Mastiff with poorly toe

[Dr Meat]

Hi everyone, I have a mastiff with a poorly toe, it hurts him for a day then as soon as it feels better he charges around then the next day or so he's back to square one. I've not walked him to give it a chance to heel. I haven't taken him to the vet yet as he is fine in himself and we are already probably one of the vets best earners. He's 18 months old and 10 stone, also on a steroid for his skin. Would it be a good idea to tape his toes together, thanks

[Jasandjules]

Have you checked to make sure he hasn't got a thorn or something stuck?

[keslake]

I had similar with mine when he was 12 months old.

Turned out it was his front left shoulder but for all intents he was limping as though he
had foot a related problem.

[Jasandjules]

Also, have you checked his elbows? Is he favouring the foot and holding it up at all? Is it the front or rear leg? Did it happen after extended exercise/vigorous play?

[Dr Meat]

It's on he's back left foot, went to bed fine woke up with a swollen toe. It's defo he's toe and the vet checked all his joints last week.

[bexVN]

May well need an xray. Swollen toe on hind foot on a dog last week turned out to be fractured toe, also on off lame etc.

He's young to be on steroids, hope it's short term. FIngers crossed he has a quick recovery.

[Dr Meat]

Took him back to the vets today,he said he didnt think it needed a x-ray and to let him rest for the next five days.That in itself is the problem as I said before as soon as he feels beter he charges around till it hurts then the circle starts over again.
The steroids unfortunatley is not short term,hes had a problem with hes skin since he was six months old. We have tried everything, first skin scrapes,then blood tests,food trails,from antihistermines to atopica all with no success.the only thing that calms hes skin down and stops him ripping himself apart is the steriods.

[Jasandjules]

Dr Meat said:

Took him back to the vets today,he said he didnt think it needed a x-ray and to let him rest for the next five days.That in itself is the problem as I said before as soon as he feels beter he charges around till it hurts then the circle starts over again.
The steroids unfortunatley is not short term,hes had a problem with hes skin since he was six months old. We have tried everything, first skin scrapes,then blood tests,food trails,from antihistermines to atopica all with no success.the only thing that calms hes skin down and stops him ripping himself apart is the steriods.

Try a raw diet.
Try homeopathy.

Both cheaper and IME more effective than drugs

[Dr Meat]

Jasandjules said:

Try a raw diet.
Try homeopathy.

Both cheaper and IME more effective than drugs

He is fed raw with mainly potatos and some veg,which has helped as it does'nt dry his skin out as much.
A pic of my boy with his sister.

[Jasandjules]

Reduce the potatoes. If you have to feed grains, feed rice. Increase the meat and bones if you can. He may be suffering from vaccines too - that's why I was suggesting homeopathy.

[bexVN]

Jasandjules said:

Reduce the potatoes. If you have to feed grains, feed rice. Increase the meat and bones if you can. He may be suffering from vaccines too - that's why I was suggesting homeopathy.

What on earth do you mean re suffering from vaccines?!?

Please don't tell me you are now going to advise homeopathic vaccines to everyone.

This idea scares me more than anything and I am not anti natural.

[Jasandjules]

bexVN said:

What on earth do you mean re suffering from vaccines?!?

Some dogs (and cats) react (as ours have done) to vaccinations. Some homeopaths can treat this and they don't itch so much afterwards (as we did).

ETA - but that's why I suggest a possible, it was an idea.

[bexVN]

Jasandjules said:

bexVN said:

What on earth do you mean re suffering from vaccines?!?

Some dogs (and cats) react (as ours have done) to vaccinations. Some homeopaths can treat this and they don't itch so much afterwards (as we did).

ETA - but that's why I suggest a possible, it was an idea.

Ok, time to step off my pedestal, you mean use homeopathy alongside vaccines, that I can deal with!

It does seem such a shame to be using steroids so much already, it will shorten his life and leave him susceptible to several conditions.

OP hope his foot is better soon.

[Dr Meat]

I know that the steroids are bad, but we have spent nearly 2k trying to get to the route of the problem and we still have no clue what is causing it. Don't get me wrong it's not the cost, if it took 10k to fix him I would find the money from someware. It does scare me the use of the steroids as french mastiffs dont have the longest lifes as it is, they give a far greater quality of life and surely he deserves to be happy while he's with me.
Back to the raw feeding, am I right to be giving him carbohydrates?

[bexVN]

What a shame and how frustrating for you.

J&J are very knowledgeable re raw but I think you should try and keep the carbs to a minimum and ensure you avoid feeding beef (and poss chicken) and feed meats such as lamb, duck, salmon and rabbit as these are unique proteins that the body would not have had chance to develop sensitivity to.

Beef is a high neat intolerance for dietary and skin and surprisingly a dogs can often be sensitive to chicken.

[Jasandjules]

bexVN said:

What a shame and how frustrating for you.

J&J are very knowledgeable re raw but I think you should try and keep the carbs to a minimum and ensure you avoid feeding beef (and poss chicken) and feed meats such as lamb, duck, salmon and rabbit as these are unique proteins that the body would not have had chance to develop sensitivity to.

Beef is a high neat intolerance for dietary and skin and surprisingly a dogs can often be sensitive to chicken.

The above is sound advice. The only thing I would say is that everything you feed could react with your dog so you use new food sparingly to see how the dog copes.

Your local butcher may be able to get you whole rabbits (usually they will need to skin/gut them but some will shall we say not worry too much about that). Lamb bones are good (some dogs get wind on them!). It seems strange but chicken for some dogs is not good, but a butcher should be able to get you carcasses.

And as I said I would reduce potatoes from the diet if possible at all. If you want some carbs I would use rice (but only 20% of the dog's food full stop), it tends to be better for dogs IMHO.

Also do not overfeed. Some say 2-3% of the dog's weight per day in raw food. It depends on the exercise etc

[Dr Meat]

Thanks for all the replies, I will a cut the spuds right down and will try different meats. I not sure if I can afford to give him whole rabbits all the time and have the time to butcher them, what with all the meat lying around defrosting each day and the skinning of the rabbits my kitchen would look like some think out of the texas chain saw massacre! I feed him about 1 kilo of meat daily over three meals to reduce the risk of bloat.

[Jasandjules]

Our butcher will sell a whole rabbit for £2, they are about 1.4/1.5kg, so not bad? You can also get minced rabbit (frozen 1lb packs) from on-line raw food suppliers. And chicken carcasses we pay 70p/kg. Butchers can usually get lights as well as people don't eat them so they can be cheap (not hugely nutritional but good for variety) If you know a local farmer, ask them if they can get offal for you from their slaughtered animals - that way you can get liver/kidneys and even heart and it's a lot cheaper than your butcher will charge you. Also whole lamb heads (hard to get though) are good for chewing and gnawing. We feed the meal in one lump, the same as they would get if they got a kill and ate it. IF it's 1.5kg of rabbit or a whole chicken etc then they are fasted the next day as they get around 800g of food a day.

Our utility room regularly looks like a butchers, cutting up lungs/liver/heart/kidneys and so on and the other day our farmer gave us two chickens which we had to pluck and skin (don't want the dogs to associate the actual animal with food) but I did that in the garden.

[Dr Meat]

I've tried the minced rabbit but he's not a big fan,he likes tripe which I mix in with the beef. Chicken carcasses cost me £ 20 for about 15kgs, The meat I buy him is all frozen prize choice from the local pet shop.Ill have to have a look at local farms for some prices. I must say he does fancy the idea of a rabbit, if he see's one he bolts straight for it but at 10 stone they run him ragged!

[bexVN]

Stop the beef, wean over to the others.