The vet tapped one side of the cat which sounded hollow then the other which sounded as though nothing there he said it was some sort of hernia

We don’t have any emergency vet places around here 🙁

Not that I know of. I did message one of my friends that works at a vet clinic to see if maybe they have one

Thanks! I hope so, he’s really starting to worry me.

i’m not sure of a difference…are you talking about plastic vs wire?

both of my dobes preferred plastic vari-kennels.  that’s what my breeder has in her home, so they came to us already adjusted to the cave-like feel of the vari-kennel.

HOWEVER.  if you have a puppy, you’d want to find one that has a barrier you can put in for housebreaking purposes.

i understand pit bulls are dog-aggressive as well as same-sex aggressive, particularly the bitches.  i don’t know that i’d want to add another to the mix you already have going in your house.  it could upset the balance and cause problems.

I doubt the vet is going to tell you that all you need is a topical cream!  You need to figure out what is causing these rashes – not just treat the symptom.  And that usually requires the help of a vet.  Some times wet, some times dry – sounds like this is an ongoing problem and if you have been to a vet in the past and did not get to the root cause, you need to find a different vet.

So, make a trip to the vet and get the problem diagnosed.  If the vet recommends Benadryl to help with the itch, use Zyrtec instead – a generic form of Zyrtec is fine.  It seems to work better for dogs than Benadryl.  Use the same dosage the vet recommended for the Benadryl.

In the meanwhile, get all grains out of your dog’s diet (including treats!) if you haven’t already done so.  Go to a real pet store (not a box store or grocery store) and find the dog foods that say “grain-free” right on the can or bag.  Then pick one that has real meat as the first 2 or 3 ingredients.  Real meat will be: elk, pork, turkey, lamb, salmon meal, whitefish meal, beef, etc.  Meal is the entire animal ground up and dried so that is good.  DO NOT buy anything that lists ‘by-products’ in the ingredients.  By-products can be nothing more than ground up chicken feathers!  And no dog needs to eat that.

You can wash your dog, but not too often — no more than once every 10 days, unless your vet tells you differently.  I recommend using Aveeno oatmeal bar soap – it will help sooth the itch and works just as well as expensive dog shampoos that are suppose to help with the itch.  If the vet wants you to use a medicated shampoo I would follow his advice (unless he is selling you a shampoo that just contains colloidal oatmeal cause that is the active ingredient in the less expensive Aveeno.  Find Aveeno soap in any box store or drug store in the US – not sure if you have it in the UK).  

Give your dog a final rinse of 1/3 organic cider vinegar and 2/3 water.  This will help sooth the itch and help the skin heal.  You can use this rinse 2 times a day if your dog has a short coat that will dry quickly (you don’t want him to be constantly damp, that will encourage other problems to develop).  If you have a long haired dog I would use the rinse only once per day or every other day.

If he develops hot spots (raw, open wounds) dab some witch hazel with aloe on the spots and allow that to dry.  You can do that several times per day.

Good luck!