Please help us find out whats wrong

My dog has been suffering all summer he has been to the vet so many times and they keep on prescribing the same medicine. He started out with itching that got worse until he got bald patches on his back and half of his tail fur is missing. Then he scratched his nose so much it started bleeding, then he scratched the back of his neck so badly he had to be sedated so it could be cleaned. He got a secondary infection from the wound and came really close to not making it. Now the problem is that we cannot control his bladder. This is a terrible thing for him because he does not realise he doing it, and he is terrified of doing anything wrong. I just feel so bad for him; he looks terrible and is just a really sad puppy. I am starting to worry that this is some sort of cancer, and I just really want him to get better.

[seeana]

Yoy have to change your vet for a start.You do not say how old he  is.It sounds like it is an allergy, flea Dermatitis,...Mange or ....Pyoderma the last one most likely ....go on the net and look it up.

He will need to see a Vet remember another one.I hope the poor little soul lives inside as it would be cooler in the house.You can get a antibacterial shampoo  like an oatmeal wash.  or go to your chemist  for now and see if they have something there.I would think he is in so much pain HE DOES NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT HIS BLADDER .
Get to the vet as soon as possible he should not be like this I cannot believe your Vet would let him get in this state.
I very much doubt it is cancer Just go to another VET. QUICKLY. Please keep us informed .

[gromitthescottie]

sorry I guess I didnt put too much information in my post. Gromit is 5 and he absolutly lives inside with our other dogs (in fact he is curled up on my bed right now), but he is able to go outside whenever he wants. We live in a small town so going to another vet is easier said than done, but I will make sure to look into it because I am getting really annoyed with our vet giving us the same information over and over. We think it is allergies as well because he has had them in the past, but never this bad. He gets an allergy shot every summertime. I dont think he is in too much pain right now he seems to be mostly healing and is very itchy from the scabs (trust me there is no way I would sit here and watch him be in pain). It makes me feel a little bit better that you do not think it is cancer because I cannot even stand the thought of that. And thank you so much for posting I will try to keep you informed

[seeana]

Been looking it up on the net so much help on there .Do not feed Purina dog food or wheat products..I googled ( hot spots in dogs home remedies) and tons of help came up.Look up Earth Remedies Itchy skin remedies for dogs try that one as well.Let me know what you think.

[Misfits4Me]

Hello & welcome.....When the rear end and neck are the areas mostly involved; it indicates a Flea Allergy....Flea Allergy Dermatitis is awful once it starts........The itch cycle can last weeks from just one bite.....It's Not actually the bite that triggers the response, but the saliva from the flea......You may not see the flea, but it's been there....

What kind of Flea Preventative are you using???  Some dogs can be allergic to the flea product  (topicals)......Usually when this happens, it's the neck and back!  A flea preventative is VITAL for a dog with flea allergies.....

Important:  If your feeding a grain heavy diet: (Grocery store or discount center brand) You must upgrade!  Grains in cheap dogfoods have been linked to all kinds of problems; including severe allergies.......Corn, Wheat & Soy are the worst.... By products, coloring agents,  Preservatives & Digest are All No-Nos.  Read the label on your food...If it contains anything I just listed, get rid of it!  Proper nutrition will build his/her own immune system to fight the allergies....

I don't know about the bladder part...(But it all may be linked!) Has your dog had a urine sample evaluated?  Could be nothing more than UTI....Very common problem....Oral Antibiotics are given for this.....I'd rule this part out quickly!

Your dog needs  (Oral) antibiotics if the sores are infected & the skin inflammed......Bathe with an oatmeal based shampoo. A soap free shampoo is also a good choice as soap residue can add to the problem.  This will give some relief....

Has your Dr. tried any anti-histamines? Benedryl is a good place to start....I can give you the dose if you don't know it......

Check back in when you can.................Karla

[Misfits4Me]

P.S.  What medication do they keep giving him???         Karla

[gromitthescottie]

I think he is taking prednisone.

It is funny that you mentioned the grain based food because the special food that we bought from the vet that was supposed to be great for him has the very first ingredient listed as corn. So we bought some new food today at the store with out grains and we will be switching all of our dogs to that food.

Your flea theory is interesting because last summer all of our dogs had fleas, and Gromit was the most allergic to them. We give them flea medicine in pill form, but I'm not sure which one it is.

We've given him benedryl many times before and it just doesn't seem to help his itching. We even have a spray that is supposed to taste terrible so he won't chew.

Gromit seems to be doing a little better today; he didn't have any bladder issues, we are calling the vet's office on monday when they open again and hopefully they will test for UTI's. Another thing that we noticed today is that his eyes are leaky and infected looking so hopefully the vet can do something about that as well.

Thank you so much for taking the time to try to help me find out whats wrong. I just don't think all these things going on with Gromit are unrelated and I really want to get to the bottom of it all.

[seeana]

Prednisone Hmmmm bit worried about that drug as I do not know how dogs tolerate it but some pretty nasty side effects in humans check it out,it could be fine for dogs.
Why not go back to basics...... brown rice fresh mince or chicken and vegies.And big bones to chew on raw of course.
I am  a bit silly with my dogs though I try to vary their diet everyday my Vet says that's great if you have the time but most don't.
Saying that I have brought on a rod for my own back as when I put their food down they check it over and take their time chewing everything.They do not eat canned dog food.
My female Clumber has an allergy to wheat if she ever had any she would vomit it up.
a few hours later now she gets beef or ckicken her brown rice and and heaps of vegies with a little bit of Oxo mixed in to make them taste nice,and chicken broth with chicken.
The only thing wrong with my food for dogs is salt in oxo but they are very healthy drinkers so should flush out ok.And they are super healthy at the moment.When we had racehorses one in ten could not eat wheat or oats as it was too hot for their system and they would come out in a nasty hot rash all over their body.
We changed to a Rice based food super cool,it also fixed up horses who got a problem with tying up that means too much Acid in the body and that causes terrible cramps
and blood in urine.
I must reiterate this was for animals who could not tolerate grain products.It seems to effect a  range of animals with  allergies including us.
Oh thankyou for replying..... love to know how Gromit is going.

