Stomach achesQ: I think my 2 year old dog may have an allergy to her food (natural choice for skin and coat). i have had her on this food over a year for her skin allergies. now however, she seems to get a stomach ache about once or twice a week. she will wake me up in the middle of the night crying and when i take her out, she will just eat grass. i can also hear her tummy making all kinds of noises....eventually she will end up with diarrhea. i have since placed her on a rice and plain yogurt diet with a dietary supplement. she has not had any problems since except that her stool is very runny (no stomach aches or grass eating). is there any food that i might be able to feed her? i don't know what else to do. thank you. A: She she should really have vet visit for full gi workup as she might have intestinal condition that needs chronic meds. you can try low allergy diet like california natural lamb and rice diet by natura as well as wellness fish and potato diet. also consider pepcid ac for vomiting at dose of 1/2 mg per pound once to twice daily and try slippery elm from health food store for diarrhea in meantime
Yellow bileQ: I have 2 miniture bull dogs. once or twice a week they will vomit yellow bile first thing in the morning before they eat. you can hear a rumbling sound from their stomachs. i have changed to nutro lite formula because it is lower in fat. i was also told to give them tagmet in the evening. is there anything else i should be doing? how safe is that medication long term? A: I prefer a drug like pepcid which does not have an effect on liver like tagamet does. dose of pepcid is 1/2 mg per pound once daily and is safe. also try adding digestive enzymes like prozyme to diet as well as low dose healthy fatty acids in form of flax seed oil at 1 tea per 20 pounds of body weight daily
Shop for: prozyme
Two dogs not getting alongQ: We have a 10 yr. old toy poodle and 9 mos. ago got a mini schnauzer. the two dogs do not get along at all. we have to keep them apart (in seperate houses) is there an answer to make them friends? A: You need to work with a vet specialist in behavior problems or an excellent trainer who can work on behavior modification techniques in your home one on one with you
My westie chews her legsQ: My 2 year old westie started to chew her back legs. the vet said it was the food she was on. she was on the wellness diet, chicken. the vet put her on ivd diet, duck and potatoes. she's still licking and chewing her legs. what can it be? i know westie like to lick, but her back legs are hairless. she is crate trained. she sleeps in the crate and does the most chewing at night. i'm starting to think it's a habit. she was a rescue dog, so i don't know her history. should i give her something for her skin? please help! thank you A: Sounds like she has inhalent allergies to molds, grasses, housedust, pollen, etc which is very common in this breed. you could try oral anthistamines to start like benadryl at dose of 1/2 to 1 mg per pound twice daily in addition to supplementing with fatty acid supplement like brite coat es from 1800petmeds or flax seed oil at dose of 1 tea per 20 pounds of body weight daily. if no help may need strongermeds or blood allergy testing to find out what allergic to. try wellness fish and potato diet which is much better quality than ivd diet
Shop for: 1800petmeds
CatQ: My cat is old and he is getting very skinny. do you think he can have a tape worm. A: I doubt tapeworms causing the problem as most of time tapeworms dont cause much significant disease in dogs and cats in most cases. i would suspect some other geriatric disease and would have complete exam, an dblood workup at your vet to start
Licking urine and licking other house dogQ: I have two male chihuahuas one is 8 yrs. and the other is 10 months. the eight year old dog keep licking the 10 month dog urine and constant licking his private A: Not much i can say here as this is just behavioral quirk. not medical issue
Expired filaribitsQ: A behavior client of mine on a very limited income gave her dog filaribits (diethylcarbamazine citrate) last year at half the recommended dosage. she asked me if the remaining bottle (she'd started out w/two) with an exp. date of 02/04 would still be okay to give this year - the bottle is sealed and she told me she'd kept it away from heat and light. i told her i'd ask around for her. i feel it likely that she'll give it no matter what i say, but i'm concerned esp. that it might actually "go bad" and become hazardous, rather than merely losing potency. the dog is 13 years old. thank you. A: I cannot recommend using any prescription medication past the manufacturer's expiration date. that is the date after which the medicine begins to lose potency. the concern is if the medicine loses potency and the dog develops heartworm then this particular medication can be deadly if given to a dog with heartworm disease.
