Ask the Veterinatian About Coprophagia

by Julie Buzby, DVM 

courtesy Dayland via Flickr.com
Looking Guilty

Dear Dr. Buzby,

How do we get our pups to stop eating their own, or other dogs, poop?

Thanks, Lori,

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Hello Lori,

You recently queried on AllThingsDogBlog about how to stop coprophagia in dogs.  Great question, but I recommend not reading my answer while eating a meal.  Coprophagia literally means “to eat feces”.  This activity, like dogs rolling on a dead carcass, is something we humans cannot appreciate.  Yet it is a very rewarding behavior for our canine companions.

For-Bid™ is probably the product most commonly recommended by veterinarians for this issue.  It’s been around for years, and is fed to dogs for 5-6 consecutive days, then as needed.  For-Bid™ is basically wheat gluten and monosodium glutamate (MSG).  MSG is the active ingredient because it is broken down in digestion to make the stool taste yucky.  Reviews are mixed on how well the product works, but I’m leary about prescribing wheat gluten and/or sodium glutamate to my patients. 

Several over-the-counter products are also available, some with more “gentle” ingredients (such as digestive enzymes and probiotics), but they also garner mixed reviews for efficacy. Then there’s the list of home remedies, such as feeding meat tenderizer or pineapple, used for their enzymatic properties in digestion. 

I need to point out that in a multidog household, if you are giving an oral product to address this problem, the product needs to be given to all dogs, not just the dog who ingests feces, so that all the accessible excrement is altered.

Unfortunately, in my experience, there is no magic bullet for coprophagia (though sometimes one of the above products or tactics will work for an individual).

The most reliable way to address this behavior requires diligent, hygienic management of the dog’s environment and access to stool.  This means:

•   strict supervision when the dog is outdoors

•   immediate picking up of the feces to remove the temptation

•   teaching the “leave it” command

•   as a last resort, using a basket muzzle to prevent ingestion

It is important to note that this behavior is not only a problem from the standpoint of the “gross factor”, but is also a possible route of transmission of internal parasites and bacteria.

Please talk to your veterinarian about your concerns.  Though coprophagia is usually just a behavioral habit, it can be associated with a dietary problem or even an underlying medical issue.

Dr. Julie Buzby is a homeschooling mom of seven, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association and International Veterinary Acupuncture Society certified holistic veterinarian, and passionate advocate for canine mobility.In her free time she serves on the Advisory Board for The Grey Muzzle Organization. She can be found at Twitter @DrBuzby and on Facebook.com/ToeGrips. You'll also find more of Dr. Julie's posts at our Ask the Vet Archives page.

Here are a few of her articles that may be of interest:

• Our Vet's Best Advice on Nutrition
• Skin Rashes
• Ask the Vet: Fido's Dental Care
• Ask the Vet About Giardia
• Doggie Nailcare and Posture

Dr. Julie's opinion or advice does not replace an actual exam with a veterinarian.

Ask the Veterinarian About Skin Rashes

by Dr. Julie Buzby

Buffer

courtesy Moyen_Brenn via Flickr.com

My dog, Maddy,  is 3 years old and has a grain allergy. She is on a grain-free diet. However, when I got her at 3 months I was not aware of her allergies. It was at 8 months we discovered it.
Our Vet initially diagnosed it as yeast from grain allergy--gave us steriods pills, inflamation drops, and ear wash to use--and it worked great. However, several months ago my husband bought some chews he thought were grain free. She developed a rash on her belly and ears and I discovered the chews were made with wheat. 
I took her in to the Vet clinic had her checked out with a new vet; he gave her some antibiotics. It seems to have somewhat gotten rid of the rash but it has since then reappeared and she has eaten no grains. 
I have done some research on this and just like to humans--antibiotics kill the natural flora in our intestines. I think she is having over active yeast growth in her ears and flaky red bumps on her belly and genital area. I have treated her ears with apple cider vinegar and water (50/50) and it healed quickly. However, the few bumps on the back hind legs that I can't seem to treat because of all the fur. I spoke to the vet and he wants to give her antibiotics again! 
What do you recommend? A second opinion? Can I give her plain organic yogurt w/ live cultures or dog probiotics? I'm confused and annoyed because several vets I have spoken to just refer the rash to an allergy? An allergy to what? She doesn't eat any grains! They never seem to mention yeast growth. At this point any advice is welcomed. I hate to see her cry when she licks her belly. Thank you!
 
Best Regards. 
Michell B. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Michell,

According to statistics, the top three reasons dogs visited veterinarians in 2012 were skin allergies, ear infections, and skin infections.  Poor Maddy appears to have all three, which is not uncommon.  The ears are just an extension of skin, and both are prone to infection secondary to allergies.

