[LisaT]

You can try a food with some of those grains and see - be sure to stay away from wheat, corn, and sorghum. Buy smaller bags to see how well they are tolerated digestively.

I would not ask the vet for recommendations. The majority of vets are trained by companies like Euk or Science Diet and are not familiar with all the foods on the market.

I think vit C and fish oil are great additions. For the vit C, use either calcium ascorbate (ester C) or sodium ascorbate. For the fish oil, be sure to find a product where the combination of Dha and Epa are at least 50% of the product. Msm might help with the skin issues if your dog can handle it. Mine is sensitive to it, and it makes him pee

 

[GattiB]

You can try a food with some of those grains and see - be sure to stay away from wheat, corn, and sorghum. Buy smaller bags to see how well they are tolerated digestively.

I would not ask the vet for recommendations. The majority of vets are trained by companies like Euk or Science Diet and are not familiar with all the foods on the market.

I think vit C and fish oil are great additions. For the vit C, use either calcium ascorbate (ester C) or sodium ascorbate. For the fish oil, be sure to find a product where the combination of Dha and Epa are at least 50% of the product. Msm might help with the skin issues if your dog can handle it. Mine is sensitive to it, and it makes him pee

What is MSM?

Ok, will start on the small bags, and grab the vitamin c calcium or ascorbate and fish oil with 50% of EACH, or 50% total between the two of them ... any brands of either pill, or a location i can go to for safe and effective choices?

 

[LisaT]

The fish oil, at least 50% combined. Some products are as low as 20%. I typically buy online through vitacost or iherb (cheaper!), but any decent health foods store or section should have it. I use a couple different fish oilt. Twinlabs Omega 3 Mood is a good product, though may or may not be available locally.

MSM, if you google it, you'll see that it's high in sulphur, good for joints and skin.

 

[GattiB]

The fish oil, at least 50% combined. Some products are as low as 20%. I typically buy online through vitacost or iherb (cheaper!), but any decent health foods store or section should have it. I use a couple different fish oilt. Twinlabs Omega 3 Mood is a good product, though may or may not be available locally.

MSM, if you google it, you'll see that it's high in sulphur, good for joints and skin.

What is the value of sulfur? Isn't that a bad chemical? Will do on the fish oil, and vita c, and small bag of food. How should I administer this combination of vitamins, considering he will be getting 3 benadryl before bed, and his Trithalmic/cortisone opthalmic ointment in his left eye... Thank you friend for your continued help!

Also this was a recommendation from the other "diet" thread, what do you think about her comment ... "Anal gland's can be infected with staph which will spread down the leg's and to other part's of the body.Your dog has the symptom's,if this is the case all the vet need's to do is empty the anal gland's, then insert Panolog ointment."

 

[GattiB]

THIS IS A REPEAT POST so you see the updated info.

What is the value of sulfur? Isn't that a bad chemical? Will do on the fish oil, and vita c, and small bag of food. How should I administer this combination of vitamins, considering he will be getting 3 benadryl before bed, and his Trithalmic/cortisone opthalmic ointment in his left eye... Thank you friend for your continued help!

Also this was a recommendation from the other "diet" thread, what do you think about her comment ... "Anal gland's can be infected with staph which will spread down the leg's and to other part's of the body.Your dog has the symptom's,if this is the case all the vet need's to do is empty the anal gland's, then insert Panolog ointment."

Lisa, another user recommended this for the sores on his leg, saying it kills staph, what are your thoughts before i go buy both... "Bicarbonate of soda mixed with warm water kill's staph on the skin, this would be very good to bathe his sore leg's"

Let me know thanks!

 

[kurai_rakuen]

I read that antimicrobial shampoos are good to use also.

Amazon.com: DermaPet DermaBenSs Benzoyl Peroxide Plus Shampoo for Pets (8-oz bottle): Kitchen & Dining

The two amazon reviews are good ones. I decided to take Logan to the vet soon, even though I don't have the money. I'm also going to see about grabbing some of that shampoo.

Keep me posted!

 

[LisaT]

.... How should I administer this combination of vitamins, considering he will be getting 3 benadryl before bed, and his Trithalmic/cortisone opthalmic ointment in his left eye... Thank you friend for your continued help!

You can just give the vitamins with dinner. They shouldn't interfere with anything. Watch for pale gums with the continued use of the benadryl.

Also this was a recommendation from the other "diet" thread, what do you think about her comment ... "Anal gland's can be infected with staph which will spread down the leg's and to other part's of the body.Your dog has the symptom's,if this is the case all the vet need's to do is empty the anal gland's, then insert Panolog ointment."

