Keeping glossy

Dear DT readers

What natural remedies or supplements do you use to keep your dog's coat looking healthy and shiny? Can you suggest any products that you particularly like?

Keep calm and carry on

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to manage increasing anxiety levels in a 10-year-old Miniature Poodle? Something homeopathic perhaps?

He is stressing himself for no apparent reason before and after a walk, when travelling in car etc.

Helpful suggestions appreciated.

Anita Foley, via Facebook

Poorly paw

I have a big, beautiful Border Collie boy called Obi who will be eight years old next week. In June 2010 he cut his right fore paw, I don't know what on, but it sliced very cleanly through the sides of two toes, giving him two raw surfaces which rubbed against eachother, and also cut into the base of his foot. This took a very long time to heal, it was cleaned with salt water, I put different natural remedies on it, we rested him, etc, etc but even with a couple of courses of antibiotics from the vet it took around two to three months to heal and gave him a great deal of discomfort.

Unfortunately he was permanently lame on the foot even after it was healed and we had the foot X-rayed which led us off at a tangent because his outside toe was quite hideous when X-rayed with what our vet thought was a tumour but on sending the X-rays to a specialist vets, was thought might be Sesamoid Disease. That was treated with injections into the joint which worked on the lameness for a short time, but it returned and we were eventually referred to the specialist in October where they MRI scanned him and discovered he had five pinprick sized foreign objects inside his foot. He was operated on in November and managed to save the horrible toe which had been in danger of being amputated in order to get all the little bits out. Once his foot was healed from the operation, he was no longer lame and we thought the whole horrible business was behind us.

Unfortunately, at the end of January the operation scar split open, we couldn't get it to heal and when swabbed it was found to have stapphylococcus in it and he was put on antibiotics again. The scar mended again until April when it split open again. It was swabbed again, had stapph in it again and was put on different antibiotics because the stapph was resistant to the original ones. Since April it has split open again a couple of times and each time he's resistant to the antibiotics. We returned to the specialist in July for another MRI scan but there was nothing to be seen this time, although they did give us the option of another operation and probably removing his manky toe this time to make sure they got any nasties which didn't show on the MRI. We refused that option at the time.

Obi's foot is still not healed 100 per cent, we seem to get to a certain point and it 'goes' again. He does wear boots out when it's bad and we're now using a product to try to toughen up the skin and pads because their softness seemed to be part of the problem. About a month ago he developed a scabby rash on one back leg which quickly spread to the other leg and got worse despite washing with salt water and putting cream on it. The vet thought it looked like stapph and prescribed more antibiotics which cleared it up. It came back again last weekend at which point I called a halt to filling my dog with drugs.

I don't like giving my dogs antibiotics or drugs of any sort, preferring to rely on natural products, but this whole situation has been so desperate and awful that I took the vets advice and carried on against my personal feelings. Obi is on many different natural supplements for his arthritis and has a teaspoon of colloidal silver every day to try and help his foot. I have also now put him back on a teaspoon of Manuka honey every morning. I am currently washing his back legs with Hibiscrub and putting on Camrosa cream which between them seem to be working slowly. His legs and foot are covered by socks to stop him licking them.

I read Richard Allport's article on antibiotics this month, which came out at a very good time and have now ordered the following for Obi: Bee Health Propolis Capsules, Bee Health Propolis Cream for his legs and poor foot, Immune Formula capsules from Richard's clinic, Royal Jelly and I shall buy him some echinacea this afternoon. I am trying desperately to boost his immune system from within while trying to get rid of this infection in a natural way. I have also looked at Selenium ACE, although he does have Vitamins C and E anyway and he has liver once a week for his dinner as well as some homemade dried liver treats for treat toys and training and I'm not sure if extra Vitamin A would be a good idea. I can't seem to find Selenium with no ACE attached.

Obi has always been a healthy dog and I can only think that his problems are from too many antibiotics. My dogs are fed on Barking Heads which has some fresh meat added to it every day. They eat raw a couple of times a week, I was going to change them over completely, but Obi actually objected to raw every day and was miserable on it. There are no additives or preservatives in anything they eat, everything is high quality with no rubbish ingredients. Obi has around four hours of walks each day, including swimming, although this has been curtailed lately because of the foot and leg. He is a very happy and active dog, the problems don't get him down or stop him enjoying his life.

Please, if anybody can help with any suggestions for Obi, I would be so grateful. If there are any other immune system boosting miracles out there or anything that has worked for anybody in a similar situation, I am open to anything. He's such a lovely, lovely dog, he deserves to live his life to the full.