Pruritis (itchy skin) can have multiple causes and take months to sort out.  My goal is to equip you to better communicate with your vet about Maddy’s condition.

We have two issues to address:

1.  Maddy’s ear and skin infection.

2.  The underlying cause, which is most likely allergies.  We must manage her allergies to prevent recurring infections. 

I do think Maddy has food allergies, which are typically incurable in dogs, and can develop at any age.  However, she may also be affected by things in the environment.  Dogs with allergies seem to have an “allergic threshold”, meaning they have multiple allergies, but there is a point where “the straw breaks the camel’s back” and symptoms manifest.  The predominant sign of food allergy is that symptoms are year round, not seasonal.  Further, recurrent external ear infections are present in more than half of dogs with food allergies. 

The most common food allergens for dogs (in order) are: beef, dairy, wheat, chicken, egg, lamb, and soy.  About half of all dogs are allergic to more than one ingredient.  It’s important to understand that “grain free” is not synonymous with “hypoallergenic”.  Consider the ingredients in diets on which she thrives, versus the ingredients found in foods or treats that cause her to flare up.  I’m guessing there’s more to the story than just grains.  How can we determine what Maddy is allergic to? 

Blood tests for food allergies are not reliable and are a waste of your money.  A “dietary trial” is the gold standard for diagnosing food allergies.  Talk with your veterinarian about conducting a food trial.  Maddy’s doctor may recommend a prescription diet, or even home cooking a balanced recipe.  Over-the-counter diets should not be used for food trials, but can be fed once the offending ingredients have been identified.

As for her skin, the rash you describe sounds classic for a skin infection. While this is not the same thing as skin allergies, the two often go hand in hand.  This type of infection is caused by bacteria and/or yeast, and each is treated differently.

Bacterial skin infection, called pyoderma, is best treated topically and with oral antibiotics.  Through simple tests, your veterinarian can tell what types of organisms are causing her skin and ear infections and determine proper treatment.  If she requires another course of antibiotics, I would recommend administering high quality human probiotics, or a doggie product like FortiFlora, during the course of her treatment.

Ultimately, I completely understand your concerns.  Allergies are frustrating for clients and veterinarians alike, not to mention the dogs!  While, Maddy will likely always be prone to skin flare ups, I feel confident that you and your veterinarian can transition her out of a skin “crisis” to long-term successful management of her skin and allergies.

Dr. Julie Buzby is a homeschooling mom of seven, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association and International Veterinary Acupuncture Society certified holistic veterinarian, and passionate advocate for canine mobility.In her free time she serves on the Advisory Board for The Grey Muzzle Organization. She can be found at Twitter @DrBuzby and on Facebook.com/ToeGrips. You'll also find more of Dr. Julie's posts at our Ask the Vet Archives page.

Here are a few of her articles that may be of interest:

• 10 Tips for Fido's Longest Life
• Leaner Pets Live Longer
• Finicky Eaters
• Our Vet's Best Advice on Nutrition

Dr. Julie's opinion or advice does not replace an actual exam with a veterinarian.

Our Vet's Best Advice on Nutrition

by Dr. Julie Buzby

courtesy Llima via Flickr.com

When I wrote my All Things Dog Blog debut article, 10 Tips for Fido’s Longest Life, I purposely avoided ranking the recommendations according to merit.  But I promise you that vying for first place on the list is nutrition.

In humans, many chronic medical conditions are related to diet.  It’s common knowledge that nutrition correlates to both quality and quantity of life.  “Eat your vegetables,” is a mom’s mantra.  In contrast, no one encourages their kids to eat more processed foods.

Yet unknowingly, many people feed their dogs junk food, day in and day out.  For example, here’s the ingredient list for one of the most popular, readily available diets on the market: 

Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, water, meat and bone meal, propylene glycol, sugar, tricalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, salt, animal digest, potassium chloride, sorbic acid (a preservative), dried peas, dried carrots, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, Red 40, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Vitamin A supplement, Blue 2, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, Vitamin B-12 supplement, brewers dried yeast, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite. 

Please note that the front of the bag has pictures of veggies seductively swirling with chunks of meat, but inside the bag, carrots and peas are less plentiful than sugar and salt.  Legally, ingredients must be listed in order of abundance, with the largest quantity listed first.  By virtue of their place on the list, vegetables are practically nonexistent in this diet.

I’ll leave you and your veterinarian to determine the best diet for your dog, because ultimately there is no one-size-fits-all superior choice, but here are some basic rules of thumb:

1.   Don’t get fooled by the packaging, marketing, and advertising.  Become a label reader!  Even though almost all commercially available diets are “nutritionally balanced”, that doesn’t mean they are optimally healthful for your dog.

