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We have had our female Shitz Tuz Mandie for 3 years, she was a rescue dog from a nasty place. She came to us scared of people, it took us a full year to gain her trust, and she can still be skiddish around others. The 1st yr we had her we noticed what looked to be a bug bite, a few days later we had a home visit from a local vet who checked her out, gave her shots etc. We pointed out the bite which had by that time turned into what looked like a boil, which had popped earlier that day. The vet said it was due to fleas, and gave her drops, which we keep current. Ever since that bite she has been chewing herself raw on that spot. We couldn’t find anything there, no bumps or marks that would cause it to bother her. We did notice that her skin in that spot discolored a little. We thought it could be from her licking and chewing. A few months went by and she continued to chew, we switched her shampoo to low sud/oatmeal soap, and switched up her diet to Nutro dry food, no chicken or corn. and that hasn’t helped. Its gotten to the point where she doesn’t want to play, and she sleeps more, may be because she sit up at night after we are sleeping chewing. Her skin is now bright pink all over and her chewing has now moved to any spot she can reach. Any ideas on what is causing this? And, what I should do. Our vet’s here are extremely high dollar vet’s and we just can’t afford a $1,000 vet bill. Please help I feel so bad for this little girl.
Thank you
Lori G
My 5 yr. Old chihuahua has a tick in ear ,can I safely flush it out and with what ?
How far down in the ear is it? If you take a q-tip and dip it in rubbing alcohol then rub it around where the tick is attached it will help release the tick. You want to do this before you use tweezers and pull it out because you don’t want the head to get stuck in the ear! Hope this helps, we get ticks all the time. Make sure to get your dog on some flea and tick meds, it will keep ticks from attaching and releasing their toxin! 🙂
I have adopted a dog from the pound about 4 or 3 moths ago, he is a very good dog but when someone enters my room, my dog starts growling and he won’t stop. The behaviour has gotten worse when my fathers partner hit him with a leash with a metal spring on it, now whenever he hears someone walking outside of my room (going upstairs or to the bathroom) he immediately starts growling, his growling got more loud and now when someone passes him, he’s scared and walks away. Another thing is when I leave the house, he starts howling and it’s annoying my father he wants me to sell him but I still believe there is something to help my dog. He is a sheepdog collie mix and 2 years old, he is a very good dog and I presume his previous owners must have been abusing him since he’s scared of everything. Is there a way to teach him not to do it?
Have you spoken with a trainer yet?
No, there isn’t any trainers around where I live so it’s hard
Well hitting has made it worse. Your dog has several anxiety/fear issues. you can teach a dog confidence but it
takes time and dedication. Start by always having your dog on a leash with you. when he lays quietly, tell him good dog. start teaching him to sit on command. then start teaching him to sit in place on a carpet or matt. All this will teach him proper behavior, and make a bond. once he and you have developed a bond, start asking a friend to come over to help work with your dog. Put a bowl of treats outside of the door, have your friend come to the door, your dog on a leash, you ask your dog to sit, treat him. the friend comes in, no eye contact, talks to you, if dog stays sitting, no growling treat him. Once dog accepts friend, let friend treat him.
Start teaching your dog that all good things come from you when he listens. Get what we call High value treats, something he ONLY gets during training, cheese, chicken, moist dog treats, whatever, but he only gets it during training.
Collie and shepherding dogs have such a strong desire to be with their people, to please them, that you should be able to train him.
As for crying while you are gone, he should be crated, with a cover over the crate, and give him a large Kong to work on while you are gone. He only ever gets the Kong in the crate. Fill it with dog food, and mix in some peanut butter, plug the whole over with peanut butter and freeze, give it to him when leaving, but make sure you feed him less so he doesn’t get fat lol.
Take time, he will be a good dog, dogs know when they are rescued.
Good luck!
We want to adopt a 9-month-old dog. The only thing in his medical history is a mild case of demodex that was treated with Bravecto. He has since been cleared off all mites. Is this a red flag for adoption? I read online that it can be an indicator of an underlying immune system problem. We have fallen in love with him, but if there are sure to be ongoing health problems, I’m not sure that we’d go ahead with adoption.
My 19 y/o dog has kidney disease. He is on a rx low protein kidney diet food & has started to experience discomfort. Wondering if hemp product w/ 23% protein (Canna-Pet) would be better or worse on his kidneys than Tramadol rx’d by vet.
I have a 1 1/2 year old male cat. As a kitten he was given all of his injections, was neutered and chipped. After then he was allowed to go outside for several hours at a time. we use a flea repellent drop on him monthly and he is wormed every 3 months in accordance with the packet directions. He enjoys being outside and always stays close to home, returning when shouted in. My partner is concerned that allowing him to go outside is significantly reducing his life span and is bad for his health, but he enjoys being allowed outside. Would you advise that it would be better for the cat to be kept indoors rather than allowed out during the daytime?
Outdoor cats have shorter lifespans than indoor cats. You cannot guarantee he is safe from accident and injury, and he may very well pick up worms, other parasites, and disease.
