ASK THE VET A QUESTION!
This page is made possible because of the generosity of one of our fabulous veterinarians, Dr. Genevieve Keillor. She welcomes your questions; we'll post questions and answers weekly. Feel free to submit questions to sallymcaninch@gmail.com and check back frequently as new questions and answers are posted regularly.
FROM DR. KEILLOR:
Why is my puppy positive for worms when he has already been dewormed?
Dr. Keillor responds: "The most common worms in puppies, hookworms and roundworms, actually reside in other organs of the body besides the intestinal tract before they are mature. This includes organs such as the liver and lungs. So if we administer a medication that kills say 98% of the worms in the intestines, then the juvenile worms, which are often not killed by the medication, then develop and end up in the intestinal tract. This is why we deworm over and over again, and then some more. Most veterinarians do at least two dewormings of a broad spectrum dewormer such as Panacur, Drontal Plus, or Strongid two to three weeks apart. The last batch of puppies I had had so many worms in them that they were pouring out of them for two days after they got the dewormer. I gave them dewormer every week and was amazed at the amount of worms they pooped out week after week."
What about Giardia and Coccidia?
Dr. Keillor responds: "These are protozoal parasites that often flare up with stress. They often do not show up on every fecal test. The giardia may be seen on a fecal flotation with a special salt solution (zinc sulfate) or on the smear if seen by a trained eye. Some laboratory tests or in-house snap tests may also detect the antigen (a chemical they produce) but this may not pick up every strain. Dogs and cats typically get giardia after drinking out of a contaminated water source, such as a dirty puddle. A lot of dogs on the street may have encountered giardia at one point, though I have noticed my own dogs would rather drink out of a dirty puddle than a clean bowl of water any day. I usually use a combination of fenbendazole and metronidazole for 5 days to treat, while giving a bland diet. I also use the oxfendazole and pyrantel tablets for 3 days alternatively."
"Coccidia may be seen on a flotation or smear but I have noticed that if the poop is really watery then it may not always be detectable. The puppies often get it from being around the feces of other dogs, especially in a highly concentrated environment like a shelter or puppy mill. I have seen some of the dogs running on the street have it, especially when they are immunosuppressed. For this I typically use Albon or marquis paste. Coccidia stool often looks yellow in color and mucousy, like honey-mustard dressing. After I having seen this I can never eat honey mustard anything again."
What is a good bland diet?
Dr. Keillor responds: "I usually like to cook up a bunch of brown rice. I like the fiber in it because it actually helps with the diarrhea, as well as giving more of a feeling of satiety. To that I add some very lean organic ground beef with the grease patted off. Then I add some pumpkin. The pumpkin is a prebiotic, which means it helps to set up the beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract. These are super-important for optimal digestion. It is also an intestinal cleanser, has some antiparasitic properties, and contains some trace minerals that are helpful for healing."
"Remember when you have been sick and you wanted to just nibble on crackers and soup? You don't want to overload the stomach with too much at once. I give small meals if the dog is handling it okay (ie. not vomiting and not coming out as liquid stool). As the poop is becoming more normal, I decrease the frequency of meals and increase the meal size. When the poop is nice a tubular, then I gradually start mixing in the dog food. Please note that the bland diet is not a balanced diet--it is deficient in vitamins and minerals, and should only be fed short-term."
"If a dog is having diarrhea then it is a good idea to rest the gastrointestinal tract, ie. let the dog fast for eighteen to twenty four hours, then begin with tiny meals of the bland diet. However, if it is a baby puppy or tiny dog (like my wee little chihuahua who weighs only a few pounds), then I have to be very careful with fasting because the blood-sugar can drop."
"I used to feed the chicken and rice as a temporary bland diet. I still do this for puppies occasionally. However, over the years I have seen so many adult dogs that were sensitized to chicken (and only one to beef) that I avoid the chicken in the bland diet for adults. In fact, I rarely feed chicken at all to adult dogs because of this issue."
You said that probiotics are really helpful. Should I give my dog yogurt?
Dr. Keillor responds: "Do you know those commercials that talk about the Activia challenge? I took that challenge and I totally lost. I was REALLY sick in the gastrointestinal tract. I didn't know it at the time, but I was sensitive to the milk protein in yogurt called casein and could not digest it. Most animals, after being weaned, cannot digest the cow's milk protein. Now some people feed their dogs yogurt all the time and do not notice any problems, but I prefer to go straight to the probiotic itself. You can typically obtain probiotics from a human health food stores. The best ones, I think, are the refrigerated or soil-derived. I usually give a lab-sized dog one half of a human dose and a small dog 1/4 of a human dose. For my own dogs and fosters (except the one that is sensitive to beef), I use a flavored supplement that has a probiotic in it called Nupro Gold (www.nuprostore.com). I give it to them on a daily basis but it is also a great idea to use a probiotic especially after a bout of diarrhea to help re-inoculate the GI tract."
Why is my dog heartworm positive when they have been on heartworm prevention and had tested negative before?
