Worried about barley

Discussion in 'Labrador Health' started by Puppypal, Nov 5, 2013.

  1. Puppypal

    Puppypal Registered Users

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    The past few days barley has been refusing to eat his breakfast, nothing has changed it is the same food and the same supplements, he is ravenous for his tea, but won't eat his breakfast.

    He also has started back into the habit of chewing his paws, we had a horrible time last year of him chewing his pads red raw, and when you stopped him from chewing one by putting a sock on it, he would start chewing another. He was particullarly bad last night, he just gets obsessed with chewing them, we also had the issue of when he chewed his front paw really bad and he had to have steroid cream put on it, we had to bandage it up, but his dew claw caused a sore and made a hole in the side of his leg, which was very painfull for him, so we now have to make sure to put some extra padding behind his dew claw when we bandage his front paws. he is still on 6 piriton a day, for his skin allergies, and hopefully once he is on raw we can start reducing the amount and cut them out completley.

    Another thing, whether it was just a one of or not but last night he was limping slightly on his front leg, i checked his paws over and felt all over his leg, which no heat or swelling or anything in his paws, it was when we got back from the walk he started chewing his paw, but the opposite one to the leg he was limping on.

    And this morning he refused to get out of bed, and was still in bed when i left for school this morning. yesterday evening he was more subdued than normal.
     
  2. Karen

    Karen Registered Users

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Oh dear, poor old Barley, do hope he is ok Annabelle. :(
     
  3. Christoph W

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Hey Annabelle,

    i can't really think of any reason your doggy won't eat his breakfast but it might have the same reason as the "bad breathe" issue you mentioned in another topic.(or was that puzzle that got the bad breathe? ???)

    My parent's newfoundland dog had some paw chewing issues too. He furiously licked and chewed after we got back from our walks(only in wintertime).
    After some time we found out that he suffered pain from pits of road salt that got stuck between his toes. I don't know if you got any gritted roads near you but if you do that might be the problem.
    I gues your vet has already tested him for mites?


    I hope the little fellow will be back on full throttle soon :)
     
  4. mandyb

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Sorry I don't know your dogs history, but has he been tested for allergies?

    My own Pointer is an allergy sufferer, we had blood tests done when he was about 18mths old as his symptoms were bad. Results came back with a list as long as your arm, both environmental and food. Sorted a food that agreed with him and he had a long course of immunotherapy injections for the environmental factors and touch wood he's been symptom free for several years now.

    Hope you can sort Barley out and he's feeling more comfortable soon.x
     
  5. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Sorry to hear this - worrying for you. :( I hope you get it sorted. It seems these allergy things are troubling.
     
  6. charlie

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    Re: Worried about barley

    So sorry for Barley :( Annabelle I wonder if Thornit Powder would help, it can be used for itching and biting parts of the body. If you google it you can get a good description of what it can be used for and the ingredients which I believe are not chemical based. Hoping Barley gets well soon.
     
  7. Dexter

    Dexter Moderator Forum Supporter

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Hope you get to the bottom of it Annabelle,poor Barley,he has his challenges doesn't he,you take such good care of him x
     
  8. Lisa

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Oh dear, this is a worry. It does sound allergy related to me, on,y that in my limited experience of dogs with allergies (my last pooch) he started biting and licking at his paws when I out him on a glucosamine supplement for his joints. It wasn't the glucosamine, it was something else in the supplement, but when I changed to a different one he stopped the biting.

    Hope you can get it figured out soon! Let us know how he does - if he continues with the listlessness and no eating I would certainly call the vet....
     
  9. Puppypal

    Puppypal Registered Users

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    Re: Worried about barley

    [quote author=Christoph W link=topic=3171.msg33821#msg33821 date=1383659505]
    i can't really think of any reason your doggy won't eat his breakfast but it might have the same reason as the "bad breathe" issue you mentioned in another topic.(or was that puzzle that got the bad breathe? ???)

