Sunday, May 30, 2010

Canine Papillomavirus, Weak Immune System--Diet and Supplements Can Help

Q: Hello. I have a 1 year old Lab Mix who just recently (beginning of April) was diagnosed with oral papillomavirus. She had 4 warts removed by laser and the rest were crushed. Her mouth healed and then about 2.5 weeks later, the warts showed up again. This time, there are more in quantity but aren't as big. Last week she had about 20 of them crushed to try and stimulate her immune system, but with her "nonexistent" immune system it hasn't seemed to help. I don't want to spend money on another surgery to have them removed then to come back again. Is there anything that you can suggest to help treat these warts? Portraits By Courtney

A: Courtney,
So sorry you have been through so much with your young dog. It really sounds like your dog has a weak immune system and definitely using an improved diet and supplement regimen would really help. When people or pets get chronic infections, it is a sign the body is having trouble defending itself. This is often due to the fact that the body is fighting many "fires" at once and the immune system is depleted. One of the most common reasons in dogs that the immune system gets weak is almost always the diet and the fact the dog is eating foods he or she is allergic to. For example, it is very common for dogs to get chronic ear infections and chronic urinary tract infections as a result of eating chicken which for some dogs is a very high allergen food. What you want to do is be sure your dog is on a grain-free, hypoallergenic diet with plenty of omega fatty acids such as Amazing Omegas. In addition, the following anti-viral supplements found on www.askariel.com would also help: Quentans, Olive Leaf Extract and Samento. Immune Harmony would be especially helpful as well as it modulates (not overstimluates) the immune system.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Supplements for Dog With Arthritis

Q: have a 9 year old dog who is showing signs of arthritis. i want to put her on your supplements and also look at her diet. she has been on vegetarian dog food her whole life and i'm wondering how can i switch to homemade, possibly raw, but mostly vegetarian food for her (maybe i can add some fish, but mostly use nuts?) i'm not sure where to turn for recipes.

A: While giving dogs vegetables is highly recommended, nuts or soy as the primary sources of protein for a dog is not. Dogs need some animal protein. This can be a very tough issue for people who are vegetarians as you may not want to have any type of meat protein in the house. However, if you were to consider what your dog might eat "if in the wild", nuts would not be the top food on the list. Fish is an excellent option though and you can try eggs as well. It should be a balanced diet however, not a "do it yourself" as there is a risk you could be giving your dog an imbalanced diet, even though you have the kindest of intentions.

There are some supplements that will greatly help your dog's arthritis. For starters, I would highly recommend the Dog Arthritis Package on www.askariel.com The package includes three key products for arthritis: 1) Amazing Omegas which is a highly purified fish oil product for dogs, 2) Amazing Arthrosoothe which contains key herbs for joint pain including MSM, boswelia, green lipped mussel as well as glucosamine and 3) Curcumin complex for pets--which greatly reduces inflammation and pain. In addition, you might want to consider Collagenex 2 which is a simple, easy to use formula that relieves joint pain in 7-10 days and is backed by considerable research.

Dog With Bladder Crystals: Supplements That Will Help Prevent Crystals

Response to Joyce

Question: I have a 6 yr old jack-a-poo who has had a few UTI"s over the years. I just took her to the vet bc she was barking and then licking her vagina. They did xrays and no bladder stones but her urine showed struvite and calcium oxalate crystals. They put her on a low protein diet. I was wondering what else could I use to help dissolve these so that it doesn't turn into bladder stones?

Answer: When pets have chronic UTIs, along with licking of the vagina, and bladder crystals, the first place to try to help is with the diet. Often this pet will have skin allergies as well and suffer from scratching and itching. A low carbohydrate, hypoallergenic diet is highly recommended. Chronic UTIs and allergies are often due to the pet eating high allergen foods such as grains, corn and poultry. When a pet has bladder crystals, a "prescription" diet is often given. The diet can synthetically manipulate the mineral content which in turn reduces the likelihood of stone formation, but overall is not nearly as nutritious and/or beneficial for the long-term health concerns of the pet. Moreover, many pets still continue to get the stones and crystals while on the diet and can be allergic to the corn, byproducts and other ingredients in the prescription diet.

