Scratches & loses hairQ: I have a 3 yr old schipperke. he scratches himself til he bleeds & has alot of hair loss. my vet had him on prednisone & another kind of pill. bathed him in a dip which seemed to help til the pills were finished. he started the same process over again. someone told me about a shampoo for dogs that would eliminate this. can you tell me what is the best to use? A: Thre is a shampoo called allermyl that has an anti-inflammatory effect. you may find this product of benefit.
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AbscessQ: My dog had a lump just below his eye. the lump broke and drained. it has been draining for 3 weeks. in that time i have used antibiotic pills and triple antibiotic ointment. i am currently using baytril. as soon as the wound heels shut it swells up and then breaks open and starts draining. i wash it off several times daily with a wash cloth. and have used three different antibiotics and there doesn't seem to be an end to this problem. my dog is under a veterinarians care. is there more first aid that i can do to end this. as will i consult the veterinarian too. A: Make sure vet has ruled out underyling foreign body or tumor under eye which needs to be addressed. also might want to culture discharge to make sure right antibiotic has been used for long enough time
PillsQ: I have to give my cat pills for thyroid and i have been mixing it with water and squriting it dawn her throat .is this alright or does it delute it to much A: It's o.k. as long as she gets all the tablet in the mixture you are making. the dose on the thyroid is quite specific.
Use of vetalogQ: My dog has seasonal allergies. it only happens late summer and into fall. our vet gives us vetalog 1.5mg to use, and starts her off with an injection of the same, stating the pills will not be as affective without it. is this true, and after what i have read of the recommendations give to others in the same situation, is this treatment safe? i was not made aware of the risks or longterm affests of vetalog. this is used only during the summertime when the symptoms occur (which seem to be early this year). A: I am not fan of long acting steroids like vetalog and much prefer with similar results tapering dose of short acting prednisone over a few weeks to alternate day therapy as best way of using cortisone in practice. no need for injections. oral way is less toxic and stressful on immune system and adrenal glands and way most vet dermatologists use cortisone
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Female dogQ: My female dog thatwas fixed wehn she was young and is now 12 years old all of a sudden started leaking while laying down and leaving wet spots and sometimes a big big wet spot not even knowing it. i saw her lay down and in minutes there was a big wet spot. i took her to the vet and she said sometimes it happens early in there life or later. she gave me phenylpropanolamine and said to give it to her every 12 hours. she said if this worked she wouldn't have to come back for blood work ect. seems to be doing the trick so far and she said if it does she would have to take it the rest of her life. is this true that she has to stay on it or can i take her off of it after the pills are finished? thank you so much for you time. a concerned pet owner A: In most cases, pets that are placed on phenylpropanolamine therapy for urinary leakage will need to be on this medication for life.
Spider bites?????Q: 4times now my dog lab goes out and comes in itchy crazy , face gets bumps , doc said spider bite gave him 2 injections , what can i do at home seems this is going to be a reg occurance, already give him benadryl pills seems to help some, but not good enough A: Try some flower essences also from health food store in addition to benadryl which can also help with allergies. ask for crabapple, rescue remedy and agrimony which you can put a few drops on his gums before he goes out. no side effects and may do trick in natural way
RingwormQ: We adopted two rescue dogs recently. one was obtained dec. 26 and the other jan. 10. my youngest child showed up with ringworm about a week after getting the second dog. after a doctor's visit and fungal cream, a patch showed up in his hair. i had the dogs checked but the vet saw no evidence of ringworm. the second dog developed patches on his two front feet that looked like my child cut them with sissors. i had the vet do a culture from these spots and only two small colonies grew. she wasn't concerned. ringworm has now spread to my other two children and myself. we are all using a cream prescribed by a doctor and my son with the patch in his hair is now on grifulvin for 4 weeks. in desperation, i asked the vet to medicate the dogs. she reluctantly gave me fulvicin (6 per day/dog). told me to mix with food and corn oil. why the corn oil? i put the pills down their throats to make sure they get them. is that ok or should they be chewed? i do have one house cat who is strictly indoors and has never been out, but the ring worm showed up after we got the dogs. how long does it take for a person to show up with symptoms? which dog would you suspect? how is this being spread? what do i need to do to end it? i have spent about $800 so far in meds, vet bills, doctor appointments. i appreciate all the advice you can offer. thanks A: Corn oil is meant to help increase absorption of griseofulvin which is not well absorbed on empty stomach and is best absorbed with fatty meal. i would treat all pets in house including cat(but must check for fiv first in cat before starting a drug like griseofulvin), and some pets need to have hair clipped and additional topical therapy as well. you may want to see a vet dermatologist to end problem once and for all as there are other drugs besides griseofulvin which are more effective in some cases. as for person showing up with symptoms you have to ask your human doctors for that answer.
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Chronic cough and bronchitisQ: Hi, we have an 18 year old old english sheep dog mix. his health is relatively good but he has a constant cough. he also has a horrible skin itch condition. we have been getting him a cortizone shot periodically to help with the itch. that seems to wear off after about a month. the doctor also gives him 400mg amoxicillin (which i don't think does much). what does help tremendously is pills he gets called tussigon. the problem is it's only a few days after the pills are gone and he's coughing again. x-rays show a lot of bronchial scarring on his right lung. he hacks until he sounds like he will vomit. i found the temaril-p on this site and wonder if it might be a good try. i would like to do more for him than has been done so he can get permanent relief. thank you. A: Temaril p can sometimes be helpful with these kind of coughs. make sure complete workup has been done. may want to ask for a transtracheal wash for a definitive diagnosis of cough. likely is allergic or inflammatory in nature. also may want to consider aminophylline which is carried by many vets and can help dilate airways and does not have many side effects
