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Saint Bernards => Saint Bernard General Discussions => : LMT September 06, 2006, 05:17:29 AM
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Adi is doing a whirlwind this week. These last few days have been trying - mostly me not knowing what to do.
He's really been getting bad about chewing on himself these last two days. Last night I sprayed his front pays with bitter apple spray and then he moved on to his hind legs. By the time I woke up today, he has a red 1 inch mark on his back leg and has started to stratch at his face with his dew claws. I just took him out to pee and I looked into his eyes and noticed one of them is swollen and red on the edges because of his pawing at them.
I'm assuming this was due to his teething... But no matter what I do - frozen washcloths, bones with peanut butter, et cetera - he goes back to scratching and chewing on himself.
Maybe he has allergies? This seems a bit excessive for teething!
Accompanying all this scratching is a lot of sleepiness and whining...
Also - as we are trying to transition to Eagles Pack from the ProPlan, adi hasn't had as much an appitite and no matter how little EP I mix in, his bowel movements become runny. I was tempted just to switch him overnight since he seems so sensitive so that this transition wouldn't be so drawn out and his BM's affected for an extended period of time - but now with the scratching/pawing issue - I am just going to go back to ProPlan for the time being. I can only handle so much at one time!
I'm attaching pictures - WITH FLASH. They exaggerate the eye problem a little much, but you can see the damage he's doing to himself.
Should I take him in to the vet???
(http://static.flickr.com/82/236048556_1f429eecf6_m.jpg)
(http://static.flickr.com/89/236048558_c342a86b6d_m.jpg)
(http://static.flickr.com/92/236048559_bdf4ec288f_m.jpg)
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UPDATE - Going to take him to the vet tomorrow afternoon. Still afraid to see what he might do to himself while i am at work today... I am going to the pet store now, before work, to get his regular food and contemplating an E-Collar.
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Poor Adi! He could definately have allergies or a skin problem. The whining could be cause he doesn't feel well. I would take him to the vet. That's not just a teething issue.
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Don't wait- he needs to go NOW. This is way too serious to be teething, and way too serious to let it continue for even another 24 hours. Poor guy!
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I went to the pet store and bought a new supply of his regular puppy kibble, and he's eating just fine. i spoke with the vet tech and she was able to fit me in tomorrow at 530p... i bought an ecollar for him so that when i go to work tonight and tomorrow, he can't be too distructive. i am keeping a close eye on everything. thanks for the support.
Here's his good side...
(http://static.flickr.com/93/236117636_bb65be8668_m.jpg)
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Yah, there's something going on there. Good idea to get him to the vet ASAP. My guess would be allergies as well.
Hope your appt will give you some information!
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Without knowing what is wrong with him it may or may not be a good idea to give him some benedryl to help with the itchies because it really does sound like allergies. Hope the little guy is feeling better soon!
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Definitely take him in. Let us know how he is doing and what the vet says about it as soon as possible, okay? Feel better, Adi! :-[
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Alright - so $200 later...
The vet took a look at Adicus' skin and noticed some smaller skin lesions on his underside, particularly his airpits and hind legs. She also looked at the irritate areas that he had been chewing/scratching on. Based on the fact that he's a puppy and the other less noticable skin lesions, she felt it was probably *not* food allergies - however, felt it was good for us to go back to his regular kibble.
She did three skin scraping pup. One of the irritated area on his paw, once shaven, was soooo much worse! It was even bleeding on its own... Anyway, three skin scrapinggs - one from the chewed on paw, the chewed on hind leg and the skin lesions. She as able to rule out mites and mange - thank god. She did a blacklight check on his underside to check for ringworm, and didn't see anything, so she also did a culture. We'll know in two weeks. Basically - we don't know what it is!
His ears were a bit inflamed (maybe from all the pawing on his face), so I have medication for that. I was given oral antibiotics to give him, twice daily and we hope that clears it up. I was also given medicated and soothing shampoo for him to use to see if that helps any also.
