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Lab/hound puppy with chronic illness

Lola is an 11month old lab/hound mix. On May 10th she started sniffling and sneezing. Over a few days she developed hives on her snout, swollen glands under her arms, and congestion. After two weeks of cephalexin the hives went down, as well as her swollen glands. However, she became extremely lethargic, loss of appetite, weight loss, and hair loss/skin lesions. She was then started on a two week dose of doxy followed by two weeks of zenaquin. she has lost over 6lbs and was only 35lbs to begin with. She was just put on another two weeks of zenaquin. Her blood tests revealed high WBC, low RBC, and low T4. It is now about two months from the start of her symptoms and she is still very sick with little improvement from the meds. She is extremely lethargic, very achey, some refusal to eat, mucus secretions, pale discoloration of nose and mouth, continual loss of hair, and rapid heart beat. In all honesty, I don't think the vets have a clue as to what is causing this. I have had three opinions thus far. I feel completely helpless and so sad for poor Lola. Any insight is greatly appreciated!
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462827 tn?1333168952
Melinda...I started w/food because alot of the symptoms you listed (Hives, congestion & throat irritation) are allergy symptoms....Did they subside when you started homecooking....Since the antibiotic doesn't seem to be helping, I feel the hives left when you no longer fed the Beneful....Did the other symptoms subside, also?

Has your dog been throughly checked for parasites? Your dog's anemia could be caused by parasites...Along w/some other of the symptoms you spoke of.....They can also cause the nose/mouth discolor.....Example below:

Hookworm Symptoms in Dogs
By Christine Bryant

Hookworms are parasites in the intestines that can present health risks for dogs.
dog image by Ramona smiers from Fotolia.com Although hookworms are small parasites, typically measuring less than an inch in size, they can present big problems for dogs. According to Safe Guard for Dogs, adult hookworms attach themselves to the dog's intestinal tract with hooklike mouthparts, feeding on large amounts of blood. If left untreated, this can lead to severe health problems in your pet, including anemia and even death.

Visible Symptoms
Although hookworms, also known as Uncinaria, reside in the intestinal tracts of a dog, they can affect other parts of a dog's body. Dogs with hookworms typically become anemic as the number of red blood cells in the dog's body is reduced. Signs of anemia include a discolored nose or tongue, pale gums in the mouth, dry skin and hair loss. Rashes may also develop on the skin, causing painful itching and discomfort.

Other symptoms of dogs with hookworms include significant blood loss, weight loss and the failure to grow at the normal rate.

Changes in Bowels
Diarrhea and vomiting are two common symptoms of hookworms in dogs. If the dog is not experiencing diarrhea, it instead may have a hard stool that appears black in color. Occasionally, hookworms are visible in the stool. They typically are thin as a thread and less than an inch in length. More often, veterinarians have to send away a stool sample to a laboratory, where lab technicians look for hookworm eggs in the feces.

Behavioral Changes
Dogs with hookworm also will exhibit behavioral changes, including acting lethargic, tired and less active than normal. Each dog has a different activity level, so if you notice a difference in energy level in your dog, contact your veterinarian. Dogs also may begin to develop a cough, which could be a sign of pneumonia. Dogs with hookworm can develop pneumonia if the larvae of the worms moves toward the lungs.
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I also think this still sounds alot like a Tick Borne Disease...If the test they ran was an Inhouse Snap Test, they are notorius for false negatives....That's why I wondered if she got any better after being on the Doxy for awhile.... It's used to treat most Tick diseases..

The low T4 is still something to look into to as these symptoms also sound like Hypothyroidism....It wouldn't hurt to try the replacement drug for a month or two and see if she responds to treatment.....

My Holistic Vet also only uses Michigan State U for Thyroid testing.....My reg. Vet does not!

ANother thing: The antibioic (Zenaquin) can have side effects on it's own...Such as Upset stomach & Nausea...You might ask about Pepsid for your dog while shes on antibiotics....If this Antibiotic is anything like the Human version (Levaquin), it has been connected to serious Joint pain as a side effect.....

If her food bowls are plastic, dogs can become allergic to them....Only use Stainless steel or glass....

One last warning: Do not let your Vet talk you into Vaccines while she is this ill! Just refuse them or she could have a serious side effect...Possibly Fatal!

If she had picked up a poison somewhere, it would have showed up in the bloodwork as Liver/Kidney damage....So, it's not that!

