Goofy Clumsy Stage

Freja is now 5 months old. She is now at the goofy, clumsy stage where her agility is not quite in sync with her growing legs. Sometimes she trips over her own big feet. This afternoon I was out in the yard looking at the flowers and she was following me around. At one point she decided to dart out across the yard and just as I was admiring her beautiful movement she tripped and fell, but immediately stood right back up and looked at me with her big Shiloh grin and mile-long tongue as if to say, "I'm OK!" and kept right on running.

She'll pose forever for a Frisbee...

As long as I have the Frisbee in my hand Freja will pose nicely, waiting for me to throw her Frisbee.

I can just hear her thinking, "Are you going to throw that thing or what?"

Beautiful Girl with Azaleas

Our Azalea bush is in bloom, so I thought it would make a nice backdrop for our beautiful girl. To get this shot I just had her sit, told her to stay, and took her Frisbee and held it up over my head while snapping away.

Freja Gets Her DHLPP

Today Freja received her last puppy DHLPP vaccination. DHLPP is a combined vaccine for Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza and Parvovirus. In a couple of days it will be more safe for her to visit public places without risk of infection with those diseases. I was particularly concerned about Parvo in part because Freja's first vet here thought she might have it, but also because I have now heard of two different instances of rescue puppies from the Southeastern US being brought to CT with Parvo.

Here are a few links to articles about the diseases DHLPP vaccinates against:

Distemper

Infectious Canine Hepatitis

Leptospirosis

Canine Parainfluenza, which is one of the most common causes of viral Kennel Cough

Canine Parvovirus

Freja and the real, live bunny

I often let Freja out the back door at night to go potty before bed and only step out onto the back steps myself. Freja is so good about staying in the yard and coming back when called that I haven't been putting her leash on her, but I have now learned that it would probably be smarter if I did.

Freja met her first real, live bunny the other night. It was 11pm and I opened the back door, stepped out and Freja followed me and then went down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she stood, stacked staring ahead and I looked to see what had gotten her attention and saw the flash of a cottontail's fluffy tail as it leaped through the grass towards our neighbor's yard. Like a flash Freja was chasing the bunny, tail wagging and despite my attempts to call her back she could not resist the chase. I don't think Freja wanted to hurt the bunny. I think she wanted to play with it.

I had to trudge through the damp grass barefoot and wearing my pajamas to retrieve her from the neighbor's back yard. In any case, Freja will now be on her training lead when she goes out at night.

Frisbee Freja Pictures

This afternoon Rohan, Freja and I went out for some Frisbee fun out in the yard. I brought my camera, of course.

Freja fetching her hot pink Frisbee:



Freja in motion:



Freja's face mid-scratch:



Freja and Rohan:

Ex-Pen Escapee

This morning we had to go to the Mall, so after playing Frisbee in the back yard I gave Freja a few ice cubes and her Buster cube and put her in her exercise pen in the kitchen. Well... apparently I did not make sure that the bottom two hooks were clipped around both sides of the opening, because when we got home the first thing I noticed was a stick of wood on the den floor. I said to my husband, "What is that?!" And then Freja came bounding up to us and I said, "Oh no! How did she get out?!"

Freja and Halle appear to have been chasing each other around the house as things were knocked over and strewn about. Freja also chewed on a number of Rohan's toys that were left within her reach.

By the way, the stick of wood came from the fireplace hearth. She pulled it out of the hearth basket in the living room.

Freja is losing her baby teeth

Yesterday morning while I was grooming Freja I noticed that one of her top front teeth looked strange, like it was bent forward. I touched the tooth and was surprised to find it was wiggly! As I looked at her other teeth I noticed that one other tooth was already gone and a third one was loose too. By the end of the day both wiggly teeth were also gone. Freja is losing her baby teeth.

Possible Natural Remedies for Localized Demodicosis

Here is a list of possible natural remedies for localized demodicosis:

1) Lemon Lotion (thanks to Sheila Masse at Rising Star Shilohs for sharing this with me):

Squeeze the seeds and flesh from a dozen halved lemons
Soak in a gallon of warm water over night
Refrigerate
Add water as it gets lower
Replace lemon peels with fresh peels as they get moldy

Apply lemon lotion to affected areas of skin avoiding contact with the eyes.

