Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Poor Kona

This time the humiliation doesn't belong to Samuel. It's poor Kona.

This is what Kona should look like.


However, this is how he looks now.



Unfortunately, he has had some allergy problems. We had him tested for food/environmental allergies, and have changed his diet, and even started giving him some raw food instead of canned. He has been on benadryl, chlorpheniramine, and steroid injections, and nothing seems to be working. He chews on himself until he is bleeding. He even horka'd up a hairball the size of a baseball. We even had skin scrapings done to test for mites. Mom keeps trying to cut the hair around the areas he chews on, and putting hot spot medicine on it, but he just won't stop. We recently thought that maybe he is a little OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), so put him on Xanax. It is helping a little, but the most help has come from a little invention mom thought up. Hence, the humiliation for poor Kona.


This is the only way to keep him from chewing on himself. Mom made this little outfit out of a pair of her jammie pants. Pretty nice of her to give up her favorite lounge wear for him.

He is going to the vet Wednesday morning. He will probably need to get some skin biopsies to see if there are other problems that we can't figure out. Even the vet can't figure out why he is having so many problems. So, wish him luck! I will keep you updated.

Hollybollyboo

25 comments:

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

WOO HOO!!!

Sleepy Pantz fur Kona!

I'll keep my fuzz and send it to you for placement where you think it fits best!!1

PLEASE BE NICE TO HIM!!!

OR I'LL KHOME GET WOO!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Lorenza said...

Hi, Holly!
Poor Kona! That looks painful. I really hope the vet can find out what is causing him that!
Yes, you are right. He does not look to happy with his outfit.
Paws crossed for him!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Jack & Moo said...

Woooo for you, Kona, poor baby! That really looks miserable. i know how much it urts when I get small boo-booos, much less if it was half my body! We'll keep paws crossed the vet can figure this out & do something to give Kona some relief. It was nice of your mama to give up her favorite sleepy pants.... I know our humom would do the same for us.

Wooos & itchy a-rooos,
Star & Jack

One of the pack said...

Holly,

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on Kona. I'm sure Mom has done tons of homework and is really on top of this. Dietary changes are always tough on everyone. S And, we've found getting off all dog food and most meds that impact the liver can help in certain situations. This is a very dog specific problem, and trial and error is a necessity. Just in case you MIGHT want a non-vet opinion from just experience here it goes:

1. Eliminate/or significantly reduce wheat/corn for two weeks, along with most processed foods. Feed eggs for breakfast. We feed roasted chicken and veggies cooked with carcass until the water is reduced so that in the refrigerator it is like jello. Dogs love it and can eat on it for days. Veggies: fresh green beans and carrots are always winners.
2. Try apples, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, etc for snacks.
3. When hot spot doesn't work, we've had some luck with a similar product from BioGroom called Lido-Med Anti-Itch spray. It may have the same ingredients, though.
4. If the heat is running a lot, make sure you've got plenty of humidity to boot. And, you know that snow and cold feels pretty good too.
5. Non-vet approved: acedopholus is also a help with the bacteria in the intestines. This may help as he chews and digests stuff he really shouldn't.
6. Some dogs become allergic to chicken and eggs. So, in the trial and error mode, be mindful of the above.
7. Remember to mind the percent of protein to fat to carb! Another non-vet approved drug: Fruit chewable Malox with meals to keep tummy settled with all these dietary changes.

We almost didn't send this since you didn't ask for suggestions. I hope you know we're only trying to send non-scientific information and lend a helping paw.

We know your Mom must be worried sick. We think the PJ's are awfully cute! We want everyone healthy and happy. We hope your Mom is okay with us sending info she probably has already tried! Our Mommy has nursed many a sick pup in the last 25 years.

The very concerned
Forget Sit and Stay Gang

Princess Eva and Brice said...

Poor Kona,
Do you have access to a canine dermatologist? Sometimes a specialist can recognize something that the average vet cannot.

T&E

P.S. that looks like a pair of sleepy pants that our mom/dad have.

