Stitch

OK I will have a look at that one. Cheers

Are there any that don't use Ivermectin or Moxidectin? Side effects for Moxi can be nasty.

I have been using Interceptor on my lot for many years and it has been great but now I am looking for one that is more suitable for my old girl with IBD and an easily upset gut. It seems that Interceptor is irritating her a little and it has been such hard work to get her gut settled, I don't want to aggravate things any more than I have to. Does anyone have any suggestions...I am thinking topical (spot on) type heartworm prevention? Fleas, mites etc. are not an issue here and I don't want to give her anything based on Ivermectin. I was contemplating giving her the yearly heartworm injection until I discovered it is Ivermectin which is not a nice chemical.

For those who are interested there is a book available on line titled "Honey The Gourmet Medicine" by Joe Traynor. There are lots of examples and anecdotes on how honey has been successfully used over the years....right back to Egyptian times.

Cavs, all honey is extracted from honeycomb. The honey is extracted by scraping away the capping or the seal on the outside of the honeycomb and then spinning the frame of honeycomb really quickly. The honey flies out of the honeycomb, lands on the side of the spinner (centrifuge) and then runs down the sides and flows out the bottom and is collected in a bucket. We then strain the honey several times through very fine material to remove any particulate matter. There is no heat used in this process so the honey is very natural and is called RAW honey. Sometimes processors put additives into the honey to make it go further or flow easier or they heat it so that it doesn't granulate or crystalize and looks better on the shelf. Raw honey always tastes better than processed honey but it will crystalize quicker. Just because it crystalizes doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the honey. It is in the nature of honey to crystalize but many people think that there is something wrong with it if it does....there isn't. You should never keep honey in the fridge. Keep it in your cupboard. If it does crystalize you can put the container in warm water for a little while which will help dissolve the crystals but continually reheating the honey will cause it to lose flavour and also beneficial bacteria.

Like many things, honey that is purchased either direct from the beekeeper or from markets, etc. is fresher and tastes better. If in doubt you can always ask the person selling it. Honey should always have the name & address of the beekeeper on it. Sometimes it will also have on it that it is "cold spun" ie. we put the frames of honeycomb in a centrofuge and spin the honey out of the honeycomb. It is not heat treated which will kill all the beneficial bacteria, etc. Some nectars contain as yet unknown substances with antibacterial properties. According to some of our books here, honey enhances the immune system, reduces inflammation, stimulates cell growth and has an anti oxidant effect. It doesn't have to be just Manuka honey to have these benefits. Just as all honeys are not equal in their medicinal value, all Manuka honeys are not equal. They are rated (UHF) according to their antibacterial potency. I used our honey because I knew it was not heat treated and it was very fresh. Our bees usually collect from paperbark and hardwood trees in our area but there will obviously be other nectar sources.

For those who may remember my 13 year old senior citizen has had ongoing IBD and food allergies for many, many years so it has been an ongoing battle to feed her, keep weight on her, minimise itchiness and settle her stomach. This dog has a history of reacting to commercial IBD diets (and I have tried them all on her) and because of an allergy to chicken (which most are based on). She gets extremely itchy even when these diets are hydrolysed. So she is a dog that has a history of bloody diarrhoea, vomiting plus she gets itches from IBD diets that are supposed to help her. A double wammy! Over the years I have tried her on just about every commercially prepared and homemade food available. The last food she was on for quite a while was homemade kangaroo stew. She still got the rumbling gut, didn't want to eat and was so skinny it was heartbreaking...the only thing it helped with was the itching. I had over the years also added many different types of bacteria & emzymes to her diet to help with digestion eg. Protexin, Enzyplex, yoghurt, etc. and tried an array of medications, all with no obvious improvement in her condition. I was at my wits end when I decided to phone Hills and put her back on whatever they recommended and just let nature take its course. Their recommendation was to feed the Z/d Ultra of a morning and the I/d cans of an evening. I had tried these previously and knew they were an imperfect fit but I had to feed something so I went with their recommendations. Now comes the interesting part.....we keep bees and we have many hives from which we extract pure honey. Our honey is not heat treated as is the case with most commercially produced honey so it is what is called "raw" and so still has active bacteria and enzymes in it. Honey is known to be a great source of beneficial bacteria and has been used for hundreds of years to treat a vast range of medical problems including gut and skin conditions....so I decided to add some into my girls diet. It was a long shot but my thinking was that adding honey to her food couldn't hurt and might just help. So... it is now 2 months later and I am cautiously ecstatic to say that she has put on about 2kgs, rarely has a grumbling gut,is pooing pretty much normally and is not itchy. I didn't like to advertise the fact in case she relapsed but I wanted to put it out there for those who do have dogs with the same chronic problem that my girl had. Maybe it can help you too?