2.   Dogs are omnivores (eating both meat and vegetation), but I want to see meat as the first ingredient on a dog food label, not corn. 

3.   Generally, you get what you pay for.  There’s a reason you can buy 40 pounds of dog food for $18 at the big box stores.  High quality ingredients are costly.  But pay now or pay later!  By feeding a high quality diet, you will likely save on vet bills in the short and long term (commonly for skin and gastrointestinal problems).  Feed the best diet you can afford.

4.  Don’t be afraid of variety!

5. Home-prepared and raw diets aren’t for everyone, but my patients that are on balanced home cooked or raw diets often thrive.  They typically have clean teeth, trim waistlines, and enjoy long healthy lives.  I prefer formulated home cooked diets over raw diets, because of the inherent risks associated with handling/feeding raw meat.  Please understand there is room for serious error in home cooking/raw feeding.  Vitamin/mineral supplementation is required and must be done correctly to avoid creating dangerous nutritional deficiencies/imbalances. Consult your veterinarian for advice, and keep in mind that board certified veterinary nutritionists can create custom, balanced recipes for your dog.  

Here’s a link to a 2004 article about a dog that lived to be 26 years old.  Note to what his owner attributes his longevity. 

Dr. Julie Buzby is a homeschooling mom of seven, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association and International Veterinary Acupuncture Society certified holistic veterinarian, and passionate advocate for canine mobility.In her free time she serves on the Advisory Board for The Grey Muzzle Organization. She can be found at Twitter @DrBuzby and on Facebook.com/ToeGrips. You'll also find more of Dr. Julie's posts at our Ask the Vet Archives page.

You may also enjoy reading her recent articles:

• 10 Tips for Fido's Longest Life
• Insight on Friendship Changes
• Leaner Pets Live Longer
• Finicky Eaters
• Tweaking Your Dog's Vaccinations

Dr. Julie's opinion or advice does not replace an actual exam with a veterinarian.

Ask the Vet: Finicky Eaters

by Dr. Julie Buzby

courtesy TWM News via Flickr.com

Dear Dr. Julie,

My Lab/Sharpei mix was adopted in February after 8 months there. Apparently she had eating issues while living there. It took about 2 months to get her eating somewhat better at home. What finally worked was mixing her canned food with tuna.

Following a vacation when she stayed with family, her eating habits have worsened, but she will eat human food when offered it. Any suggestions for improving her diet and eating habits?

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Dear Reader,

First and foremost, we need to determine if this is a medical problem or a behavioral issue.  Although your dog’s history suggests that her poor appetite correlates with stress, there are several medical explanations that we need to consider.  The fact that she will readily eat table foods doesn’t rule out a medical cause.

I strongly recommend that you start with a visit to your veterinarian, but we’ll walk through a cyber vet visit via this blog post!

Step One: A thorough history

-What diets (and protein sources) have you tried?

-Is she gaining or losing weight? 

-Does she get any treats or table scraps?

-Does she have access to food from neighbors, other family members, or other pets?

-Does she have other gastrointestinal (GI) signs, like vomiting or diarrhea?

-How is her activity level?

-Describe her general personality.  Is she a nervous dog?

Step Two:  A complete physical exam

Your dog should be examined from nose to tail, to include a thorough oral exam, abdominal palpation, rectal exam, and assessment of body condition score.  If your dog is thin, I am going to be more concerned that this is a medical issue than if she is ideal or overweight. 

Step Three: Diagnostic tests

A complete blood count (CBC), chemistry, and urinalysis will serve as our “minimum data base”.  If these are normal, that doesn’t rule out chronic GI disease, so we’ll also send out bloodwork for a “GI panel”.  This will help in the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and pancreatic disorders.

If that is also unremarkable, I’d run a baseline cortisol to rule out atypical Addison’s disease and recommend an abdominal ultrasound.  If all diagnostic results were within normal limits, I would presumptively diagnose an underlying behavioral issue.

Step Four:  Treatment

1.    Be encouraged that your situation should improve as your dog continues to settle into your home.  Try to think about life from her perspective and remove any “stressors”, especially changes to her daily schedule. 

2.    Probiotics, which help normalize the flora in the GI tract, may be beneficial for your dog.  Purina’s FortiFlora, Iams Prostora, or the human products Culturelle, Align, and VSL#3 are all consistently good quality.

3.    Though I typically recommend feeding twice daily, it’s possible that your picky eater might do better eating once per day.  Do not feed free choice ̶ where the food is always available.

4.    Try tough love.  Offer food 2-3 times per day for about 20 minutes per feeding. After 20 minutes, if your dog is not eating, pick up the food until the next meal. I'd also ignore your picky eater for 20 minutes before meals and then lavish praise and attention when she is actually eating.

