[DravianG]

I just arrived in Louisiana today to visit my mom for christmas. The first thing i did was go into the back yard to play with the dogs (my mom has 6 pits bulls).

I was shocked to see that all of them are really skinny and they each have open sores/lesions on their legs and are really lethargic. My mom is feeling them a lot more to combat this issue and has also dewormed them and given them 9 in 1 shots.

I think that they have been poisoned and I say this because the 5 of them have this conditioned. The one that doesn't is in a slightly raised cage off the ground that is locked and is further away from them fence than the other 5.

Their legs are also swollen and it is hard for a couple to stand on them.

i plan to go to a vet but my mother lives in this country bumkin town in the middle of no where.

Could it be a sickness that came of the earth??

Please help. I will upload pictures of necessary!!!

 

[icemaiden]

Only a vet can diagnose what is wrong with your dogs. And it should be done soon. Like yesterday!

What is 9 in 1 shot? Giving shots to dogs that are not 100% healthy is a bad idea.

Please take your dogs to the vet asap.

 

[mathilda]

If your think you got poisoned, i wouldn't ask in some forum I would get them to a vet asap. if it's poison every minute counts.

but i think this doesn't sound like poison.It sounds more like neglect (sorry if I'm wrong).
when the dogs are not enough food, they will not be energetic and lay around a lot and moving not much. when they do so, they get callusities on the parts they lay on... especially the legs. this is more when they lay a lot on the bare ground and not on softe surfaces like a dog bed or blanket for example.

generally, now when it's starting to get cold i would let a shorthaired dog like a pitbull be outside. they can't regulate their heat against freezing temperatures as good as doublecoated dog with longer fur.

my plan of action would be:
- vet visit with all your dogs
- a bath for all your dogs and ointment for the sore parts of their skin
- get your dogs inside the house or in a warm room
- feed your dogs seperate to control that every one of them gets enough food
- wait a few days, if they get more energetic
if yes: at least 1 hour long daily walks, if you feel they're not good on leash, walk them seperately
else: walk them a short distance until they build up enough muscle mass that they can walk a whole hour.
- if you notice you canT' do that with 6 dogs: rehome a few of them... I'D start the ones easiest to place in a new home and keep the ones with them ost problems.

 

[mathilda]

* I meant: that your dogs got poisened...not you. sorry sometimes I write too fast for myself. "ORZ

 

[DravianG]

Yeah last night I actually cleaned out the big shed and moved them in there with a heating lamp, now they are good and toasty.

She feed her dogs a lot and they are all seperate on a chain with their own dog houses so they don't eat each others food.

This is the first time this has happened, my mom has had these same dogs in her yard for at least 3 years. (they are actually my brothers dogs).

Another thing, she doesnt have license or a car.

In all honesty I think she is waiting for my brother to come home Monday from GA . For one he is the dog wiz and he has a car.

The think that concerned me is that she said their health has declined in 2 weeks which led me to believe poison and I was concerned about them making it to monday.

Trust me she wouldnt neglect these dogs for anything they are like her family. But i do agree that she should have found a way to the vet because buying 9 and 1s are just as expensive.

 

[icemaiden]

What are 9 in 1 shots?

 

[icemaiden]

Neglect is not always deliberate. The fact that the dogs are thin, lethargic, with open wounds suggests neglect. For whatever reason.

Glad they are now at least somewhere warm. Please do get them to the vet soon before their present state effects their long term health.

 

[Gretchenpc]

I'm sorry, but six pitbulls chained in the backyard who've gotten thin, lethargic, and covered in sores? That's bordering on a call to animal control.

I'm glad you got them into some sort of shelter, though I'm not sure about Louisiana, but up here in NC it's rarely been cold enough, even at night, to worry about dogs getting too cold. Do they have straw or blankets in their dog houses? Plenty of short-haired dogs (I'm thinking of hunting dogs around here) stay outdoors all of their lives, even when it's really cold. The hunters make sure they have a lot of hay/straw/whatever in their dog boxes to snuggle up in and they do just fine. But it's probably good that if the dogs are in a bad way they don't have to worry about staying warm on top of everything else. That loss of body fat will make it considerably harder for them to stay warm.

I don't know what your mother/brother feeds or how much, but it might be good to check. Has there been a change in what they eat recently?

Also, you mention the one "in a cage" up off the ground being in better health. Has it been very wet in Louisiana? A lot of rain? Because it's been VERY wet up here and combined with the unseasonably warm weather, the bugs just have not died off yet. My pit-mix has sensitive skin and gets some minor irritation on his belly and back legs just from being outside running in the wet grass and mud. He's dried off and sleeps inside the house all night, and is in a large room in my horse barn during the day, but I can imagine if he was left out on the wet ground 24/7, he'd probably have scratched and dug himself raw in several places.

Finally, the best scenario for these dogs would be that some (actually, all) of them find new homes where they will be allowed to come indoors and really be treated like members of someone's family. I don't know why your brother has or needs six dogs that he just leaves chained in his mother's backyard, but it's really not a good life for those poor dogs.

 

[Laco]

Those dogs need to be seen by a Vet, sooner rather than later. Find someone with a car, and get them to a Vet.