Lisa, another user recommended this for the sores on his leg, saying it kills staph, what are your thoughts before i go buy both... "Bicarbonate of soda mixed with warm water kill's staph on the skin, this would be very good to bathe his sore leg's"

If the anal gland is infected, it either needs to be infused with antibiotic on a regular basis, or given an oral abx. Since the infection now appears to be greater than just the gland, and since these types of infections can cause fistulas, I would opt for oral antibiotic, on a longer term basis. If this started with the gland, if this doesn't resolve, you may need to have the glands removed. One question is whether the gland is infected or not at this point. There is no question that it is spreading, and treating just the gland will not treat the other areas of the body.

Baking soda baths are very soothing. I do not know whether or not they will kill staph on contact, but it could be worth a try. Certainly won't hurt.

 

[GattiB]

I read that antimicrobial shampoos are good to use also.

Amazon.com: DermaPet DermaBenSs Benzoyl Peroxide Plus Shampoo for Pets (8-oz bottle): Kitchen & Dining

The two amazon reviews are good ones. I decided to take Logan to the vet soon, even though I don't have the money. I'm also going to see about grabbing some of that shampoo.

Keep me posted!

Good post, thank you so much Kurai. This being said, i researched staph infection, and this is exactly similar to the pictures i have seen. red spots, with matted fur and brown liquid like scabbing forming over it all. Any idea's on how to fix it before it gets bad to those points? Long term abx? along with shampoo or something... Would Lisa's dual abx therapy from above work for the infections, even from staph? Could there be damage inside of his body, which may be reprehendable since this has been going on so long?

God so many questions, this is like Lost, once i get one thing answered, i get 10 more. LOL. Thanks or your help, keep up the good work.

 

[LisaT]

... Would Lisa's dual abx therapy from above work for the infections, even from staph?

Doxy was the only abx recommended?

 

[Achielles UD]

Personally, no matter how much I love and trust my vet(s) on medical issues that arise... I would NEVER ask them for food reccommendations lol

Check Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble and look at the 5 and 6 star rated foods. It will tell you which are grain free. Then you can check your area to see if what you are looking for is close by. I'd start by calling feed stores, specialty pet stores and the like... call, don't drive around... it's cheaper

Good Luck!

 

[GattiB]

Doxy was the only abx recommended?

you recommended doxy along with niacinamide or something along that line...

thank you achilles for your recommendation, I will leave that question out for my vet.

LisaT thank you so much, I have like a whole page of concerns to go to my vet with. HOPEFULLY resolution is on the horizon cause I can;t handle much more failures, its far to hurtful to keep trying so hard and continue to fail. Thank you every1 sincerely!

 

[LisaT]

We've seen a lot of staph come through these boards, and experience is that vets don't treat for long enough.

The cephalexin type antibiotics are usually used for staph, but others, like doxy can be used. The benefit to doxy is that it is anti-inflammatory (not as strong as pred though), and the primary antibiotic used for most tick disease. So using the doxy, you cover more bases than not.

I think it was the eye issue (in addition to skin and possible fistula) that made me think in the direction of tick issue. Niacinamide is actually a special form of the B vitamin niacin. So for a typical sized GSD, doxy, 200 mg twice a day with 500 mg of the niacinamide twice a day, would be the protocol.

Just in case you missed this.

 

[GattiB]

so i took Gatti in for his check up, and talked about all of our possible theories from countless days of research (infected anal glands, staph infection needing lengthier abx therapy or tick disease).

she said it shouldn't be infected anal glands because there would be puss coming out of his rear and then that would cause infection on the exterior legs, which we haven't witnessed any puss... short time ago though we did notice after stools a lil very small amount of white fluid hanging out of his anus (sorry or the visuals) but that has ceased after all the meds and such.

the tick disease theory may be close because although his most recent heart worm test came negative, which also tests for tick diseases. it WAS a couple months prior to moving into our new mountainous area house, so that may have been a possibility, in turn he will be on cephalexin for 6 weeks (which should clear the possibility of staph infection too I imagine)

Just gave him his recently missed dose of heartguard, due to him being on the other steroids and abx at the time of his last due tablet (october 8th). Just to be curious what are some signs of heart worm ... we don't have many mosquitos but just for safety purposes...

Also, I might try to take him to the dermatologist after this cycle of abx is done, if the skin irritation comes back, that to me would be a sign of allergic reaction to the new enviroment, unfortunately I'll have to save up for that which is good we got abx for now. Is there really a "DOG" dermatologist, and how do i find one close?

