My doodle has very bad allergies,

[Karen Morgan]

I am hoping someone out there can help me. I have a 2 year old Labradoodle who has very bad allergies and also needs to have her anal glands removed ( as of 4 days ago) Her glands hold a paste that she can not remove on her own and she it is painful for her to constantly have them drained. Is there anyone out there who has heard of this? I have spent so much $$ at the vets on her, and I am afraid it is going to get worse

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Shelly, there really shouldn't be any preservatives in the food, other than "mixed tocopherols", which are basically vitamin E, as a preservative. I don't know about canned foods, but one of the reasons for using premium foods is to avoid preservatives which may be harmful.

[Tammy & Gracie]

I am not knowledgable about the anal sac issues. However, my Gracie also suffers from allergies. I have tried several different antihistimines and found one that works (Atarax) from vet Rx. Also, during her worst outbreak I started homecooking for her. We also supplement with 1 Evening primrose oil cap and salmon oil squirted on her food. During her serious allergy episode the vet had me give her 2 evening primrose caps daily for a few weeks. At this point after several months of the new drug and the new food, she is REMARKABLY better! No sores, no scratching and her feet are fading from the rusty red stains back to cream colored. I am extremely happy with these results.

[Karen Morgan]

Hi Tammy, Can you tell me what you cook for Gracie, As Molly has the allergies too and I thought I would try what you are doing, I will take her back to the Vets and discuss the testing. But i want to give her a break from the Vets since she had her anal glands removed. I am looking forward to hearing form you.Have a great day.. Karen Morgan

[Tammy & Gracie]

I cook any and everything for her now. I started woth carrots, brown rice, green beans, sweet potatoes and beef. After she did well on that menu for a few weeks I began adding any and all other ingredients (except dog no-nos), just one at a time to make sure she had no food issues. I now feed anything I can think of except corn which is kind of a useless ingredient that many dogs are sensitive to and can't be digested well. She has NO allergy issues right now and is taking supplements but no allergy medication. Join the food group and you will find plenty of info on homecooking. It sounds difficult when you start it but in no time it becomes easy. I will never go back! Welcome to the "dark side"!

[Karen Morgan]

Thank you Tammy for the info... Did you boil every thing together?

[Tammy & Gracie]

No. Basically cooked rice in stock. Browned and drained ground beef. I run veggies thru the food processor (keeps Gracie's stools firmer than larger chopped veggies). I lightly saute veggies in olive oil. Sweet potato I usually bake and then mash. Then I mix it together in ziplock bags measured 1 serving each. I freeze it then just take out a bag every day. Now that I do it easier I keep frozen bags of beef, chicken, and fish dishes and I feed different meats each day. Gracie also has no digestive issues since this feeding method started. For supplements she gets 1 evening primrose oil cap daily and a squirt of salmon oil on her food. I double up the EPO caps if she seems itchy.

[Karen Morgan]

Thank you very much Tammy, I am going to try and cook her meals from now on and see if this helps her. Have a great day....:)

[Tammy & Gracie]

This book is good and has good recipes in it. Dr Khalsa's Natural Dog. I found books at the library with recipes as well. Your dog will love you for it!!!!

[Karen Morgan]

Thankyou Tammy, I just ordered it off of amazon..

[Karen Morgan]

Happy Holidays to one and all. I just wanted to let you all know how Molly made out. When Molly had arrived for her surgery to have her anal glands removed, a little over 2 weeks ago, The surgeon told me that Molly's anal glands were so badly packed, that they could not even get close enough to her to take her temp. ( and they had just been drained 2 and a half weeks ago ). The surgery went well, but it was a very long a painful recovery for her. I got in touch with the breeder "Landmark labradoodles" in Windsor Connecticut. to let her know what was going on with Molly. And I felt that this problem started well before the 2 year warranty was up. Molly had suffered with this problem since last February of 2009. And the money it was costing me to help her was running in the thousands. I even had the breeder, Barbie,call my Vet to talk to her, so she could understand what was going on with this poor dog. The breeder told me that the Vet told her I could have waited, that it was not an emergency; I could try other types of food's and antibiotics. So because of that (I believe ) the breeder would not contribute to Molly's surgery. "And good luck with Molly"... Well I was so upset to think that Dr. Fighen would have said this to her, I spoke to Dr. Fighen when the surgery was over and asked her why she said that to her. Dr. Fighen told me that she was on the phone with her for 40 min. and told her that "The Doctors at the Winchester Vet. Group had "exhausted all their option's with Molly" and how she was 'suffering' and needed the surgery sooner then later.. ETC.... I feel in my heart that Barbie from LANDMARK LABRADOODLES could have contributed something to the cost of this surgery as you all know, this breed is very expensive and they have only been around for less then 20 years, and who knows, this could become genetic...But I own a business and I would have NEVER treated my clients the way she treated me. I just can not believe Molly was the only one in a litter of 10 that had this problem ( I did ask for the emails of the other owners, so I could find out for my self. but she never gave them to me. She said her computer crashed last year and had to look through her old files for them and could not promise me ). I would NEVER buy another dog from her again. They tell you how much they care for these dog's. They are full of crap!!!!! they just want the $2650.00. But getting back to Molly, she is doing much better. She goes back on Monday for her check-up. Now we will have to deal with the allergies next after she fully recovers from this.. I will keep you all up to date with her. So on that happy note I will wish you ALL a very Happy and HEALTHY New Year...... Sincerely, Karen Morgan

[shelly]

HI Karen. I'm so sorry that the breeder did not follow through on her side of the bill. It seems that this is something she really should have done in good faith. I am glad to hear that Molly is recovering, I hope all goes well with her check up! Happy new year!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Karen, I'm so sorry you and Molly have to go through all this. I hope her recovery goes well. Please keep us posted and if there's anything I can do to help with the allergy issues, please let me know.
Since you posted this discussion, I have found several on-line references to the fact that chronic anal sac problems are believed to be related to atopic allergies in dogs, but there is no other information available. Atopic dermatitis is genetic, and it is also known in some of the earliest Australian lines; so if the anal sac problems are related, we can certainly expect to see more of this in the future as well.
I'm also sorry your breeder responded as she did; this kind of lack of care or concern is what one would expect from a puppy mill or BYB, not a responsible & ethical breeder.