Kinda Gross Dog Post

[DDD]

Ace, our two year old Boxer, is a "licker"...the floor, the patio furniture, peoples hands etc.
Lately he started licking his annus for extended periods. Gross! Yesterday easy child/difficult child took him
to the vet for his annual check up/shots etc. and most importantly an annus check.
The vet found no worms etc. etc. but found a "little swelling". He gave him a shot "to take
care of the problem" and OMG the dog has not licked himself once. Terrific news.

Why am I sharing? Well, husband believed "dogs lick themselves" and thought my concern was unwarranted (actually, silly). If you have a licking dog, I'm here to tell you that one shot ended the problem. It's heaven not to hear that gross noise anymore...not once all night.
DDD

 

[AnnieO]

Bubbles does this, too. But usually it's the genital area. Drifting to sleep and you hear it.........

I make him sleep in Jett's room now. No major rawness or issues, just a dog thing. HOWEVER, if there was swelling then the dog was trying to make it feel better. Bubbles has done this all his life - so it's "normal" for him.

Now, Squirrel may be a cat - but she licks plastic bags. ANY kind of plastic bags. EATS craft foam and paper. So... Hmm.

 

[witzend]

Any idea of what type of shot it was? Bubba's been crazy licking lately.

 

[GoingNorth]

The shot was most likely a long-acting steroid. It's commonly used to take down inflammation. Watch Ace for drinking more water and peeing like crazy. It's a side effect to the steroid in the shot. He might also pant more than usual.

If Ace is experiencing discomfort in that area; it is possible that his anal glands are giving him trouble. Those glands are supposed to be expressed each time the dog passes stool (it's a marking thing). If the stool is too soft or sloppy, it could be that it is not expressing the glands properly.

 

[Star*]

Maybe allum?

 

[Hound dog]

Trust me, licking isn't as bad as chewing. Molly chews. We've discovered that Nichole's pup also chews, same spot. Weird. Sometimes it's Molly's glands, but usually it's some skin thing......used to think it was allergies but I'm not so sure now. If I see her doing it and use her tar soap on her she's fine. If it were allergies I doubt I'd see that result just from tar soap.

 

[GoingNorth]

I found that switching to a minimally processed raw diet completely cleared up my dog's skin. Is Molly part Schnauzer? Schnauzers are prone to a form of seborrhea that tar soap does help.

 

[Hound dog]

Not that I'm aware of GN. She's german shepard and ridgeback. But I'm fairly certain the skin condition is seborrhea. And it looks like Nichole's pup may have the same issue. I wonder if it might be a shepard thing too?? I haven't got a clue what she's mixed with. I'm going to try the tar soap on her too and see if it helps.

 

[witzend]

GN, how spendy is that diet?

 

[GoingNorth]

Shepherds have extremely sensitive skin (they are fragile dogs overall when it comes to health) We were fighting constant hotspots and infections from chewing at himself.

The problem only started when I took him off of raw food. I did the steroids and special shampoos and stuff and of course, the repeated courses of antibiotics.

I got fed up with what I was spending at the vet's each month for something that at best would clear up for a short time.

I sucked it up and put him back on raw food. I feed a lamb based prepared raw diet. Not only has he not had a single bad spot since, but his coat is gorgeous, he's gained good weight and he's much nicer to be around.

Makes sense; how nice would you want to be if your tummy hurt all the time.

The only downside to the raw diet is storage as it has to be kept frozen, and the fact that it costs a bloody fortune. For me it worked out because I was spending nearly as much at the vet's on a monthly basis.

 

[skeeter]

If you dog is prone to anal gland issues, have the vet show you how to express them. It's not pleasant, and it is gross, but it's fairly easy to do and will hold down the vet costs. If that doesn't help, the vet can remove the glands for you.

We had a dalmatian that was allergic to fleas. As soon as a flea got near him, he would break out is little red bumps - it looked like he had chicken pox. Most of the current flea protection medications like Front Line didn't help, because they still let the fleas get near the dog. Luckily the vet is a friend, and would allow the ex to bring home good, old fashion dip and we could treat with that (just kept the dog away from the kids for a day or two).

Wyley, the boxer we just lost due to old age, had terribly sensitive skin. The best thing for him was to NOT bathe him, and let the natural oils stay in his hair. We'd just hose him off if he got dirty. He smelled "doggy", but even the best shampoos would dry his skin and start open sores on him.

 

[GoingNorth]

The raw diet I feed (Nature's Variety Lamb) costs two hundred dollars a month or thereabouts. It is horribly expensive. But before that, between the skin infections and intestinal problems, I was spending nearly that at the vet's per month and Gryphon looked and felt like crud.

The diet is very easy. It comes in 6 packs of 12 patties (6 oz each). All you need to do is feed the appropriate amount of the food--basically throw the patties in the dish.

You do have to sterilize feeding dishes and utensils, and properly wash your hands after handling the food. There's no difference between that and the precautions one should take when handling any raw meat.

The raw meat got Gryphon off the steroid band wagon. I no longer had to buy digestive enzymes, and didn't need to have him on antibiotics much of the time. For us the cost has been worth it.

If you have something like a Pet Supplies Plus nearby; it is very possible that they carry the food (or 'Companion' which is another good food) in smaller amounts. I don't have access to stores like that so have to mail order.

I use http://www.k9cuisine.com. They're not the cheapest out there, but they ship for free on orders over fifty dollars

 

[GoingNorth]

Throwing raw meat at a dog is NOT a substitute for a balanced diet. Raw muscle meat is NOT balanced and dogs can become deficient in amino acids and minerals on it.

The diet is made from lamb meat, lots of lamb innards, greens, bone meal for the minerals. It's basically the same as the

Bones and Raw Food (BARF) diet that many prepare at home. I used to feed not only three dogs, but my cats ( I ran a cattery for many years) on raw foods. I had a huge freezer and a commercial meat grinder that could handle small bones. The diet then was chicken based, with the raw chicken ground up bones and all.

Nature's Variety makes a lamb formula, a poultry formula, a venison formula, a rabbit version and a bison version. The lamb is the cheapest of the varieties and Gryphon does very well on it.

 

[DDD]

BARF??????? That's funny! DDD

 

[DDD]

BARF??? That's funny! DDD

 

[GoingNorth]

Trust me, it's not all that funny when you are grinding up a 40lb case of chicken backs at 11PM

 

[DDD]

The mere thought makes me queasy! DDD

 

[GoingNorth]

Cats LOVED the diet and did very well on it. I got into it because my oldest queen (entire female cat) had an allergy to FISH and back then it was impossible to find a commercial food without fish in it.

Worse yet, she passed her allergy on to a couple of her kittens.

The dog is allergic corn, wheat and soy--proven by doing an elimation diet on him. The worst of the allergies was the one to corn. He literally started trying to tear his skin off within a few hours of eating corn.

Like I said; it works for me, but I'm just supporting myself, the dog and the cat. The cat eats commercial food, but is on a grain free ration because cats don't even have the enzymes to digest carbs properly

 

[DDD]

Sorry. I "thought" I had the paperwork on my desk at work so I could share the name of the shot. It evidently is at home afterall. I'll find it and post. Ace has been very thirsty since the vet visit but is more relaxed that he has ever been. Hooray for the shot...whatever to heck it is called, lol. DDD

 

[GoingNorth]

DDD, from the "sx" it definitely sounds like some sort of prednisone/prednisolone injection. Did they give you a few doses of tablets to use as a "taper" from the shot?