5.    Sometimes finicky eaters do better with limited ingredient or hypoallergenic diets.

6.    Feed the highest quality diet you can afford.  Palatability can be affected by changing the consistency, texture, and temperature of the food. 

7.    Since she has an affinity for human foods, you could always consider home cooking.  I would only endorse this long term if you were to consult a veterinary nutritionist to custom formulate a balanced recipe for your dog.  Check out http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ucvmc_sd/nutrition/nutrition_faq.cfm and www.balanceIT.com.

Dr. Julie Buzby is a homeschooling mom of seven, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association and International Veterinary Acupuncture Society certified holistic veterinarian, and passionate advocate for canine mobility. She can be found at Twitter @DrBuzby and on Facebook.com/ToeGrips. You'll also find more of Dr. Julie's posts at our Ask the Vet Archives page.

You may also enjoy reading her recent articles:

• 10 Tips for Fido's Longest Life
• Leaner Pets Live Longer
• Ask the Vet Welcomes Dr. Julie Buzby

Dr. Julie's opinion or advice does not replace an actual exam with a veterinarian.

Pet Lovers Win Castor and Pollux Chow

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

photo courtesy Shiloh

This whopper of a giveaway for Castor and Pollux includes Organix and Natural Ultramix foods. The winners will each receive more than 20 lbs. of food, allowing them plenty of chow to transition their pets onto this new diet and see the results for themselves. We invite these winners to visit the Castor and Pollux website instructions for transitioning a pet's food properly, in order to avoid stomach upset and give your pet a good start on his healthy, new chow.

Having just returned from Global Pet Expo, I've been brought up to speed on about 20 new products being released by Castor and Pollux very soon. You'll be thrilled to see USDA organic canned food, a Large Breed version of Organix and Natural Ultramix, grain free Ultramix, and much more. Congratulations to this terrific team for all they have accomplished in the past year. You're going to be impressed with what you see at the pet supply store in the coming months.

Let's get right to the winners. I know you are all excited to see who will receive these terrific prizes. Congratulations to Dawn R., Hannah G., Misty W., Danielle M, Vanessa M., Theresa S., Katie M., Shelley P., Lenny G., Holly R., Tiff A., and Deanna T. You'll each hear from me via my AllThingsDogBlog@gmail.com email account today. Please check your spam file if you have not received an email by this evening, or write to me at the above email address.

Once again, congratulations to all of these lucky winners and enjoy getting your dog started on the road to a truly healthy diet. Best wishes to you all!

More info on Castor and Pollux may be found here:

• Facebook
• Twitter

The prizes in this giveaway were provided by Castor and Pollux as a promotional opportunity. I was not compensated to provide this giveaway for them and the comments included are my own.

Dog Chow: Ages and Stages of Organix

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© C Boyko
Chow Time Mom?

Castor and Pollux is continuing to spread their wings. Organix now has a puppy version for your wiggly-nosed youngster. And if you've got a couch potato on your hands--one that maybe sports a few too many pounds--check out the weight management formula. 


Tanner and Oliver had me out for our daily walk this morning and I was reminded of this ongoing problem of many dogs when we greeted a Chubby Newfie that could have almost passed as a bear. Sweet as he was, I know those extra pounds are not doing him any favors. Watch your dog's weight, based on a chart of average weights for your dog's breed. Ask your vet for advice on his ideal weight. Or do the at-home test.


Looking down at your dog's back, he should have a noticeable waistline. If not, check his ribcage. Can you feel the individual ribs? No? Time to watch Fido's intake and slow down on the treats. Remember that they have more calories than many dog food brands, so it's important to dole them out carefully.


Today I'm launching a giveaway in a big way. Six winners will get to win TWENTY POUNDS of Organix!  You'll be able to choose from puppy, adult, grain-free or weight management--your choice. This is huge, so tell your friends, put up a sign in your yard, or chat it up on Twitter. I'll help with that in the Rafflecopter entry form below. 

© C Boyko
Permission Please?

Entries will be accepted through midnight, Thursday, March 15. Winners will be announced on Friday evening, March 16. There's one more rule, and this one is hard and fast. In order to win, you absolutely must leave at least 1 comment below, according to the instructions in the Rafflecopter. No comment=no win! Good luck to you all!



Full disclosure: The dog food in this giveaway has been provided as a promotional courtesy by Castor and Pollux Pet. There is no purchase required to enter. This giveaway is limited to the U.S. only and is void wherever prohibited.
Helpful Tip:  If you have trouble viewing the Rafflecopter entry form below, simply refresh this post by clicking on the title, and the Rafflecopter form will appear beneath this line: