Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Horner’s Syndrome in Dogs – Is it Vaccine Related?

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This past October, I took Sampson to the vet for his annual exam. Besides his annual check-up, he was due for tick disease screening, rabies, leptospirosis and a liver check due to his long term use of Gabapentin.

A while back Sampson had a immune system reaction where he broke out in a rash. Since that time, I’ve made the decision to give him his vaccines separately. It does cost a bit more (two different visits) but typically the subsequent visits and vaccines can be handled by a vet tech, so the fee isn’t as high as a typical office visit.

Sampson went in for his annual visit on October 26, 2017, since his rabies vaccine expired at the end of the month, we got the rabies vaccine first, and scheduled the Leptos for about two weeks later.

On November 1, 2017, I was getting the dog’s dinner ready when Hubby asked, “Did you notice his eye? It looks funny.”

Of course, I dropped everything to look, and sure enough, Sampson’s right eye looked like it was droopy, but it was also really red. I was worried that he had had a stroke, so I called our vet right away, and I got him in within 1/2 an hour.

Dr. Atz walked in, took one look and said, “Ah, Horner’s Syndrome.”

Horners-Syndrome

Right here, it looks like he has no eye. In actuality his third lid is raised, making his eye look droopy.

WHAT IS HORNER’S SYNDROME

I’d never heard of it, so there were lots of questions.

The way I understand it. The sympathetic nerve runs from the chest cavity, into the spinal cord, through the shoulder and into the base of the skull where it then meanders its way to the eye. It is part of the autonomic nerve system that automatically controls various bodily functions. It also controls the “fight or flight” reactions.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF HORNER’S SYNDROME

According to the Eye Care of Animals website, there are four symptoms:

  • A pupil that is constricted and will not dilate
  • A droopy upper eyelid
  • An appearance of the eye ‘sinking’ in
  • A raised third eyelid

DOGS HAVE THREE EYELIDS

Yes, apparently all dogs have three eyelids. The upper, the lower, and the third one is called the nictitating membrane. This thin, opaque tissue’s purpose is to provide additional protection to the cornea, as well as spread tears in the eye. The third eyelid isn’t usually visible except when there’s injury to the eye, or sometimes when the dog is sleeping. You know when your dog looks up at you, and his eye is all red and you think, Dude looks like he smoked a fatty.

Dr. Atz said he had no idea what caused it. When I asked if it would get better he said there are a portion of dogs where it never gets better. There are some dogs where it gets better, but does not completely go away. And then there is another portion of dogs that recover completely. He said it would take time, not a couple of weeks, BUT months. Since Sampson is a slow healer, I figured it would take at least six months.

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR HORNER’S SYNDROME

The condition is a parasympathetic nerve reaction and the nerves will either heal or not. There was nothing to do to help Sampson, it was something his body had to do on its own.

We knew we’d just have to wait and see what happened.

UGH, MY DOG LOOKS LIKE HE HAS A ZOMBIE EYE

Once we knew what it was, and our panic had subsided we had the opportunity to really look at it. For Sampson it ONLY LOOKED like his eye was droopy and sunken, mostly because that third lid was always up. We started calling it “Zombie eye.”

Every day we’d look at it (you can’t help it!) and your mind plays tricks “it looks like it might be getting better…no, it’s worse…wait, maybe it’s the same.”

There was never a day where we clearly knew it was better, suddenly it just was.

AN IMMUNE SYSTEM RESPONSE TO THE RABIES VACCINE

One Saturday evening in early December, Hubby and I were having dinner with our dear friend, Jo-Anne.  I had seen Jo-Anne in July and her dog, Achilles was very ill. The vet suspected he had Degenerative Myelopathy because his back end was super weak, and he kept falling. I can’t recall if he is part or full GSD, but Jo-Anne has been the DM route with most of her GSD’s, so it wasn’t unexpected.

So during this dinner in December I asked after Achilles health and was shocked when Jo-Anne said, “He’s fine!”

As we chatted she explained that the Holistic Vet suspected he’d had a immune reaction to his rabies shot. Now, I always ask the vet, what should I look for in a vaccine reaction, and typically I get, “swelling at the injection site.” It’s funny, because if you ask a vet that practices Eastern Medicine (Holistic) the same question, you’ll get a totally different answer. Holistic vets know that not all reactions are simply swelling.

