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Anna is turning her nose up at both wet and dry food. When she does eat (with aid from appetite stimulant prescribed by vet) her stools are normal. She drinks/pees normally and is playful. She’s taken to sleeping under my bed rather than up with me but maybe it’s cooler there? It has been very hot here this summer. Less eager to go exploring on harness/leash in fenced in yard/garden but may have issue that I tell her not to eat the grass (have organic grass inside for her but she wants the outside stuff that has Creeping Jenny in it -toxic to cats. Grass eating only started a few months ago and she eats it & throws up a small amount of clear fluid with the grass in it). Got 2 vet opinions regarding Anna’s refusal to eat (I have tried everything from raw to cooked and every prepared wet & dry food off shelf to no avail). Anna will eat some Temptations Mixups BBQ flavor. Weight fluctuates between 6.7 and 7.7lbs. A “normal” Siberian female her age is 10-15lbs. (Anna does have very mild gingavitis & plaque but vet said this wouldn’t be reason for not eating.)
Both vets recommended an ultrasound of her abdomen but as a retiree the $500-$700 is a big chunk of change. Mostly, as a Cat Mom of many years my gut tells me something else may be the culprit for Anna not eating. She has been “flicking” her tongue over her nose more often (she has no upper respiratory issues says both vets). And, to me, the right side of her mouth seems to be looking different than the right side lately. It reminds me of my Nana who had Bells Palsy and one side side of her mouth “drooped”. I will see if I can post an upclose picture below of her right side (photo left) mouth.
Was intrigued with your video of polyps in cats and would love to know if maybe a change in Anna olfactory senses might be tied to her disinterest in eating? She doesn’t snore, btw.
Thank you!
I have a German Shepherd who suffers from allergies and is on apoquel again… but I continue to read that they are notoriously allergic to chicken. Wondering what is the best food for dogs with allergies?? Other than the pro plan Salmon and the Lamb, we tried both and both of my dogs hated it.
I have a Siberian Husky who has suffered from ear infections forever and now I can’t help but wonder if the food is the culprit. He has been to the vet more times than I can count for it and his peeling nose!
A friend’s chicken allergic Greyhound did well on Natural Balance turkey limited ingredient diet. Another friend feeds her Dobes Annamaet Aqualuk and Manitok with significant success – the dogs love it and look great on it.
Pro plan had a fairly recent recipe change of the sensitive salmon (as in last year), and a lot of dogs seemed to go off it. I’m told it may have improved since then.
Hello,
There is a possibility that a food allergen can be the culprit. I was told by a dermatologist that it is about 8-12% of the dogs with allergies. The problem is that there are no commercially available over the counter foods that are truly hypoallergenic. You have to get a prescription diet which is either a novel protein (like kangaroo or venison) or a hydrolyzed diet where the proteins are broken down to be so small the body cannot recognize them. These are expensive and the pet cannot have anything else out in their mouths while on these foods. We feed for at least a month and then we challenge with the old food to see if the itching returns. It is difficult to do and expensive. In my opinion it is imperative to be on a good flea and tick prevention and on it year around. Then use apoquel and shampoos to help. If this works it is the best affordable option most of my patients are on. Occasionally I have to add a steroid for a small period of time or cytopoint. But most are managed well.
Find a vet who has an interest in dermatology or ask for a referral.
Thank you for your replies! The apoquel definitely makes a difference. I think it works better on him than the Cytopoint shot did, but I’ve heard that the Apoquel has a lot of side effects. I have not noticed any issues. They are both on Frontline all year since we back to woods and like to spend time at the creek.
I was going to try Victor Ocean Fish? Doesn’t do anything for their breath though. I need to mix dasaquin in one meal a day and like to use wet food which makes for more searching of good quality food.
I will continue the Apoquel for now though.
here is her invoice;
pre op blood work; $60
anesthesia $120
spay 50-100 pounds $175
suture pack (extra) $30
NSAID injectable pre op $0 not charged for because our clinic will not let this be declined
take home NSAID $13.80
i.v. fluids $50
fluid pump $25
e-collar for post op care $15
I have a 3 month old siberian husky. He loves everyone and is never aggressive besides play biting, and even then it’s not bad. I live with my dad and my grandma, and he loves my dad. For some reason though, he’ll random run up to my grandma and start barking. She gets scared and says he hates her, but I try to reassure her otherwise. Why does he do this?
He wants attention from her. If you don’t want him doing this I suggest keeping a leash on him when he’s out of his crate, so you can pull him away from her (while calling him to you, to reinforce recalls).
That’s what I thought, but she gives him treats, let’s him out sometimes, and talks to him. She doesn’t want to give him too much attention because she’s afraid of him charging at her (which I try to remind her that he’s not like that). He’s fantastic otherwise though, and it’s so random when he barks at her that it would be difficult to have him on a leash.
I try telling her to just give him time and attention but she just gets stressed over it and says he is going to attack her when I know he won’t.
Okay, so this is where a drag leash REALLY comes in handy. She’s encouraging the behavior, so you need to step in. At this age he should have a leash on him and either leashed to someone or dragging it behind him (and confined to areas where you are, to ensure he can’t get into mischief, or crated when you can’t supervise him). It isn’t hard – just leave it on when he’s in the house and supervised, take it off when he’s crated. SHE needs more education on puppies and puppy behavior, and if she isn’t comfortable with puppy behavior she needs to stop encouraging him with treats. Remind her he’s a baby.
