Health Information
Why is diet so important? Here is why....
This is a link to an excellent description of what is in most dog foods www.fuzzyfaces.com/lfood2.html. This is disgusting but true!!
Selecting a Commercial Pet Food www.api4animals.org/articles.php?p=361&more=1
Food Not Fit for a Pet www.belfield.com/pet_health_art3.php
Pet Foods: What's Really In Them?
www.nzymes.com/Articles/pet_foods_whats_really_in_them.htm
www.bornfreeusa.org/downloads/pdf/PetFoodReport_05-07.pdf
www.localvets.com/articles/whats-really-in-your-pets-food.htm
This is a link to a list of Natural Food Stores (for people) around the United States. Some may carry natural pet foods too. www.greenpeople.org/NaturalFood.html
Here is a link to reviews with ratings of dog foods www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Here is another good website that break down what the ingredients actually are and has more in-depth explanations of what to look for in a dog food as well as a list of recalls: www.dogfoodproject.com/
The Whole Dog Journal recommends changing brands every 3-4 months to prevent getting too much of one nutrient and not enough of another. They say switch brands completely and not just formulas from the same brand since the company will use the same base nutrients in all of their formulas.
Here are some videos with some good educational information about dog foods. I attended a seminar put on by the holistic veterinarian Jane Bicks a few years ago and talked to her in person. She is very knowledgeable. Along with the educational material these videos are also advertisement for her products.
The Truth About Pet Food (part 1)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLaxXD8vPao&NR=1
The Truth About Pet Food (part 2)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl1bt4kx1fY&mode=related&search=
Spaying and Neutering
Here is a website with information about what age is best for spaying and neutering.
www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html/
Over Vaccinating
Here are some excellent links about the problems caused by vaccinations
www.doglogic.com/vaccination.htm
www.critterchat.net/immune.htm
www.britfeld.com/vaccination-adverse.htm
Heartworm Medications
The Toy and Miniature Australian Shepherds (Aussies) can have a severe reaction to Ivermectin which is in many of the Heartworm Medications. Interceptor is the only safe (so far) Heartworm Medication for Aussies, Collies, Border Collies and many other breeds.
The Toy and Miniature Australian Shepherds (Aussies) can have a severe reaction to other drugs as well!! PLEASE READ below!
This is passed along from another site...
I am passing this on as an example of that the MRD1 gene mutation
can apparently do. It's quite common in Collies and been found in
Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties). Australian Shepherds, mini Aussies,
Old English Sheepdogs, German Shepherds, Long-haired Whippets,
Silken Windhounds, and a variety of mixed breed dogs.
www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/#Breeds/
Please pass this on to anyone you know with these breeds, interested
in getting one and your vets.
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:23:02 +0000
Subject: Buster's Tragedy - PLEASE Read!
Dear fellow dog lovers,
I'm writing to tell you about a terrible tragedy we just had with
one of our Mini Aussie Rescue & Support (MARS) foster dogs. Buster
was a 3 year old beautiful red merle Miniature Australian Shepherd.
He came into rescue from a shelter in the midwest. We had him
neutered and moved into a foster home to be cared for while he
healed. Buster was one of the sweetest dogs we ever met. He had such
a great temperament that we had approved his adoption into a home
with a one-year old child, which is something we are extremely
cautious about ever doing.
Buster arrived at his foster home with a wet, very productive cough.
It was definitely not kennel cough and the vet felt it needed to be
treated aggressively, partly fearing it was canine flu. He
prescribed two antibiotics and a cough suppressant. Buster received
these drugs for several days during which time his cough improved.
On the fifth day, startled by knocking at the door Buster's eyes
completely dilated and he flew into a rage that lasted for 20
minutes after the person had left.
Confused, his foster mom contacted us. Going over Buster's
medicines, we were horrified to discover that the cough suppressant
he was given, Torbutol, is primarily used as a pain suppressant and
is on the list (under its generic name Butorphonal) of problem drugs
that should not be given to dogs who may carry a mutated mdr1 gene.
For those of you not familiar with this mutation, dogs carrying the
mutated gene cannot pump certain drugs out of their brains in the
normal way. This can cause a dangerous build up of the drug in the
brain resulting in neural toxicity, essentially poisoning the dog's
brain.
Buster was immediately pulled off the medications, but continued to
get much worse day after day. When we reviewed his medical records,
we discovered that he had received another drug on the list during
his neutering. So Buster was given two of the problem drugs by
different vets within a very short period of time. We immediately
tested him for the mdr1 genetic defect. Buster's test results came
back as "normal/mutant" meaning he carried one copy of the mutated
gene.
The official diagnosis was "Undifferentiated Rage" meaning that
Buster, due to neurological problems, was viciously attacking anyone
and anything whenever his fears were triggered. And his fears were
multiplying daily, with his rage seizures (as the vet called them)
lasting longer and longer. Eventually his pupils remained fully
dilated all the time.
In his final days, Buster's foster mom took him for a walk in a
sunny field, hoping to bring him a little bit of joy. A bird flying
overhead triggered such a violent rage that Kathie ended up hiding
behind a tree in fear for the forty minutes it took Buster to
recover. Even when Buster was kept gated into a spare room in an
attempt to protect him from all fear triggers, any little noise or
movement brought on rage seizures many times each day.