2) Neem oil: oil pressed from the fruits and seeds of an evergreen plant native to India. Neem oil has pesticide properties. This was suggested by the homeopathic vet my vet consulted with, but my vet thought it might be difficult to find Neem oil in Connecticut. I haven't tried to find it yet.

3) Borax & Peroxide bath solution: http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/dog_mange_cure.html

This isn't really a remedy, but it was the recommendation of my vet and the homeopathic vet with whom she consulted: give your dog the best chance to fight off the Demodex mites on his or her own by helping his or her immune system. Feed your dog a high quality diet and use supplements that help the immune system, including probiotics. Bovine colostrum is a good choice as well. My vet said to visit the natural health food store and look for immune building products designed for people, bearing in mind that there are some plants, fruits and vegetables that dogs should not ingest (such as grapes).

Last Lesson of the day: Canine Demodicosis

We humans, and our pets, carry around with us a large number of little organisms that are normal, and sometimes even healthy for us. For example, in our intestines we carry around a variety of "friendly" bacteria and when the balance of those good bacteria is thrown off, such as when we take broad spectrum antibiotics that kill them off, we can suffer ill effects such as intestinal upsets due to overgrowth of certain other bacteria or fungal species.

Just as it is normal for us to carry around certain bacteria in our intestines, it is normal for our dogs to carry around small numbers of a tiny mite called Demodex canis on their skin, down in the roots of the hair follicles. This mite is only transferred from mother dogs to their newborn puppies less than 3 days old whose immune systems have not developed. After that Demodex mites cannot be transmitted from one dog to another. Also, Demodex mites are species-specific, which means they only live on dogs.

Demodicosis, sometimes called Demodectic mange or red mange, is a condition that arises when the number of Demodex canis grows unchecked and causes skin irritation. There are two types of Demodicosis, localized demodicosis and general demodicosis. These two types are actually very different conditions with quite different implications.

Localized demodicosis affects dogs younger than two years old, most often puppies between 3 and 6 months of age (note: puppies do not have fully developed immune systems-- this is NORMAL). As the name suggests, localized demodicosis affects only part of a dog's skin, from 1 to 4 or 5 spots typically close together (though it can be on the face/head and the front legs and still be considered localized). The skin can become red and irritated in the area and the hair can fall out. Secondary infections can develop and can contribute to itchiness and discomfort. Localized demodicosis usually happens when a puppy is very stressed or when his or her immune system is affected by illness. It often resolves on its own without any treatment. Treatment can be used to speed up the process of killing off the excess mites, and might involve a topical ointment called Goodwinol, dips like Mitaban, or systemic medications like Ivermectin. There are also natural treatments that can be recommended by a homeopathic veterinarian.

Generalized demodicosis is a much more serious, severe disease. As the name indicates, it is generalized or affects the dog's whole body, and consists of baldness or patchy hair over the whole dog, scaly skin and accompanying skin infections. It has two sub-types, juvenile-onset (in dogs 8 months to 3 years depending on when the breed matures) and adult-onset (in mature dogs). Juvenile-onset generalized demodicosis has a much better prognosis than adult-onset, because a younger dog's immune system is continuing to develop and has a greater chance of being able to combat the mites on its own. Adult-onset demodicosis is usually indicative of an underlying immune problem and has a poorer prognosis. Generalized demodicosis requires treatment and testing to determine if there are the underlying conditions that affect the immune system in a mature dog. Treatment may involve antibiotics, Mitaban dips, Ivermectin, or other drugs.

Generalized demodicosis can be indicative of genetic disease that affects the immune system. Now let me emphasize something: localized demodicosis is NOT a genetic disease. These two conditions ARE NOT the same thing. A puppy who has localized demodicosis can grow up to be a perfectly normal, healthy dog and can be bred without any worry that the puppies will pass on this condition. An adult dog who has generalized demodicosis should be neutered or spayed and not bred, because it will almost always have some other underlying immune disorder.

