Raw Meat Diets for Companion Animals? http://www.belfield.com/article11.html

Make your own dog biscuits

http://www.recipesource.com/misc/pet-food/dog/

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!

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.
http://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 http://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 http://www.busteralert.org.

Natural Cures For Pet Ear Infections

http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/go/index.php/419/dog-ear-infections/

http://www.petmedicinechest.com/canine/discussions/earinfectiontext.asp

Natural Internal & External Parasite Control

This website has a lot of natural products to help protect our pets against internal and external parasites.

 http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html#anchorfossilshellflour

Natural Sugar Substitute Xylitol Dangerous to Dogs

This website was has more information http://www.avma.org/press/releases/061001_xylitol.asp

Poisonous Plants

Here are some websites with lists of plants poisonous to dogs and other animals.

http://www.dogpatch.org/doginfo/plants.html

http://www.cbif.gc.ca/pls/pp/poison?p_x=px

Poisonous Foods

Here are some websites with lists of (people) foods poisonous to dogs.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_toxic_raisins.htm

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp (more on grapes and raisins toxic to dogs)

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm%3Fcls=2%26cat=1661%26articleid=1030

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm%3Fcls=1%26cat=1935%26articleid=2409

Article on Dog's color vision

Spaying and Neutering

Here is a website with information about what age is best for spaying and neutering.

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html