"The occult tests that we have available for heartworms indicate a chemical that is produced by the adult female worms in the heart. It has been said that it takes about three female worms to make the test show as positive. The time from a microscopic heartworm is injected from the mosquito's mouth and into the dog to then becoming adult spaghetti-like heartworm is six months. This means that juvenile heartworms may be hidden in the body and only show themselves on the test by making the chemical months after a negative test."
"Say one of my clients has found a dog and it is testing as heartworm-negative. We don't know if it has been on the heartworm prevention before or not. I tell the client it is a good idea to retest the dog in six months to help make sure no teenage worms (that are not killed by heartworm prevention) have not matured and would then be showing up. Otherwise we retest them in their annual exam the next year. I am actually surprised that this does not happen more often than it does. I have had this occur in my fosters twice in about 300 dogs. However, just about every veterinarian and and rescue group has come across this."
One of my dogs, Pella, is starting to act aggressive with the other one, Allan, especially when they are in their crate. What should I do?
Dr. Keillor responds: "Dogs may wish to have their own space, away from each other at times. I would recommend keeping them in separate crates from here on out. I remember when I was growing up and I had to sit next to my brother Jeremiah on family trips. I love him now, but he was a gross and obnoxious kid and sometimes I just felt like he needed a good slap. Pella may just need about at least a three foot bubble away from Allan."
"With any behavior issue, I always recommend long walks to reinforce the team. Take them both together on a daily "migration" and try to go to novel locations. This is an adventure for dogs that is mentally stimulating, physically exhilirating, and very good for releasing nervous, negative energy. Make sure you are at the front of the group and have a positive attitude. I see this typically lets dogs feel they are part of an important team. This is also what I do especially when I am introducing a new dog into my pack. The most horribly behaved, aggressive dog (he was actually harming the marriage of the people that owned him prior to me) I have ever had turned out to be awesome. It was walking that turned him around. When he had a potential adopter, I told them that he used to bite and draw blood, that my animals hated him and he hated my animals, that he was harming the marriage of the former owners, and that he was the one dog I said I really could not stand at one point. I told them he then turned out to be very loving and wonderful and ended up with canine friends but I was nervous he would revert back to his old nasty ways. They wanted him anyway. The key is that every night Lester (formerly known as Screaming Lester) goes on a mile-long walk with the family and three other dogs. They adore him!"
"Another suggestion I have if things worsen is to call Bark Busters. This is an international group that really helps with behavior issues. I once had a beautiful Lhasa Apso I adopted out that started to become like Glenn Close in the movie "Fatal Attraction". She was becoming extremely possessive of the husband and would not let the wife sit on the couch with him. I called in Bark Busters and they carefully explained things and gave concrete tasks for the owners to perform. It worked beautifully! Also, check out "The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson and "Don't Shoot the Dog" by Karen Pryor. I use these sources along with that of Cesar Milan. I have also heard that Victoria on Animal Planet is incredibly helpful."
What should we feed our dog, and isn't all dog food about the same?
Dr. Keillor responds: "Most of the info I learned about dog food stemmed from research I did because I have had a lot of health problems myself (there is no better way to learn than that!), because I wanted to prevent the dreaded conditions that I have seen in my patients throughout my years of private practice (such as cancer, arthritis, skin disease, diabetes, liver failure, etc.), and because with having 300 fosters over the years I was caring for, I came across a tremendous number of health problems in them. I had to figure out a way to permanently solve those problems so I could get the dogs adopted. I am the veterinarian with any rescue group I have worked with, so of course I was always getting volunteered for the cases in which the dog was falling apart. One such case I had was a great Dane named Kali, who for 5 years went to specialists at a referral center. The owners spent thirteen thousand dollars on her skin!! Then they were getting a divorce and Kali had no where to go. When I saw her, she was missing about 80% -90% of her hair, she smelled like fermenting chili cheese fries and would leave crusts and bloody footprints everywhere she went, she had a 4/6 heart murmur, she could barely walk due to severe arthritis, three inch strings of pus were coming out of every orifice (gross!), she was forty pounds underweight, and oh, yeah, she had urinary incontinence on top of everything else. She was on a whole host of medications, but she was dying. This was a dog that in my opinion needed to be immediately euthanized, but the rescue group had promised the owners they would not allow it. I am so happy to say that as a seven-year old great Dane, Kali is frisky and runs the yard every day, has her hair grown in, murmur is gone (I did not even know this was possible!), the lenticular schlerosis (precataracts) is gone, she is no longer incontinent, and she appears to be getting younger all the time. The only medication she is on is her monthly heartworm prevention. Now if I could only take care of that demand barking she does when she wants something, and she wants it now!"
"There have been more cases since her, but I always want to share things I have learned with my clients and adopters because they work, and I truly had to learn things the hard way. Had I only known these principles years ago I feel I could have truly helped so many more animals."
"First of all, it is very important to avoid corn, wheat, or soy, as these ingredients are not digested well by dogs and tend to promote an imbalance of the proper bacteria in the intestines. The corn, in particular, is also very sugary. This, in turn, can lead to chronic toxicity that promotes skin and gastrointestinal issues, as well as premature aging. The liver and the kidneys are detoxifying organs, but so is the skin. When the skin is dealing with impurities from the inside, it becomes much more susceptible and sensitivities to problems from the outside (ie. allergens). Avoiding these ingredients, though, wards off so many skin and other issues right off the bat."