COULD HORNER’S SYNDROME BE RELATED TO THE RABIES VACCINE

I’ve only heard of one Rabies vaccine reaction before, and it was a different reaction, so I was intrigued to hear about this. After we got done marveling at Achille’s recovery, Jo-Anne asked about my guys. Hubby and I started filling her in on Sampson and his Zombie eye. Then she said, “And there was nothing you did different? No vaccines?”

It was like a freight train slammed into my head, and the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Sampson had a rabies vaccine and six days later we noticed the zombie eye, Sampson had his rabies vaccine in his shoulder and the sympathetic nerve runs through the shoulder, the sympathetic nerve controls the fight or flight mode, vaccines target the immune system where the immune system chooses to ‘fight or flight.’

The three of us were all convinced that Sampson had had a reaction to the rabies vaccine.

When I mentioned this to my vet, she said it’s very possible.

Sampson is going to be 14 in July. He is next due for his Rabies vaccine in 2020, at that point he will be 16 years old. He will not have a rabies shot again. If he is still around, I will ask the Holistic vet for a waiver, and I intend on doing the same for Delilah.

Give me another rabies shot and the bunny gets it.

HOW CAN I PREVENT VACCINE REACTIONS

I’m not sure there’s a 100% way to do so, but there are some things you can do to help reduce reactions.

  • Don’t give more than one vaccine at a time. Try and space them out by a couple of weeks. This gives the immune system a little time to settle down.
  • A week or so before vaccines try giving your pet something to help boost their immune systems. Jo-Anne uses something called “Thuja,” it is a homeopathic supplement you can find online or at your local natural health store.
  • Know what’s normal with your pet and what’s not.
  • Be aware that not all vaccine reactions are just swelling.

HOW SAMPSON’S EYE IS NOW

It’s been six months since the rabies vaccine, and I think Sampson’s eye is just about back to normal now. Most days we don’t notice that droopy eye look, unless he’s sleepy, but then that’s normal.

I like to take a natural approach with my healthcare and my body, and I like to do the same with my dogs. I am not anti-vaccine, BUT I do feel we over vaccinate in this country and that our immunities last longer than we know. I’ve had long discussions with my vet regarding vaccines, and which ones they need. We base their needs on their age, their previous vaccines, our geographical location and our lifestyle.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a Veterinarian, nor do I play one of TV, and I haven’t stayed at a Holiday Express recently. What I have shared here is my experience and understanding of Horner’s Syndrome in dogs. This post is not meant to be used as a diagnostic tool. If you have concerns that your pet might have Horner’s Syndrome, please consult a licensed Veterinarian.

Have you ever heard of vaccine reactions other than swelling at the injection site? If so, what was the reaction?

 

My Dog Has Tapeworm… Ewwww!

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Author’s note: This post has affiliate links. If you click over to the Amazon from this site and purchase something, we might get a small commission. However, we only share items we ourselves uses.

True confession: I look at poop.  I look at my poop, and I look at my dog’s poop.  Thankfully, that’s where this obsession ends. I know, it’s gross, but how else can you tell if something just isn’t right?

I don’t like it when she talks about me, I’ll just sit here with my bunny.

WHAT is that white thing in my dog’s poop?

A couple of weeks back I noticed something white in Sampson’s poop.  The first time I noticed it, I thought it was rice. I didn’t think much of it, even though the dogs are on raw food, they sometimes do get people food, and they also tend to dismember toys, so it was possible Sampson had swallowed some rice or stuffing.

I filed it in the back of my mind, and continued on our walks.

A couple days later I noticed it again.

It was on a Friday evening walk, and Sampson had pooped on a plastic utility cover. I remember this because in all the snow we had, the poop made a thud, thud sound as it dropped. (Funny, the details you remember sometimes.)

As I bent to pick it up, I noticed the white thing again, and I knew he hadn’t had any rice, so I decided to take a closer look at it, and I saw it move.

So there I stood, feeling like Horton must have felt when he picked up that speck of dust, and heard that frickin’ Who.

Is it real, or have the voices in my head moved to my eyes?

Anytime she starts talking about the voices in her head, you better grab some popcorn, this is going to get good!

Then, “Crap, you’ve got worms,” came out of my mouth.

Insert long drawn out EWWWW here. Because that is just gross.

I finished his walk, walked Delilah and then took a sample of each of their poops to the vet’s office.  FTR, I did not see anything unusual in Delilah’s stool, but I figured it’s better to be safe than sorry. When I dropped off the samples,  I told them what I saw, and asked them to test the samples for parasites.

