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Dog with Recurrent Infections

1100 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  KerriAnn
Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I have been on this forum but have decided to come back because I know everyone is animal lovers and probably know just as much as vets do and I have an issue on my hands with my dog Bella that I was hoping you could help me out with please! I am sorry if this seems long winded but I really need help!

Initially, I was using this forum to get information about the raw food diet because my vet and I had suspected a possible food allergy. I tried switching her to raw food because of the fact that she was always itchy, had recurrent UTI's, ear infections and consistent anal gland problems. The raw food diet only lasted a few weeks though because Bella almost choked on a bone and so it scared me enough to have to hand feed her. I hate to say it but it just wasn't feasible for me to hand feed her each meal so I went to my vet and asked which high quality kibble they recommended that should help with her allergy. They suggested Royal Canin Hypoallergenic Hydrolyzed Protein.

We have had her on this food for about 6 weeks and she is still licking her vulva, bum and scratching her ears to the point of them being red. She has been like this for a week. I have put off taking her to the vet because they always give her antibiotics which I feel is a band aid fix and not addressing what is actually CAUSING the issue. So I have been putting apple cider vinegar on her which has helped with itching and inflammation but I don't think it is obviously helping any internal issues. So now I don't know what to do!

My thoughts on helping her are:
1. Find a new vet because I feel at this point mine is hustling me.
2. Feed a raw food diet to see if issues clear up.

I have found a great raw food company called Big Country Raw based on of Niagara Falls, ON which is only a few hours away from me. The ingredients are all antibiotic, hormone free, local Ontario grown ingredients. It is quite reasonably priced and I am actually comfortable with giving it to Bella because it is all ground meat. I am hoping after a few weeks, Bella's issues should start to go away if it is in fact a food allergy causing her problems.

However, I guess my question is right now - what should I do to help her in the meantime? Would you take her to the vet to have her infection cleared up (probably by antibiotics which I really hate to give in most cases because I feel it causes furthers issues because it kills good bacteria) and hope that once this infection is cleared up, then the raw food should correct further infections?

Bella's attitude has been normal. She doesn't seem like she is in pain and she is in good spirits. She did have a bit of a fever it seems (her nose was dry and warm and ears too) the other night but I put cold cloths on her paws and ears and it went down soon after. I was hoping the fever would kill bacteria as it does in humans. Other than that, she seems to be good except for the biting and licking.

Any info you have would help tremendously and I am so grateful for your help in advance. I just want to help my baby. I have her best interest at heart.

Thank you,
Kerri
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I can only tell you what I would do if I had a dog in my care with these issues. First, I would get help from a homeopathic vet, either in person or have a phone/skype consultation.

The condition your dog is in is common in conventionally reared animals. Unfortunately, the issues she is suffering with are entirely iatrogenic, and very difficult to cure because you are dealing with system-wide dysregulation. Basically, her immune system has gone haywire. This is caused, IMO, by vaccines* and pharmaceutical drugs and the last thing you want is for her to be put on yet another round of antibiotics (the other rounds have already damaged her microbiome).

So yes, I would put her back on a raw diet, but that alone probably will not cure her which is why I suggest you seek out the help of a homeopathic vet, especially one that is familiar with sequential homeopathy which seems much more successful in treating autoimmunity than classical homeopathy. In the meantime, I would look at ways to get her body back into balance. If she were mine, besides raw feeding I would give her Transfer Factor, probiotics (soil-based), Omega 3s, apple cider vinegar in her drinking water, and coconut oil (organic extra virgin cold pressed) by mouth and on any hot spots. I would allow no more vaccinations, not even rabies, and find a vet that would provide a medical exemption if necessary. Vaccines are only for healthy dogs. A dog like yours is not a healthy dog.

* Read about the Purdue Study which looked at vaccinated vs non-vaccinated Great Danes, every single vaccinated dog had autoantibodies to important proteins and DNA the non-vaccinated cohort did not.
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First of all, ew Royal Canin. That food is absolute trash, I'm not surprised it isn't helping her.

I've heard of people having some success giving their dogs Benadryl to help with allergy symptoms, but I have never tried it, so I'm not even sure how much to give.

I know of BCR, but opted not to feed it because it is all ground. My sister feeds both her Mini Dachshunds totally ground raw, and they have without question the WORST breath ever. They need to crunch some bones in order to get rid of bacteria in their mouths. Can I ask what bone she almost choked on?
First of all, ew Royal Canin. That food is absolute trash, I'm not surprised it isn't helping her.

I've heard of people having some success giving their dogs Benadryl to help with allergy symptoms, but I have never tried it, so I'm not even sure how much to give.

I know of BCR, but opted not to feed it because it is all ground. My sister feeds both her Mini Dachshunds totally ground raw, and they have without question the WORST breath ever. They need to crunch some bones in order to get rid of bacteria in their mouths. Can I ask what bone she almost choked on?
I know, Royal Canin is horrible. I didn't know this at the time but did more research and took her off of it right away. Thought my vet was helping now hurting my dog.

Bella almost choked on a non-cooked chicken bone. I had to basically give her the heimleck to get it out and that scared me silly. I still give her bones to chew on for dental reasons but her main source of food is BCR ground.

I'm hoping/assuming that this will be 100% better than Royal Canin and any other kibble for that matter.
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