Anyway, good luck and please keep us posted on her...I sure hope you get to the bottom of her illness......Take care & I wish you both well.....Karla



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Avatar universal
Thank you so much, Karla and Margot. I will look into switching the food. The only hesitation I have as to why Benefuls can not be the source is because 1. My other dog has been eating benefits since she was a puppy, three years ago and is very healthy and 2. Lola has not eaten Benefuls for well over a month now. When she had the decline in appetite I switched to wet food of a different brand and have been home cooking her food for 3+ weeks now.

Her stools have appeared normal, though more recently I've noticed whole pieces of potatoes, veggies, etc. As if she is not absorbing the food. Could this be in relation to a substantial loss in the necessary gastrointestinal bacteria because of the long term antibiotics?  The stools seem to be consistent with the texture of the food she has that day - wet food is a softer stool and a meal of rice and beef results in a harder stool. Since I've added in the synovial joint support supplement powder that my vet prescribed she had runny stools and has now refused to eat anything with the powder mixed in.

Margot - the T4 value was low, but a T3 was not run. Tick borne disease panel was run as well and came back normal.

Thank you again!  I sincerely appreciate your time and help!
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
This one is from Petfoodratings.net:

Purina Beneful

Review:
Beneful has enjoyed quite the reputation in pet food circles among those who may not really know what's in pet foods. If a person is asked what food they feed their dog, and the response is "Beneful", it's probably a good bet that often the people will respond positively due to the ad campaign and the packaging. But does it hold up when the label is looked at?? Let's see....

Well, no. Actually it's downright terrible. Corn is an awful ingredient for dog foods, and yet it occupies the first and third places in the list. The main animal protein source is by-products, which are the lowest quality parts of the animal (heads, beaks, feathers, feet, etc) and wouldn't be fed by us directly to our animals ever. They use wheat, even though I am sure they are very aware that this is the top cause of food allergies in dogs and is NOT a nutritionally sound inclusion. They also attempt to rectify this by using rice, but they're using rice FLOUR, which takes away a lot of the value of it. If they'd used whole grain rice, credit would have been in order.

By the time they throw in "beef" as the 7th ingredient, it's too late. A real meat source should be FIRST for dogs, not SEVENTH. Not only that, note how high sugar is on the ingredient list. Sugar shouldn't even be listed on a label, but for it to make the top 10 is certainly a bad sign. Added salt coming right after it is a doubly bad sign. Your dog doesn't need the extra sodium (or sugar). They're only put in there b/c it wouldn't taste good enough otherwise.

So if you put it all together, it's just a disaster. I'd go as far as to say it's hardly even better than Dog Chow, and that's quite a statement. Save your money.

What's good about this food....
Not much of anything.

....and what's not so good.
Widespread use of corn, by-products are top animal protein, wheat is a top grain as well, sugar is high on ingredient list, animal digest is used, many artificial colors.

Ingredients: 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, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, salt, phosphoric acid, animal digest, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium carbonate, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, copper sulfate, biotin, garlic oil, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.


Review:
Beneful has enjoyed quite the reputation in pet food circles among those who may not really know what's in pet foods. If a person is asked what food they feed their dog, and the response is "Beneful", it's probably a good bet that often the people will respond positively due to the ad campaign and the packaging. But does it hold up when the label is looked at?? Let's see....

Well, no. Actually it's downright terrible. Corn is an awful ingredient for dog foods, and yet it occupies the first and third places in the list. The main animal protein source is by-products, which are the lowest quality parts of the animal (heads, beaks, feathers, feet, etc) and wouldn't be fed by us directly to our animals ever. They use wheat, even though I am sure they are very aware that this is the top cause of food allergies in dogs and is NOT a nutritionally sound inclusion. They also attempt to rectify this by using rice, but they're using rice FLOUR, which takes away a lot of the value of it. If they'd used whole grain rice, credit would have been in order.

By the time they throw in "beef" as the 7th ingredient, it's too late. A real meat source should be FIRST for dogs, not SEVENTH. Not only that, note how high sugar is on the ingredient list. Sugar shouldn't even be listed on a label, but for it to make the top 10 is certainly a bad sign. Added salt coming right after it is a doubly bad sign. Your dog doesn't need the extra sodium (or sugar). They're only put in there b/c it wouldn't taste good enough otherwise.

So if you put it all together, it's just a disaster. I'd go as far as to say it's hardly even better than Dog Chow, and that's quite a statement. Save your money.

What's good about this food....
Not much of anything.

