Food for thought!

Dear Dogs Today 

My German Shepherd has a pancreas problem, she takes panzym medication. I have been feeding her Burns chicken and brown rice but have just bought her new Oscar dog food complete dry food. 

It is hard to say which food is best as each day her motions range from fairly solid to loose, and in fact, they can change within hours. My husband will feed her sausages and chicken slices as he doesn't think it's fair not to give her any meat, but I don't know whether I should carry on with the Burns food or swap to Oscar chicken and fish. 

Can anyone help?

Lynne, via email 

Diabetes dilemma

I have a 14-year-old Westie who needs medication for diabetes - he is currently on Caninsulin. I buy 10ml at a time, which lasts ten days. This costs £22 at my local vet, and I buy it on a Wednesday, when they offer a 15% discount to us senior citizens. So I have been paying £18.50 every ten days, and as I am disabled and on benefits it has been a struggle, especially as my dog now needs pain relief for arthritis as well.

Today I got a terrible shock when I found the price had suddenly increased to £28.50! My vet is willing to write me a prescription, but at a cost of £10, so I don't think getting it by post is going to help much, especially as it has to be sent in insulated packaging to keep it cool.

I used to take him to the PDSA but they insist on seeing a diabetic dog every week, and it is quite a journey, too much on the buses for either of us now, and a £50 taxi ride away. I will pay it somehow, because my dog means the world to me, and of course I have no idea how much time he has left, but I am having trouble paying my own basic bills.

Does anyone have any advice, please?

Dogs Today reader, by phone

How much medication is too much?

Hello

My Westie of 14 years and three months has very rapidly developed a condition of the kidneys.

I'm trying to help my Westie with benazepril 5 mg, but he was also prescribed Dried Aluminuim Hydroxide. Because he simply won't eat anything at all I can't get this into his system. I also have a Antepsin Suspension to help line his stomach and alleviate his sickness.

I know he is an old dog, but I just feel that this is too much medication. I have also noticed that since I am squirting the Antepsin suspension directly into his mouth, his saliva is very sticky, more like treacle and extremely smelly. I thought this may be due to an abscess in his mouth but on close inspection his gums and teeth look okay for a dog of 14.

I know I can save him and am not ready to let him go yet, I know this is quite selfish, but he is has been so strong all his life I am desperate to get some nutrition into him and I am sure he can get help.

Should I use Dried Aluminuim Hydroxide as well as Antepsin as they both appear to be doing a similar function of reducing acid in his stomach? He does not appear to have constipation but it is his appetite I am worried about and from what I can gather benazepril should improve his appetite.

Can anyone help?

Thanks
Mark Almond, Manchester

Richard Allport, vet, advises…

Interestingly, Benazepril is licensed to treat congestive heart disease in dogs, but not kidney disease. Even more interestingly, some lists of side effects for Benazepril in dogs include loss of appetite and nausea (although for cats usually an increase in appetite is noted). However, if your vet has prescribed any medication, don’t stop giving it without discussing it with your vet first.

Without knowing the extent of the kidney problem it’s difficult to suggest what medication could be stopped and what else used, but a good natural anti gastric irritant is Slippery Elm powder, and a good natural way of stimulating the appetite is to ask your vet to give weekly injections of Vitamin B12 for a few weeks, and to dispense Nutriplus gel. This is a tasty gel, full of vitamins and minerals, that usually gets dogs eating pretty quickly.

Offer him warm food, consisting of attractive morsels of minced beef, or chicken livers, or anything you know he would really enjoy. In addition there are homoeopathic and herbal kidney support medicines available (but you would need to ask your vet to refer you to a holistic vet to get these formulated and prescribed).

Don’t give up on your Westie – I’m sure there’s life in the old dog yet!

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