Joe Stains said...

We are sending healing thoughts to Kona, you know how we feel about Samoyeds over here since my brother Lobo was a goofball Sammy.

Girl Girl Hamster said...

Oh dear poor Kona. I hope he gets better soon. He looks great all fluffy and white

~ Girl girl

Anonymous said...

Poor Kona! We have much sympathy for him, as Abby had bad skin allergies too. In fact my blog was started to help other pet owners with skin allergies. I had great success with changing her diet to all natural dry formula for 1 meal, and raw food mix for her afternoon meal. She is now off all medication, her ears cleared up and no longer suffers from it. While we were weening her off Prednisone, I gave her an immune system balancing supplement and also fatty acids and it really helped her. If you want more info, just check out the dog allergies topics on my blog, as I covered it on many posts. Good luck with it, as it is horrible to see your pet suffer so.
Chris

Katherine and Pippa said...

Just hoping you get it sorted. And the jim jams look quite cool.

Pippa

The Army of Four said...

Poor Kona! Holly, you guys aren't ranking on him for having to wear sleepy pants, are you?
Ammy's blowing coat right now - do you want us to get her to make a donation?
I sure hope the vets can figure out what's wrong; that looks SO sore!!!
Luv,
Dave

Molly the Airedale said...

We're sending you lots of AireZen, Kona! We sure hope the itchies are gone soon!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Crikit, Sparky, Ginger! said...

Oh Kona! We heard about your health issues and we can see the disstress in your face.

IF mommy can find the name of what one of her furs used when everything seem impossible we'll peemail you immediately. Fur sure though if you can tolerate soaking in an oatmeal bath it sure will ease the itchy pain

Much love and wishes fur recovery your way

H.A. Turbofire, Sibertarian said...

Poor Kona! But that is a nice looking outfit!

Amber-Mae said...

Hi Kona! I heard about your allergy problem & just thought I'd drop by. Oh my my, it looks sooo bad! I don't know how you can do it by chewing your own self until you bleed...To tell you the truth, my sista Faith does that too to her own paw paws & her feet. She chews on them till there's no more hair left but luckily they didn't bleed becoz my mommy has been stopping her. Mommy put on an e-collar o0n her for about a week or so until she stopped & forgot about it. I think she has this OCD too! I hope you will get better soon...

Love licks,
Solid Gold Dancer

Deanna said...

Poor Kona! Boxer Healing Vibes comin' at you!

The Daily Echo said...

Oh Poor Kona! Holly - you'd better watch out. First a bucket, now sleepy pants for Kona. What's next?? We sure hope Kona's vet figures out what's going on.
ECHO

D'Azul Siberian said...

Poor Kona, we hope he feels better soon. Our Mom says a shot of steroids would help in the short term.

Kapp pack said...

Awwww....poor Kona....we hope you figure out what his issue is...

Woo woo, Kelsey ANn

The Brat Pack said...

Poor Kona, that just looks miserable. :( We hope you're feeling better soon.

Tucker

Thor said...

Poor Kona! I hope the vet fixes him up so he doesn't have to wear humiliating outfits anymore!

Woos,
Thor

Opy - the Original GruffPuppy said...

Hang in there Kona - we are all thinking of you and hoping you will feel better soon.

Love
Opy

the many Bs said...

that's a big bummer about your skin problems.

we don't know if your peeps have investigated, but one of our poodle friends chewed herself like that and after much agony and testing, she was found to have some kind of mange. has your doctor tested you for that yet? after the right treatment, she was better really fast. we hope that you get better fast too.

woofs!

Izzie said...

Awww poor Kona. I hope he gets to feeling better soon!

Jans Funny Farm said...

Oh, poor Kona. Buddy can relate. He had such problems with allergies his first couple of years. He's doing better, though. We hope Kona will be too.

WinstonBerry said...

Oh, goodness...Poor little Kona!
I can't imagine how uncomfortable and frustrated you must be. I hope you get healed, soon!

Smooches,
Winnie :-)