# it's always something with this pup



## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

So since we got Dipper (who is just over 4 months now) I feel like he's had something "wrong" with him nearly weekly...first it was soft stools (had him on Fromm's and then Merrick's grain free puppy kibble), then full blown diarrhea and lethargy for a weekend (switched him to honest kitchen) then last weekend's vomiting episode after giving heartgard, now this week he has a raging infection in both ears (pseudomonas bacteria), which started as a minor infection that was maybe exacerbated by ear plucking that I tried to treat at home with Zymox. He's also had (pretty much since we got him) red bumps on his belly that sometimes erupt and scab over, which we now have medicated shampoo for, and he's also been kind of generally itchy (not major, just scratches a lot sometimes). He went on Comfortis for fleas at the end of March and I just gave him his second pill yesterday (and he vomited a tiny, tiny bit at about 9pm last night...just once...which he did NOT do the first time he had it...argh, what's up with that!?!)
They put this paste (BNT otic) in his ears yesterday for the infection, it's supposed to stay there for two weeks. The vet said some would come out and we could wipe it with tissue but most will stay in and treat the infection. He seems somewhat better today, his ears still look terrible (and are totally greasy and gross inside from the paste, wiping doesn't seem to help) but hes' not shaking his head as much. 
He's generally a very happy, sweet, and fun/mischievous puppy...I'm just not sure what I can do to prevent some of these things and figure out what's going on. I just got a pet insurance policy but of course there's a two week waiting period so his current problems won't be covered, but for anything else that crops up it'll be a help. I'm actually less worried about the money than I am about having a puppy who is uncomfortable and/or constantly needing medical attention.
Any advice? Anyone else been through similar problems? He's on Honest Kitchen beef grain free food (we suspected maybe chicken was a problem but have no way to confirm) and I & love & you grain free red meat kibble (we put it in his treat ball and use for training treats and sometimes mix w/HK). Also instinct raw or stella and chewy's for high value treats, and HK probiotics and nordic natural fish oil sometimes. The vet mentioned we could do some kind of expensive allergy test to figure out if it's a food sensitivity, anyone done that and was it helpful? I'd spend a pile of cash up front if I thought it would help resolve some of these issues. Or, if it's just puppy stuff while his immune system figures itself out, that would help me feel better too...anybody have advice? Thanks so much! 
Jen and Dipper


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## Scully (Sep 30, 2014)

i would suspect allergies too and would suggest you google elimination diets to see if it might help you. Basically its cutting out a lot of things and feeding him on something like boiled chicken and cooked potato [not chicken for you if you assume its causing issues maybe white fish?] he needs to be on this diet for around 2 months to get anything hes allergic too out of his system then slowly add things into his diet to fin out whats causing issues. The allergy tests are a easier way to do this and you may find it could be something environmental causing it. a chat with the vets about elimination diets may help with another option tho but it will be time consuming and wont help if its not food related. 

I would also say dont over complicate his died feed his kibble and use it as treats to cut out the possibility they are upsetting his system.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I had a Cairn with severe environmental allergies She was allergic to everything from grass to dust mites and to find this out I took her to a Animal Dermatologist for intradermal testing . If you are only concerned about Food allergies though, you can order a testing kit from Dr Dodds Nutriscan.........you can do it at home and send it or you can have your vet do it for you. Dr Dodds is a leading authority on allergies! Much easier than an elimination diet and you get the results quicker! You can order the testing kit online directly from Nutriscan. Hope this helps!


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## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

Thanks! I just emailed his breeder to see if she has any advice too. I got him to take a nap with his ears folded up so they can breathe a little but that gunk the vet administered is NASTY, his ears are just sticky and gooey and yuck. I sure hope it works. We may try the elimination diet. I feel bad buying all this expensive food and then wasting it, I should NOT have bought the huge box of HK and bag of kibble. oh well!


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## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

actually that test seems like the way to go...will ask the vet when we go back if it's the same one she mentioned, I think it is...


