from Auntie Ellen on stuff! *IMPT*

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

At 11:36 AM 2/18/01 -0800, you wrote:
I am brining in Ellen here for a talk about parasites: Ellen, please tell
the group about all the dogs that have come into your clinic that were
suspect of having IBD (inflammatory bowel disorder) that actually have
had parasites... Also Ellen please share about your experience of just
switching over your dogs to raw and your up and coming way exciting
litter due when??? Ok so it's "our " litter...
First off, the parasites.
Parasites in puppies are very common, especially roundworms, if any of
you are interested in the specific life cycles and why they are so common
in puppies, please contact me and I will go over them with you. But
essentially, if the mother of the puppies has ever been in contact with
roundworms (and some others) she will pass them on to her puppies.
Roundworms have adapted themselves to lie dormant in adult dogs until
pregnancy, which will reactivate them and thus be passed on to the
babies.
Gina does a great job of keeping up with the parasites while the puppies
are being raised at her house, but it is essential that worming protocols
be continued for at least a couple of months after they go to their new
homes. A lot of veterinarians only worm them twice more, and in reality,
they should be wormed every 2 weeks until they are at least 16 weeks of
age, longer if you have a parasite problem in your environment. It's
important to keep worming them even if you have a negative fecal exams.
Fecal exams are good, but they aren't 100%, and again, a lot of vets
don't de-worm unless there is a reason to do it. Sometimes this is
because it's what they do, and sometimes it is because the client doesn't
want to spend the money.
If parasites such as roundworms or whipworms go untreated, they can cause
any number of problems later on that can be difficult to pinpoint as
being a worm problem. Intermittent diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, poor
skin coat, general unthiftiness, just to name a few, which also happen to
be the symptoms of IBD. A couple of our vets have learned the hard way
that the best thing to do in these cases, before anything else, is a
thorough de-worming protocol. One dog, whose fecals were negative ( a
common thing with whipworms) was diagnosed with whipworms via endoscopy,
an expensive and invasive way to diagnose a parasite problem! If the dog
had been dewormed first, it would have saved the client a lot of
heartache and money. Another was diagnosed with roundworms via a blood
panel. The dog had been not doing well and they took blood, the only
thing out of whack on the panel was the eosinophil count (a type of white
blood cell). When the eosinophil count is high, you suspect parasites or
an allergic response. Again, another expensive way to diagnose parasites.
Remember folks, vets are human and they do miss things sometimes!
However, if your dog isn't doing well, you should, by all means, suggest
de-worming to your vet if he/she doesn't, but don't entirely disregard
their advice either, they may be seeing/suspecting something you
don't..but it is certainly okay to question why they want to do whatever
they have planned. Ask for explanations! A good vet will be happy to
explain it all to you.
As for switching over to a RAW diet. It was a little tough going at
first, I was giving them some RMB's and patty mix. My kids all got
diarrhea...BAD! Then after consulting with Gina, I switched them to
mainly RMB's with a tiny amount of pumpkin and spinach. Worked great,
cleared the icky poops up almost immediately and allowed Gina to live a
little longer...just kidding, I'm thankful to Gina for helping me, but
boy, was I unhappy with all the diarrhea!!! Now they can eat almost
anything without any problems, however I have noticed that if I give them
something new, their stools will be a little softer the next day, not a
problem stool, just a little softer than normal. Reminds me to add new
things *slowly* and in *small* amounts. I've had a little bit of problem
with weight loss, but adding more RMB's seems to be getting the two who
lost a little back to normal. I really believe that my dogs have been so
starved for these nutrients that they need more to make up for all the
lost years. I've also heard from several sources that dogs need more food
than you think in the first little while, but after awhile, they settle
in to the diet and need a little less.
I've very excited about my upcoming Harrier litter. It will be my (okay
our, Gina!) first litter and is due in about 8 weeks. Can't wait to have
baby Harriers! You all think your golden puppies are cute, but there
ain't nothing cuter than a Harrier puppy!
I'm not on the list, so I won't see replies to this unless you send them
directly to me!
Ellen

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Ellen Parr, CVT 
harriers@oregonsbest.com 
www.oregonsbest.com/~harriers
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