Erny Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 (edited) I know that the pads of our dogs' paws should be rough for traction. But I was wondering if it is possible that more roughness than might be expected could relate back to dietary insufficiency. Does anyone know? I'm have a couple of health issues with my current boy and I have a couple of Vets on the go investigating each one. One is a structural issue. The other is a digestive issue. Whether they could possibly be related is yet to be confirmed or denied. My boys pads (including the upper pads on the forearms near the dew claws) are considerably more rough than my previous girl's, and he is only 9 months old and hasn't had a lot of exercise on surfaces that I would expect would cause them to be more rough. I'm only pondering (as you do when your dog's not well and the Vets haven't reached a diagnosis and remedy) and am expecting most replies to be along the lines of "they are supposed to be that way". I guess I am thinking on the track such as we do when our finger nails don't grow correctly, or we have dry and/or rough skin - sometimes those things can be indicative of insufficient something. Just investigating the possibilities outside of the square. Edited April 28, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Yeah .... it was probably a silly thought. I think I'm thinking about it too much and hoping to find a solution fast. At least I've got my boy eating again today. Over the last week he's been on and off his food, then off his food almost completely over the last 3 days. He has no weight to lose and his 2nd and 3rd ribs were showing. On boiled chicken now and for today at least, he's been enthusiastically eating that. Forget the question about the rough pads. It probably has naught to do with naught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangerineDream Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I've found that with my GSP's, rhaving their run on roadbase or B grade crushed rock makes their pads rougher. I have also found that when they aren't well, their pads are smoother...just my obs... have also heard that some drugs will make a dogs pads smoother.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tru Borders Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Hope he gets his appetite back really soon Erny. Its frustrating when you know something is wrong and you wanna fix it so bad but cant. We had problems with Nooki not eating when we first got her. I think she went once for nearly 5 days without eating a thing. Lucky for me, I found a herbal remedy similar to rescue remedy and that brought her along slowly to start then in leaps and bounds after about 3 days on it. Hope the chicken helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andisa Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Erny - since my pups (5 m/o Rotties) have been back on goats milk I have noticed an increase in appetie, don't know if it is related to the goats milk or just timing but they are looking fantastic. I stopped giving it to them for a while as they stopped drinking it - but now they want it again - I guess their little bodies need the extra calcium. Goats milk should help with the digestive issues. I have just filled up a freezer today I am happy to give you a couple of liters to see he goes. Hope your boy is better soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbesotted Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 look into zinc deficiency maybe..... Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Thanks to you both. Andisa - I am interested in the goats milk. Was also considering giving cottage cheese. I believe that has some wonderful qualities to aid health issues as well. My boy has never had either, so I'm not sure how he'd cope with it. Where abouts do you live, Andisa .... perhaps I can try? He's eating the boiled chicken with enthusiasm. However his stools are now very runny (since feeding the boiled chicken). He's had boiled chicken before when he had an earlier upset stomach and he came good within 24-48 hours. Back then I thought it must have just been a bug that he'd gotten over. Anyway - I can't think that it is the chicken that is the problem. Strangely, when he wasn't eating, or barely eating, his stools looked better than what they do now that he is eating (chicken, at least). Over the past 24 hours I have on a couple of occasions given him a few pieces of the EP kibble as treats for doing something good. He's now eating that with what appears to be some enthusiasm that has been missing over the past week or so. I would try giving him enough EP to comprise a meal, but at the moment don't want to go mixing the meal contents otherwise I'll get myself confused with what is doing what. Faecal sample will be dropped to the Vet's this coming Tuesday (I had to wait a week after the last antibiotic), so it might give me some answers. I've given him a couple of dollops of yoghart over the last 72 hours to help his system recover from the antibiotics. He loves the yoghurt - no hesitation eating that. At least he is eating something of substance - at the time of posting, his loss of weight and my uncertainty that he'd eat anything at all was the most concerning. The thought of having to wait 4 whole days without him eating something of some decent measure wasn't something I felt he would manage to cope with at all. As it was, he was looking weak in the body. Since the chicken, he's got a tonne more bounce back, even though he has runny stools. I'll let you know how the stool sample results go. Should know that Wednesday/Thursday next week, I expect. I'm also getting them to check for worms as well. He's only coming up due for a wormer, but I don't want to worm him unnecessarily, especially with his stomach being out of sorts. The other thing they're going to check for is giardia. I don't know if they have any other things in mind that they'll be checking for. Dogbespotted - I'll check up on zinc deficiency. Ta much. You helped me so much with info when my previous girl was so ill. Here you are supporting and helping again. Cheers for that . Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andisa Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Erny - I am in Narre Warren, not far from you, let me know when your able to pick it up. I will send you my contact details, sorry for the reply late, would have had if for you today. Or if you want to come by tonight that is fine. When mine are off food I give them goats milk, yogurt, honey and cottage cheese. Great when they need a pick me up. Also fantastic when on antibiotics, you can also give him some innerhealth caps. Lisa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Erny - I'm still waiting for an informed response elsewhere. On this issue - can you post a photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 (edited) Erny - I am in Narre Warren, not far from you, let me know when your able to pick it up. I will send you my contact details, sorry for the reply late, would have had if for you today. Or if you want to come by tonight that is fine. Lisa - thanks. Sorry, I got to your message too late to call you. I've sent you a PM though and will call you tomorrow. I believe in honey as well and on other occasions have administered Active Manuka Honey with good results. My boy loves it, but I knew he was really feeling unwell when about a week ago he went to eat it but then dropped it from his mouth and walked away. That was the day I rang the Vets again, but because he was not completed his course of antibiotics they wanted me to continue with what I was doing and to merely remove the food (EP) when he didn't eat it, not try other foods. I did that over the next several days, but the amount of food he was consuming became progressively less and less. I've since put some in water on a couple of occasions when I wasn't so sure he was drinking, to make sure he stayed hydrated. He drank that ok. He's still loving his cooked chicken (and so might he .... chicken fillets, skin off .... 4 - 5 of them a day - he eats better than I as I think many of our dogs do!!). But only one very small stool today and it was runny (albeit thick). Roll on Tuesday when I can take a stool sample and take it to the Vet for pathology examination. I want some answers !! On the upside .... since the chicken, he's quite boundy by comparison to what he's been over the last week. Edited March 15, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Erny - I'm still waiting for an informed response elsewhere.On this issue - can you post a photo? Of my boy as he is now, you mean? I can take an updated one tomorrow and post it later in the afternoon. He is looking somewhat better since he's been eating last couple of days. Thanks Danois. I'm keeping my mind open to anything that could be possible, at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab_Rat Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Hi Erny, just wanted to say that I hope you find some answers about your little boy soon! Its quite distressing having a crook dog and not knowing why??? I went for quite a few months trying to find out why my girl was having so many problems with her digestive system. We now seem to have her problems under control with diet, but would be interested in the use of goats milk! Andisa - could you shed some light on the properties of goats milk, and why its so good?? And do you use the honey as a feed supplement? Feel free to PM me about it, improving diet and digestive health is a top priority for me and my girl I have also recently begun using a Probiotic product made by a company called PAWS. It has probiotics, kelp, spirulina and a few other goodies in it. When my girl starts with the soft stools, I will dose her with this in her dinner for a few days, which seems to help immensely! Anyway - about the rough pads. Both our dogs seem to have relatively smooth pads, although their back ones and the ones near their dewclaws seem to ba slightly rougher. They live on tiles, grass, dirt and gravel, so if that sort of terrain was going to give them rough pads I wouldve thought they would be candidates! Perhaps its a weather, hydration, illness thing?? Wish I could help you out, but Im just making wild suggestions Please keep us updated on your little boys health :p Rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andisa Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 (edited) Lab rat - I am not sure about all the health benefits for goats milk so I have put it out there in hope that some one else will have the answers for you. I just know it is good for animals and humans. When they are under the weather or lactating mums I feed goats milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, honey and sometimes and egg, it is very nutricious and a meal on it's own. I am sure that Q will be answered for you real soon. Edited March 16, 2009 by Andisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbesotted Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Hey Erny check these links: http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/grooming/...itions2.htm#fpd nasodigital hyperkeratosis - an ailment affecting either the nose or foot pads (or both) of older dogs. In hyperkeratosis, keratin - the tough, fibrous outer covering of foot pads - grows excessively. Often, the hard, cracked pads appear to have "keratin feathers" around their edges. A vet can diagnose this ailment by analyzing a section of pad tissue. Although hyperkeratosis can’t be cured, it can be controlled. The veterinarian can carefully trim excessive keratin and instruct the owner on techniques to hydrate the pads, retarding excessive keratin growth. One such technique is to soak the pads each day in a 50 percent propylene-glycol solution over a period of several days. old dogs most likey to be affected... so not very likely to be this one. liver ??? maybe try some milk thistle. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Erny - I'm still waiting for an informed response elsewhere.On this issue - can you post a photo? Of my boy as he is now, you mean? I can take an updated one tomorrow and post it later in the afternoon. He is looking somewhat better since he's been eating last couple of days. Thanks Danois. I'm keeping my mind open to anything that could be possible, at the moment. Just of the paw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 Just of the paw! Oh! Silly me. Will try to get a photo of one. Although I am now thinking I'm grasping at straws by the "rough pads" idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 (edited) I picked up some goats milk from A today. () Keeping it in the freezer as I'm first going to get faecal sample analysed (dropping sample in tomorrow - he's not been pooing much in the last couple of days, so hopefully I'll manage to get some in time to get it to the Vets and subsequently to the lab). If you'd seen my boy today, apart from the fact that he is too lean and not bulked enough, you'd be thinking he was full of good health and nothing wrong. At my parents' property (acreage) he ran and ran and ran ..... having a jolly ol' time. Edited March 16, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charli73 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Erny, hope he is feeling better real soon, I know when Zoe had tummy upsets and we didnt know what it was, it was very frustrating... I dont have any solutions but just well wishes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andisa Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 (edited) No worries Erny - jus thope it helps and your boy is back to normal real soon. Good luck with him. Edited March 16, 2009 by Andisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbesotted Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 any updates Erny??? H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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