Question by rubber_fryed_chicken: Vet or Holistic Vet help please for 2 Great Pyrenees (fleas and underweight)?
This will be long, I apologize.

I have 2 Pyr’s, one is 7 1/2 one is 2 1/2. These are my 4th and 5th Pyr’s respectively, so I am quite familiar with the breed. I have home cooked for them since the pet food scare back in 2007, except for recently, due to time constraints and lack of job. I fully plan on resuming their normal diet next week, Wednesday to be exact.

I recently took them on a job for 1 week where they contracted fleas. I do not usually treat them for fleas unless I see signs of of infestation due to the garlic and brewers yeast which is normally present in their diet. I also use a tea tree oil spritz in their regular grooming routine, and this regiment usually allows me to forgo any chemical treatment. But this year has been an exception, unfortunately.

Tonight I bathed both dogs in a good flea shampoo and treated them with frontline. Their skin is a mess due to both the fleas and the corn allergies they have. I am leery of spritzing them with the tea tree spritz due to the alcohol content but am instead thinking of making a salve which includes almond oil, tea tree oil and neosporin ointment. I am concerned that the almond oil will smell attractive to them and they will ingest it along with the other ingredients. Please let me know what you think about this.

But that is not my MAJOR concern. While bathing my youngest Pyr, I have discovered he seems to be EXTREMELY underweight. I mean his wet body is about as wide as a Grey Hound. His hips are prominent and I can feel each rib bone. He looks like a big wet head… What I am thinking is I need to increase his Iron, Calcium and Protein intake drastically, but on a slightly gradual basis. I plan on doing this with Liver, cheese, eggshells, lentils and spinach along with vitamin fortified cereal (bran flakes) and possibly eggs.

Please tell me if you think I am moving in the right direction, I need to get weight and nutrients into this baby FAST!!
No tapeworm present in stool. Carpets, All bedding and upholstery has also been treated tonight.

I also just noticed that he is missing a toe nail and the toe is slightly swollen and that there might be an underlying infection which is affecting his appetite.

If I were not unemployed, my boy would be at the vet and this question would not be on here.

Best answer:

Answer by chzbrgr
Bring him to the vet. There may be a medical issue underlying his condition, and even if there isn’t it’s a good idea to get professional input before changing his diet when he is so underweight.

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Question by nobodysyndrome: Great Dane owners, some questions?
I’m in the process of convincing my parents to get a Great Dane puppy. I know it’s a big decision and with such a large dog comes a whole new set of problems and expenses. I’ve been looking into them for over a year now, and I’m pretty confident it’ll be the right choice. I just want to gather some more opinions on some things:
1. Growth problems. Some sites I’ve read say that high protein levels cause skeletal deformities and increase the risk of hip displaysia, others say it has to do with high calories and unbalanced calcium/phosphorus levels. I’m leaning towards the latter.. Anyway, the highest quality dog food in the area seems to be Taste of the Wild, and it’s all life stages, and Pacific Stream has relatively low protein levels just in case (and around the forums it says that it’s better for sensitive stomachs and allergies anyway), so I was thinking of it, but I’m not sure. Pros and cons would be nice. A lot of people have also recommended raw diets, but that seems a bit hard to manage.
2. Bloat. I’ve read some conflicting studies, so I’d like to hear what you think about how elevated feeders, exercise before/after eating and all that effects the risk, or if it does.
3. I’m allotting 30-60 minutes a day for an afternoon walk. Does that sound adequate?
4. Any personal experiences you’d like to share?
In all reality I have about 3 or 4 hours in the evenings I could be walking him. I don’t mind, however much exercise he needs.
Ahem, to clarify, I didn’t mean for 3-4 straight hours. We’d probably both collapse from exhaustion.
And I am still in high school, but I can get up earlier to walk him around our property (most of you are recommending multiple walks a day). I can probably spare a half hour there.
I haven’t decided on a breeder yet, but there’s one fairly close that has dogs with excellent hips.

Best answer:

Answer by GracefulFalcon
I can answer you on number 3. No that is not by far enough. It’s a big dog. You’re going to have to walk that dog for about up to 2 hours a day and a few miles. Half an hour is not going to give it the exercise it needs.

All dogs have their own problems, big dogs tend to have a shorter life span than small dogs and yeah what you’ve listed here is true. But you’re just going to have to cope with them. Ask a vet for more detail. Why does a raw diet seem hard to manage? when you’re out buying steak for the family buy one for the dog and feed him it raw. sorted

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Question by dane.lover: I have a 5 year old great dane with unexplained weight loss. If you have any ideas, please help!?
I have a 5 year old great dane named Cheyenne that I bought from a very reputable breeder. She began to experience itching and infections on regular and hypoallergenic dog food at about 1 – 2 years old and had to make multiple trips to the vet for antibiotics and steroids. After allergy testing and multiple dog food trials we started her on the BARF diet. She has been doing amazing on that and maintained a steady weight of about 130 pounds with no allergic problems for the past several years. However, over the past 6 months she has lost 25 pounds for no known reason. We have had standard blood tests run that came back all within normal limits. We had her thyroid checked and that came back normal. We had her heartworm tested and that came back negative. We had her stool tested to check for possible worms from her food and that came back negative. Her appetite is great, the amount of food we feed her has not changed, her skin and coat are healthy and shiny, and she has lots of energy. The only apparent sign of something wrong is the weight loss. She is really starting to look like a bag of bones. We are going to have her tested for Addison’s disease this coming week, but that seems unlikely with the normal blood work and the normal thyroid test. If anybody has any theories, please let me know. It really does not matter how much these tests cost, I just want to find out what is wrong so I can get her healthy. Thank you in advance for your help.

Best answer:

Answer by kristen_erwin
In the blood work, was the white cell count high? My first guess would be cancer of some sort.

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Question by S.S.: Great Dane puppy with dry skin?
Does anyone have a great dane with skin problems? She is only 13 weeks old and you can really see the white dander against her black fur. She is on Frontline Plus, so it isn’t from fleas and I have put her on California Natural (for skin and coat) dog food when I thought it might be a food allergy, but this hasn’t helped. I have also tried brewers yeast tablets and olive oil in her food. Any other suggestions that have proven to work with you? Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by mondogecko
continue with the fatty acid supplements and the california natural (great diet by the way) and give it time, he’s only 13 weeks and it will take longer to work

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Question by JoLynn H: HELP! Our Great Dane is wasting away!?
We have an 18 month old female dane and have had her since she was 4 months old. She came to us as a fussy eater but in the last six weeks it has worsened dramatically and we are desperate for help. We have been to the vet 4 times in 6 weeks, have had blood work, tests for lyme disease, heartworm, an ultrasound of her abdomen, a biopsy, x-rays and still don’t have a solution. She is about 20 pounds underweight and is continuing to lose weight. With each test comes another tentative diagnosis and suggestion to get her to eat, but nothing is working. She is currently on ZD prescription dog food with some wet food mixed in due to a possible food allergy, but if she eats 3 cups a day we are doing well…she should be eating 8-9 cups a day. We are open to any suggestions…thanks for caring…

Best answer:

Answer by amber
you should take her to like the er 4 dogs or smthn not a vet!! get an expert on the job!! i hope she gets better and lives a long happy life great danes are my fav breed!!!

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