I Need Some Advice Please

[cheryl & oliver]

This might be a little long, so please bear with me. The last couple of weeks Oliver has been suffering with what I call the "Itchys". He took to chewing his paw kind of raw, so I took him to the vet, she shaved the area to get a good look, and she put him on Timiril. Well that did not work out he was peeing all over the house, like he had no control, although I was walking him every hour. Needless to say this was not good for him or me...so we switched him to Benedryl, 2 tabs 2x a day, and she put one of those horrible collars on him. Well he was ok in the car with the collar, but when I got him home he started howling and actually screaming, and shaking and throwing himself around...It freaked me out, I finally got the thing off him and he lay shaking in my lap on the floor, with me in tears...I am not a new dog owner, I have had dogs for 35 yrs but I have never seen or heard anything like that before. He calmed down, and I put a sock on the affected area, This seems to working for the time, although i have to watch him like a hawk so that he doesn't remove the sock and get to licking the area. Anyway, I have noticed that the last week he has had very loose stools, not fun to have to clean up to say the least. He is happy, eating well and urinating fine. He is his happy self, so I was not too worried about the loose stools...I then remembered that he also ate one of those rawhide bones 2-3 days ago, he loves them, I don't like them, but gave it to him to divert him from licking the leg..Anyway I called the vet, she said it is not from the Benedryl, prob from the rawhide bone...I am giving him a chicken breast tonight with some white rice, but not sure how much to feed. I will shred one average size breast after I boil it, should I use chicken broth or water? and use white rice. But not sure how much to give him. I don't want him to be hungry, and should I do this until stools are better instead of dog food? He usually get 1 1/2 cups of Canadae 2x a day...Can u guys help me please? Sry this was so long...thanks, Cheryl...And we usually give some milkbone small biscuits as treats, if I dont' give that what should I use. I use one slice of american cheese to give him the benedryl....
thanks, Cheryl

[cheryl & oliver]

Natasha, I just read all the reviews for this product and it is really 50/50 if it works or not. I think it depends on the area where the problem is, but I am going to go to PetCo and check it out. How much does Rouser weigh? Thanks for the site, and the advice....

[Natasha]

Well, he's 85 pounds now, but at the time it was when he was 6 months old and weighed 55 pounds. We got him a large (it says "4 large" on it). I just tried it on him and it still fits. It appears like, when wearing it, he could still reach his front paws and maybe his back paws when motivated enough, but if you combine this collar with the sock, it might free you up enough that you don't have to watch him so closely.

Would wrapping it in an ace bandage slow him down a little more than the sock? What a difficult puzzle to solve (they can be so crafty).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The inflatable collar that I just bought at Petsmart for my foster after spay surgery is sized according to their neck size. My foster had a 16" neck and needed a "large". Jack has an 18-and-a-half inch neck and needed an XL. I bought the XL so I could use it for Jack down the road, and it worked for my foster anyway, even though it was a little loose around the collar.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

If it's a Rawhide bone that caused his stools to be loose, Don't switch his food or mix anything different, just don't give him rawhides and by tomorrow morning his stools should be back to normal. I also would cut out the treats for now, except the cheese you use for his meds. If he needs something to occupy him for his chewing try a Kong with Peanut Butter or for now smear some Sweet Potato or Pumpkin inside it/you can freeze it also, and he will have fun with that (just keep him in a place where you won't mind if there is a little mess). Someone at our dog park told me this and don't know how true it is...but they said to never give a dog rawhide or pork products till after a dog is over 18 months of age because their stomachs just can't handle it. Not sure how true this is...but it seems to work well with Hannah and Honey. If you still feel you need to give Chicken and Rice, I take my chicken and boil/simmer it with whole Carrots and Celery for the broth, just as I would do for making homemade chicken soup without all the seasonings, but leave the carrots and celery whole so it can be easily removed. The veggies should also give enough flavor for your broth. I like to use brown rice for the dogs and will cook it before adding to my chicken stock (about 2 cups per chicken breast) and add in the shredded chicken. I use 2 cups of Chicken/Rice for every 1 1/2 cups of dog food 2xs a day for the first day, 2nd day ...1 1/2 cups of Chicken/Rice with 1/2 cup dog food 2x's a day. 3rd day 1/2 cup Chicken/Rice to 1 cup of dog food 2xs a day...4th day they are back on their regular food. Hope Oliver is feeling much better and his paw heels quickly for you.

[Nugget's Family]

How's Oliver doing today? Maybe it was just a bug bite?

If you go the EPO/loratidine route, it took about a week to really "kick-in" for Nugget, but she's doing great on it now.

[cheryl & oliver]

well he is doing a little better today, I have put some cortisone cream on the area and that seemed to really sooth him. we have a double sock on him with an ace bandage on top of that,, with some stick to itself tape, and he seems ok with it...I just hope that he won't need that horrible collar, he is so afraid of it, but if this doesn't work, I will go and get him the inflatable collar to try before I put that torture chamber on him. if he would just leave the area alone it would be fine. It does look better today, so hopefully tomorrow will be better. we shall see if we will switch to the claratin, but what do u do with the evening prrimrose? what is that for?...Thanks for asking how he is doing, I appreciate that...Cheryl

[Tammy & Gracie]

The evening primrose is an oil that helps skin issues, itchiness, dryness, etc. It is composed of essential fatty acids. I copied this from a website:"Evening primrose oil has been used since the 1930s for eczema (a condition in which the skin becomes inflamed, itchy, or scaly because of allergies or other irritation).
More recently it has been used for other conditions involving inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis."http://nccam.nih.gov/health/eveningprimrose/. I think most of us on DK use it for inflamation due to allergy causing itchy skin issues. I would keep using that regardless of which antihistimine I am using.

[cheryl & oliver]

thank you I am going to go and get it tomorrow, but where do I buy it?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's a human supplement, you can find it anywhere they sell human vitamins & minerals. I buy it at the grocery store.

[cheryl & oliver]

thanks Karen, I will find it tomorrow and give it a try