Lisa - her last vaccination was just exactly a month ago. I do not normally do bordatella because my dogs are never boarded, but I was convinced to do it because of the puppy training class I was putting her in. I do not plan to do it again. Before that, her last set of shots was on july 6th. The shots scare me to death. I am not anti-vaccination, but I am well aware of the dangers. Parvo is very bad around here though. I absolutely refuse to do lepto. I am pretty convinced that lepto is what hurt my last shepherd's liver. Interestingly, it was taken out of the multiway shots shortly after he got sick. This was back in 2003 - just about the time when all the vet schools finally switched over to recommmending a 3-year protocol for shots as well.

I do know about milk-thistle. How much do you give? She will be 6 months old next Friday and weights 55 lbs.

This picture is several weeks old and she has become much redder on her tan parts. I really need to do new pics. She had been playing in her pool with Daisy (smooth fox terrier).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/teachum/PICT2673-1.jpg





Edited by Connie Sutherland (08/28/2010 11:13 AM)
Edit reason: change embedded pic to link

I would take my dog to see a holistic vet before I started giving my dog any kind of herbs or holistic meds/rededies. Especially a puppy! You can do allot of damage very quickly with a puppy administoring meds or holistic remedies without proper quidance. There is far to much variation in these unregulated rededies. I would be more inclined to follow a protocal that is set forth by a vet using these rededies on a regular basis & is more knowledgable about the brand products & purities, dosages etc that they would dispense.

I would also redo her bloodwork to be sure there were not any errors before I started treating a problem that actully may be a lab error. JMHO

Anne - I absolutely would not start her on anything like that w/o a good vet who was supportive of that kind of thing. Hopefully, the bile acid test that they ran after the preop blood work will clear things up. I hope to get the results of that today. Meanwhile though, I am going to the food store today to get a higher-quality food.

There are allot of threads here raw diets & high end kibbles. Don't know what you are feeding now or what you would consider as a better food.

Until you find out what is going on with the pup...I maybe wouldn't change anything you are doing right now. If you start changing things you may cause an alteration in the 'vaules' that are being seen in her blood work..maybe for the better & maybe not. I would want to see things stablized before mixing things up. Just a thought.

Good News! The bile acid test came back all good. Whew! He suggested redoing the regular enzymes test in a month or two and that we might find she just naturally reads a little elevated.

Now we just have to get through the spaying ordeal.....

Glad to hear it.

I just switched my dogs from wellness core to Acana which is made by the same company as Orijen. I am totally in love with this kibble and my dogs stools are small and dry quickly. I have 5 dogs and of those five 4 have allergy issues and they did well on Core Wellness but in acutality the Acana is 10 bucks cheaper and 100 times better.

Aww, Wet doggie!!!
I love the look of a wet dog. She's pretty.

On second notice, does she have a sunburn or an irritated patch on her nose? Or am I seeing her coloring wrong?

Such sweet eyes.....

Yes - I think she had been rooting around in the dirt down by a big tree. I have wondered about sunburn also. Is there sunscreen for doggie noses?

When I used to ride a white-nosed horse, I used baby sunblock on him and it worked quite well. I figured if it was gently enough for a baby, it should be safe for a horse. Not sure about a dog though it should be ok.