The next morning the vet called and said both specimens were clean. I told her what I’d seen, and how the girls at the desk had assured me they would remove the item from Sampson’s poop and check it. Dr. Wang said she hadn’t personally examined the sample, but if I wanted to be safe, I could go ahead and treat the dogs for tapeworm, because IF Sampson had worms, that was more than likely the culprit.

How do you know what kind of worm it is?

Tapeworms and round worms are typically the only worm you can see with the naked eye. (File this away in things you never really wanted to know.) Because of my description (a grain of rice…actually it looked more like Orzo to me, but I’m not going to quibble) it was assumed IF Sampson had worm(s), it would be Tapeworm.

This is how I understand it. The Tapeworm attaches itself to the pet’s intestinal wall. The tapeworm starts growing as it’s stealing your pet’s nutrients. As it grows, it sort of looks like a brick walk, there is the head and then little segments. When the worm reaches a certain length (most tape worms are between four to six inches long) it begins shedding segments. That is the white bit you will see in your pet’s poops.

Roundworm is not segmented, it’s smoother and typically you will see it in your pet’s poops or vomit. It is typically two to four inches long.

How Does My Dog Get Tapeworm?

This is where it gets really dicey. Your dog can only get tapeworm from a flea/flea egg. Apparently, fleas love tapeworm eggs.

Shrug….Who knew? (I guess everyone/thing has their place on the food chain.)

Sampson had to have either eaten a flea, or eaten a flea egg.

But I have no evidence of fleas, nor have I seen the dogs scratching. Dr. Wang said sometimes the egg can be dormant in a dog, so it’s possible Sampson was exposed to it some time ago and it was just showing up now.

Oh boy, now any time I scratch, she’s going to be pulling out the microscope!

Two of my daughter’s cats have had fleas not too long ago, and it’s possible one of them brought a flea over, or Sampson who likes to lie in the dirt got a flea on him, and just ate it when he was scratching himself.

I was hesitant to treat the dogs for something if they didn’t really have it. So I asked her if they physically examined the thing I saw, and she didn’t know.

Since I like to be absolutely certain before treating my dogs for ANYTHING, I told her I’d much rather try and isolate the um…er…’specimen’ myself and bring it back in.

Dr. Wang said she would hunt down Sampson’s specimen (if they still had it,) and examine it herself.

After I hung up with Dr. Wang, my phone rang almost immediately, and it was Emily who is one of the vet techs at our practice, and she is also our dog walker for those times when I’m not around, and she absolutely adores Sampson.

Emily explained that she had examined the samples herself, and had really dug into it, and could find nothing in there that resembled a worm. She did find some hard white things, but they were not worms. (They turned out to be something in one of his supplements, but not worms!)

The next words out of my mouth were, “But Emily, it WAVED at me.”

I saw it move, and I’m not exaggerating. I. Saw. It. Move.

However, with no verification from the vet, I wasn’t inclined to treat the dogs.

STILL  I was determined to isolate what I’d seen.

I set out to catch me a culprit. I picked up a cuticle trimmer at my grocery store for $1.59. I wanted something I could use to dig in poop, but wouldn’t feel badly about tossing away. Since it was late Saturday morning, and the dogs had already had their morning walks, and the vet’s office was closing at 1:00, I knew I wouldn’t have a sample until Monday evening at the earliest.

Monday evening I grabbed a small snack bag, extra poop bags, and my cuticle trimmer and took Sampson for his walk.

Sure enough, I saw something similar in size to a grain of rice.  Thankfully, Sampson had chosen to walk in the park, so I dropped right down and using the cuticle trimmer, I picked two of those things out of his poop, (can you imagine if someone had seen me) and put them in the snack bag. Ugh. It was so disgusting, and it’s like a friggin’ train wreck, you know shit’s about to get real, you know it’s awful, but you just can’t stop looking. ALL THE WAY HOME. Like those little fuckers were going to have an epiphany and suddenly scream, “We’re sorry, we’ll stop now.”

SIGH

I didn’t want to bring the bag in the house, or leave it in the car while I walked Delilah, but it was kind of windy out, so I couldn’t just toss it next to the car. I mean, it’s just not acceptable having your dog’s poopy worms slapping someone upside the head. You may WANT to, but it’s not acceptable, at least not where I live.

