Vet Q&A-Dog

I have small children and two small dogs with fleas. What should I use that's safe around kids?

Most veterinary approved flea products such as Frontline and Advantage are safe to use around children. If you do use a topical product, be sure to just wash your hands and your children's hands if they pet your dogs around the area that is affected to keep from ingesting any product. If you are concerned about the use of a topical coming into contact with your children, oral products are available direct through a veterinarian. Products such as Capstar are a pill given in oral form that can help kill fleas within 24 hours. For your household, keeping the house clean and vacuumed, washing any affected bedding and keeping your pets on a preventive medication will help to keep the flea population away. DIatomaceous Earth (food grade) can also be used to naturally kill fleas through dehydration, and is not harmful to humans or pets. It can be sprinkled around the environment to kill fleas and flea eggs in it. A simple shampoo of Dawn dish soap and a flea comb can also be used to kill fleas on the body and make them easier to remove without the use of harmful chemicals.

My dog ate stuffing from her pillow and wont stop barfing. Please help :(

Stuffing can act as a gastrointestinal foreign body that results in obstruction of the bowels. If vomiting is persistent, this is a strong indication that there may be either a partial or complete obstruction preventing food and water from moving forward in the GI tract. An abdominal x-ray would be the next best step to determine if your pet has a radiographic abdominal pattern consistent with obstruction. This should be done asap (as in today), because dehydration and irritation/trauma to the GI tract will continue worsening the longer it is present. If there is an obstruction, abdominal surgery may be necessary to remove it. And that's the case, we want your pet to be as stable as possible for the surgery. The longer the delay, the more weak and dehydrated your pet will be, and thus potentially less stable for surgery. In the meantime, I would offer only a small volume of water at a time, to see if your pet can keep it down without vomiting. I wish you both the best of luck!

My male Pit Bull is loosing hair in random spots all over his body. I don't know what to do please help

My concern with K.D. would be a couple of things. Young pit bulls are prone to developing mange, and it often causes random spots of hair loss just like you're seeing. If he's not itchy, it's likely the demodectic variety of mange, which sometimes will resolve on its own if there's just a spot or two. However, if you're seeing multiple locations of hair loss, it's likely he'll need treatment. Sometimes these guys have secondary bacterial skin infections as well which need antibiotics. Unfortunately these things need to be prescribed by a vet, who can also scrape the skin and verify that this is in fact mange. If it's not mange it could be fleas, or possibly a nutritional deficiency, but I'd consider both of those less likely. Get him checked out so that you can get him on the proper treatment.

My puppy has parvo and she had diarreha and it was orange but now its green is that a good sign that shes gettin better and it dosent stink that much?

If your puppy has parvo, it is best to work with your treating veterinarian for care and help. Parvo is a very serious illness that can be potentially fatal and usually requires hospitalization or intensive care for treatment. Diarrhea in parvo can usually be blood-tinged indicating irritation of the digestive tract, or may be greenish in color indicating an increase in mucous in the stool (also a sign of irritation as well as shedding of material in the digestive tract). If your puppy's stool is changing color, it may be in response to the change in his illness or just a sign that his digestive system is still very irritated. It is best to speak with your veterinarian that has seen and is treating him for any further care instructions related to his illness.

My dog has stepped into a small amount of turpentine and is showing discomfort to his paws and is somewhat agitated....what to do?

The toxic effect of turpentine is very similar to petroleum hydrocarbon toxicosis. That is a severe and disease-like reaction that occurs when a dog is exposed to refined petroleum oil products, or ingests products of this type. I would recommend to take your dog to your veterinarian especially if you suspect he may have licked or ingest as well the turpentine. He will be bathed at the hospital, and possibly given topical antibiotics (and antinflammatories or pain killers) to prevent infection of the skin due to irritation. Your veterinarian will assess as well any other lesion that may be present in the oral cavity and tongue.

Hello, my dog gave birth and I was wondering how much a vet checkup after birth is?

Typically this is just a general health exam which ranges based on region anywhere from $45-$70 for mama pet and if you need the puppies examined as well this is an additional exam per puppy. Most places will also offer multiple pet exam discounts, especially for newborns. You can easily get an estimate for an exam from the veterinary hospital you have in mind by giving them a call and inquiring how much an exam costs. As long as your pet doesn't need any additional medications or treatment then this should be the extent of costs expected. Most places will also give an estimate if medications or anything are needed in addition to the exam.

My puppy ate some dried long pine needles this weekend. Her tummy seems to be upset. She has diarrhea. What should I do to ease her tummy?

Withhold food for 12-24 hours. Allow small amounts of water or unflavored PediaLyte. Resume feeding a bland diet (1:1 ratio of plain boiled boneless chicken and plain white rice). Feed in small, frequent amounts waiting at least one hour between feedings. Continue feeding until the stool is normal. Transition slowly to the regular diet. If the diarrhea doesn’t stop, see your veterinarian. Restrict access to pine needles to prevent future episodes of diarrhea.

My dog was vomiting this morning has no appetite no energy and salivating quite a bit. Normal stool. Is this normal?

This is not normal. He may have gotten into something that disagreed with his stomach, eaten something that has irritated his GI tract and/or is causing an obstruction, he may have been exposed to some kind of toxin, just to name a few possibilities. I recommend withholding food for 12-24 hours. This will give the gut a chance to rest. Let him have water, ice cubes to lick if he seems to want to gulp the water. After 12-24 hours, give him a tiny amount of his regular food, and wait for 30 minutes. If he eats it and it stays down, repeat the small amount. If all continues to go well, keep feeding him very small amounts until he has had his normal ration. If, however, he does not want to eat, continues to vomit, develops a fever and/or lethargy, get her in to see your vet or to an emergency clinic right away.

My dog had a clear dripping from his nose and then threw up what looked like stomach bile. This happened twice in a few days. What should I do?

Withhold food for the next 8-12 hours and then start feeding with a bland diet based on boiled chicken and rice in small portion every 6 hours for the following 48hours. I would definitively recommend a veterinary check up if the signs persist or you notice diarrhea, more vomiting, lethargy or inappetence.