    My parent's newfoundland dog had some paw chewing issues too. He furiously licked and chewed after we got back from our walks(only in wintertime).
    After some time we found out that he suffered pain from pits of road salt that got stuck between his toes. I don't know if you got any gritted roads near you but if you do that might be the problem.
    I gues your vet has already tested him for mites?
    [/quote]

    Yes it is puzzle with the bad breath

    We had the salt issue last year and the year before, we just had to make sure to bathe his feet in warm water whenever he came in from walks, but the roads have not been salted yet, too early. But he broke the rule last year when he chewed his paws throughout summer. No he has not been tested for mites, vet has just treated sore paws and not looked to find the cause

    [quote author=mandyb link=topic=3171.msg33823#msg33823 date=1383662146]
    Sorry I don't know your dogs history, but has he been tested for allergies?

    My own Pointer is an allergy sufferer, we had blood tests done when he was about 18mths old as his symptoms were bad. Results came back with a list as long as your arm, both environmental and food. Sorted a food that agreed with him and he had a long course of immunotherapy injections for the environmental factors and touch wood he's been symptom free for several years now.
    [/quote]

    No he has not been tested for allergies, a while ago we did think about doing it, but he then improved for a while. He seems to have it on a cycle. We have found that he is better on grain free food especially for his itchy skin, but no help with paw chewing.

    [quote author=charlie link=topic=3171.msg33835#msg33835 date=1383665250]
    So sorry for Barley :( Annabelle I wonder if Thornit Powder would help, it can be used for itching and biting parts of the body. If you google it you can get a good description of what it can be used for and the ingredients which I believe are not chemical based. Hoping Barley gets well soon.
    [/quote]

    I will have a look at that it might help, we have tried loads of different creams, sprays, shampoos and lotions but none have worked so far

    [quote author=Dexter link=topic=3171.msg33845#msg33845 date=1383668746]
    Hope you get to the bottom of it Annabelle,poor Barley,he has his challenges doesn't he,you take such good care of him x
    [/quote]

    Oh yes he does, he seems to have a different aliment every month, worse when he was younger, but now he seems to have gone back to his old habits

    [quote author=Lisa link=topic=3171.msg33876#msg33876 date=1383678140]
    Oh dear, this is a worry. It does sound allergy related to me, on,y that in my limited experience of dogs with allergies (my last pooch) he started biting and licking at his paws when I out him on a glucosamine supplement for his joints. It wasn't the glucosamine, it was something else in the supplement, but when I changed to a different one he stopped the biting.

    Hope you can get it figured out soon! Let us know how he does - if he continues with the listlessness and no eating I would certainly call the vet....
    [/quote]

    We have singled out that duck makes him more itchy, and so does food with grain in it. He is on 2 piriton 3 times a day at the moment, he used to be on 3 a day but we had to up it as it was not working, but it now has some effect, but not with his paws
     
  10. Puppypal

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Again this morning barley refused his breakfast, but is constantly on the prowl for food. Now we are taking the tough love approach as he is ravenous for his tea, but we put wet food in it, so we are going to stop that now, until he starts eating his food. If this does not work we are going to stop putting his supplemts on his food and see wether this makes any difference. And again if this still does not work we are just going to cut him down to 1 meal a day in the evening with all of his supplements and wet food in one, until he is moved onto a raw diet.
     
  11. Jen

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Is it very expensive to have him tested for allergies. I guess it probably is. Are you insured would that cover it?

    I think I would be tempted to discuss it with the vet and have him tested if the vet thinks it a good idea. Then at least you would know what to avoid for definite.

    Hope he improves soon.

    Jen
     
  12. mandyb

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    Re: Worried about barley

    All my dog's tests and treatment were covered on his insurance, from what I can remember we're talking around £200 for the initial blood tests and then I was charged about £27 for each of his immunotherapy injections.