The vet also gave us chlorhexadine(sp?) solution (the strong antiseptic used prior to surgery) to clean off the affected area's. I will begin the therapy tomorrow as the pharmacy didnt have all 250 tablets of cephalexine until the morning order. so i figure start it all at one time to ensure precision.

Should I be concerned the abx therapy is supposed to be 6 weeks, which would be 42 days, at 3 pills twice daily, 252 pills ... instead of the 250 prescribed on the rx. When I called the Dr back the receptionist said it shouldnt be a problem, not sure why I trusted that but i mean giving him 41 1/2 days of 750mg twice would still do the trick I presume?Anyone uncomfortable with that missing 2 pills at the end? Thanks for eveyrthing you guys I really appreciate all of your ongoing efforts, as does Gatti (my boy(aka:my dog))

 

[LisaT]

I wouldn't be concerned with the two pills.

Ceph can be hard on some dog's systems. I would make sure to give probiotics separated from the abx by a good couple of hours.

My boy sees a K9 Derm for his fistula, found her on the fistula list, but it turns out all the vets around here know her. You can ask your local vet perhaps? If you're near a university, they typically have them too, although I much prefer the specialists around here than our local teaching hospital.

Oh, and your vet is wrong about an infected gland being ***** and messy. My boy had an infected gland years ago and it was not like that.

 

[GattiB]

I wouldn't be concerned with the two pills.

Ceph can be hard on some dog's systems. I would make sure to give probiotics separated from the abx by a good couple of hours.

My boy sees a K9 Derm for his fistula, found her on the fistula list, but it turns out all the vets around here know her. You can ask your local vet perhaps? If you're near a university, they typically have them too, although I much prefer the specialists around here than our local teaching hospital.

Oh, and your vet is wrong about an infected gland being ***** and messy. My boy had an infected gland years ago and it was not like that.

what are probiotics??? She only gave me ceph.

Now he is getting aa green slim like mucus around his poops, not all over it, but on most of it... is this good, is it like an infection dying and exiting through its only exit??? He started this only maybe 8 hours after the meds ...

about the infected gland, I had them empty the anal glands after telling her about the possibility but they said there was hardly anything in there (just emptied it like a month ago) .. so what else should i do to research/examine that?

 

[LisaT]

There is a sticky at the top of this health forum that talks about probiotics, to replenish the good bacteria in the system that the antibiotics wipe out. Some vets are knowledgeable about them, some aren't, most vets don't prescribe them.

Don't know about the slime.....but the mucous is usually some type of intestinal inflammation. I guess we see if it gets better or worse.

 

[kurai_rakuen]

I told you I'd keep you posted, so I'll let you know what's going on with my dog.

I took him to the vet about 3 days ago. He said Logan had a skin infection (shocker). He prescribed antibiotics, about 20 days worth, and steroids again. He said that if he scratches while on the medication it's an allergy that caused it, but if he doesn't then no allergy. He also said that Logan just might be prone to skin infections and that considering he's still pretty young, he'll probably grow out of it.

Weird.

His skin is looking a lot better. He is NOT scratching anymore and I used that benzoyle (sp?) peroxide shampoo. I thought it would dry out his skin, but it didn't. I just washed him with his normal doggy shampoo first, and then used his dog conditioner after the medicated shampoo. He smells good AND his coat is very soft. <3

 

[GattiB]

I told you I'd keep you posted, so I'll let you know what's going on with my dog.

I took him to the vet about 3 days ago. He said Logan had a skin infection (shocker). He prescribed antibiotics, about 20 days worth, and steroids again. He said that if he scratches while on the medication it's an allergy that caused it, but if he doesn't then no allergy. He also said that Logan just might be prone to skin infections and that considering he's still pretty young, he'll probably grow out of it.

Weird.

His skin is looking a lot better. He is NOT scratching anymore and I used that benzoyle (sp?) peroxide shampoo. I thought it would dry out his skin, but it didn't. I just washed him with his normal doggy shampoo first, and then used his dog conditioner after the medicated shampoo. He smells good AND his coat is very soft. <3

Thank you so much man! Good luck on your new set of abx, n steroids. I hope they work better for you guys. The real worry is after the meds but god your dog sounds 200% better, congratulations!

Its funny i brought this recommendation cause you told me a while bak and she didn't wanna dry him out but now she told us she could prescribe a shampoo that has that in it so i gotta see where that goes. Thank you i really appreciate your info, take care my friend!

 

[kurai_rakuen]

No problem. I hope after the medication and the baths our dogs won't have this problem again.

I'll contact you again when I'm done with the medication and let you know if it comes back.

Keep me posted on your dog too.