[Dailydrool] Itching bassets & Glucosamine

[Swartz]

There are not many things more miserable for a hound than to be itchy.  Exept maybe ear infections. Anyhowl. Colt and Ruger have seasonal allergies and have been to the vetman for them.  There is something in my yard (grass, mold, fungus, something) that only shows up during the heat of summer and breaks the boys undersides out (bellies and armpits). Last summer Colt was so bad that he was on a very expensive antihistimine and spent most of the summer as a zombie dog. I hated seeing him like this.  SO this year I declared War on the Itchies! Below is what I am doing for my hounds and it has worked very well so far this year. (I consulted with our vet first)
1. Anytime the boys go outside and step even a toebone off the patio they get DECON'd (this is at least 70% of the battle...get the allergen off of them as quickly as possible)
        Bellies, feet and armpits wiped down with a cool damp cloth. 
            The amazing thing is that they go out with normal belly color, come back in with red angry belly and when wiping them down you can watch the redness leave their belly and return to normal or just a shade darker pink.
2. One 10mg Zyrtec once a day after breakfast. 
        This is the normal adult strength over the counter Zyrtec.  
        I buy it at SAMs Club. 100 count for $35.00.
3. Thereacoat Supplement.  They get this year round but 1 month prior to their allergy season I double their doses. I can get this either at my vet or at my Groomer/self serv dog wash. $18.00 for 14.1oz
    1 Tablespoon on afternoon meal and 1 tablesoon sprinkled on bedtime yogurt treat.
4. Any sign of break out or if one starts itching, I will powder their undersides with Gold Bond Powder.
5. I also switched their food to Taste of the Wild - Pacific Stream with salmon.  Before that I feed Nutro Holistic and added a salmon oil capsule to breakfast and supper food bowls.

So far this year both hounds allergies have been well controlled (knock on wood).  Ruger has had a few minor breakouts but the Gold Bond powder gets it under control within 12 or less hours.  The war on the itchies had been a hard battle, lots of wiping bellies. The boys are good, they come back inside, I tell them "Give me your belly" and they flop over and let me do what I need to do. 


As for the Glucosamine...Research can sometimes be skewed.  How many times over our lifetime has the stance on ooohhh lets say eggs has changed...at least every 10-15 years...Eggs are bad for you and 10-15 years later they are good for you, great source of protien.  Same with Coffee and many other things.  Anyway glucosamine and chrondriton are produced naturally by the body, but with age the body slows production of this joint protecting compound, so it defiantly will not hurt to give it as directed. As a pesonal note I myself have used it and felt the benifits of it and seen it also in my Shadow ATB.  As for me about 15 yrs ago had to start running again (new AF Physical Training requirements) 4 weeks into it my knees and ankles hurt so bad that I thought I would have to quit running and probably put out of the AirForce. A friend suggested trying glucosamine & chrondition. I did and 4 weeks later I was running pain free. Shadow was around 10-11 years old and had arthritis in her hips so bad that she was having trouble getting up and down and getting around in general. Vet put her on Rimadyl for 2 weeks and started her on Glucosamine/Chrondition. She showed marked improvements...1st 2 weeks was the rimadyl. But after coming off the rimadyl she was getting around a lot better at 4-5 weeks on glucosamine she was getting up easily and at 6 weeks she was basset 500ing around the yard and wrestling with her grandson.  Just my experience.

Love and heart healing drool to all of thouse that have lost your beloved hounds to the bridge.  It has been a sad few weeks on the drool as so many have made that journey.
Be safe and go away IRene drool to all of those on the East coast.  What's up with you all...Who p'd off mother nature?  Last winters heavy snow storms, spring times heavy rains and tornados and now a earthquake and a hurricane...is there anything that you all haven't endured?

Michele Momma to the Bad A** Basset Brothers 
Colt and Ruger who are pulling out my wolfbane, chalking in a protective circle around their kennels, and melting down my silver...wonder what's gotten into them?


Women are Angels...And when someone breaks their wings..They simply continue to fly....on a broomstick...They are flexible like that...
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