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Old March 2nd, 2017, 03:20 AM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Location: Calgary, Alberta
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Endless Tests - No Answers

Some of you will be familiar with me at this stage as I have posted a number of times about my dog Millie (12+ y.o. spayed female terrier mix). She has undergone extensive testing at this point and I am no nearer to finding a diagnosis that would enable me to help her.
To date hypothyroidism (tested by Dr Dodds), Cushing's, Addison's, mange, ringworm, yeast and vasculitis (by biopsy) have all been ruled out and her results were normal in all tests.
But she continues to lose hair from her ears leaving blackening skin behind (it has worsened since the pictures I have attached were taken), has blackening of the skin on her abdomen like hundreds of flat black spots and has completely lost the hair on her elbows and ankles leaving only black roughened skin behind. She scratches occasionally but not excessively.
She continues to lick vigoursly at her groin/vulva area and its get so bad at times during the night that she can soak the bed down to the mattress with saliva - it is pitiful to see her doing this and be unable to help her I tried attached a picture of her vulva/groin during a licking episode but it exceeded the size limits. It happens during the day often also.
She also had extremely bad breath, which is most apparent when she barks rather than when she licks me. I often have to turn away from her when she barks up at me to ask to go outside to pee/poop and it breaks my heart to do this. The bad breath is all the time and not just after a licking episode.
She occasionally has a mucous around her stool, but not all the time. Her diet is Acana Light and Fit with a homemade topper of chicken/carrot/broccoli cooked in the crock pot with Campbells no salt broth. As a change I give her refridgerated Vital Freshpet beef/bison/blueberry chubbs/tubes for dinner, which she loves.
She is on a 1mg Metacam tablet daily for degenerative disc disease in her back and until very recently was on Clomicalm 20mg as a trial to see if it might calm her licking during the night - it had no effect whatsoever.
Her vet is totally baffled by her and appears to have run out of options on what to do or how to help. There is only one certified veterinary dermatologist in Calgary, where we live, and there is a 6 -8 month waiting list for an appointment
I am at my wits end at this point - I just want to help my dog. She is a rescue from a bad situation and I have had her for 8 years this month. We brought her (and my other dog) with us from Ireland when we moved to Canada four years ago - they both mean the world to us.
I would appreciate any advice, opinions, recommendations or even suggestions on where I could take her to get her some help.
I apologise for the very long post but I feel that the more information I give the more light it may shed on her situation.
Thank you all for reading this.
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Old March 2nd, 2017, 09:48 AM
rhynes rhynes is offline
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Location: edmonton - canada
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Has a synthroid trial been done on the dog?
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Old March 2nd, 2017, 10:13 AM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Calgary, Alberta
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I have never heard that suggested. It sounds like something to do with the thyroid though? Is it a special blood test? I will check it out.
Why do you ask, as a matter of interest? Have you seen this before?
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Old March 2nd, 2017, 10:36 AM
rhynes rhynes is offline
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Yeah, I've seen all this before. Stinky breath (leaky gut) and sausage like stool, you mention poop wrapped in mucous etc. alopecia, itchy (wasn't yeast), lethargy, weight gain...

Jagger had all this and more and we chased vets for 3 years, same old food trial after food trial. i'll never deal with strict western vets again, holistic only from now on as they tend to keep a more open mind with diet and treatments. I kept a list of all symptoms, and they started to fit with hypothyroidism or some adrenal disease. When he started getting aggressive, I knew. A friend is hypothyroid, she gave me a bottle of 75 mcg synthroid that she couldn't use, and I dosed him myself - vets didn't know. Am I recommending this? No. But a short trial won't hurt the dog and it may trigger something else. There is a secondary hypothyroid condition, the thyroid is functioning, but the endocrine system isn't using it properly. Hypothyroid "condition" isn't that easy to diagnose, sometimes it takes a leap of faith.

He was a brand new dog within 2 days. Took him to a new holistic vet who practices all spectrums of vet medicine, she agreed that he should stay on the trial for a few months to stabilize him. Then do all the adrenal testing. Didn't know if he was hypo - but it was a good start. Here's the issue, we've become a pro spay/neuter society and the only reason for it is people being irresponsible. Cut the nuts off a dog before they go through puberty, you're removing the testosterone needed, it's a very important hormone. Common sense dictates the endocrine system will be out of whack - now throw a lifetime of carbs and sugars into the diet...

Jagger was also raw fed. If you chase allergy (rare in dogs) or chronic intolerance (more likely), this is the fastest method to rule them out.

I say was, I had to remove the gf from my life, and I'm no longer allowed to see the dog. So I don't know his status, and it worries me.
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Old March 2nd, 2017, 12:11 PM
Shazanne Shazanne is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 73
What part of Canada are you in?? Is that holistic vet anywhere within reasonable driving distance of Calgary? The reviews on the holistic vets in Calgary that I am seeing online are not very encouraging - although I know these reviews can be unreliable.
I am very interested in the leaky gut possibility as Millie has had a couple of bouts of pancreatitis in her lifetime - not serious or alarming - but they happened.
I am a huge believer in diet addressing most health issues, but I am so overwhelmed at this point that I don't know where to start with her. She liked raw when I tried her on it a couple of years ago - but didn't tolerate it very well long term. She hates plain kibble (which is not a bad thing) which is why I home cook for her and mix this with kibble to try to keep it as balanced as possible, although I realise she may not be getting a correct balance by doing this.
I am so sorry to hear that you have lost contact with your dog - its so sad when this happens and children and animals inadvertently suffer as a result.
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Old March 2nd, 2017, 12:30 PM
rhynes rhynes is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: edmonton - canada
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I'm in Edmonton. I'll send a PM shortly.

The mucus wrapping the stool could be an indication of inflammation in the bowel, the bowel will create additional mucus to protect itself. I believe it's slippery elm thats one of the holistic treatments.

Sounds like you're dealing with a whole list of symptoms, hard to narrow down.


What raw diet did you have the dog on? Been feeding prey model raw for the last 5 years now, I don't do commercially prepared. All his food comes from the grocery store. The diet starts with raw chicken only, then you move to say pork, then to beef. Then you can start feeding organs which are rich. Alot of commercial foods contain organs, and many are too rich to start a dog on.
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