Q. Our 20 lbs corgi we think got bit by a bee we think the vet gave it a shot of Benedryl and steroids know it has been vomiting the last 3 tim…

ANSWER : A. It can be connected with bee sting or steroid injection. Try to starve him for 12-24 h then give boiled chicken and rice in small portions every 3 h. If he will be still vomiting, you will notice blood in vomits or he will become lethargic see a vet

ANSWER : A. It’s all about management. Do not allow the 7yo’s to interact with your 14yo unsupervised. You should be there each time they interact so you can redirect the 14yo’s attention onto some toys, or onto some treats when the 7yo’s are around. It sounds like you need to help your 14yo make positive associations with being around the younger pups. You should be trying to feed him treats each time he interacts with them, and doesn’t snap at them. Pet and praise him each time he is around them, or any time they are near. As I said, keep the separated when you cannot supervise their interactions because if you aren’t around when he is snapping at them, you could end up with a fight on your hands.

It could also be that they spend too much time together. Imagine spending 100% of your time with somebody, day in and out, doing everything together… including going to the bathroom.. that might bother anybody. I think you should give them more time apart from each other. Take them all on separate walks, separate them to play with them individually, separate them when you take them to potty, separate feeding times in separate rooms, etc. This can help alleviate the stress your older dog is feeling due to living closely with other dogs. You should always be giving individual activities in a houseful of dogs anyway.. when you expect them to get along 100% of the time, that’s when you find trouble.

ANSWER : A. Do you live in a region where fleas are prevalent. Where I live the fleas are truly horrible, and I see many animals developing a flea allergy. This usually presents as relentless itching especially at the base of the tail, although it can be all over the body. Often on exam I won’t find a single flea, just red bumps, hair loss and itching. In response, I will start animals on an oral steroid such as prednisone (I think your doctor has administered an injectable steroid), while at the same time bathing the animal and starting on an oral flea preventative such as Comforts which I then re dose at 3 weeks instead of 4. Additionally, the environment needs to be decontaminated- flea bombing the house, vacuuming often and washing bedding on hot. The flea life cycle is short, however, so this needs to be one frequently as they will just continue to hatch in your home. Most importantly, I tell my clients, that any steroid (oral or injectable) does not fix the problem, but rather suppress your dogs reaction to it thereby making them more comfortable. Just the steroid alone changes nothing except giving them a brief break from their symptoms.

Now that I have spoken in depth about flea allergy, there is a potential that it is something else. Food allergies are slow to develop, and slow to change. If you wanted to eliminate a potential food allergy I would switch to a novel protein, limited ingredient diet. For example, lamb as the protein source if your previous food was always chicken or beef, and in a formula with very limited ingredients such as lamb, rice and veggies. A pet store should be able to help you with this. While on this diet they cannot have any additional treats for 1 month, to see if you have eliminated the allergy. From an Eastern Medical perspective, I also recommend novel proteins that are “cool”, such as fish, lamb, or duck while avoiding “warm” foods such as beef, chicken, pork.

Finally, all animals with allergies should be on an Omega 3 supplement. Given regularly, this can help reduce overall inflammation in the body both in the skin, joints, and other tissues. Good for allergies, arthritis and overall health. My dogs are on fish oils, but one of my dogs who is allergic to fish gets flax oil instead. I would be happy to consult with you further, but I hope this helps to some degree.

ANSWER : A. It really depends how many cookies and wraps he ate, if he ate a lot and these cookies contained chocolate as well, i would strongly advise taking him to the vet in order for him to get an injection that will induce vomiting immediately.

If he only ate a couple, without any chocolate in it, i would advise monitoring his appetite, vomiting and diarrhea (it could be normal if has those 1-2 times but not more). if he doesn’t seem himself take him to the vet, otherwise the plastic papers will probably pass in the poo.

ANSWER : A. Sounds like you’re saying your dog gets itchy and loses hair at the same time every year? And that steroids were tried and didn’t help? Certainly sounds like allergies, but if steroids didn’t help I’d have to wonder if maybe she wasn’t getting fleas. Has your vet tried putting flea killing products on her, or do you use a monthly flea preventative?

If it’s not fleas, and steroids didn’t help AT ALL (and I put that in caps because sometimes there are allergies that don’t completely resolve with steroids alone) then I’d consider a biopsy of the site to see if she has something unusual like cyclic flank alopecia, which responds to melatonin treatment.

ANSWER : A. If the lesions clear up with a steroid shot, that would imply to me that this is a disease that has to do with the immune system. Steroids suppress the immune system, and prevent it from reacting. Typically in animals with auto-immune diseases the immune system is either reacting too forcefully to something that it should basically ignore (allergies) or attacking its own tissues for reasons we don’t understand.

It’s possible that your cat had fleas at one point and unfortunately now has an allergy to fleas. Cats with this problem will react significantly to even one flea bite, because of the allergy. So not only must the cat be continually protected against fleas (with a monthly product to repel them) we must also manage the allergic disease. This means immuno-suppression like she’s already gotten in the form of a steroid shot. Under almost 99% of circumstances I don’t recommend these long-acting steroid shots due to severe side effects with chronic use. There are many other safer alternatives in the form of oral medications that can be used.

She could also have allergies to something other than fleas – something in the environment or something in her food. It’s worth trying a trial of a hypoallergenic food in order to see if the condition improves.

If a food trial fails, and if managing the disease as if she was allergic ultimately doesn’t provide complete relief, then the area needs to by biopsied in order to obtain an exact diagnosis, and treat appropriately.

ANSWER : A. How long has he been doing this? Ongoing vomiting (>2 weeks) warrants a vet visit, but if it’s a one-off, or happens very infrequently then it could be due to something he ate disagreeing with him. Is he is bright, alert and happy in himself I would monitor him, start keeping a vomit journal (seriously) of when he vomits, how much, what the vomit was like, what he was doing before and any other notes. This will be really useful for your vet if it requires further investigatoon. You can also try bland food – boiled chicken and white rice – in small amounts on his vomit days to give his tummy a rest. Withhold for 8h after a vomit and reintroduce the bland diet in small, frequent meals.

ANSWER : A. If the pus really isn’t all that bad, and it’s just some discharge, your pup may benefit from a diet change. It could be that the food you’re feeding just isn’t right for your dog, and that’s okay! Dogs grow and change over time, and now that your dog is fully matured, a diet change may be in order. Try something like Taste of the Wild, maybe a grain free dog food, Orijen, or Ziwipeak. These are all really great food options.

If the pus is really bad, and continues to get worse, see your vet again and let them know what’s going on. Maybe you could try a diet change, and then see if there are any improvements.

Remember, you should always gradually change a dogs diet. By gradually, I mean you put a tiny bit of new kibble in with a bowl of the old kibble. Reduce the old kibble by just a few bits of kibble. Throughout the course of at least two weeks (or as long as you want depending on whether or not you want to finish off the old food) you slowly add more of the new kibble while removing some of the old kibble. This makes the process gradual, and won’t cause any tummy-upset in your dog.