Hi , this isn't about Aramis but I am hoping no one will mind, and possibly have some insight that could point me in the right direction. Had both Aramis and Milo (5yr old Staffy) at vets today. Aramis for first set of Jabs , and me just wanting him fully checked over by a vet I trust. Milo for his epilepsy Med check up, and to check on his inflammatory bowel disease. He's on a chicken and rice only diet which seems to be helping , but the vet suggested I should have him on some vitamin supplements which will be trail and error to see what agrees with him , and I was wondering if anyone could suggest any ?? Here are some more pics for penance
What lovely photos ! There is a company called Dorwest Herbs , they sell complimentary vitamin/herbal remedies for dogs who, like your lad, might need a little help . They are everso helpful , and will offer good honest advice , so maybe they are worth a try ? Good luck x
Thank you so much ! He was only diagnosed at Christmas after an endoscopy, after countless tests, and dead ends so we are still trying to find our way with it.
You`re welcome , I hope they can help you , poor Milo , what a shame for him but having had a seizure dog myself, they can and do live full lives , so good luck x
Aw cute! So pleased you posted a photo of Milo. Surprised the vet didn't make any suggestions about what to use?
What lovely photo's, Milo is gorgeous I would call the vet back and ask for his vitamin recommendations before I bought anything. x
Re epilepsy - magnesium supplementation has been found beneficial for human epileptics. My Lab is epileptic and I give him a Mg tablet for this reason. Not sure if it helps cos he's also on epilepsy meds, but I like to think I'm trying everything. His seizures are very well managed now.
My boy has Lymphangiectasia, which is much like IBD. There's Facebook group for it that might give you some help. My boy had a near death experience three years ago and what started his road to recovery was switching to a Holistic/Integrative Vet, after usual meds failed. There is no way I put the whole story here but now he is on TCM, acupuncture, and a special diet. At the very beginning with this Vet he was on a home cooked diet of a novel protein and novel carb that started the recovery, I believe. Has your boy had complete blood work done? Ruled out EPI, checked protein levels? Cobalamin? IBD is also close to Protein Losing Enteropathy. https://www.facebook.com/groups/lymphiedogs/
Thank you , I'm glad no one minded me asking. Staffy's have such a bad rep, and from experience I get a bit worried to what people's reactions to him may be , but after having lots of rescue dogs from a child i can say I have never met another dog quite like him. I will give the vet a call tomorrow, and check. We were there more for milos liver bloodwork , and this vitamin conversation come up as almost a passing comment when he just checked in on the IBD. And I think sometimes it's my fault as I get a bit shy, and feel like I'm asking too many questions if that makes sense.
Of course we don't mind you asking about Milo just because he's a Staffie doesn't make him a bad dog, it's humans that make bad dogs My friend has 3 Staffie's and I walk regularly with her without any issues but we do notice oncoming dog walkers put their dogs on lead, it's just ignorance and bad press due to idiot owners. My girl Hattie is a PAT dog and my area coordinator's Staffie is one too, he regularly attends a School for children with learning disabilities Glad you are going to call the vet and never feel you are asking too many questions because you need to for your dog, they are getting paid a lot for it so ask away x
Aramis and Milo are gorgeous . I personally love staffies and know a lot if really lovely ones. I used to be embarrassed to ask my vets questions but have learnt that it's best to ask rather than think you know what to do and make a wrong decision.
Don't. All for equality and diversity on this site. All dogs are equally valued and respected. And the odd cat. And duck. And goat. Oh, and bees......
Thank you for your reply. Milo fell ill With daily vomiting but just pure bile , lethargic, off his food, just generally not himself. At first they investigated for it being from a side effect of his epilepsy meds , but all liver tests etc came back clear so they sent us home with tablets to soothe the stomach lining (can't remember the name) to see if that would help. It did , but within 12 hours of his last dose he was vomiting again, so back we went next day. Then they did a complete blood work, X-ray and an endoscopy with biopsies. They found an infection (treated with antibiotics) , a tiny ulcer in his stomach (took biopsy but was told it was nothing to worry about) but they also found a lot of fibrous tissue which showed as IBD, and the vet said he had never smelt a stomach as bad as Milo's bless him so it had obviously been going on a long time. They think his body had been coping, but the stress of the seizures which only started last summer had took a toll on his body, but I always feel guilty when I think he might have been suffering without us knowing. We are currently doing the home cooked diet (chicken and rice), but I've been told a raw diet may help better?? Do you know anything about that?
Thank you all for your kind words, and Charlie on advice from our vet we have to muzzle Milo on a walk because he insists on eating everything that you would not want a dog to eat, in fact if it fits in his mouth he will give it a go. Ther reaction from other dog walkers who don't know him can be so disheartening esp when he's sat tail wagging wanting nothing more than to run around, and play. The only animal that induces any bad reaction from him is crows for some reason, and as they are smart enough to fly away he ends up just flopping down with a disgusted look on his face.
Poor little man. You are obviously doing all you can to make things as good as possible for him though. Given his delicate innards it might be best to stick with the cooked diet. Raw meat will introduce a bacterial load into his system - a fully healthy dog will have no problem with this but I wonder if it might be an 'extra straw' that Milo doesn't need. If you don't already add veggies into his diet then coooked veggies might be something that's worthwhile adding (just to increase the fibre content). My vet actually wants to see 50% vegetables in a dog's diet (we don't manage that but we do include some veg).
We did go to a raw diet but very, very s l o w l y and not till after the horrible diarrhoea stopped. Iintroduced ONE new food every couple of days, meat or veggie or fruit, and I inspected each poop very closely, broke them all up with a stick and looked inside. My Vet is pro raw and knowledgable about it and I would hesitate to change a dog with these kind of gut issues to raw without Vet support. Unfortunately my dog got sick again, ended up having a faecal implant, many meds and supplements to get bloods back in order. An Internal Specialist Vet was involved in that and that may be the kind of Vet you want to consult with. The Internal Vet we saw is anti raw so now Oban is back on kibble and post Vet appt, our regular Vet, last week we will pretty well stay with it. WE are going to try a raw meal about twice a week. There is lots of discussion on the FB about finding a food that works and most believe once you do, stick with it. Now, rice and chicken and nothing else is not a balanced diet for long term. It's ok short term. Rice may not be the best food, apparently it can ferment and is more likely to upset an already tender gut. It's a really tough go, pardon the pun, every dog seems so individual about this. http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/26/dealing-with-dog-diarrhea.aspx
Thanks both of you for the info, I'm going to have to delve further into it all to find what's right for Milo, because I don't think he is getting everything he needs from chicken/rice . I'll call tomorrow, but I'm seeing my vet again in four weeks so I will copy some points from both your posts, and bring them up, and try not to feel like a complete nag !