 

[DravianG]

Some of you really seem to thing these dogs are being treated poorly and un-lovingly which kind of bothers me because you don't know how they are treated but doesn't bother me for that very same reason.

Furthermore this whole sick period and rapid weight loss only happened over the last week and a half.

For everyone who thinks they are just chained to a spot in the yard to a fence or pole are sadly mistaken. They each have hand made dog houses and are fenced in. the dog house had hay but my mother switched to mulch a while back. Half of their enclosures has ply wood on the ground and the other half is solid ground.

Why would anyone have dogs in their back yard; for the same reason people have them in their house. Don't assume your way of where your dogs are kept is better.

She has six dogs because she wants 6 dogs and each one of them are special in their on way.

I am rather puzzled as to how many neglectful owners even join a discussion board to spew their neglectful ways.

I am new to this site, so would you please say go to a vet if thats all you really have to say.

It has only been cool here for 3 days. I moved them yesterday when I got in town because I didn't want to add to any ailments.

But to answer the legitimate questions; no we haven't switch the brand of food and I don't know if it has been raining frequently here (i'd have to check).

Relocating them isn't an option if you haven't guessed. Spot was a dog she rescued from dog fighting. He is extremely dog aggressive but is learning to manage little by little. He'd be put to sleep in a minute if someone else had him. He also bites anyone that is not my mom. I'm guessing he was also abused.

She does not have these dogs because they are cool to look at. She actually loves them and for many of them she is the better home.

However my reason for joining this site (yesterday) was not to defend my mother but actually get advice on what could be the problem from an experienced dog owner.

If you don't know what a 9 in 1 is then google it, dog enthusiast.

Also just to add they've consistently been dewormed their whole lives, Ive checked their sores and anus today while cleaning their wounds and they don't have any fleas or ticks on or around them.

I actually called a vet who is an hour and a half away today and scheduled an appt for tomorrow.

Thank you guys very much for your concerns and advice.

 

[DravianG]

..

 

[DravianG]

Photo feature: Local doesn’t let rain ruin his routine | Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper
My brother in the local news paper with blitz one of the sick dogs. Again, these dogs aren't just hobbies or toys for us nor do we not take good care of them. I just wanted help before my brother pulls into town and goes ballistics on my mom.

 

[Gretchenpc]

I just wanted help before my brother pulls into town and goes ballistics on my mom.

I'm confused about whose dogs these are. You said your mother has them because she loves them, but that they are actually your brother's and now he's going to go "ballistic" on her when he sees them?

To be honest, I cannot imagine perfectly healthy dogs losing a ton of weight in 2 weeks (now you say a week and a half), and developing sores and swollen limbs. Odds are they were slowly deteriorating and no one really noticed until it started getting serious. It's easy to let that happen when you see an animal daily.

I'm glad you called the vet. Please keep us updated on what you find out.

 

[DravianG]

What's confusing is that you need clarification on the ownership. They are my mother's dogs, most of them given by my brother. My brother lived with my mom until 2 months ago where he relocated to GA for veterinarian assistance schooling. My brother spazzed on me about my dog and I live way in FL. That's how he is when it comes to animals and pets.

It is hard to imagine and thats why I suggested poison!!

Ok will do.

 

[Laco]

Let us know how the Vet visit goes.

 

[Redwood]

A word of advice. Snarking at people trying to help you generally makes them less willing to help.

 

[Rain]

The reason some got so concerned when they heard the dogs were chained, and sick, is that we do get people on here asking for advice on dogs when the dogs are borderline neglected or abused, some flat out neglected. Two that leap to mind, one dog had a hole in it's mouth and the owner was refusing to take it to the vet, another was owned by the posters boyfriend's family and the dog was extremely sick, dying, yet the owner refused to take it to the vet. The list goes on and I can pull threads if you have a morbid sense of curiosity. A lot of us on here, myself included, have seen dogs chained in backyards that are rarely, if ever, let off the chain. They are treated like little more then living lawn ornaments, so the subject can be a touchy one with us.

I'm glad that's not the case with your mom's dogs and that y'all are going to get them vet care. I don't have any guesses, to offer since I have not heard of anything with that set of symptoms. Hopefully the vet will have some answers.

 

[TruckersMom]

@icemaiden I think by 9 in 1 shot it think it is the Durvet Canine Spectra 9 Vaccine. It is not called a 9 in 1 as far as I know.

I defiantly agree with @Readwood that snarking isn't always the best way to receive help.

 

[icemaiden]

Thanks for the info on 9 in 1. Is it a combination of 9 vaccines in 1 dose?

We could have told the OP to go and Google his problems but we didn't. We offered advice.

 

[TruckersMom]

Thanks for the info on 9 in 1. Is it a combination of 9 vaccines in 1 dose?

We could have told the OP to go and Google his problems but we didn't. We offered advice.

Canine Spectra® 9

Yes. It combines vacation against canine distemper, infectious canine hepatitis, canine adenovirus type 2, canine parainfluenza, canine parvovirus (CPV),*Leptospira canicola, Leptospira grippotyphosa, Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae, and*Leptospira pomona.