I debated what to do as I needed somewhere to store them, where they wouldn’t blow away.

I thought about the gas tank cover on my car. You know, just opening it up and putting the top of the baggie in there, but decided that wouldn’t work, so instead I stuck it under a windshield wiper, where it could flap all it wanted, but not get anywhere. I mean, it wasn’t like I was going FORGET it was there, this had been weighing on my mind since Friday night, when that little pecker waved at me.

I thought to myself, you want to wave? Wave from my windshield, bitch. I told myself it was sort of like the ‘worms’ were waving the white flag of surrender.

You’re going down, worm.

My dog has tapeworm

A short time after I dropped it off, Dr. B. called to say, Sampson had tapeworm, and it was only from a flea, and while I might not have a flea problem NOW, I could be in deep trouble when the warmer weather hits.

“But he doesn’t have fleas,” I told Dr. B., “They sleep with me, I’d know if they had fleas.”

I wanted to be sure of my convictions though, so I took my flea comb and starting at the base of Sampson’s neck, I combed him all the way to the thick fur at the base of his tail. Then I checked the furs that came out of the comb for flea residue (if you’re looking you will see some brownish/grayish residue in the furs, that is flea poop. Yes, I know, it’s also disgusting.) Also, I found nothing.

It was recommended to treat both Sampson and Delilah with Vibrantel. I picked it up Tuesday night, and after conferring with Dr. Soutter, to insure it 1) wasn’t harmful to the dogs (or the issues they have like elevated liver, heart murmurs, adrenal masses, etc.) and 2) wouldn’t interfere with any of the meds/supplements they were taking, I was comfortable treating the dogs.

I was told to make sure they got their pills with food, so I threw them on their dinner. The pills were large, but chewable and both dogs took them without hesitation.

Is there a natural way to get fleas out of your house?

Since that time, I haven’t seen anything gross in either one of their poops. To be on the safe side though, I did the Google on how to eliminate fleas naturally. It is recommended to wash all bedding, or hot dryer for 20 minutes. You should also vacuum anything that can’t be washed, and you can also sprinkle baking soda on your rug, and using a broom push it into your carpet, let it sit for about 1/2 and then vacuum it up. The baking soda dehydrates the fleas and kills fleas and eggs.

Two important points:

  1. Empty the vacuum as soon as you are done, put it in a plastic bag and bin it outside.
  2. Watch your pets around the baking soda. Ingesting baking soda can be hazardous to your pets.

For other ways to treat your home naturally for fleas, click HERE.

Looking for more information on intestinal parasites? Check HERE.

Disclaimer, I am not a vet, nor do I play one on TV. I am sharing my experience with Tapeworm and how we and our vet treated it. If you suspect your pet has worms, please consult a licensed veterinarian.

Treating Arthritis and Joint Injuries With CBD Oil

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This post is sponsored by Treatibles. I have been compensated for sharing my honest opinion about Treatibles. But I will never share something with you I don’t use myself.

Both my dogs are considered seniors now, and have been for a while. At eight-years-old I disagreed with this, but now, at 13 (Sampson) and almost 11 (Delilah) I’ve had to accept the fact, that yes, I have senior dogs.

It’s hard for me to imagine these two are Seniors.

Both dogs have had age related issues, in the last few years. Most notably Sampson has been dealing with Arthritis and Delilah was recently diagnosed with a progressive Cornea Disease. Sampson has also been dealing with CCL tears, although those are probably more related to his build and his lifestyle.

If you follow this blog, you know that I’ve tried many, many different procedures, therapies, and supplements to help ease Sampson’s joint discomfort. Most of them work, if not for long term, at least for a short while. Since his partial CCL tear in January of 2015, the bulk of his treatment has been pharmaceutical, which most of you know, is my last choice for treatment. He’s been on Carprofen for inflammation and Gabapentin which is a nerve-blocker. He also has Tramadol for those really bad days.

His walks are limited to short, gentle walks twice per day. While I know these walks are what’s best for him right now, it hurts my heart that his world has become so small. One of my hopes is that I can find something that will allow him to have longer walks on occasion, and hopefully get him back into the woods that he loves.

For a while now I’ve been wanting to find a natural product that would help him with this goal, as well as allow me to begin weaning him off the pharmaceuticals. I’d consider Hemp, but the one biscuit I tried, was just not cost effective for a dog Sampson’s size.

