Beebe practices Agility

lindsayt

So, I took Beebe to the vet because of a tiny hairless lump on her lower lip and a balding patch of skin (growing in size) on her upper lip. In addition to her generalized skin allergies, grain intolerance, and puppy warts (papilomas) she had in her mouth and on her "underparts", it now turns out she has a histiocytoma (benign tumor related to immune function) AND an overwhelming amount of demodex mites (Dr said "Holy crap, look at all those mites!")

What is up with her immune system? Crappy breeding? Do any of you use or know of any products useful in boosting a dogs' immune function or any experience with this combination of symptoms?

AkiraleShiba

That is the only immune system booster I know of [url]http://www.biokplus.com/en/[/url] but I've never tried it. I do not want to offend you but I think it's crappy breeding, but all you can do now is take care of your little one. If there is an holistic/homeopathic vet in your area it might be a good idea to check him out.

lindsayt

I'm pretty sure it's crappy breeding. Thanks, that looks promising and I think I will start adding Missing Link again as well. I haven't yet tried Seameal, but thought it was pretty much the same as Missing Link.

tsukitsune

we use seameal, I think it makes a positive difference in all 3 of the dogs.

StaticNfuzz

Nutrition, genetics and husbandry all go together like peas in a pod. Probably poor care of the mom and litter may have compromised the immune system of your dog early in life or before birth.

Start with a good nutrition plan and continue working with your vet. Get some good quality food. There is a list of good foods on this forum. You could try adding missing link, sea meal/kelp and salmon oil to your pets food as a supplement to her kibble.

Take it one step at a time for each problem.

Here is some additional info on demodex mites http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/dem.html

Small button tumors are not uncommon on pups and are generally benign and go away in several months without any need to mess with them. I would be sure to get you pup spayed/neutered before the first heat cycle. Some of the other tumor issues you describe may go away once the hormones are under control. Here is info on button tumors.
http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dhistio.html


Good luck and don’t give up.... It will take time to get your pups body in balance.
Snf

Sangmort

I hope she's ok! ~

lindsayt

So, an update. I've been using Goodwinol on the demodex, but it began spreading to her legs :( I added Norwegian Kelp and flax oil to her food, the lamb meal from Solid Gold and did a food trial with just the Solid Gold and no Ziwi Peak anymore. I visited the Dermatologist up here in Seattle who sees many shibas and a few of the other Japanese breeds hanging around up here (mostly shibas). He says the worst cases of atopy, hotspots and allergic reactions he sees are often in shibas!

Beebe has been diagnosed with a primary IgA deficiency ($198 lab work and consult), a probable heritable immune weakness and needs to have IV Interferon therapy ($200-400). I need to put her on (barf) Purina HA for a serious 6 week cardboard dog food diet trial ($80), and sort out her environmental allergens ($300 for subdermal testing and funny haircut). I will follow this with a series of desensitizing allergy shots ($300) and Ivermectin therapy for the mites (relatively cheap). I also need to do daily or weekly CBCs ($40) during the Interferon. I am in shock!

If I don't do the Interferon, she will eventually develop a malabsorbtion syndrome and not be able to digest any of her food and die, or she will die from some infection because her immune system is crap. I can't keep her in a bubble, so I have to do this but I am afraid of side effects, oh, and I guess I can't ever give her prednisone or live/modified live vaccines so goodbye dog parks :( She looks so pitiful right now and I know she doesn't feel good. She isn't herself. She's lethargic and pale. Poor baby! I just hope she feels better when this is all done. I feel so bad for her.

Anyways, I really appreciate all the input, you guys are a riot and really know your stuff, so thanks. Please keep your fingers crossed for Beebe to have the energy to endure her treatments. I will keep you updated.

tsukitsune

Poor little Beebe. Remind yourself that crap immune system or not, Shibas are stubborn little fighters!She'll pull through than give you hell for it!!
Hang in there!

dlroberts

Oh man, I'm really sorry to hear that she (and you) have to go through all that. Take it from someone who has been/is there, you're going to have a much harder time dealing with it than she is. It'll hurt your pocket (the least of your concerns I assume) and it will cause you a lot of heart break. But she'll pull through in typical Shiba fashion.