Well that's what she said last Thursday. She was the one that told me about it and said it would have to be dosed every fortnight for ticks. I haven't read any of the blurb but either way, as I said, I am happy with Advantix. They are all low grade poisons..... a necessary evil or I wouldn't be using them at all. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: NexGard is for use in dogs only. The most frequently reported adverse reactions include vomiting, dry/flaky skin, diarrhea, lethargy, and lack of appetite. The safe use of NexGard in pregnant, breeding or lactating dogs has not been evaluated. Use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures.

Vet said it still has to be given fortnightly for ticks, which is exactly same timing as Advantix application. I will stick with Advantix as I don't fancy internal dosing especially fortnightly and I have never had any problems with Advantix.

Totally agree! As long as you are sure that there is no underlying medical reason causing the dog to be off its food.... then it is time for some tough love! There is an easy way to do this....stop feeding the chicken necks and just feed half the dry and half the chicken mince which you would normally feed. Do this for about a week, then introduce small amounts of the food that you wish to feed ie. BARF mixed with the chicken mince. Gradually increase the amount of BARF and stop offering the dry food and the chicken mince altogether. By this time you should have a dog that is looking for food and happily eats BARF. Some are more stubborn than others but there is no better sauce than hunger and you are not starving the dog because you are still offering food. If it doesn't eat the food within 5 minutes of it being given then remove the food and offer it again 12 hours later. Of course if the dog looks hungry sooner and you it starts to eat the BARF then that's all to the good and you can give it a little more next time. Remember the BARF should not be over fed so be guided by the weight & appetite of your dog. Sounds like your portion sizes have been too generous in the past so the dog has learnt it can be choosey which is not good for its overall health.

Maybe great for working out toxins etc. but don't see how it could work for food intolerances or sensitivities? The Skin specialist and Internal medicine vets say it is not reliable for these problems.

Thank you for all your replies. I have never liked feeding canned dogfood but I will have a look at the Hills Ultra z/d. Not really convinced about the hair sample thing. The saliva sample from the USA based vet seems to be more reliable although vets here don't support it.

The specialist vet got back to me at 8pm. He surely does work long hours and I was very grateful that he did phone. He says that my girl can be on Metrozine permanently if it keeps the IBD at bay....which is good seeing as I started her on it this morning. He said that if the Metrozine settles everything down in 3 weeks cut back to 1/2 of the dose and see if that still works. If not then boost it up again to the full dose. If the long term trial of Metrozine doesn't work this would be an indicator to then going ahead and do an endoscopic biopsy. So at this stage she will have her teeth cleaned on Thursday and continue with the Metrozine. I think I will try her on the Hills Z/d again although I find it really makes their teeth dirty quickly.

My girl has the 2 problems...the IBD and she gets itchy from certain dry dogfoods...even the hypoallergenic ones that are supposed to have hydrolysed protein. Isn't it wonderful how all these terms just roll off your tongue after living with IBD, etc.!! Nothing is a perfect fit...even the kangaroo is not a perfect fit. My girl loses weight on it and doesn't really like it anyway. I was cooking it with sweet potato but I didn't this time to see if she would like it better that way. She moves it round the dish with her nose but only eats it when she gets desperate. Is there a dry dogfood other than Hills or Royal Canin Hypoallergic varieties that is OK? I have tried her on Natural Balance but she gets itchy on that one too and that is supposed not to have anything in it that they can get allergic/itchy too. Maybe the idea is to rotate the dry dogfood??? I might try her on Hills z/d again. Last time she was on Hills her poos were still a bit runny. RC Hypo was better for the IBD but a disaster for the skin problems.

