Posted on 09/11/2010 1:25:26 PM PDT by JoeProBono
So, you’ve gotten her one of the better probiotics, a liquid, I think?
It also contains Omega 3.
Plus Wild Salmon Oil.
All of these are well-regarded for numerous problems, especially skin and coat. Other health benefits as well.
The new food sounds good, too. How is she responding to it initially? Well, I’d guess. I’ve given freeze dried wild salmon cubes for treats and rewards for very sick dogs before, they’ll eat that even if they’re not eating much else.
This in combination should help straighten out her intestinal tract, reestablish beneficial bacteria and eventually get rid of any overgrowth of harmful bacteria. If this has anything to do with the rash in her anal and genital region, some small level of improvement may be visible fairly soon, but longer to clear up entirely.
As unpleasant as chewing and scratching appears to be, the behavior can become sort of ingrained, even after the cause is addressed. Work with her on this, positive reward for not doing it rather than negative punishment for doing it. Love and attention, Jacks thrive on activity. What does she absolutely love to do, go do it when practically possible to help break the habit.
As far as the odor and the bathing, have you given any further consideration to this? If so, what strikes you as being a good potential course of action?
Read up on the side effects of any medications you’re still using. If you see small improvement from the diet and supplementation, you might want to test a small area with some different approach. Steroids can do a lot of good, but there are a surprising number of reverberations throughout the system from prolonged use, above and beyond chunking her out with weight gain.
Well, that’s probably more than enough from me, lol. Again, hope this sets Cookie on the road to recovery. Keep us posted.
As far as what Cookie likes to do best, that would have to be eating snacks. I bought her some special snacks too.
She is not on any cortisone now and I think that may be what got her to scratching so bad yesterday.The taking her off of it, I mean. Not sure how I will get around the twice weekly baths, The smell is bad when I don't do that. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if she can go longer between baths and count that as improvement.
Again, thank you for your help, I was feeling desperate last night.
Hope I have helped. Time will tell soon enough.
This picture is very moving, and I have two cockers and a chihuahua! :-)
Good boy, Riley. Hope you get lots of doggie bones and ear scratches in your new home. Thank you for what you did for our country when we needed you most. :(
Great thread.
Thanks for starting this.
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