Best of luck with the treatment and management plan. Keep us informed on her progress.

lindsayt

Thanks. No, I don't care about cost. Yes, I am definately more upset than she is. Good news: I don't need to do IV interferon, just sublingual drops. That's a relief. The allergy testing isn't a big deal, I just wanted to vent. I will post pictures of her rashes after the skin test and see if anyone can play "connect the dots" on her reactions:) Oh, and I'm switching to Orijen 6-fish.

lindsayt

So, an update. Beebe had her allergy testing on the 24th. Good news is her IgA has returned to normal but I need to keep giving her interferons until she is 3. She had a conscious sedation with domitor which worked really quickly for the skin testing. It turns out she has significant allergies to about 45/56 environmental allergens that are tested for, including human dander (me), cats (don't have any), and cedar (all over the yard). So, we started our allergy shots this morning, and she has to have them forever. I thought allergy shots were only for maybe a year. Nope. It's lifetime. Anyways, next step is food trial, but she sure looks cute in a lampshade :)

dlroberts

Oh wow. Poor girl. That must be so tough for her. I hope the allergy shots dot he trick? How often does she get them? Can you administer them yourself or do you have to take her somewhere?

tsukitsune

with the patch of missing hair and cone, Beebe looks semi robotic... "push-button-for-bark"

I didn't realize dogs could be allergic to their humans! thats a twisted spin.

ljowen123

poor Beebe!

sujewel

Poor, poor Beebe. Hope the allergy shots work. I wonder if doggie allergies work like human allergies to dogs and cats. Kurt's allergic to cats, but he's gotten used to our cats and is fine with them sleeping on him.

Heidi

It's Beebebot! Poor girl.

lindsayt

Ha ha, Beebebot-where's the off switch? I "get" to do her shots every other day myself for the first 2 vials. She's one sexy lady with that cone.

ShikokuSpirit

Poor girl, I hope she's better now!

Sadly, she does like cute in that cone. I guess it doesn't matter what one is wearing, if you're cute, you look good in just about anything.

asia

Poor thing!! I too did not realize dogs could be allergic to humans!

lindsayt

It makes me laugh to read back thru what I wrote (I was over-reacting just a little). Beebe is basically fine, the mange is gone, although she remains incredibly itchy and smelly at times. She takes interferon drops everyday and weekly allergy shots. I can't do vaccines for a few more months, but the dog needs her dog park time. Thankfully her titers are ok. The orijen 6-fish has resulted in no more tummy trouble, so that's a plus.

Here's some spam of Stinkblossum, playing with her agility set, pretending to be a beaver...

Calia

Haha, way to keep herself entertained with the bamboo.

btw, what type of harness is she wearing? I noticed it on Ike on one of your other threads and was just curious to know more about it.

lindsayt

It's the Ruffwear walking harness. I liked the padded Y throat latch and belly straps, and there are a couple areas to clip a leash to on the back. It's probably a little too large, but the next size down looked ridiculously tiny. It fits ok on Ike. It's her secret spy vest, they look like they're on a mission or something when they wear it.

dlroberts

Good thing you have her to police the bamboo. That stuff grows so damn fast you'd have a veritable forest on your hands if she wasn't there to keep it in check. ;-)

Saya

Nice pictures and neat looking harness I never seen it before also nice bamboo I'd like to grow some oneday.

I'm glad she's doing better she's such a beautiful shiba inu also your lion statue looks nice I've been looking for a nice one to put by my mini bog garden. =)

Harlow

Great pictures and I'm glad to hear she is doing so much better. Hang in there!

baanton

Well, Beebe ---- as they used to say in a commercial along time ago ---- "You've come a long way, baby!"... Lindsay : So glad that Beebe is looking healthy again and having a fun time with all her cool play things and the bamboo, too! She really looks great, and thanks for sharing the current pictures and update on her health! A credit to you...

Leonberger

It's great to know she's doing better.
That harness is pretty cool!

Beebe must have a Panda distant cousin or something :-P
All that chlorophyll she's munching on should be a huge helps to keep her breath fresh!

tsukitsune

Pretty Beebe. Her face reminds me of our Kitsu, more narrow and foxlike than most.

lindsayt

Thank you. I was thinking her and Kitsu could be look alikes ;)

lindsayt

Beebe has another dermatology appointment in 2 weeks for a recheck. She was doing really well until the sun came out and the rain halted for a few days. I noticed all the pollen coating my car, and sure enough she is super itchy. She has had to wear a cone at night so we can sleep without her slurping and chewing her wrists raw. I hope it's just temporary and that I won't need to change her serum/injection regimen. Her feet smell like popcorn. No other issues currently.

Oh, AKC finally sent me her PAL number. Now she's a "real" Shiba.

Shot a vid of her showing off her talents, she decided to do it in Shiba speed "you want me to do what? I'm going to think about first."

Calia

That's a cute video, I'm sad that it ends in mid trick