I just Googled that HMD and it sounds similar to Zantac??? I am waiting (and waiting) for the specialist vet to get back to me so I will ask him about carafate & salazaparin. We just seem to lurch along, waiting for the next bout of diarrhoea or being off her food to occur. There just has to be something that will ease her problems??

Treatment of choice has pretty much been Zantac & Metrozine, with Amoxyclav given occasionally and a combination of Amoxyclav, Baytril & Famotidine given on one occasion because the faecal sample showed an over abundance of a particular bacteria causing blood flecks in the poos. She had to have something for the nausea this medication cocktail caused as well but I don't remember the name of it. I never know from one day to the next if she is going to be well or have a flare up. Her farts are plentiful and deadly poor girl! and her stomach is always rumbling. And yes, vet fees are omnipresent!! I am hoping that if she gets her teeth scaled then her stomach might settle down a bit.

Thank you for that Rappie. You are right it isn't an easy subject. My girl has been battling it for years but recently it is getting worse. I have a supply of Metrozine always on hand and I have started her on it again this morning but it has got to the stage that it needs more. Whether that means starting her on Prednisone or something else I don't know. Over the years I have taken her consistently to vet specialists but stopped short of a biopsy as I never seem to get a real answer from the vets. I have a feeling that a biopsy would be equally ambiguous. I really don't know what is the best course of action. Prednisone is a drug that I would have liked to avoid but things can't continue as they are. Between the food allergies which cause extreme itching and the gut problems I just don't know which way to turn. The specialist vet doesn't have any answers, it is all very hit and miss. I get the distinct impression that there is no answer and I don't want to think of that!

My old girl who suffers from IBD and also food allergies isn't doing well at the moment. She has a rumbling gut and is off her food. She is not responding to Zantac and although she improves with antibiotics, she gets worse again once they are stopped. She is due for teeth cleaning on Thursday and the gut specialist said he could do a gut biopsy at the same time. She has had this gut problem for many years however it is made worse by the fact she gets a skin allergy to dry dogfood and we presume chicken, so I have had to cook roo for her. I found I could feed her Ziwi Peak and also Natural Balance but that also seems to be problematical at the moment. Can anyone tell me exactly what information can be obtained by doing a biopsy? Vets have never been able to tell me exactly what is wrong with her gut...it all goes under the heading of IBD. After doing a biopsy will the vet know what is wrong?

Dogs can still get an intolerance for the Hills or Royal Canin Hypoallergenic dry dogfoods. My old girl did....she nearly tore herself apart scratching and once I stopped the hypoallergenic dry food and started to cook kangaroo mince for her the itchy skin problem went away. After much trialling I was able to get her on Ziwipeak air dried (1 scoop) plus Natural Balance 1/8th cup each morning. If I give her too much the itches will flare up but I feed her just enough to keep weight on her which kangaroo mince doesn't do....she still gets the kangaroo mince of an evening. There doesn't seem to be anything that is a perfect fit for her, so I just keep feeding what I can and hope her multiple problems don't get too bad.

This announcement is not new....it has been around for some time now! What I strongly object to is the politicising of dogs. Politicians don't care about dogs...they only care about getting their faces on TV. As with most things, I am sure that most local governments already have the power to control puppy farmers if they choose to!

I don't have this breed however I do like the breed and I would like to know more about this disease. Does anyone know how common it is in Australia?

Thank you WSM. My girls shaking doesn't seem to be related to any weakness in her hind quarters at this stage. It will be interesting to see if I can eventually find out exactly what is causing the shaking. You tend to think that they know everything but there really are many things that medical science has great difficulties diagnosing and treating.

I have made extensive enquiries into this and have been told that the freeze dried tripe is just as good as the fresh green tripe and is an excellent Prebiotic. It certainly is much easier to feed. Even my old girl with IBD can eat it! I rehydrate 1 scoop per dog and mix it with their BARF once a week.....they all love it!

Thank you for your reply Sandgrubber. Sounds like epilepsy meds will be the logical next ones to trial.

Thank you for all your replies. The internal medicine vet has given me the two treatment alternatives. My girl is also currently on Zantac for mild tummy rumbling or if she goes off her food, plus Metrozine if the IBD gets worse at any time... she is also on Stilboestrol.. one weekly. Seeing as I have to choose the next direction we go in, I am leaning towards trying the epilepsy meds. Does anyone know if they have side effects?