It doesn’t really affect it much, it can knock of 1-2 years of a cats like though. I just think it’s dangerous for them to be out because of other hazards such as, cars, other people, and other cats, even some toxic plants, but if it’s a backyard I think that it’s perfectly safe, but honestly it all comes down to opinion.
Cats never just stay in a backyard.
Kim, please put a bio in your profile. This is a requirement.
Hi, I’m staying at a friends house and she has a bird. She just went to sleep and I was eating a chips ahoy chocolate chip cookie and I see her give the bird human food all the time so I have the bird about a third of the cookie. I’ve been reading a lot of articles some saying the a little amount of chocolate is fine and some saying any amount of chocolate can be extremely lethal. I was just wondering if the bird will be alright?
I would let your friend know…
I just don’t want her to be mad at or hate me.
That’s…not the wisest course of action. What if her bird ends up sick? How will you handle it? Seriously, tell her.
I have cleaned her eye from the ooze which now she has her eye opened but still looks irritated. I do know that the eye she has it in does have cataract. Can I get her an over the counter at the pet store if it dry eye? And how many drops do I give her?
I don’t mess around with eyes – I head to the vet if it’s anything like you describe. There could be something in the eye causing a problem, and the longer you wait the more risk you take.
I’ve just got home to find my mum has bathed my cats wound with diluted dettol. After reading everything online, what should I do???
I didn’t read too far into it, but it sounds like it’s toxic if ingested. I would thoroughly wash the wound again and put a cone on your cat to prevent it from licking the wound.
Thank you! I’ve throughly washed him, although he hates me now. And making sure he’s drinking plenty. Still being his annoying self, so I think he’s ok!
Hi. My dog has been puking for three days. Mostly at night after he has drank a couple gulps of water, but always after drinking. He has been to the vet where he was given a penicillin-like medicine that’s white and came with a syringe as well as some pills for nausea. The problem is that my family will be leaving for a cruise soon and this includes close relatives so he will have to stay at a kennel or something. What should I do? Can they take him if he’s sick like this? I’m extremely worried.
Honestly, I wouldn’t leave while my dog’s that sick. But that’s just me…this is why I get vacation insurance.
Call the vet and talk with them about this. They may have boarding options.
Hi Krista, Thanks for your advice, we figured as much. I guess we all have to pitch in on this one and get our baby healthy again. And being so hot right now I’m sure isn’t making her feel any better either. I’ll give her a nice cool bath tonight and take her in first thing tomorrow.
Again thanks for responding so fast. We all need more vets like you!
First get all grain out of her diet, including treats. Go to a good pet store (not the grocery store, or big box) and ask to be shown to the grain-free dog food and start reading lables. Pick a grain free dog food that has real meat as the first 2 , or even better 3 ingredients. Real meat is easy to spot it says lamb, elk, bison, turkey, salmon meal or whitefish meal (meal is the entire animal ground up and dried). Do not buy any food with by products listed in the ingredients – this is and indication of inferior goods. The worst grains for dogs are: wheat, corn, corn gluten, rice, soy, oats. Many dogs do alright with buckwheat since it is not a grain.
Dogs may not be allergic to grain, but it impacts their ability to fight other allergens. Most dogs do much better when grain is removed from their diet.
Next, stop washing your dog (they only need a bath if they have rolled in something!) and just rinse her instead with a mix of 1/3 vinegar (cider vinegar is her coat is colored, white vinegar if her coat is mostly white) and 2/3 water. Work this into her coat and skin and allow her to shake and dry. Do not rinse it out. You can rinse her with this every day, and if you have her coat cut very short, you can do it 2 times per day. Just be sure she dries out between applications, you don’t want her staying damp since that will lead to other problems. The vinegar smell will disappear as she dries. I recommend you do keep her coat short for the time being – it will help you keep allergens out of her coat. Brush her daily. You can keep her tail hair long since that is one of the best features of this breed!
Keep a bowl of this mix beside the door (make it fresh every day) and rinse her paws in it when she comes in from outside – this will help reduce the amount of allergen she tracks into the house.
Cover every place she sleeps or naps with towels or sheets and toss those covers in the wash once a week. This helps remove the pollen and mold spores that may be making her itch. Wash her dog bed weekly too if she has one. Vacuum the house daily with a HEPA filter in the vacuum.
If she has any raw or ‘hot spots’ dab on witch hazel with aloe vera – you will find this in any pharmacy.
If your vet told you to use Benadryl, switch to Zyrtec instead – it seems to work better. Same dosage, and generic is fine.
I agree with Dr. Krista’s advice to get the help of a vet – but after 22 years of dealing with itchy terriers I know that I have to take these other steps along with what the vet recommends.
I think you need a vet as this dog has been suffering long enough. You have tried hard to treat it at home and unfortunately it hasn’t worked. The next step is a vet and preferably not the same vet that saw her the first time. It would be no wear near $1000. Probably less than $200 including the meds. You did a great thing by rescuing this dog and to continue being a great pet parent it takes sacrifice and some occasional money with a vet. Where I live a vet consultation is a mere $39. At that point they will tell you what needs to be done. You will be feel so much better once you help this poor dog.