When I noticed the folks from Treatibles would be at BlogPaws, I couldn’t wait to talk to them. I stopped at the booth and spoke to Jodi, explaining Sampson’s situation, and the fact that he was such a large dog, and costs for using the Hemp were prohibitive for me. Jodi happily shared they had a Hemp capsule, that would give Sampson the dosage he required for an amount that seemed reasonable to me, and fit into my budget.

Treatibles CBD Oil

Sampson is currently on his third bottle of Hemp, with a dosage of one 10 mg capsule per day. Dosage is typically 1 mg per 10 pounds of body weight, but this will depend on your pet, and what issues you’re treating. For a dog Sampson’s size, he would normally get about 9 mg, but it’s perfectly safe for him to get more than the recommended dosage.

I’m seeing the Hemp work in a couple of different ways.

One…we can tell he is feeling better. He walks better, with less of a limp in his bad leg. He is also more playful.  He will often times grab a toy and flip it around. One day he actually ‘threw’ something at me, which I haven’t seen him do in ages. He will also run around the house in short bursts, and has initiated play with Delilah on more than one occasion. There have also been times in the yard, where I’ve turned my back for a few minutes, or dashed into the house for something, only to come back outside, to find Sampson has used the stairs and given himself full access to the back yard. Those times he comes back to the door with a definite swagger in his step.  You can tell he’s so proud of himself.

July 21, 2017 – The day before he started on Treatibles.

The second area where we’ve noted improvement is in his front paws. For the longest time Sampson has been licking at his front paws.  There were actually periods of time where this licking made his paws bleed.  He actually licked those paws practically raw. Initially we thought it was behavioral, allergies, a lick granuloma, or boredom. Then he was diagnosed with Arthritis in his front toes and wrists and it all made sense.

Since starting on the Hemp oil, I’ve noticed a definite slow down, of the licking.  (FYI, I’m also working on shortening those nails because I believe they are also a contributing factor to the arthritis pain.) His paws started looking amazing, so good in fact, that I thought it might be safe to start decreasing the amount of the Gabapentin he was taking.

August 13, 2017 – Just about 4 weeks after he started taking Treatibles.

Let’s look at those paws side by side.

About a month ago, I started decreasing his Gabapentin. He was taking 300 mg twice per day. One in the morning and one in the evening. At first I started by dropping him down with the morning Gaba. 200 mg in the morning, 300 mg at night. He seemed okay with that. We did that for at least a week to 10 days. Then I dropped his Gaba down to 200 mg in the morning, with the same dosage at night. After a week or so, I noted that while he wasn’t going at his toes so much, he had begun licking at his wrists.

October 11, 2017 – 3 months after starting Treatibles

So he’s back on the Gabapentin at 300 mg twice per day. Without the Hemp Oil, I think we would have kept increasing the Gabapentin, which is something I really wanted to avoid. So for now, he will continue with the Treatibles Hemp Oil, along with the Gabapentin and the Carprofen.

A lot of people are under the misconception that Hemp is a psychoactive drug like Marijuana, and that’s just not true.  You will not be giving your pet “pot treats”.  While Hemp and Marijuana both come from the same plant species, “Cannabis,” Hemp has little to no THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) which is the chemical compound that gets you high.  (SOURCE)  A lot of the differences come from the way they are grown and cultivated, although it’s good to note that Hemp is grown all over the world and is used for food, oil and fiber, in this fashion, the whole plant is use, as opposed to Marijuana, where only the buds are used.

If you’re interested in finding out exactly how the Cannabinoid system works in your pet, check out the information page at Treatibles.

Hemp oil can be used to help manage a variety of different issues with your pet. From pain and inflammation, to separation anxiety, epilepsy and seizures, joint pain and inflammation, allergies, and the list goes on and on.

To see how some of our blogging friends have benefited from using Hemp, you can check out these reviews as well.

Can Treatibles CBD Oil Products Benefit Your Pet? Our Experience & Review by Jan at Wag ‘N Woof Pets.

CBD Gel Capsules and Hemp Chews For Big Dogs: Treatibles Review by Jen at My Brown Newfies

Besides offering CBD oil in a capsule, Treatibles also has cookie type treats, as well as oil in drops, so you can get the exact dosage your pet needs.

I’m truly grateful for the folks at Treatibles for making a quality product that’s affordable for me, and offers me so many different options.

Treatibles Gel Caps gets a big four paws up from us.

 

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