The MARS Board of Directors held a two-hour long emergency meeting
to discuss Buster. We heard testimony from his caretakers as well as
examined the input from all of the medical experts we had consulted.
Although there has been some research done on dogs recovering from
ivermectin toxicity, we were told there is no research that has been
done on treatment from and recovery from the other toxic drugs on
the list or from combinations of the problem drugs. No one could
offer us any hope for Buster's recovery.
We also had to consider the fact that Buster was clearly a danger to
any human or animal in his vicinity. But for me the most compelling
fact was that Buster's life had become one giant nightmare for him.
There was no way we could protect him from everything he was afraid
of since he was afraid of everything.
After much heart-wrenching discussion and many, many tears, the
Board of Directors of MARS voted to euthanize Buster. He died
peacefully in his foster mom's arms last week.
From:
Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 1:33 PM
Subject: Buster's story - Please God, never to be forgotten
These photos are how we want to always remember Buster. One of the
sweetest and most loving Aussies we have ever had the pleasure to
know (and we had and still do have several to compare him with, so
we know of what we speak). Today, four days after his passing, we
purposefully remember the crippled Buster because it is important
enough to do so. What's important now is that you know, and so we
revisit the pain and despair and, albeit it sparingly, share both
with you. Grab a tissue and read on, please.
Buster tested MDR1 N/M. This means that only one strand of his DNA's
double helix carried the Multiple Drug Resistance deficiency
mutation; but one was all it took to rocket him along the path to
death. Buster received Ace during his neuter and, days later,
Torbutol 5mg 3 times a day. 13 pills total. The neurological
toxicity evidently caused by these drugs drove Buster to psychosis
and paranoia manifested by sessions of undifferentiated and
uncontrollable rage and aggression.
Clinical terms aside, we can personally attest that poor Buster lost
the ability to distinguish between friend and foe, or between
threatening and benign. Over the course of just a few days - and
continuing in the days after the drugs were stopped - Buster's
demons randomly and exponentially grew from being triggered by a
stranger at the door to being caused by just the sight of a large
bird flying overhead. In sum, this whole world became a torture
chamber to him.
Originally, we intended to sit down at this machine and pen all the
horrifying details, but we can't. Instead we have to trust that you,
dear reader, can well imagine what it is like to be unable to get
through to your innocent charge and assure him that he is safe. We
suspect you can also imagine the conflict and turmoil present 24/7
when a loving wigglebutt entrusted to your care can turn, at the
drop of a pin, into a threat to the safety and welfare of anything
and everyone within reach. We hope only the guilt when it dawns on
you that you contributed to this beautiful guy's sufferings is
unimaginable. Trust us, you never want to experience any of this
firsthand. Too many others already have and the stories they have
selflessly shared with this family are equally heart wrenching.
Buster suffered at our hands and we were unable to reverse it, nor
to provide comfort, solace or refuge short of destroying him. The
only defense you have against this nightmare is education.
You simply must educate yourself, your vet, your friends, neighbors,
& family to this fact: dogs are needlessly suffering - even dying -
because caregivers are unaware of or, worse yet, dismissing the
significance of drug side effects in dogs with the MDR1 gene
mutation. We are convinced that Buster's brain was poisoned (the
"neurological toxicity" part of the equation) by receiving at least
two drugs specifically listed at the Washington State University's
Veterinary Clinical Pharmacalogy Laboratory site
www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts%2DVCPL/
Admittedly, the MDR1 studies are still a work-in-progress, but do
you really want to run the risk of your fur baby becoming just
another statistic that further serves to prove the point?
Spread the word. Test your own at-risk herding and mixed breed dogs.
Remember -it's not just Ivermectin and the coma side effect -
behavioral changes can also evidence neurological toxicity. Please
help us to avoid letting - nay, we'll be frank - causing Buster to
die in vain.
And please cross-post widely. Thank you.
This website was created in memory of Buster and has more information -
When we try to link from our website to this one we keep getting an error so you will need to type it into your web browser - busteralert.com
Make your own dog biscuits
www.recipesource.com/misc/pet-food/dog/
Natural Cure For Pet Ear Infections
www.naturalfamilyonline.com/go/index.php/419/dog-ear-infections/
Natural Internal & External Parasite Control
This website has a lot of natural products to help protect our pets against internal and external parasites.
www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html#anchorfossilshellflour
Microchips cause cancer in pets
www.news-medical.net/?id=29675
Natural Sugar Substitute Xylitol is Dangerous to Dogs
Poisonous Plants
Here are some websites with lists of plants poisonous to dogs and other animals.
www.cbif.gc.ca/pls/pp/poison?p_x=px
Poisonous Foods
Here are some websites with lists of (people) foods poisonous to dogs.
www.urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_toxic_raisins.htm
www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp (more on grapes and raisins toxic to dogs)
www.peteducation.com/article.cfm%3Fcls=2%26cat=1661%26articleid=1030
www.peteducation.com/article.cfm%3Fcls=1%26cat=1935%26articleid=2409
Article on Dog's color vision
Here is the website www.uwsp.edu/PSYCH/s/275/Perception/ColorVisionDogs89.pdf