PetsNcharms Blog: Pets and health:

Over the years and with many pets that I have helped or rescued I have had to deal with a number of problems. here I will share my knowledge, personal experiences and any facts, links or resources that I feel maybe helpful to anyone else.

PARVO - Deadly disease!

My 3 puppies contracted this dreadful disease when they were 3 months old following a vist to the vet. I rescued them from a ship as new borns and they had 2 of three vaccinations. One of the sister had a mouth abcess and had to have 5 consecutive day visits to the vet for sntibiotic injection. They put her on the floor and I later discovered they had cases of parvo in there. She started vomitting 5 days later and i rushed her to the vet and was diagnosed with parvo. 5 days and 6 days later the other two sisters developed vomitting. They were all in the hospital fighting for their lives. But my poor little baby that was the last to show symptoms survived 4 days and then i lost her. The other two survived. I had been so careful with them and cared for them from complete newborns. Yet one time they were put on the floor this happens. I see so many people at the vets and elsewhere putting their puppies down! I try and warn them but sometimes i think they think I am being paranoid. But words cannot describe how terrible this disease is. My babies were 14kg and went down to 9kg in 5 days!! they were so weak and ill. Yes I may see that 2 survived but i lost one and that is one too many! My advice to anyone is to PLEASE protect your puppies. Only needs a microscopic infected amount of this virus on your feet the dogs feet or elsewhere and they lick it and that could be your pet fighting for their life!!

Bloat or Torsion in Dogs

One of the fears of many dog owners in bloat or twisted gut! I know myself, having lost my beautiful dog several years ago to this. At the time I knew nothing about Bloat and wish I had. I may well have got him to the vet sooner or known what to do myself before getting him there! It is not a rare problem, especially in larger Dogs. Now armed with the various information I take precautions with my dogs at feeding time and before and after. There are a number of articles on the internet advising methods of feeding and feeding height but I think the most important thing personally is not to allow your dog to run about and play before or after eating.

Here is a good video from 'ehow' showing the signs to look out for. One thing is sure it is imperative you get your dog to the vet immediately and that can not be stressed strongly enough! There is only a small window as it is posssible that the stomach twists and the blood suplly to the stomach is cut off! That is what happened to my darling Ben 9 years ago! Being informed is forewarned and prepared!

A good viseo talking about the signs of bloat to look for

ehow Video on bloat

Natural Pain Relief and Arthritis

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I have 2 german shepherd dogs and both have various helth problems. They have dysplasia in both hips and Shadow also has elbow dysplasia and food allergy to cereals which create a lot of itching and pain. Her sister Summer also has Dysplasia in both hips and sesamoid disease present in two toes on both paws. She has also developed recently an allergy to dairy products. They both have arthritis : They are 8 now and the dysplasia in the hips was diagnosed at 11 months but too late for any preventative operation as arthrosis was already present. Summer was later limping on her paws and after numerous x rays they discovered the sesamoid disease. Incredibly rare in a GSD and normally specific to racing dogs such as Greyhounds or Rotteweilers. I had to give her pain relief and lead walk only for 3 months and manged to avoid a painful and no guaranteed operation to remove the sesamoid bones which she had had from birth as a genetic defect: Well here we are at 8 and apart from the occassional problem when she has jumped awkwardly and more recently the cold and damp she is doing well. Shadow had an operation to clean up the srthrosis in her elbow but 4 years ago she started limping again. The vet suggested a vet diet and hooray she stopped limping.

Over the years I have avoided the NSAID and only given when absoloutely necessary. Instead I have stuck to specialised diets for joint problems and in the last 4 years the Vet Diet. I have also added various supplements. Kept their weight controlled and ensured they don¨t overdo the exercise. I discovered very early on long walks on hard ground or over jumping was followed by a day of stiffness and pain.

Recently, this winter and here in Spain we are never that cold. But they both started to show the odd sign of limping and pain for the first time in 4 plus years. As they are already on a special diet i decided to look at additional support. I had no desire to put them on NSAID´s for any length of time.

I discovered a homeopathic natural Pain killer made by Winstons in the US. Fortunately a local pet shop near here is the one and only supplier in Spain for Winstons¨s products. The shop highly recommended saying many people had tried it and extremely pleased with the results. So I tried it and i have to say i saw improvement to the point they were no longer limping within a short time. I am not endorsing this product from any other point than a personal one. My own personal usage with my dogs and the wish to share any advice or possibilities that may work for your dog.

However, now having found this product here it appears good Spanish customs have prevented the delivery from reaching the pet shop. On what grounds! Well a few years ago I used a product only available in the US and had it sent over. Customs stopped it after a few months and returned it back to the company. It was completely natural. But they advised me that the product could be made up in a pharmacy and so therefore was avilable here as such. And as it had not been approved by whatever approval is required in Spain they were not permitting it. Unbelievable as this was a completely natural product! So now I imagining that they have done the same with the Pet shop parcel grr

Fortunately there are other suppliers in other countries within Europe including the UK so looks like myself and the pet shop owner or myself will be having to buy it there and having it posted over. They will not stop it coming from there but will from the US directly! Crazy Huh! Guess they just want to keep the money in Spain and don't like it going out. Considering they are so very lax about other things I find it incredible they stop such an item from entering through customs.

I could of course buy it much cheaper directly myself but I imagine they could stop that too.

The point being I have had a lot of success using homeopathic and natural supplements with my dogs in addition to their diet and basic management strategies.. Obviously each situation is different and I would not like to endorse not following your vets advice. I do use veterinary diets recommended by my vet and have had success with them. However, in my case more recently they have needed a little bit more than the diet itself.

Are Pets Good for your Health?

There's no doubt that Americans love their pets. A new survey by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) shows that more than 57 percent of U.S. households own one or more animals. But can having pets actually provide health benefits? Yes, say experts, as long as you're not allergic to animals or terrified of them. "Pet ownership is good for your health both physically and psychologically," says Connecticut psychologist Herbert Nieburg, author of "Pet Loss: A Thoughtful Guide for Adults and Children" (HarperCollins).