[Misfits4Me]

For Gromit: (I Love this name!)

Healthy dog foods do not include needless grains and other pet health
damaging ingredients.

Brewer's rice and brewer's dried yeast are by-products of beer production. There you go, your little pet gets what is left over after a beer run, the stuff not fit for human consumption.

Poultry Fat - Used to encourge pets to eat a product the pet would normally not eat. NutriSource does not tell us what type of Poultry.

Beet pulp is another cheap filler used by pet food companies. "Beet Pulp" sounds good, doesn't it? Well it's not. Just because Grandma told us we had to eat our beets as kids doesn't mean it is good for our dogs. Grandma didn't take the nutrients out of the beet and leave us just the dried fiber to eat, did she? Beet pulp is junk.

Fermentation Products - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Sugars are the common substrate of fermentation, and typical examples of fermentation products are ethanol, lactic acid, and hydrogen. However, more exotic compounds can be produced by fermentation, such as butyric acid and acetone. Yeast carries out fermentation in the production of ethanol in beers, wines and other alcoholic drinks, along with the production of large quantities of carbon dioxide.

You thought I was about done with this review, didn't you? Nope, I'm not going to end the review as of yet, not without telling you about the manure this company decided to include in the pet food for your pet, Animal digest. AAFCO doesn't care that manure is included in the pet food as long as the temperature at the time of cooking is brought to a certain degree.

Now there are those people out there who simply refuse to believe a pet food company would use manure in their pet's foods. Let me ask you to think on this issue for just a minute and then see what you decide. Let's take a person, for instance, When a person begins the "digestion" process food is placed in the mouth for chewing. Digestion continues as the food passes to the stomach and is broken down to pass into the intestines for further digestion. Digestion is complete once the person has had a bowl movement and fully evacuated the food from the human body. Why would obtaining human digest be any different from animal digest?

Pet food producers are using ingredients unfit for human consumption which are killing our pets. The ingredients in pet food must be changed!

The use of Corn, Wheat, and Soy are causing such awful conditions in pets including:

•Dry and itchy skin
•Fever
•Ear aches
•Ear infections
•Hot Spots on the skin
•Bad breath
•Dental disease
•IBD
•Hair loss
•Sore feet
•Abnormal nail growth
•Bloat
•Weight gain
•Tumors
•Moles and warts
•Seizures
•Blindness
•Deafness
•Heart conditions
•Kidney conditions
•Liver conditions
•Early pet death
These companies need to be held accountable for the injuries to our pets and our best friends early deaths............

Copied from a Pet Food Review List...........................Karla

[Misfits4Me]

Now that you added that he takes Pred., I'd say that what's causing the bladder issues....The MAIN side effect of steroids (Other than they're extremely dangerous if given long term) is it makes them need to pee-pee non-stop.....He probably doesn't feel like going to pee 20 times a day, so he's dribbling urine.....Your Vet will be able to confirm this!

Has he been on the Pred. long? Again, please check what Flea preventative that you use.....You said a Pill, but could that be his Heartworm pill? If so, that will do nothing for fleas.....

I can help you further if your interested..........Please, let me know......Karla

[gromitthescottie]

The information that you gave about food is very interesting. My family knows a lot about the parts of animals that end up in food that never should seeing as we are all either vegetarian or vegan and have all done research on the topic. Still the use of manure in pet foods is shocking!

I do believe that Gromits bladder problems stem from the Prednisone because I read the bottle today and that was a listed side effect. The flea medicine is defiantly what we are giving them, in addition to the heartworm medicine

Gromit seems to not be too affected by his problems anymore. Today he was barking at the horses that live across the creek and chasing his tennis ball around the yard, so hopefully he is on the mend. I just want to make sure this doesn't happen to him again once he comes off the medication, because we don't think he can stay on a maintenance dose of the Prednisone like the doctor suggests (it is just too strong and expensive for the long term). He has already been on the Prednisone off and on all summer. When he is on it he starts to get better, then the prescription runs out and we end up back where we started.  

We found a food that does not have a grain listed as the first ingredient and instead has a protein, so I am hoping that if that is the problem this will be the cure because I have to leave in a couple day to go back to college so I won't be around to watch him.

[Misfits4Me]

Thanks for checking back in....I'm glad Gromit's feeling better!  
Good luck with going back to college.......My son will be returning to college in a couple of weeks, also......That always makes for One, very sad mom!   :(  

When you come home again, give us an update on Gromit if you can.......Take care & Be safe........ Karla

[seeana]

I hope you have taken in what Misfits and my self have been explaining to you.
Try the fresh food diet I know it has ckicken in it but this is a dog and they are carnivours they do so much better if meat is in their diet.And Misfits said that awful Prednisone is dangerous,I agree ...... he could die! if on it for too long..
Anyway I am sure Misfits can help you please take her up on her offer for your dogs sake please.

[gromitthescottie]

So I know that it has been months, but Gromit did get a lot better and all of his hair started to grow back. I am about four and a half hours away and have only gone home twice since august, so I don't know too much about his day to day health. However I do know that he has recently taken a turn for the worse (again) I spoke to my mom today and she said that Gromit got a skin biopsy so hopefully we will find out some answers soon. He is still taking the medicine everyday, as far as I know. I will hopefully know more about what is going on with him when I go home for Thanksgiving break this Saturday. I have to apologize for not keeping you up to date, I just got really busy with school and life!