I have a Siberian Husky with this horrible scabbing on his nose.
He has been looked at before and the vet had no suggestion as to what it was and simply told me to use Vaseline or neosporane. Nothing worked. Do you have any advise or suggestions? Thank you, Mary
Yes they tried and failed. The sedative they gave him never put him out so they didn’t do anything. He can be aggressive. I have to find a new vet. 🙁
Thank you for responding.
Hi Mary….I would be inclined to ask your Vet to do a biopsy. You will know what it is and hopefully get the correct treatment. . His poor nose does look very sore indeed.
I agree with Julie!! In areas where there is poor pigmentation and sun damage I worry about skin cancer like squamous cell carcinoma.
Hi again Mary…hope you find a new Vet soon. Good luck and please do let us know what happens ?
He’s a 7 year old Siberian husky who has had surgery on both legs previously though he healed fine afterwards
Even if you didn’t see it happen its possible he stepped in a hole etc. Since he seems affected badly, by not putting weight on it, I recommend taking him to a vet in the morning if he is still limping!
i have a 2 month old siberian husky he eats and drinks water perfectly but when he starts walking his back legs starts to shake i’m not sure if it’s because he’s not feeling good since he got his shots and dewormer but i’m concern help
i called my vet and he informed me that as long as he was eating and drinking he should be okay because he poop all the worms that he had and thats probably why hes feeling like he had no energy to give him a couple of days until he gets his energy back i also told the vet that i would like an xray done what do u think
My girlfriend and I were planning to get a pair of dogs very soon. We have narrowed down our list to a few breeds, and we were wondering which two would have the best chemistry.
The breeds we have in mind are:
Siberian Husky
Golden Retriever (Red)
Samoyed
Australian Shepherd
German Shepherd
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
Shikoku (Hard to get I know).
I know this may seem like kind of a dumb question, but I know that getting something like a yorkie and a high prey drive big dog isn’t a good idea. I know none of these dogs would kill each other, but I just want to have the most compatibility as possible.
Thanks!
if i would you, i’d do a LOT of research. you’re all over the place with those breeds and i wonder what has drawn you to this list, specifically? what are you looking for? what’s your daily routine? do you have a fence? are you active people? have you ever had dogs in the past, let alone high energy dogs?
Three weeks ago we transitioned our Siberian husky from proplan to blue wilderness and since Monday he has had loose stool and last night he had diarrhea twice and the second time was real bad. What should I do to calm him belly down?
We changed from proplan to blue because we heard good things and we wanted to feed our 3 dogs better but now maybe not such a good idea.
i have to be honest…i used to feed blue wilderness. i LOVED that food…until they changed the formulation. it caused serious problems for my IBD-sufferer cat, so i stopped feeding it. it caused him uncontrollable diarrhea. my other cat also starting having bouts of diarrhea after the change, so i switched to Wellness.
maybe try Wellness CORE? we have had quite a bit of success with it.
Laura- that’s what one of my friends said too that they changed the ingredients. My husky could not stomach the blue so now we’re dealing with diarrhea bland diet and reintroduce what we use to feed them.
i’d say it’s been about 3 years? basically, when they started advertising heavily on TV and in the papers, it was immediately after they were purchased by another company. that’s when they changed the recipe…and it’s a shame, because it used to be a great food.
other options i’d consider: Horizon Pulsar, Costco’s Kirkland grain-free, Merrick (this didn’t work well for my dog but it does for many others, and it’s very affordable), Acana and Orijen (though these may be too rich…tread lightly here). if you hit Pet Valu up in Perry Hall, they should have free sample bags of some things to try.
Here is a picture of Anna from February before the eating issues began. Her mouth on her right side (left in photo) looks different to me, ie not drooping like it is now.
Hello,
My recommendation is to have a blood work panel done. It should include a full chemistry a cbc, fecal, urine and thyroid. At my clinic this is about $200. An abdominal ultrasound is about $350. I think that these are imperative to figure out what’s going on. And hopefully be able to start a treatment plan for. I doubt it’s a polyp. Use your resources elsewhere. I also think it’s perfectly acceptable to see if you can find these cheaper elsewhere if you are unable to afford them with your vet.
Good luck
Thank you, Doc. My vet did a “pre-op” panel and everything was normal except:
Total protein: 5.9 (6.3-8.8 normal)
Globulin: 2.6 (3.0-5.9 normal)
Alp: 11 (12-59 normal)
The ALB/GLOB ratio was slightly high at 1.3 (normal 0.5-1.2)
The neutrophils were slightly low but the vet said it was probably due to the stress from the visit. (The vet gave me deworming for both kitties, too)
Because Anna doesn’t have diarrhea and a mildly decreased appetite (and holding her weight level) the vet said we could hold off on the US. But the past few days (without the appetite stim) Anna is again not eating well (treats, some yogurt, a few licks of wetfood & a few dry kibbles) I called and they are going to put me in touch with a “traveling” ultrasound doc who charges $300-$350 and uses different hospitals to do the US. Still awaiting a call back.
Is this now an “emergency”? I am so worried about Anna…
Thank you for your input. Muchly appreciated!
Lynn