What we recommend is a telephone consultation through http://www.askariel.com/ to help you formulate a nutritious custom diet for your pet that will not only temporarily supress the struvite and oxalate crystals but get to the root cause of the development of them. Some breeds are more inclined than others to have struvite and oxalate crystals and stones, but in general, if the pet is put on a hypoallergenic, well balanced diet, the crystals will go away. There are different diets recommended depending upon the type of crystals found. In your situation, since both struvite and oxalate crystals were found (very common), it would not be advisable to "do it yourself" but rather seek out the advice of a pet nutritionist or veterinary professional to help you find a more suitable long-term diet.

In terms of supplements, there are products that would really help your dog. Renelix is very helpful for detoxifying the kidneys and urinary tract and releasing mineral build-up. We have seen a number of dogs use this formula along with the Pet UTI and Probitoic, and subsequent laboratory tests do not show any further struvite or oxalate crystals. Since your dog has a history of some UTIs, it would work best to use the Renelix along with Pet UTI Prevention Formula and Probiotic. Ask Ariel sells a package called the Pet UTI Prevention Package which could really help. Sure hope your dog feels better!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Dog Has Yellowish Vaginal Discharge

Q: My 5yr old dog (Trixie) has gotten some sort of an infection. She has a yellowish vaginal discharge with a slight smell to it. I have an appointment with her vet set up but was just wondering if it is safe to give her some Echineacha and goldenseal to help her fight the infection in the mean time, while we are waiting to see the vet? I have seen it in various products on the market, but wanted to make sure that it was safe to be given to a dog and what the approximate dosage would be. She is approximately 62lbs if that helps. Thank you very much for your time.

A: As ironic as it may be for all of us pet Moms, our female dogs can get many of the same ailments as we do, including vaginal yeast infections, urinary tract infections and discharge. I am glad you took Trixie to the veterinarian and hope she is feeling better. Here are some suggestions. First of all, it is really important to get Trixie started on a high quality Probiotic. I highly recommend Ask Ariel's Power Probiotic for Pets It is an excellent multi-strain formula and is a good value as well. Most probiotics for people and pets are not manufactured in such a way that they even do what they promise to perform. In order for a Probiotic to work, it needs to be in a form that can survive the stomach acid and guaranteed potency at the time of USE (not manufacture). This particular Probiotic has been third party tested in high temperatures and still holds up at 97%. In any case, a Probiotic will help to repopulate the good flora for Trixie. We have good bacteria that live in our intestinal tract and help us fight disease. They are very important for our immune system. When we take antibiotics, it can lower our immunity by killing off all the good bacteria as well as the bad bacterial overgrowth. That is why we often see people and pets getting repeat infections, especially after taking several rounds of antibiotics.

The yellowish discharge can either be due to an overgrowth of yeast, bacteria or inflammatory cells as result of a urinary tract infection (UTI). Regardless, the Probiotic will help to rebalance the flora and help Trixie to fight future infections. Even if you used antibiotics this time, it is very important to start on the probiotic as many times, the infection will recur.  Other supplements that will help with the yellowish vaginal discharge are K9 Yeast Defense and Notatum.   If your dog has been on antibiotics, this kills all the good bacteria along with the bad.  Good bacteria is needed to help your dog fight another infection.  In addition, when the immune system is weak, it creates an environment where yeast and bad bacteria can quickly overgrow.  Using the K9 Yeast Defense, Notatum and Power Probiotic all together can help strengthen your dog's immune system and promote a healthy growth of good flora so that your dog is protected from future infections.

In addition to Power Probiotic, I would also recommend using a grain-free diet as many times dogs get urinary and vaginal infections from too much sugar in the diet. Most of the commercial diets contain wheat, corn, oats, and even some supplements contain molasses. Take a look at the protein percentage as for a 5 year old active dog, it should definitely be higher than the low 20s which is where many of the cereal-based dog kibbles are. Even hypoallergenic diets that use potatoes instead of corn and grains are too high in carbohydrates, creating an environment which helps bacteria and yeast to overgrow. It is best to use hypoallergenic, grain-free diets (non-chicken based) for dogs and cats that are prone to UTIs and vaginal infections.