chihuahua swollen toes

Question
QUESTION: I would like to know  of a natural treatment for swollen toes.  My chihuahua is 17 months old.  There is a long story with her history of problems.  I would like to concentrate on this one first and then i will give you her history so you can see the bigger picture.  She licks all 4 paws constantly.  Now im using socks and wrapping lightly to keep them on which is working.  I soak her feet once a day for 10 minutes in salt luke warm water.  There is some redness on one or two toes.  I don't see any pus coming out.  I have been giving her dandelion root a little each day as a diuretic.  Would like dosage and how many times per day with food i feed her 2x a day.  She is 3.7 pounds.  Vet wanted to keep her on long term antibiotics.  She was on Zeniquin for a short time and it made her have diarrhea and noticed a little bleeding.  She is off of it and it didn't help her any.  I would prefer a natural alternative unless there is a better antibiotic to help it and that it will not return.  Is there such a thing out there in medicine?  Or after stopping antibiotics will it just return?  I need alot of help with her with natural treatment so please stay with me until i can work some things out to help her.  Otherwise is just back and forth to the vet and its killing me financially.

ANSWER: Hi Annie
I am somewhat concerned the vet didn't find a cause for her swollen toes.
I would think that she has an intolerance to either her diet or something in her environment which can be anything from carpet freshener to smoke inhalation. I would start her on a natural diet for the next 6 to 12 weeks bland feed first like chicken and boiled carrots, give her lots of fish oils in her diet so use oily fish daily and ground oatmeal.
I would bathe her feet and body in neem oil shampoo this can be bought from most pet shops now and do this twice weekly and allow to dry naturally.
Do not use any commercial diet for her at all and do not smoke around her or use any scented products not even those designed for dogs like scented shampoos or colognes. Bath her coat if she uses one is just warm water and nothing else.
I would use colloid of silver in her water say 1/4 tspoon daily for 6 weeks. I would stop all other medications immediately until we can find if this is which I suspect and intolerance.
Daily dose of oily fish is 100g per day every day
mashed carrots 3 tablespoons
Ground oatmeal is 1 tblespoon daily with her fish.
Chicken give her 50 g daily
you may even give er boiled mashed potatoes with some butter but NO MILK or CREAM.
Keep me updated on her progress

kaza


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Dogs skin   QUESTION: I didn't go into the other informtion because it is long.  The vet said she had pemphigus fol without any tests.  She was on prednisone for over 2 months which helped but then she was gaining too much weight and always hungry and drinking alot causing her to swell up.  I was weaning her off the prednisone while she was on Dr. Harveys grain food for 2 weeks and she broke out in pustules all over making her skin with no hair now super dry like crusty fish scales.  I had this to deal with for weeks and now it has calmed down to smoother skin.  I use no carpet freshners and nobody smokes.  She is in my bed most of the time.  And now the feet is covered because she would lick them constantly like she made her tail bald.  She does has sinus problems because you can hear it.  She also has anal gland trouble since 4 months old.  So i have to choose wisely when buying food.  She is currently on canned Natural Balance chicken and sweet potato limited ingredients and holistic blue buffalo dry wilderness chicken no grain (dry) I have to syringe feed her because she would not eat sometimes and that causes her to lose weight rapidly so i have to try to maintain her weight. I need the right food to keep those stools normal.  I don't want her on prednisone.  She gets primrose oil, olive and fish oil and different times.  Do you want me to take her off the dry food if i do it may effect her and give her soft stools.  Here is a list of her symptoms could you tell me if you think she is hypo or hyperthyroid and if their is anything i can add to help this.  Not much appetite, swollen toes, had sores around mouth (cleared up) dryness around eyes you can almost peel them.  Lethargic, shaky always under covers, feels hot all of the time no heat cycle.  Dryness on ears and on snout.  Her skin looks so much improved but still has some dry areas along the edges but no hair regrowth.  Her nails don't look like normal dog nails.  They look funky looking.  You can ad or change the above what you said to try on her.  Right now i would like to concentrate on fixing the swelling of the toes.

ANSWER: Hi
Yes I think removing from the dry feed is essential to her recovery and sooner rather than later.
Prednisilone will make her eat and drin more but it will also expose her to the onset of cushings for the future and frankly vets use this far too readily before trying a natural alternative.
Her stools may be come softer for a few days but in the long term will harden and thus assist her anal gland issue for which I would use fibre tablets or benefiber in her drinking water at a rate of 2 tsp daily for 6 weeks then 1 tsp daily for life.
the use of apple in her diet will stop any gut issues if the apple is prepared as follows : prick the skin of a sweet apple like pink lady, place in microwave for a few mins until softens, remove cool and then mash into a pulp. Serve daily at between 2 -3 tspoons do this for at least 6 weeks.Give her mashed carrots and oatmeal with oily fish in tins is fine daily for her skin. I would also give her 500mg salmon oil daily in capsule form for life for that skin issue.TO keep her stools normal on the harder side the use of bones she can chew is essential but if you feel that you cant give her those I would use bonemeal in her diet daily up to 1 tblespoon. She does not ever require grains or rice the dog cannot digest these and they complicate a dogs digestive tract.The use of neem oil shampoo will calm skin and soothe the rawness you see, it will also stop and prevent pustules from coming so often,it will clear bacteria from the skin and help regenerate the outer layers of skin once they feel like they are healing, this will take up to 6 months use but you should see a remarkable difference within 4 weeks if not sooner.
The only diet this dog require is oily fish, carrots, potatoes mashed, real meat and meaty bones,apple, cranberries spinach ,garden peas , green beans,probiotic yoghurt, she can also have weekly a tspoon of manuka honey.Ground oatmeal daily.
If you can get into a routine of preparing feed weighing 180g then split this into how many meals you want her to have its easier and remember these can be frozen.

Good luck
kaza

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QUESTION: can you be more specific on what you mean by real meat?  which kinds? raw or cooked?  please let me know all she can have for variety and do i change the type by weekly.  ground oatmeal do you mean the kind people eat likt quick oats? by quaker? Is this a grain?  I want to thank you and i will try all of these things.  She also gets cloudy in the eyes any remedy for this condition?  Sinus troubles.

Answer
Cloudy eyes can be resolved with eyebright and lutein supplements they can be bought togather from most health shops. This can be age related or indeed a macular disorder either way these two supplements are the best for eye issues in both dogs and humans.

Meat can be raw or warmed through like venison, duck, lamb lamb mince, quality beef steak, pork, chicken turkey, I would also give her plenty of oily fish in her diet for her skin issues. In fact I would concentrate on these for quite some time.
Butternut squash, pumpkin and potatoes are a great source of vitamins, fibre and carbohydrates for all dogs, but remember the diet should be majority protein and few carbs. Dogs require meat in their diets its just how they are made.

Hugs
Kaza