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## Critterluvr (Jul 28, 2014)

When my dog Jasper was a pup he had constant ongoing infections - ear infections, goopy eyes and red bumps on his skin that were really apparent on his belly. His poop was also rather disgusting.....very mushy and very smelly. I had prescriptions for ear drops, eye medications and he went on antibiotics for the skin issue. I finally thought enough is enough, it HAS to be coming from his diet and how in the heck do you find out which additive in a kibble diet is disagreeing with him - there's so darn many!
So I did lots of research and decided to switch him to a raw diet. Everything cleared right up and he has been healthy ever since - he's now 5 yrs old.
(And I must add....poop is now nice firm little turds, added bonus! :happy


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## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

Thanks, that is really good to know. Do you do pre-made or homemade raw? What's your source? I am still considering that option. His poop used to be really soft, since we switched to honest kitchen it is normal and easy to pick up....but if I really thought raw would fix his other issues I'd do it in a heartbeat, just seems like a lot of work...


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I had a dog like that once, the Veterinary Dermatologist (who is the animal allergy specialist as well) saved her. My advice, stop wasting money on the regular Vet who offers ineffective treatments - 75 percent of what the Dermatologist did was compounded/drawn from human medicine, and was remarkably effective. Of course I can't promise that every one is as great as mine was, but that certainly is the next step when what the regular Vet does is not working.
By the way, my girl did two years worth of allergy shots based upon blood testing which had no effect, and the Dermatologist said that he was not surprised, as blood testing is highly inaccurate - when he does immunotherapy, he does skin testing first, so not sure I would spend the money on Dodds test...


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## Poodlerunner (Jul 4, 2014)

May I ask where you obtained your spoo from and what the breeder thinks of Dipper's problems?

You are feeding him a very high quality diet but a food change could help. I've personally seen it. My dog did not have the ear problems but she did have the scabby bumps on her belly and she would scratch at her body and lick her feet constantly. It was horrible. She was switched to Stella and Chewey's duck duck goose formula. All of her issues disappeared and never came back. A friend's golden retriever was close to needing to be put down when she switched to a fish based food. The dog is perfect today. Cross my heart, I am not exaggerating. If you can find Stella and Chewey's frozen, it is a lot more cost effective than the freeze dried.

pr


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## Critterluvr (Jul 28, 2014)

JenO - when I first switched to raw I fed strictly chicken, it's good to start with just one meat source and chicken seems to be most recommended, plus where I live it's the cheapest and easiest to find.
I'm not sure what size your pup is but with Jasper I first gave him a chicken back to see how he'd handle it. He chomped it down no problem!
Now I feed a ground meat/veggie mix for dinner and meaty bones in the morning. A couple of times a week I throw raw eggs or yoghurt on to their dinners too. There are no set rules but variety is important over a period of time.
I make up my own but I have 3 dogs and only work part time.
There are a lot of raw food companies out there now, you might find it easiest to just buy some premade raw at first, especially the ground mix. I must admit it was scarey at first to feed the whole chicken pieces but they do just fine with it and it's SO good for their teeth and gums.
Anyway, if it were me I would definitely try the raw diet before I started switching kibbles or having blood drawn/dermatologists etc. JMO


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## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

Thanks everyone! Our breeder is great, I just emailed her and she said she hasn't had issues with food allergies in the past, but gave a couple suggestions for ears. She suggested fish based food if a food allergy is suspected (which we haven't tried yet, but could go that way before doing the allergy test if we decide to go that route). Dipper really isn't too bad, I was just freaking out because I was traumatized by his 2 weeks of (probably unrelated) sicknesses in a row. I'm still on the fence about whether it's a food allergy. The ear infection blew up after the trip to the groomers, which I've heard is common, and the red belly bumps I've always assumed are a reaction to flea bites or some other irritant in the yard. They seem to be going away with the medicated shampoo (I apparently wasn't using it frequently enough before, vet said every other day is best, just wash affected area). He's really NOT that itchy anywhere but his ears, I think right now he scratches his hindquarters like once or twice per day for a few seconds, it seems fairly normal. He may still be adjusting to his new diet (we switched him like maybe a month ago) so I am going to keep doing what we're doing for awhile, if the ears don't clear up we will re-evaluate. He has had no other gastrointestinal distress and since switching to honest kitchen his stools have been perfect, so...I dunno! The ear thing just freaked me out because I've heard that's a sure sign of food allergies...so if it persists I am definitely going to do the allergy test. Thanks for your help and advice everyone! BTW, has anyone ever had the BNT "paste" treatment for an ear infection? It made his ears disgusting, and the vet said we could clean around the outside to remove excess, but it's just stuck in his ear hair anyway. I sure hope it works, because it's gross!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Never heard if that ear treatment. The vet dermatologist used have a formula compounded that was so great, in hours I could see the ears getting better. When Tangee started having ear problems her last year I had my regular Vet order the same formula for me from the compounding pharmacy, and it did the same for her.


