Question: I Have A Mixed-breed Dog Common Here In El Salvador. Don't Know Her Origins Or Her Parents. I Got Her From A Market Stall And I Have A Feeling She Has Chromosomal Probs. She Was Fine During Her Pregnancies. The 1st Litter, When She Was 10 Mos. And Unplanned, Was 8 Pups But Only Had 7 Working Teats And Though They Seemed Full Of Milk, They Turned Out To Be Full Of Inflamed And Edematous Breast Tissue. 2nd Pregnancy, At 2 Yrs. And Again, Unplanned, Was Similar But W/ A Smaller Litter. Again The Swollen Teats W/ Little Milk. She's Now 3 Yrs Old And Recently Spayed. She's Had Several Episodes Of Random Glandular Inflammations Since She Was About 3 Mos. Old, The Mammary Issues, And Now Skin Issues. In Random Spots On Her Skin She's Now Developed Some Patches, Rough, Almost Black And They Raise And Sort Of Flake Off As They Grow. Their Diameter Is From About .5cm Diam To About 1.5cm And They Get To Be About .5cm High (the One On The Tip Of One Ear). Her Immunizations, Including Rabies And Deworming Are All Up To Date. She Eats Kibble Exclusively And Had Normal Deliveries W/ No Still-born Or Pup Death. Never Any Unexplained Weight-loss, Hearing Or Sight Issues. However, She's Had Some Choking-like Episodes When She Got Over-excited And Some Sort Of Inflammation Up And Down Her Throat Which Went Away Spontaneously During That Same Time, At About 6 Mos. Of Age, Possibly Related According To My Vet. After Her Recent Spaying (3 Mos. Ago) She Had A Buried Stitch, Which Was Removed, But A Small "squishy" Lump Grew Just Above Where The Incision Was Made. This Was Just Before Dec And My Vet's Vacation So The Lump Had A Chance To Grow. It Stayed "squishy" But Elongated From About 1cm Diam To About 5cm Long X .5cm Wide. It Never Became Red Or Inflamed, No Pus Or Exudate, No Fever On Her Part But There Was Also An Unhealed Opening From The Start Where The Incision Never Closed And That Went From A Tiny Hole (3mm) To Slightly Larger Than A Nickel. Yesterday The Vet Came By And He Removed About A Tbsp Of Necrotic Tissue. There Wasn't Much Bleeding But It Took 9 Stitches To Close The Remaining Wound And So Far So Good. My Only Concern Is That There Seems To Be More Of That "squishy" Tissue Under The Skin Above From Where The Wound Was. Part Of The Reason Why The Vet Didn't Want To Open Up The Wound Any More Than He Did Is That When He Spayed Her At His Clinic She Had An Episode Of Arrhythmia And Thought She Might Code. So This Time, He Did The Small Surgery Here At My House And Gave Her A Minimal Amt Of Local Anesthesia And Some Tranquilizer. Do All These Probs Point To A Possible Auto-immune Disorder? Her Kidneys Are Fine, Never An Infection, As Well As Good Digestion. Stools Are Firm And Don't Smell Badly. However, She Seems To Have A Bad Reaction To Just About Any Chemical, Whether A Topical Flea/tick Control Med Or Her Usual Shots, And All Those Other Tissue-related Issues Worry Me. I'm Living In A Country Where Most Dogs Like Mine Are "disposable". The Equivalent Of A Dingo Or The African Wild Dog Where Ppl Keep Them Around To Take Care Of Their Property By Feeding Them Whatever They Have On Hand Or They Can Afford But Never As Pets. I'm The "strange" American Taking Care Of A Mutt So My Vet Is Sympathetic But Can't Really Afford To Keep A First-rate Clinic, Supplies Or Access To A Good Vet Lab For Tissue Or Blood Tests Other Than The Most Basic. I Order My Pets' Health Supplies From 1800petmeds, Have Them Sent To My Parents-in-law Who In Turn, Send Them To Me. If You Could Give Me Some Guidance, I'd Really Appreciate It. I Probably Can't Give My Tangerine Any Kind Of Complex Treatment But Would You Be Willing To Suggest Some Supplements Or A Food I Can Add To Her Diet To Improve Her Ability To Get A Better Functioning Immune System If It's Weak, In Your Guess-timation? At This Point, I Don't Want To Guess On My Own In Case I Do The Wrong Thing. It's One Thing To Figure Out What A Human Body's Doing, An Animal's System Is Almost Completely Beyond Me. I'll Appreciate Any Help You Can Send My Way. Answer: Sounds Like Her Immune System Does Need Work. Consider One Of Raw Diets Like Natures Variety From 1800petmeds Or Possibly Halo Pet Foods. Also Add Naturevet Enzymes To Meals As Well As Super Vitachews From 1800petmeds. Proanthozone Would Be Good Antioxidant For Her. I Would Also Buy Standard Process Supplements Canine Immune Support And Canine Whole Body Support Which You Can Get From Amazon.com |