....and what's not so good.
Widespread use of corn, by-products are top animal protein, wheat is a top grain as well, sugar is high on ingredient list, animal digest is used, many artificial colors.

Ingredients: 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, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, salt, phosphoric acid, animal digest, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium carbonate, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, copper sulfate, biotin, garlic oil, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are others if you want to look yourself:

DogfoodAnalysis.com
Dogfoodscoop.com
DogfoodChat.com
411-for-dogs.com

I'll be back with other suggestions.......Karla
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
The rest of that one..Part 2:

Beneful Dry Dog Food…
The Bottom Line

What an awful collection of agricultural waste and non-nutritious chemicals. Beneful Dog Food has the rather dubious distinction of being one of the lowest quality dog foods we’ve yet reviewed.

Just the same, we still need to estimate the meat content of this product before determining a final rating.

Protein content averaged 30% for the whole line. Fat was an anemic 12% for the group.

Moderate protein. Low fat. And above-average carbohydrates (as compared to a typical dry dog food).

When you consider the influence of the inferior protein-enhancing corn gluten meal, this is the profile of a kibble containing only a limited amount of meat.

Plus it’s difficult to ignore the unusual abundance of so many Red Flag ingredients.

Yet to be fair, the package and the website are truly exceptional. Beautiful, actually. A marvel of modern marketing.

You know, it’s a real shame Beneful’s quality never approaches the quality of the bag it comes in.

Bottom line?

Beneful Dog Food is primarily a grain-based kibble using a limited amount of chicken by-products meal as its main source of animal protein… thus earning the brand an unfavorable one star.

Not recommended.

Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
Hi Melinda...I agree w/everything Margot wrote....I'm starting with your food....This one is from DogfoodAdvisor.com..I will have to split it up as it contains more than 8000 characters....Next will be Part 2:

Beneful Dog Food (Dry)
by Mike Sagman

Rating:

Beneful Dog Food dry formula earns the Advisor’s lowest rating of one star.

Currently, the Beneful Dog Food product line includes six kibbles… four designed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages, one for growth and one for maintenance.

Beneful Original
Beneful Playful Life
Beneful Healthy Harvest
Beneful Healthy Radiance
Beneful Healthy Weight Formula
Beneful Healthy Growth for Puppies
Beneful Dog Food Original Formula was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.

Beneful Original
Dry Dog Food

Ingredients: 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, sugar, propylene glycol, meat and bone meal, tricalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, salt, water, animal digest, sorbic acid (a preservative), potassium chloride, dried carrots, dried peas, calcium propionate (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, Vitamin B-12 supplement, 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.

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.7%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients. There are 18 Red flags in this food.

The first ingredient in this dog food is corn. Now, contrary to what you may have heard, corn isn’t necessarily a bad ingredient.

On the other hand, although there’s no way to know for sure here, the corn used in making many pet foods can be similar to the kind used to make feed for livestock.

And that can sometimes be problematic.

What’s more, corn is commonly linked to canine food allergies1.

For these reasons, we rarely consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.

The second item is chicken by-product meal… a dry rendered product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of a slaughtered chicken after all the prime cuts have been removed.

In a nutshell, chicken by-products are the unsavory and inedible leftovers deemed “unfit for human consumption”.

This stuff can contain almost anything… feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs… you name it.

On the brighter side, by-product meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The third item is corn gluten meal. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once corn has had most of its starchy carbohydrate (the good stuff) washed out of it.

Compared to meat, glutens are inferior grain-based proteins low in many of the essential amino acids dogs need to sustain life.

This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein content reported in this dog food.

The fourth ingredient is wheat four. Wheat is another problematic grain subject to the same issues as corn (previously discussed).

The fifth ingredient is animal fat. Animal fat is a generic by-product of “rendering”… the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals.

Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this stuff could come from almost anywhere… restaurant grease, slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle… even euthanized pets.

Needless to say, generic animal fat is not a quality ingredient.

The sixth item is rice flour. Rice flour is made from either white or brown rice and is considered a gluten-free substitute for wheat flour.

The seventh ingredient is beef. Raw beef contains about 80% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost… reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably occupy an even lower position on the list.

The eighth ingredient is soy flour… a high-protein by-product of soybean processing.

Compared to meat, soy protein has a notably low biological value. Yet it is still capable of raising the protein content of this food.

The ninth ingredient is sugar… always an unwelcome addition to any dog food. Sugar has a high glycemic index which means it can unfavorably raise the blood sugar level of any animal soon after it is eaten.