    I agree with Jen, you really do need to know exactly what he's reacting to, to be able to relieve his symptoms and control it long term.
     
  13. Puppypal

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    Re: Worried about barley

    I will mention it to the vet next visit and see what they say, but only to puzzle's vet as i do not trust the vets that barley is at. Our next planned visit to puzzle's vet is Christmas when we need to get her some more wormer.
     
  14. Puppypal

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    Re: Worried about barley

    His limp on his front leg seems to be gettinbg worse, i think it all the extra exercise he has had over the past few weeks, from him wanting to go out. I feel bad now as i knew his 'happy' state would not last and that it would cause more harm then good to him, especially him running up and down the hall and slipping on the wood floor. Poor boy, he does not know how to stand as he tries to rest his back leg and front leg at the same time, and he genuinly looks depressed in the morning, until it gets dark then he wants to go uot, but when he is out he does not want to walk.

    I shaved and trimmed his paws last night, his back ones look horrible as he kept moving, his front ones look better but i did not finish them, also i noticed that especially on his front paws, the fur inside his feet is brown, not all of it, but on the parts of his feet that he licks most and the bits where he has made them sore, and his feet looked scared from it. i will try to get a photo of them tonight
     
  15. Puppypal

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    Re: Worried about barley

    Finally managed to get some spare time to post an update of barley.

    A bit of an up and down week, we have put him down to 1 meal a day and he is now eating all food put infront of him, with just a small snack for breakfast.

    But on another note he has gone from bad to worse with his legs, he spent most of thursday limping quite badly and when he stood still he would hold his back leg up :(. he did not get a walk due to this and spent friday the weekend resting aswell. We made the descion that if he was still like it pn friday morning we would book him into the vet for that evening to get him looked at, but by friday morning he had improved, so we decided noy to take him and just up his joint stuff dosage to its maximum and rest him for a few days to see how he gets on. he is getting a short road walk today to see how he gets on
     
  16. Jen

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    Re: Worried about barley

    I'm sorry annabelle I should know this but how old is Barley?

    You can get boots for dogs have you thought about trying those for his feet. I know he will probably chew them off if you leave them on him but it might help for him to wear when walking keeping his feet clean and stopping whatever might irritate them getting on them. That's if he'll wear them of course. ::)

    Murphy my old lab had a recurring limp in his front right leg from quite a young age. I think he landed hard on it then after that it would flare up if he landed on it. The vet gave me some anti inflammatories to have in stock for if it was bad. You may already have some if not it might be worth asking next time you see the vet. Just so you've got something to give him as a last resort if he's really bad.

    I hope he's feeling better soon at least he's eating better now. :D

    Jen
     
  17. Puppypal

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    Re: Worried about barley

    he is 5 - 6 we don't really know, but he is closer to 6.

    We have thought about getting him boots especially for winter when there is salt on the roads and paths, we did have some but he chewed them and we have not looked for replacements yet, but we probably are going to have to get him some more.
     
  18. Jen

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    Re: Worried about barley

    I'm probably telling you stuff you already know sorry if I am. Have you tried green lipid mussel? It's a natural anti inflammatory. A lady who lives near me has a big dog with leg problems and she swears by it.

    The human stuff is cheaper (always is ) she buys a massive tub lasts ages. I don't know the dose but I think you can give it daily or just when he's bad but like pain killers you have to be careful because it can hide the pain from them so they do too much.

    Sorry again if you already know about it

    Jen
     
  19. Puppypal

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    Re: Worried about barley

    We have heard of green lipid mussel before, but never considered using it. i have looked at devils claw as well as that is also a natural anti-inflammatory.

    i will have another look at it tonight
     
  20. Puppypal

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    Re: Worried about barley

    He seems a bit better now, but still not right, he is only on 1 short road walk a day at the moment. Due to his lack of exercise aswell, i have cut his food down again, as he gains weight so quickly
     

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