I started giving him some benadryl at night so he doesn't have a restless sleep and she said that although it wasn't allergies (in her opinion), it was alright to give it to him if it helps him. And the E-collar stays on if he's itching and scratching anymore...
I'm guessing no dog park this weekend! Poor pup! I hope whatever this is clears up... I'm hopeful.
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Owwie poor Adi! Hopefully it all will get figured out soon. Not knowing what's wrong is the worst.
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So sorry that Adi isn't feeling well and that you don't know what's causing it. I know you said that the vet didn't think it was allergies but is it possible that he is having a reaction to a cleaner or something in the house?
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Thanks Holly. I think she meant the food allergies and that she wants to rule out the other possibilities.
The only thing that was new was the food. As far as I can think of, at least. And the more I think about it, the lesions he has have been there for a while, but they seemed to be just little tiny dotty scabs here and there and I didn't think a think of them... But I probably should have. So maybe this is just a flare up because of the food? or something I'm not noticing.... or its some other skin condition. I mean, he's always chewed on his front knuckles...
Ugh.
Anyway, his personality is back big time and he is a ball of energy... until the benadryl hits him. haha. He also just had his first really healthy BM - so that's good news. Not to mention the... 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6 toys he has dragged to his bed to play with. He's feeling better.
I'll update if anything else progresses or if a diagnosis is made. Thanks!
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Chester was on Proplan when we first brought him home and he had non-stop scratching; all night long, all day! I took him off it and he's been fine ever since. Just a thought.....
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Newflvr, thanks for letting me know that your pup had itchiness w/ the ProPlan.
The more I analyze the situation, the more I think it's a corn related allergy. Adi's been doing a lot better with the itching... I even let him sleep in the bedroom last night without the E-collar on for once. His ears are still a bit irritaated, so he's been kicking at them, but there's no paw chewing and minimal chewing/scratching elsewhere. The red spots on his hind legs (where he was chewing last week) have gone down, but are still there). Remember, I switched him back to ProPlan 100%... But it's still got corn.
Like I said - he's always itched a bit, but it just got kicked up a few notches w/ the Eagle Pack since it was loaded with corn - or at least that's what I believe. Now that his BM's are back to being healthy and regular, I am going to try a slow transition to Solid Gold's Wolk King large breed adult, as it has NO CORN and still looks like a great candidate for him.
Unfortuantely, I couldn't find the right kind of Innova that Holly suggested for the pup...
Hopefully, the itching/scratching will be knocked down to zero soon! I won't get my hopes set up TOO high.
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It could be the corn. That's one of the ingredients that I avoid because Bubba doesn't tolerate it well either. Which Eagle Pack formula did you try? Their holistic select formulas are the only ones that don't contain corn to my knowledge.
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We tried Eagle Pack large and giant breed pup and are now going to try Solid Gold Wolf-King large breed adult. Has no corn, no soy, no wheat, no animal fat, no poultry fat, no by-products, no suguar, no preservatives, no salt, no sunflower oil. it does have bison and salmon meal in it... so if its a food allergy - all this itching - we will probably know once this transition is done!
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We tried Eagle Pack large and giant breed pup and are now going to try Solid Gold Wolf-King large breed adult. Has no corn, no soy, no wheat, no animal fat, no poultry fat, no by-products, no suguar, no preservatives, no salt, no sunflower oil. it does have bison and salmon meal in it... so if its a food allergy - all this itching - we will probably know once this transition is done!
I am sure you saw, but Solid Gold does has a large breed puppy food (Wolf King Cub, its what Lucah eats) why don't you feed him that? Is there some reason why you want to go with the adult food?
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Oh, I decided against it to limit his protein intake a bit more. That's all!
BTW - Lucah is adorable!
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WolfKing and WolfCub are both good foods. Just make sure you switch slowly. It's a really smelly food so he should go nuts over it. :D
Bubba had severe loose stool and gas on this food. I'm not sure if it was a grain that caused it or if the bison was just too rich for his sensitive tummy.