In regard to Freja, Freja has localized demodicosis that occurred during her severe illness from Giardiasis. Freja had vomiting and diarrhea and became dehydrated. Also she was probably not receiving proper nutrients from her food due to malabsorption caused by an overabundance of Giardia. Adding insult to injury Freja developed Kennel Cough while she was hospitalized for IV fluids with the giardiasis.

Although we started to phase in treatment with Ivermectin she had a reaction to the Ivermectin (it caused her to have diarrhea), so we discontinued it after the second day before we even got up to the treatment dose. Freja's demodicosis is now resolving all on its own with NO specific treatment at all. Her hair is growing back on the bald spots and she has no new spots anywhere. This is a clear sign that Freja has completely recovered from the giardiasis AND the kennel cough and has a healthy immune system.

Another lesson in Veterinary Medicine: Kennel Cough

Infectious Tracheobronchitis, or Kennel Cough, is a contagious disease that affects dogs. According to The Merck Veterinary Manual, "Infectious tracheobronchitis results from inflammation of the upper airways. It is a mild, self-limiting disease but may progress to fatal bronchopneumonia in puppies or to chronic bronchitis in debilitated adult or aged dogs. The illness spreads rapidly among susceptible dogs housed in close confinement (eg, veterinary hospitals or kennels)."

Although it is referred to as if it is one disease it can actually be caused by multiple different viruses or bacteria. The vaccine that is commonly called the Kennel Cough vaccine actually only vaccinates against one of the bacterial causes of Kennel Cough, Bordetella bronchiseptica. Other causes of Kennel Cough include parainfluenza, distemper, and canine adenoviruses, just to name a few.

Freja probably contracted a viral form of Kennel Cough while she was in the Veterinary Hospital receiving treatment for dehydration due to the diarrhea and vomiting caused by Giardiasis. Since secondary bacterial infections are common with Kennel Cough Freja was treated with antibiotics (Clavamox), and she was given some cough syrup (Vick's Formula 44D) for the coughing.

A little lesson in Veterinary Medicine: Giardiasis

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some information with folks out there about the health conditions that have affected Freja in the time she has been with our family. First, let's talk about Giardiasis.

Giardiasis is a protozoal infection that can affect people, dogs, cats, birds and many other species. What is a protozoal infection you ask? A protozoal infection is infection with single-celled organisms called protozoans. The protozoan that causes Giardiasis is called Giardia. There are multiple species of Giardia, but Giardia in dogs is often referred to as Giardia canis. These little critters can only be seen under a microscope. Here is a link to a photo of what Giardia looks like under the microscope: http://plantphys.info/organismal/lechtml/images/giardia.jpg. As you can see, Giardia is a flagellate, which means it has a tail or tails that it uses to propel itself around.

So, you may be wondering, how does your pet become infected with Giardia? By ingesting the Giardia cysts. Protozoan species go through a series of life stages, one of which is the cyst stage. Protozoan cysts are very tough and can survive for along time exposed to the environment, especially if the conditions are right for them (i.e. high humidity is good for Giardia cysts). How do cysts get into the environment? Simple: feces. They are shed from the intestines of infected animals or people and then contaminate water or surfaces that come into contact with feces. Think about all of the places bird feces touch and you will see how easy it is for these microscopic hitchhikers to spread around. This is why it is important not to drink surface water that's not purified and not to let your pets drink from puddles.

What happens to your dog (or cat or YOU) when Giardia runs amok in the intestines? It builds up on the inside of the intestines, prevents absorption of nutrients and causes diarrhea, and sometimes also nausea and vomiting. If your dog (or cat or YOU) are not getting proper nutrient absorption overall health can be impacted. It can certainly affect your dog's (or cat's or YOUR) immune system and make your dog (or cat or YOU) more susceptible to other infections. While there is some scientific evidence indicating that some animals (and people) can carry Giardia in their systems with no ill effects to themselves (and therefore act as vectors or agents to spread the cysts around), for most dogs, cats and people Giardia causes illness.

So, how is Giardia treated? By medications that kill protozoans such as Metronidazole (also called Flagyl). When Freja had Giardiasis she was treated with Metronidazole. It is a very strong drug that has its own share of side effects, but it is very effective at killing protozoans.

For more information about Giardiasis in pets please see the relevant article in The Merck Veterinary Manual.