. They both scratch all the time. The skin looks normal and normally they do not scratch hard enough that it breaks the skin, it’s just them constantly going at it. One of them has sharper claws (even when cut) and does sometimes scratch up the top surface so that it gets red and irritated, but that quickly heals. We’ve changed their diets gradually to a higher quality food (Diamond lamb and rice meal), tried adding in Olive oil as the vet suggested. Tried giving them benedryl daily, though that did nothing as well. Also gave them a supplement of the fish oil/omega 3′s daily, again did nothing. And we’re hesitant to dive into expensive allergy testing for the both of them, as it seems odd that two very different dogs (breed, age, size) would be allergic to the exact same thing. We also do not bath them often. They’re in door dogs and don’t get very dirty or smelly so we can afford to go much longer periods without washing and potentially drying out their skin more, and when we do wash it’s with an oatmeal shampoo again recommended by our vet. They haven’t lost any hair from this, having nice full shiny coats still. lol um any more ideas out there? Would dogs maybe scratch constantly out of boredom?
-oh and not fleas, they are on frontline, was told by vet never to use flea shampoos as that can cause the frontline to no longer be effective. Also one dog is very light blonde so you could easily see a flea or the flea poop if that were the case. And we recently moved, where the problem has followed us, so don’t think it’s anything in the house, it started up a few months before moving too. All very odd.

Best answer:

Answer by Lilyanna
Try adding cod liver oil, wheat germ oil, and olive oil to your dog’s food. I would give 1 tsp once a day. You can use one of those fancy salad dressing dispenser bottle if you have it, as it makes it a lot easier to poor over the dog’s food. After you mix the solution put on approx. 1 tsp on your dog’s kibble, adjust as needed. In a few weeks you should notice your dogs’ coats begin to improve and they will itch less. Daily brushing is also a good idea to distrubute their natural oils throughout their coats. You can buy Cod Liver Oil at almost every drug store. Stay away from flavored ones, as your dog will not like the taste of fruit or mint, like people do! Keep the solution refridgerated after you mix it up to keep it from spoiling.

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