PF's, diet and alternative treatment ?'s

The first piece of advice I would give is: Find a Chinese Traditional Medicine vet. My vet started my last GSD, when he was 12, on antibiotics each time he got a draining tract.. they kept coming back, even with Cyclosporin. Most vets would have said "Well... he's 12.........." and let it hang that maybe it was time to euthanize for this chronic condition.

Not my vet. She asked if I would please allow her to try an herbal mixture that is often successful with PF. I said that we'd tried everything else, and every other month we had another draining tract to treat with antibiotics, so.. sure, go ahead. I doubted it would help.

Chell never had another draining tract again. He was put to sleep at a very healthy, PF-free age of 15.5 from pneumonia following a surgery on his elbow (old injury caused problems).

I don't know if these herbs will help your dog or not. I can only say it banished the problem for Chell-- but he did need to take them in his food daily for the rest of his life.

One herbal mix was for arthritis, the other for the PF.. I forget which is which now.. sorry! One was Long Dan Xi Gan Tan, and the other was Xiao Chai Hu Tan.

The herbs look like ground cinnamon, and don't have much smell.. it went in a glop of canned food, twice daily. You could easily put it in ground turkey raw, or something. Not in yogurt, mabe in choped up raw liver or kidney to hide the herb-y smell.

first I think you have to determine (or ask your vet's advice) is the reason for the pf's..Are they result of anal gland issues? If so, they aren't "true" pf's,,(as in my case I had two dogs with pfs resulting from anal gland issues),,,glands removed, problem removed in most cases.

IF the dog has 'true' pf's,,another factor is,,are there any other underlying problems,,as in sibo, epi, allergies, ???

Since my dogs had pf's from anal gland issues, I didn't really do much of a diet change..However, many on the PF list, who do have other issues with the dogs going on,,have switched to a novel protein as Fish..you may have to fool around with diet and see what works best for your dog. Is he straining to go??

I would do a few things,,definately keep the area shaved, definately keep it clean and dry,,,I and many others, have used Desitin, as in baby diaper rash creme, that has helped IMMENSELY, in clearing up set backs, (you don't want the dog ingesting it tho)..

Licking is a good sign that something is going on and the dog is in discomfort.

I used the cyclo with my second dog,,and was as you, concerned about shutting down his immune system,,it cleared up the pf's within 2 months,,and when I titered him he was all set so it didn't really affect his immunity much.

Another piece of advice, NO VACCINES,,since I 'have' to do rabies, I go with thimerisol free vac's, (no mercury preservatives)..

My best piece of advice is to join the PF list which you can access off the above website..It's a wealth of information as well as support.
Diane