Home
About Us
Articles
Ask the Vet
How do you do
Jokes and Stories
Pet of the Week
I have a 7 year old Bichion and she has the most horriable body ordure
"all the time," she only smells good for about 10 minutes after a bath!
Even when I take her to the groomers, after about a hour that awful
body ordure comes back. It really makes it unpleasant for her & for the
rest of us in this family, we all love her & she is a excellent little
dog......I would appreciate any suggestions that might help
Sincerely
Patty
Answer
Hi, Patty, thanks for the question. First of all, did you read the articles on skin disease
that I wrote? They are pretty detailed. (Itching and Scratching, Atopy, Mallassezia)
Your email doesn't say if the dog has skin sores , or is itchy.......or if it's just an odor,
also, what has been tried already? Also, how are her ears and feet? Does she lick feet
a lot or shake her head much.
If there is a skin infection, it needs to be treated with an appropriate antibiotic such as
cephalexin, baytril, or clavamox....penicillin, amoxicillin, and tetracycline are ineffective
for skin infections. Antibiotic therapy may need to be done for up to 6 weeks.
If the dog is itchy , I like a medicine called Temaril-P, it's a antihistamine/pred combo.
Also, have you tried any medicated shampoos yet? I like to use Chlorhexiderm or if I
suspect yeast , Maleseb shampoo.
Is the dog's skin greasy? There could be a sebhorrea problem, NuSalT shampoo
works well for that.
I suspect there is an underlying problem here....possibly allergies (inhalant, food) for
which there is no cure, the best we can do is hope to control the symptoms with
appropriate medications and medicated shampoos.
Please keep me posted.
Dr. John
favorite
animal books
are. You can
buy them
from
Amazon.com
right from
this site.
Click Here
I have a six month old male rottweiler puppy. After he
poops outside he goes back to eat it sometimes how can I stop him from
this behavior?
Coprophagia is the medical term for when an animal eats feces. It is a common
behavior in dogs, but really grosses out us humans. My dog Nikki loves to get into the
cat's litterbox and eat little cat "tootsie rolls".
It can be caused by a medical problem such as pancreatic insufficency, intestinal
parasites such as hookworms, roundworms, or whipworms, Cushing's disease,
diabetes, and malabsorption.
Or it can be a behavioral problem, which i see a lot in puppies.
If your dog is healthy otherwise, and up to date on his vaccines, and not showing any
other symptoms, it's probably behavioral.
Have a fecal sample run for worms, pick up his feces right away and try adding a little
meat tenderizer to his food (1/4 tsp.), that imparts a bad taste to the stool (like it
doesn't taste bad already).
Good luck,
Dr. John
My standard poodle started Mon with the dry heaves, then
later in the day vomited dog food. While he was crated that day he
vomited more and then had a very soft bowel movement, later that evening
he had a liquid bowel movement with bright red blood spots around the
feces. Today he has the same watery bowel movements with occasional
blood in it. He has no fever, his temp is 100.0. He is 2 and a 1/2 years
old and generally in good health. He does have a habit of chewing and
eating anything he thinks he should have....when crated he has nothing
in the crate with him, I left his collar on him when he was smaller and
he ate his tags off of it.
What do you think could be causing this problem, I am going to takehim
to the vet tomorrow because I am afraid he may become dihydrated. He
is eating and drinking water but not as much as his usual.
I would appreciate any comments.
Thank you,
Mocha's Mom
Hi, thanks for you letter. Acute onset diarrhea and vomiting are one of the most
common things that I see and treat. There are many causes including parasites, eating
something spoiled or rotten, abrupt change of food, bacteria, viruses and so on. Most
of the time we never figure out what the cause is...just like when a person has a bout of
umm....the squirts....
I am less concerned that it is something serious if the animal is acting ok otherwise, still
has a good appetite, drinking ok, no fever, not lethargic, still playing and active,etc. If
I see an animal that has diarrhea and these other signs I am generally more concerned.
If there is fresh blood in the stool, that has to come from the lower GI tract like the
colon or rectum versus the stomach or small intestines (bleeding from this part of the
GI tract results in melena, or dark, tarry stools).
I always run a fecal sample for parasites and treat if necessary. Usually it's negative
and if the dog is ok otherwise I will start the animal on a bland diet of say hamburger
and rice (boiled meat, minute rice cooked with no butter or seasonings) and feed small
amounts. I also frequently use the antibiotic metronidazole for simple diarrhea and a
little bit of yogurt. Of course, if the animal seems dehydrated I give fluids (either IV or
SQ). You can also supplement fluid intake with diluted Pedialyte from the grocery
store (3 cups pedialyte to 1 cup of water and give small amounts every hour or so)
Hope all is well with your pooch.
Dr. John
Our cats name is Shadow. He has short gray fur. He is timid but loves to be patted.
We feed Shadow, a cat that's been hanging around our yard for over a year. He
comes in the house to eat and then meows to go out. He spends the nights in the
house when it's below freezing outside and meows to go out to do his duties. He has
not peed in the house, yet. We have a litter box for his use but he does not know
what it is for. Is it possible to train an older cat to use a litter box when he never used
one?
Hi, thanks for your letter.
It's been my experience that cats that pretty much grew up outside prefer to eliminate
out there and it is really hard to turn them into "house cats" and get them to use a litter
box. Now, I am not saying it can't be done, but from talking to clients who have had
similar experiences such as yours, it's very difficult. If anyone has had success doing
this please email me.
Thanks, and good luck,
Dr John
Page 1 / 2 / 3