"Also, try to go low starch as possible in the food. Dogs in the wild don't eat fillers at all. The better carbs are sweet potato, potato, and brown rice, because these typically digest well. We always tell people to look at the first ingredient in dry food and it should be the meat meal. Notice we did not say "meat". Just like us, most of meat is actually water. Once it is cooked and processed and extruded, the meat portion moves way down on the ingredient list, whereas with the meat meal, that is the dehydrated component and a true picture of how much protein is in the food. I always say that canned is preferable over dry, as it is no where near as processed and is much easier for the intestines to extract the nutrients. Frozen or home-prepared is more preferable than canned food. With any food changes, I always recommend a gradual switch, especially initially. One question I often get from my clients is "Aren't their teeth going to go bad with the canned food?" It is the starch that breaks down to sugar in the mouth, that then forms plaque, then tartar. The worst teeth in animals I have ever seen are from those who often have been on nothing but dry food their entire lives. The crunchiness of the dry actually causes the starch to jam up between the teeth spaces, whereas canned food slides on down. I tell people to eat crackers (like Goldfish) and then look between their teeth. Then eat mashed potatoes and check it out. I do feed my dogs canned and even dry food, but I always try to feed them as much fresh or frozen as I can. To be careful, I usually take several weeks to transition the new ones to the fresh."
"Also, try to gradually rotate the proteins. I typically switch our dogs and fosters gradually from something like lamb, to duck, to bison, to fish (then they feel like they are eating cat food!), to venison, etc. This mimics what a dog would do in the wild with migration of prey animals and seasonal changes. This is excellent for the gastrointestinal tract, as it brings in different trace minerals, gives certain enzymes a rest, and also gives our dogs some variety and prevents the intestines from sensitizing to certain ingredients. Imagine if we ate the same sandwich every meal, every day for the rest of our lives. Eventually our bodies would start to reject it (and we sure would get sick of it as well!) So many of the dogs I have fostered tend to have problems with chicken. This is because it is frequently presented to dogs in such a harsh form (coupled with indigestible corn and in by-product form--ie. toenails, beaks, and feathers of chickens). Also, chickens receive so many chemicals, from the time they hatch to slaughter. Furthermore, in the Chinese thinking, chicken is a "hot" protein, and tends to promote more skin and stomach issues."
"My dogs are currently on a homemade raw diet (check out "Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats" by Kymythy Schultze, a quick and easy read that instructs on how to balance a home-prepared natural diet available on Amazon.com). You may wish to also check out "Give a Dog a Bone" by Ian Billinghurst. Several of my dogs have also been on Nature's Variety, an excellent commercial frozen food. We advise adopters to always check ingredients, but you may want to look into such brands as Blue Buffalo, Innova, Wellness, Natural Balance, Pinnacle, Avoderm, Solid Gold, California Natural, Orijen, Nature's Variety, Nature's Logic, Primal, etc. Nature's Domain turkey formula, available at Costco, is an excellent no-grain food. This is from a company called Taste of the Wild and is often marketed at health food stores for pets or high-end feedstores. With any new dog, you may wish to cook up a pot of brown rice and very lean hamburger meat with the grease patted off, then add a little canned pumpkin. This is an extremely bland diet which most dogs can handle an immediate switch to (please note it is not balanced for long-term feeding). Feed for a few days, then gradually mix in the dog food. This is also a nice diet to use if a pet ever has diarrhea and it can help them recover."
"We also use for our dogs and fosters an enzyme supplement called "Nupro Gold", available on the internet (www.nuprostore.com) I stumbled across this product a few years ago and got hooked. I tell all the adopters and clients about it. It has fish oils, antioxidants, probiotics, and enzymes for excellent overall health. It definitely keeps shedding to an absolute minimum. Some other similar products are Prozyme, Viokase, Dynovite (I've heard it's a lot more expensive), etc."
Meet The Vet:
"My name is Genevieve Keillor. I am one of the veterinarians who helps with L.A.B. Rescue. When I was a little child, it was my dream to become a tooth fairy. Then, one day my hopes were dashed when my older brother informed me that they didn’t exist. For awhile my career goals were in limbo until, when I was eight years old, I found out what a veterinarian was. Immediately I knew my calling! I have been trying to learn everything I can about animals and helping them ever since. While I enjoy numerous species, my favorite animals are dogs and cats. I have fostered a few hundred of them and had the honor of learning tremendously. Every animal has been a teacher and a friend, and I am extremely grateful for the ones that have come into my life. I have been practicing as a veterinarian now for 10 years. I’ve worked in private practice and shelters, but I really love my current job, as a surgeon and wellness doctor for Spay Neuter Assistance Program here in Houston. Everyday we educate people about spaying and neutering, which is the answer for the extreme overpopulation predicament. So many homeless animals are in need of homes, and I never want to give up helping them until they have all found their place."