Dogs Health Information

My 3 year old Collie has been raw fed for over 2 years. His stool is almost always normal. He has no other symptoms except he’s drinking more water than usual for the past few weeks. He doesn’t seem to be peeing much more than usual. I keep the house cool, around 60 degrees.

He does have a heavy coat, but he hasn’t started drinking more water during any other winter. I can’t really see him pee, he squats and his coat is in the way, so I can’t see if it’s dilute or not. When I first started feeding raw, his water intake dropped dramatically, as expected.

I’m working through cases of pork loin, turkey necks and chuck roast. He also gets a little liver. I don’t feed enhanced meat. The package on one of the pork loins said 50 mg. sodium per serving. The case has 5 loins in it, from 2 different companies. He’s about 60 lbs. and been eating a turkey neck every 3 days.

I trim most of the fat off the pork, and it’s nice, lean loin. He gets around a pound and a half of that every day, and 1/4 pound of chuck roast. I supplement with Timberwolf Organics fish oil, but I’m having difficulty finding out their ingredients. At one point they told me they add rosemary and vitamin E, but then they retracted that statement.

One of my old dogs had diabetes insipid us (drinking and peeing lots) due to pancreatitis and cancer, so I’m familiar with the symptoms. I believe drinking and peeing a lot can also be due to kidney disease and too much blood calcium. I’m worried…

Should I take him to the vet? What tests should I ask for besides blood work?
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Well some foods like canned fish make my dog thirsty but she has been drinking more water for a couple of months now. So I knew it wasn’t the food. We did a blood work (not because of her constant thirst) but b/c of her seizures and so far we found she is low in glucose and most probably a pancreas problem, another test result is coming tomorrow.

So if it is going for a long time then I would definitely do a blood work before other symptoms start to appear. Good luck and keep us posted.

Tags: blood calcium, constant thirst, dog behavior, dog health problems, dog health questions, dog nutrition, eating habits, kidney disease, natural diet, normal stool, pancreatitis, water intake

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I didn’t close the door on my Sheltie’s crate all the way, and he got out during meal time. He started a fight with Collie #3, and bit him between the toes on his left foot. Bleeding was stopped with a cold, wet towel.

How do I make sure it heals properly, without infection? Do I clean it or leave it alone?

We have snow on the ground here, so I’m not too worried about dirt getting into it. He’s not limping and so far, he’s leaving it alone.
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I would get some calendula cream from a health food store and put that on his foot.
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I have a puppy who has made himself quite the pest a couple of times. He has been bitten once on the chin at 10 weeks and once almost in the eye a couple of weeks ago. We went to our holistic, raw-friendly vet and she was not concerned. Both bites were deep, Shepherd fang deep.

The vet cleaned out the wound with saline, and told us to clean it out daily with a homemade saline solution. I think it was 1 tsp salt to 1 cup water, she gave us a syringe to squirt it in with. She said bites are always full of bacteria, so they never stitch them up or close them.

Hopefully that helps.
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Thanks for your reply. I’ve been soaking his paw in salt water 3 x day. I’ve been using one heaping tablespoon per gallon. Not nearly strong enough. He’s not limping or licking it, so I think he’ll be fine.

Tags: aggressive dog, aggressiveness, dog behavior, dog bites, dog problems, homeopathic remedies, viciousness

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I have a black lab that refuses to let me do his nails!!! Any ideas without having to have him put under by vet, which I hate to have to do?

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You can try taking him for a run on concrete, either running or biking
along side him – or use a skateboard if you’re the type.

Check out www.synalia.com.

The trainer there, Kayce Cover has a brilliant training technique that involves naming everything you want to communicate to animals. There is a yahoo group to join as well. She has used the technique to get a rhino to let her clean out a wound, I’m sure, once mastered, you can get your lab to understand you aren’t taking off his toes, when you need to trim nails.
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He probably had a bad and painful experience that he cannot get over. I assume you have tried clippers and dremel? If neither works, you should try to get him over his fear.

You need to get him use to you handling his feet. Hold the paws playfully (don’t squeeze at all), then give him a treat for letting him do it. Do this for a few days.

When you get him comfortable with this, just try barely clipping or not even clipping near the nail, do a little more every other day or so with treats and see what happens. You want to get him use to the clipper and you handling his feet. Do not go near the quick when you try this, if you are not comfortable or cannot see the quick (blood filled vein) because of dark nails it may be better to let a vet do it.

Good luck!

Tags: Black Lab, Black Labrador, dog behavior, dog health questions, dog problems, nail trimming

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The reasons for scooting usually come back to diet. What does this dog eat? Often a grain based diet can be the cause. Also, a diet that contains ingredients that the dog may have an intolerance to may cause scooting due to itching.

You need to be careful expressing anal glands, and it is not something to be done routinely. The dog should be expressing the glands on his own. Messing with them can damage the glands to the point that they no longer express on their own.

Many grooming salons express the glands of all dogs – this should NOT be done. If the dog is having a problem, see the vet, but there is no reason to continually manually express them.

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Our Goldens also have dew claws, as does our Sheltie. The Sheltie
loves chewing on hers. She’s the anxious type anyway.

I’ve actually seen the dogs using their dew claws, so its quite normal
that they should keep them. I don’t understand why some vets advise removing them. If one of the dogs had a dangling one, that seemed unattached, and worthless, then I might consider removing it, so its not hindering the dog in anyway, or bothering them, so they don’t try to chew it off themselves.

Its good to ask as many people, incl. vets, what they would do. Don’t ever just believe one vet. Ask around, get the facts… learn more of the canine’s physiology, it will help you make informed decisions.

Its exactly like amputating a thumb, since it is just another phalanges. Removing a dew claw is serious and painful business unless it is totally unattached at the bone and loose. Sometimes it is necessary but like the occasional Great Dane who ends up injuring their big ole tail constantly, requiring amputation, there are thousands who never have a problem.

Tags: dew claw removal, dew claws, dog behavior, Dog Breeds, dog health questions, Golden Retriever, great dane, She, sheltie

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