Question Details
Mixed Bag Staffy Problems
by mikemesley - September 10, 2009
A young staffy with an interesting mix of issues.
Born with umbilical hernia - hasn't had any issue with that. Easily reducible.
Vaccinated on schedule and no overt reaction to those seen.
Presented with double issues - initially was booked in for mild skin rash consult, but the night before the consult the dog started vomiting. Intially the O described it as vomiting and we assumed it was a GIT issue of some sort as PExam was mostly unremarkable. The vomiting has continued over the past few weeks without the dog ever having seemed unwell about it and now it sounds more like regurgitation from O's description. Maybe magaoesophagus? Anyway will confirm that if costs allow me to.
Skin initially looked reminiscent of a generaised demodex case with mild pruritis and slight reddening of the skin on ventral thorax the only things suggesting possibly allergic or inflammatory skin issues rather than demodex. Scrapes negative for demodex mites.
Haven't seen the dog myself for some time but was interested maybe more for thoretical purposes what your take on this Hx/symptom combo might be telling us.
I guess I'd be thinking ST/LIV disharmony perhaps for regurgitation, does hernia = SP Qi sinking in this case or maybe signal a KID issue with congenital nature. And where will the skin fit in with this. Doesn't appear to be Damp as such, but I guess maybe some heat issues driving the skin with the redness.

I struggled to put it all together, and haven't been able to examine the dog recently so can't help much more than this. maybe I'll just get back to you when I have some more info?

Thanks.

Also wondering if you had any info or opinion on EVO brand dog food. Think I can get it in Oz now and was thinking it might be a nice replacement for Orijen who - for obvious reasons - are not too interested in the Aussie market any more! Any other names worth looking at?

Thanks to everyone over there!

Mike
Replies
by naturevet
September 10, 2009
Hi Mike,

EVO seems to work similarly to Orijen in many animals, so it's worth a try. To my mind, there is no processed food that can match the benefits of home-cooked or raw, principally because the processing of food seems to have such detrimental metabolic effects, regardless how good the ingredients were to start with. But for animals that MUST be on kibble, EVO can be helpful.

As for the dog, I think I'd need more information. In general, I use cooling peristalsis promoting formulas like Bao He Wan for megaesophagus. The formula includes Lian Qiao, which can have a double benefit as having a cooling effect on the skin rash. So I'd look at the lesion distribution (ventral thorax, including Stomach channel) and the presumed megaesophagus and wonder about Stomach Heat.

On my way to a conference now, so may not be as timely in my replies.

All the best,

Steve
by mikemesley
September 11, 2009
Stomach heat seems right on to me too. Will do my research on Bao he Wan and see where I end up.
Have fun at the conference - my guess is you'll be teaching not learning!
Regards and thanks for all that help,
Mike
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