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## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

Thank you Tiny Poodles...I think if it persists we will need to see a specialist rather than wasting time with the regular vet. But first I will wait and see if this treatment works, and maybe switch to frozen raw...hopefully it's not as dire as I always assume!!!


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

My vet uses a waxy ear medication that sounds like the same thing as the BNT paste. It does make their ear leathers gunky around the ear canal, but I'll take that any day over having to medicate their ears myself every day for a week or more. We had a Lab, and now the two spoos. All three of them have/had problems with ear infections. I had the Lab and the older poodle on a raw diet for about a year, with not the first sign of an infection. I switched back to kibble when we got the new pup, because I wasn't sure I could get the nutritional requirements right for a growing dog. Now that Blue is over a year old, I'm planning to go back to the raw diet, especially since he's got an infection right now.


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## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

yeah it is really nice to know that the medicine is just in there and I don't have to do anything. It just seems like a lot of it got in the hair around the base of his ear so he has a big area of waxy greasy hair that I don't feel comfortable washing because I don't want to get any moisture near his ear. I did give him a bath yesterday but I made sure not to get water near there and I used the blow dryer on him afterwards...I hope it works, and when his ear clears up I will either cut that hair or wash thoroughly...


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

JenO, it sounds like you are doing all the things I have seen suggested here. And you know, when I was reading your OP, I realized that Dulcie had many of those issues in her first months, too. Just as I was nearing the point that you reached when you posted, her issues began to resolve and now it is all like a distant memory. She had a round of worms shortly after she came home from the breeder (the yard I was playing her in was huge and backed onto wild green space, with lots of deer, other animals and coyotes) -- and the vet assured me that it isn't unusual for a puppy to still need one more round of deworming after leaving Mama and the litter - and Dulcie was all clear after that and no more issues with that. Next was an ear mite issue -- uh oh, I learned that letting her poke her head into the shrubbery where rabbits hide out is kind of inviting ear mites, because rabbits carry them and leave the eggs on the shrubbery! Lesson learned! Next was a yeast ear infection - and I was really getting concerned by this time -- would Dulcie have a whole set of allergies etc? Her stools were also all over the place. I eliminated chicken and also the vet treated the ear infection.

Anyway, the bottom line is that after she passed about the 5 month mark - and about the same time her adult teeth had all come in -- all of these issues seemed to melt away. HOORAY! I still stay away from chicken kibbles - I use fish based (Nature's Variety Instinct Salmon mostly, and now trying Wellness Core Ocean) and other proteins such as rabbit, venison and duck. I feed frozen raw in the mornings (Nature's Variety frozen raw patties - usually lamb or duck - she will NOT eat chicken or turkey frozen raw - but she will eat raw chicken wings with no apparent problems).

Dulcie hasn't had any health issues like that since about age 5 months. She did have a brief round of the kennel cough that roared through Chicago this winter, but she recovered within a few days and has had no other problems. 

Today, her coat is glossy and healthy, her ears seem to be clean and clear with minimal care (I do use the ear cleaner on bath days and otherwise I just keep an eye on them and they always look fine). She doesn't scratch or seem to have any itching problems either. Lastly, her stools are nearly always small and easy to pick up. As she approached her first birthday, she had settled into 2-3 BMs per day instead of having a BM nearly every time she potted. I think this is a maturity thing,

Hope you have a similar gradual improvement in these issues! In Dulcie's case, I do think it was puppyhood.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

Just a FYI, the Dodd's Nutriscan test is a saliva test, not blood.


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## JenO (Dec 21, 2014)

Thanks nifty, that is very encouraging! I am so hoping that Dipper's issues will resolve the same way. If not, it's good to hear the feedback from others on what has worked.


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