This Beneful dry dog food product contains the controversial food moisturizer, propylene glycol. Propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA for use in making cat food.

Yet it can still be found in mostly lower quality dog foods.

Meat and bone meal is a dry “rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents”.2

Meat and bone meal has a lower digestibility than most other meat meals.


What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. It doesn’t even specify the source animal.

Even though meat and bone meals are still considered protein-rich meat concentrates, we do not consider a generic ingredient like this a quality item.

Animal digest is a chemically hydrolyzed concoction of unspecified body parts… from unspecified animals. This product is usually sprayed onto the surface of a dry kibble to improve its taste.

We’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any dog food.

Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you… not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his kibble is?

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.

With four notable exceptions…

First, garlic oil may be a controversial item. We say “may be” here because we are not certain of the oil’s chemical relationship to raw garlic itself. Although the majority of experts favor the ingredient for its numerous health benefits, garlic (in rare cases) has been linked to Heinz body anemia in dogs.4

However, the limited professional literature we surveyed provided no definitive warnings regarding the use of garlic… especially in small amounts (as it is here).

Next, we find no mention of probiotics… friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.

Thirdly, we note the minerals here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.

And lastly, this Beneful dog food product contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

Helpful - 0
974371 tn?1424653129
A young dog to be having so many problems. I'm sorry for you and her.
Hate to say it, but the food you are feeding is not of the best quality.  I would suggest you switch to another food and, like I often do, add a good cooked food to the kibble. I've had good results with the Natural Balance food and suggested my daughter try the Blue food with her dog and she has noted a marked improvement.
Reading the test results you do have, I would ask that a panel be done for tick borne diseases and probably a T3 and T4.  If I remember correctly (it's been a while) I used to have my Vet send them out to Michigan State for analysis. Also, in regards to thyroid, a good contact is Dr. Jean Dodds at Hemopet in So. Calif.
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
Another question: What does his stools (PooP) look like? Soft, hard, loose, stringy, etc.
What is the color? Black, brown, white, red, orange, yellow, etc.....Anything odd?
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
Melinda...I have alot of info. to relay to you.....I have to be somewhere for awhile, but will get back w/you when I can....Hang in there....I think we can resolve this!    Karla
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Avatar universal
I meant weight LOSS not gain - she hasn't been gaining any weight at all even with additional feedings and a more fatty, high protein diet. She has lost alot of muscle mass and is very thin!  

Also, I only walk her on days that she seems up to it. And only as much as she will go.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you for your response!

In all three treatments she showed progressive improvement over the first four days or so then began to slump back down again. Some days she seems to be improving and then the next day she seems awful again...there has not been any consistent improvement.  

The rest of her bloodwork was all normal. I only listed those that were flagged. She has been eating and drinking from the same bowls since I adopted her in December, as well as my other dog. Both dogs have always eaten Beneful Playful Life. About a cup and a half twice daily with several mile jogs every other day. Ofcourse, since she has been ill we haven't been jogging and have only been having short walks to the park several times per week. It seemed as though the dry food was irritating her throat when she first got sick so I started mixing bite sized dry food with wet and she had been eating it more easily. When she started to have a loss of appetite and weight gain I fed her homecooked meals of ground beef, rice, potatoes, and mixed vegetables - as much as she will eat throughout the day. This has been for about three weeks now.

The only other details I can offer is that a few days before she got sick we walked through a wooded trail in Philadelphia where both dogs were not on a leash and meandered through the bushes and such. I also found a tick on her the next day, though her Lymes test was normal. My other dog has not shown any sign of illness at all and they are very close - sleep together, clean each other, etc. So I'm assuming that whatever it is is not contagious. I offered the suggestion of allergies to my vet, but she didn't think it was. She diagnosed her first with a bacterial infection, then lower respiratory, then pneumonia.

I really appreciate your help!  It's so disheartening to see her not able to be a playful puppy!  She won't even do the stairs anymore and I haven't seen her run in the longest time!
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
Hi Melinda & welcome....
I'm thinking about all this....Let me ask..Think back.... Did she get any better while just on the 2 weeks of Doxycycline? Maybe a few days toward the end of the 2 weeks? ANy days in there that you saw improvement?

Some of this sounds like an allergy, too.  And a severe one at that!  Let me know anything else you can think of...

Was the rest of her bloodwork alright? Kidneys & Liver Enzymes?
What does she eat & drink out of? What kind of bowls?
What does she eat?  Has she always eaten the same food?  Thanks, Karla
Helpful - 0
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