Thank you so much
Rebecca Kinnon, by email

Wanted: natural remedy for poorly liver

Dear Dogs Today,

I hope you don’t mind me writing to you but I have hit a brick wall and don’t know who else to turn to. I read Richard Allport’s articles every month in Dogs Today which is why I have chosen to write to you. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old Large Munsterlander bitch named Elsa. She is very dear to me. Last January she began to show signs of illness and my own local vet was not sure what was wrong and finally after trying but failing to treat her referred her to a specialist centre. At this point her stomach had swelled up and she was very thin. She was there, after a couple of exploratory procedures and blood tests, diagnosed with Granulomatous Hepatitis (they are not sure how she contracted it but think it was bacterial) and put on 10 weeks of two different antibiotics. The signs were good and a blood test at the end of this time showed her liver results to be normal – which I think actually surprised the vet who had little hope because of the damage she had already caused to her liver. But a few weeks later after another blood test showed her liver results going up again she was put back on the antibiotics and is now on her fifth month. Her results do seem to be coming down again but I am worried because my insurance cover which is for up to £7000 is nearly up and after that time I won’t be able to afford the antibiotics which are costing about £350 a month. She is due to have another blood test next week and I am to carry on for at least another month of antibiotics even if her results are good. I will only be able to claim for a further two months or antibiotics before I run out of funds and I’m frightened about what will happen then.

I was hoping that maybe you could suggest a natural remedy I could try as I don’t want to just give up once the antibiotics are finished. I have no idea if she will relapse again and can’t bare the thought of watching her get worse each day without trying something else. She is such a sweet happy dog and even at her worst when her tummy swelled up she still looked happy. At the moment she is still underweight – her appetite is poor but she is eating. Her tummy has gone down and she isn’t drinking excessively.

Hoping you can offer some advice.

Karen Arevalo, Oxford



Richard Allport, vet, advises...

I can understand how concerned you are about Elsa. First of all here is some information about granulomatous hepatitis:

Granulomatous hepatitis is a condition in which the liver is inflamed. Further complicating this condition is the growth of inflamed tissue on the liver, a condition that is then referred to as hepatitis granulomatous (where a granuloma is a small area of inflamed tissue). This condition is most commonly due to fungal infection, but it can also be brought about by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or cancer.

Hepatitis granulomatous is relatively uncommon in dogs, but can be seen at any age and in any breed.

Symptoms can include:

Lack of appetite

Vomiting

Diarrhoea

Weight loss

Lethargy

Increased urination

Increased thirst

Abdominal pain

Yellowish discoloration of the skin and the whites of the eyes due to jaundice

Distended abdomen

Fever

Causes include:

Fungal infections

Bacterial infections

Parasitism (liver flukes, visceral larval migrans)

Neoplasia/cancer (lymphosarcoma)

Immune-mediated disorders (involving the immune system of the body)

Drug reactions

Idiopathic (cause unknown)

It’s unusual in my experience to need such a long time on antibiotics, and it may be worth considering further investigations such as abdominal ultrasound and/./or liver biopsies to get to the root of the problem, if these haven’t already been carried out.

As far as natural medicines/therapies are concerned, herbal Milk Thistle, together with Zinc as a supplement and extra Vitamin B complex will aid normal liver function. Another very good liver boost is Hepatosyl plus, a supplement that contains SAM-e and Silymarin (an ingredient of Milk Thistle), an excellent liver support remedy. There are also several homoeopathic medicines that can help, including Lycopodium, Nux vomica and Berberis – depending on individual symptoms.

Finally natural anti infective agents such as Propolis and Royal Jelly would help reduce the need for antibiotics.

Does my dog have hay fever?

My dog, Tony, a crossbreed, has started to itch and seems uncomfortable after returning from walks. He stratches and bites his body, and shakes his head from side to side. At first I thought it may be ticks or even fleas, but regularly check him over and find no evidence of either.
I have a feeling it may be an allergic reaction, almost like hay fever. Do dogs suffer from hay fever?
I'm desperate to find something to ease his itching - he's scratching so hard on occasions he pulls out his coat, and rubs his face on the floor, which doesn't look right. But I'm loathe to give him any chemical treatments - is there a natural remedy out there for Tony?

Philip Dunlop, by email

Dr John Howie, co-founder of Lintbells, says:

Dogs can indeed suffer from an allergic reaction to pollen and like humans they can be susceptible to hayfever. However, while hay fever in humans brings symptoms of sneezing and runny eyes, a dog is more likely to suffer the reaction to the pollen in its skin.

The signs of discomfort you describe in Tony – itching, shaking his head or rubbing it on the floor as well as pulling at his fur are all consistent with a pollen allergy. Many dogs with such an allergic reaction will show signs much earlier in the year than we see in human hay fever. This is because they are much more sensitive to tree pollen which is about from March, whereas human hay fever often starts in June with grass pollen.

If you are keen to try natural treatments for your dog it is first worth ensuring that his own natural skin defences are working as well as they possibly can. Skin health can be improved by adding Omega 6 and 3 oils to his diet to increase the essential fatty acids which they provide. Yumega Plus will provide the correct balance of these oils and will help calm the irritation and sensitivity in his skin. It will also make it more difficult for the pollen to penetrate the skin, so he would want to scratch less often. One of the natural ingredients in Yumega Plus is fresh salmon oil, which most dogs like and there is also more vitamin E than standard Yumega, to help dogs with sensitive skin.

Do make sure you brush his coat to remove any dirt, debris or trapped pollen and, at peak hay fever times, try wiping his coat with a damp towel after a walk to remove any pollen. Washing his bedding and brushes regularly will also help and, of course, do keep his flea control up to date.