I though I'd share this information as I found it quite interesting. Every so often, when my dogs are being particularly hard work, I have a trawl through the Internet looking for that magic wand or cure. Yesterday I came across www.nupafeed.co.uk and their product Stressless. I emailed them giving a brief explanation of my dogs behaviour, nervous of people, difficulty calming down when excited, and asked if their product was suitable. For some reason I also mentioned it started as pups when they'd had prolonged vet treatment due to urine infection and struvite crystals. I received a reply within half an hour. They explained under normal circumstances they would say Stressless was exactly right for them but there is concern with their history of struvite crystals. Most forms of magnesium increas PH leaving them more prone to infection and crystals and because they've had them before they could be more prone anyway. She did explain though that the magnesium compound they use MAHR has been developed to prevent changes in acid base balance. She suggested I speak to my vet and attached the review paper of the research done using MAHR on stress levels to show my vet as it isn't common in the UK. She explained that magnesium helps with the ability to manage stress. Stress depletes magnesium from the body so the more stress the more magnesium is needed. As the magnesium is depleted the more sensitive to stress. My dogs went through a very stressful time, catheters every two weeks etc while on a low magnesium diet to treat the struvite crystals so she believes magnesium levels played a significant role in their behaviour and probably still does. I thought it was very good of her to go into so much detail regarding my dogs' health and behaviour. Unfortunately this might be my magic cure but I'll never know. Even if I discussed it with my vet and he said it should be all right I'd never stop worrying. I just thought I'd post this though as I'd never heard of a link between magnesium levels and the ability to manage stress.
Re: Magnesium and stress Wow Jen,fantastic ,thorough and responsible service from them and it would make sense wouldn't it? I guess their puppy hood was so difficult for you all I can imagine you being scared to try.....but would it be worth having a chat with your vet anyway? Have you had a problem was that why you were trawling around ?
Re: Magnesium and stress Really please Jen, that the lady advised you to speak to your Vet , that's a responsible thing to do and tends to add credence to the company as so many think that they are a replacement for Vets . I also wish that there were a magic wand for you, given all the work and research you have put into your two , chin up
Re: Magnesium and stress No specific incident Angela and for once it's not their nervousness it's their inability to calm down when they get excited. It drives me nuts sometimes. It is coming up to a full moon though and as daft as it sounds scout goes a little crazy when it's full moon. Don't think I got two labs more like a lab and a little wherewolf. A gorgeous wherewolf obviously. I do really like my new vet but unfortunately his solution would be to neuter them. The trouble is I know it won't necessarily work and I'm not keen to put them in for a non essential op mainly because the post op care with them two would be chaos. Imagine. I'd have to keep them in at night and stay up with them although when we discussed it my vet said it would only be 5 days rather than 10 because he uses internal stitches but still. : I thought the same Kate. They obviously know the health implications of their product and the fact they suggest consulting with a vet who may very likely say no shows them to be responsible and not just after sales.
Re: Magnesium and stress Very interesting, thank you for sharing. Magnesium is advised for women who suffer from PMT, and a doctor recommended I take Mg to reduce headaches (related to my menstrual cycle). I believe it is also recommended for anxiety in humans. Some people have told me Mg is the miracle cure for many of their health issues! As for having such boisterous boys, I felt the same with our boy, that we had got the liveliest one in the litter, and oh how I envied everyone else with their placid dogs. I was also told to neuter my boy, which I didn't. How old are your boys? I look back to when Snowie was one years old and I really thought he would never calm down. At three years old, he has calmed down dramatically, but I must say, I do love it when he gets excited and playful now, but it is not often at all, he really has matured with age. Perhaps your two will do the same?
Re: Magnesium and stress Mine are nearly four !!! However I do think the fact there are two makes a differance. They have calmed down a lot really to be honest but they could still be described as highly strung. Apparently I've found out magnesium is also commonly used to calm horses. Research has been done that shows 'springitis', when a horse goes a bit nuts at the start of spring, is not due to sugars in the new grass, which is what was thought but because over the winter the horse has been metabolising less and less magnesium. Apparently there is a nutrient in grass that helps a horse metabolise magnesium. This nutrient is not found in hay or old grass. It takes a couple of weeks on the new spring grass for the nutrients to start to work on the magnesium and the horse calm down. I think I've remembered that correctly. :
Re: Magnesium and stress I have no idea if this will help your boys calm down after they get so excited, but something I use to get my boy to go to sleep in the middle of the night when he's walking around is to take a wet face cloth and wipe his face (and head, eyes, nose, ears, wet his hair as much as I can). He immediately starts to breath very deeply and then lies down in his bed, buries his face in the blanket, and goes to sleep. I am always amazed what a wet cloth can do! I started using the wet cloth cos I wanted to find a way to help him cool down -- I think he walks around trying to find a cool spot in our bedroom and it was driving me nuts.
