Searching for alternative treatments

Hello

I hope you are still running your advice section in Dogs Today magazine as we would appreciate some help about our dog's health problem outlined below.

We have a beautiful five-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog called Skye. Recently she has developed a strong limp where she can put hardly any weight on her back right leg. After many trips to the vet and an x-ray of her spine and hips the diagnosis is still unsure. The most likely cause we have been informed of is that it is a neurological disorder, where a trapped nerve or other spinal disruption is affecting Skye’s right side, because her right front paw is also weak and less responsive. Quite often her front paw will bend in on itself and Skye is unable to notice and flop it out the correct way again. However there is also the possibility that these problems are the result of a brain tumour. To investigate this fully would involve an expensive MRI scan which we are not in a position to do.

The vets have assumed it is a neurological problem and as such have put Skye on large painkiller tablets (Gabapentin) and some smaller steroid tablets (Prednicare) to act as an anti-inflammatory. Skye has experienced bad side effects with both of these, the painkiller causing diarrhoea which we have now cut out of Skye’s diet so that has stopped, and the steroids causing excessive thirst meaning that Skye cannot go through the night without needing to go in the garden. The main issue is that despite all these tablets Skye’s limp is no better and she still struggles to walk normally. We have been exercising her daily with very short walks of about 10-15 minutes which she definitely enjoys and once she gets going sometimes her limp eases off slightly.

Are there any alternative medicines or exercises we can try to cure Skye’s legs and have her running around as she once did?

Many thanks,
Beth Leedham, by email

Popping pills is a pain in the bottom

Dear Dogs Today

My six-year-old Wheaten-Irish cross, Brady, has been a very healthy dog until a few months ago, when he developed perianal fistulas.

The vet first tried shots and then switched to pills. After taking flagyl (one pill), antirobe (two pills), atopica (one pill) and ketoconazole (one pill) for five weeks, the condition seems to be much under control, but apparently it is a different condition to cure completely, and could recur at any time, so he will need to continue medication.

Getting him to take five pills a day isn’t easy. He’s figured out every way I’ve tried to hide them. He’s also gone off his food this week.

Do your experts have any advice to give? I’m interested in conventional and/or holistic methods. I should be so grateful for any help you can give me and perhaps other readers.

Thank you in advance,

Eileen Halliday, New York, USA

Who nose?

Honey is a three-year-old terrier-Poodle cross. He is full of life and energy, and enjoys running and chasing lizards and cats. He eats well: home-cooked natural food with lots of fresh meat and bones, and is usually outside walking with me and his mates for at least four hours per day.
All was well with him until two weeks ago when part of his nose turned pink. Naturally, I worried, although Honey was as usual: full of energy and happy to run and play. My vet said it could be three things: inflammation, an infection or an imbalance of his immune system. Since he was digging after some lizards it could have been one of the first two. He has been on antibiotics for two weeks and part of his nose has slowly turned back to black. The tip of his nose returned to black but the nasty pink appears halfway up it. Now, two weeks later, he has just a small speck of pink left and I hope it will disappear in a day or two.
My vet said that this may reappear and is not life threatening, but I hate filling Honey up with antibiotics. Is there anything else that could help him? Has anyone ever heard of a dog's nose turning pink before?
D. M. Novak-Antoniou, Greece

Richard Allport, alternative vet, advises:
This is a difficult one to be sure about without a close examination. Many dogs do simply get a change in pigment colour from time to time and the change might be quite normal. Such a change is often seasonal.

On the other hand the colour change could be a sign of an autoimmune disease – however in this case, apart from the pink colour, there are usually signs of inflammation, soreness and crusting at the edges of the nostrils.

I would suggest adding kelp to Honey’s diet, this helps promote a healthy skin in general and seems to help pigmentation problems in particular, and then just wait and see if it recurs or not.

Alison Logan, vet, advises:
As owners, we are made aware of our dog’s nose whenever we are nuzzled for attention so any changes in its colour are quickly apparent. They are also worrying to us because they are so evident.

Nasal depigmentation can be as a result of a serious underlying condition, but in such cases there are often other changes present, such as scaling or ulceration. Honey’s nose is returning to its original black colour, suggesting a less worrying explanation for its occurrence. One possibility is that it was because of an infection which has responded to the antibiotics prescribed by your vet. Alternatively, part of Honey’s nose went pink because of so-called idiopathic nasal depigmentation: for some unidentified reason, the nose changes colour. This may be a permanent change (‘Dudley nose’), or the nose may revert to its usual colour. In some dogs this depigmentation shows a seasonal pattern, occurring in the winter but then becoming pigmented once more in the summer (‘snow nose’).

A further possibility I have come across is depigmentation in response to contact with a rubber or plastic food/water bowl, so I wonder whether you had changed Honey’s bowls from ceramic or metal a little while before the nose changed colour, and then for some reason changed back after the depigmentation occurred?

Has the final pink area disappeared now?

Sight for sore eyes

We have a two-year-old Scottish Terrier who presented with what we thought was a problem with her eyes. After a number of consults with a vet we were referred to an eye specialist, who in turn gave us the diagnosis of corneal ulcers, then punctuated kyritonitus and finally immune deficiency.
Her treatment consists of a steroid and an immune suppressant - these she was on for a period of six months. When we were advised to reduce the meds the symptoms became aggressive once again and after more consults have been told that she could well be needing the meds long-term.
Our concerns are the long-term use of the meds and how her body will cope as her heat cycle has already been affected. Is there any alternative to the meds and we would be very grateful for any other suggestions that we could look into for her lifelong comfort. I know that I'm going to be biased but she is the most wonderful dog, full of fun and character.
Lynne Vaughan, by email

I would imagine your Scottie has an immune-mediated condition rather than deficiency, given that she is needing immunosuppressive therapy. The mainstay of most immune-mediated disease in conventional veterinary medicine is, sadly, often high levels of corticosteroid which will have other effects within the body as well as controlling the condition in question. One of these is, indeed, interference with the seasons.
The eye specialist will, however, have been fully aware of the other effects of immunosuppressive therapy when he recommended it. Many decisions we make in life are a balancing act, weighing up the pros and cons, assessing the risks relative to the advantages of a particular course of action. This treatment will therefore have been advised as being the most likely to control your dog’s condition whilst being aware of potential adverse effects. This is why reducing the levels of medication was tried once the condition had improved, in the hope that your dog’s condition would stabilise on lower doses and thus reducing the risks of side effects.
Alison Logan, vet