Friends I Need Advice and Encouragement - Page 4

You are feeding very good quality food, one of the best, much better than I was feeding at the time (Nutro) so hmmm, maybe this isn't about diet but is hereditary? 
What did the breeder say?  Has she seen it in any other dogs of  similar pedigree?

Just got done reading through all the post and PM's.

I am going to be researching some things..I really liked the AF support link that Abby posted.

There is so much mystery about this condition and it is not easy trying to find out what the cause of the fistulas are; hereditary, diet/allergy, anal problems,,,,

It is a bit overwhelming, but I will take one day at a time and not get terribly worried,,lol,,,hard for me!!..It hurts my heart every time Prince looks at me with his handsome little face..I can not bear to think of him anything but healthy and happy like he is right now,,,

I just bought an attachment for my shower head so I can rinse the area daily with warm water..I heard hydrotherapy was beneficial.

I have a call into the vet this morning about getting a Protopic ointment. I am not 100% sold on using harsh medications, but many here have suggested it. I will at least have it on hand if I decide to go that route. If I can not get a prescription I am going to apply the zinc oxide and see how it goes.

Thanks again,,

Deanna..:)

RS..I have not yet heard from the breeder. I only sent an email just a couple of days ago. I will be curious to hear about the possibility of this affecting Prince's littermates...Hopefully that is not the case and Prince's condition is an isolated one,,,
 

Hello,,,I wanted some opinions on making a diet change...

I have been reading a lot about diet and AF/perianal fistula and there seems to be some benefit in choosing a single protein diet. If Prince had  "normal" stool I would not be quick to make any changes especially since I really like the Orjen he is already on. However, Prince has somewhat softer stools which cause the dirtiness around the anal area.

Here are a couple I was considering??,,,Prince has had a chicken based protein and a fish based protein in the past. All the proteins in the links below he has never had before. Any suggestions about the quality of the ingredients would be appreciated. Any suggestion would be appreciated..lol..Thanks so much...


Natural Balance...Bison or Lamb or Venison,,,
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/allergy.html 

Natures Variety Lamb
http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/dog/kibble/LIDlamb

 
Pinnacle Duck
http://www.pinnaclepet.com/Canine/dog_food_duck.htm

Royal Canin GSD ,, only because it claims to be made for GSD  ,,made for vbvbb's)
http://products.royalcanin.us/products/dog-food/german-shepherd-24.aspx 

I like the Nature's Variety lamb.

I am very sorry to hear about this issue.  Glad you caught it early.  Just to re-iterate what someone said about diet, a new study of adverse food reactions (AFR) showed:

There was a significant association between AFRs and both otitis externa (OR=5·9; P=0·0015, 95% CI=2 to 17·9) and perianal fistula (OR=26·1; P=0·0058, 95% CI=2·52 to 269·4), although all dogs with perianal fistulas were German shepherd dogs.

Clinical Significance: The prevalence of AFRs in the study population was higher than most reported values. Further studies are warranted to investigate the true prevalence of AFR and its possible association with perianal fistula and other potential markers.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-5827.2010.00951.x/full

So food changes could be of great importance to prevent this as well as making sure the anal sacs are emptied and not infected.  The use of cyclosporins and ketoconazole has some neurological implications so be careful of the combination .  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00480169.2010.69301

Diet really does seem to play a role at times in the German Shepherd when it comes to this condition.

Deanna....what about raw?...you literally will have 1/4 size dog poop in comparison to dog food, it will also be "dry" enough that it will not stick to fur and will help you maintain clean bottom...I know you mentioned few times  how you feel about feeding raw, but now that it is no longer about you but Prince it may be worth giving a try for his sake...you can always switch back if it does not work, the good thing with raw food you can go back and forth without concerning about transition period...my dogs get both (dog food and raw) depending on what I have available and what is defrosted.....just a thought....

by the way welcome back....always a pleasure seeing familiar face!

I will say I do not know anything about AF.

However, as far as switching foods. I know you mentioned switching from Orijen to possibly Royal Canin GSD (because it is formulated for GSD's). I think of all the foods you listed, this would be one I would not recommend. You are feeding one of the highest, if not the highest, quality grain free kibbles available. Royal Canin is more of a "middle of the road" type, and its ingredient panel can be compared to that of Science Diet and Nutro. In saying that...it is VERY different than what you have previously fed/are currently feeding, and could cause more harm than good as it could cause digestive upset, diahrea, allergic reaction etc (more so than if you were to switch him to a food with a similar ingredient panel to Orijen/what he's been fed previously) Royal Canin is not grain free, and actually uses alot of ingredients proven to cause allergy issues in dogs (and cats). So where his only problem right now is the AF, it could end up being more switching to a completely different food. If you do switch, Like Jose had suggested, try the Orijen 6 Fish formula first and give it 10-12 weeks. If you don't want to stay on the Orijen then the Natural Balance single source protiens would be a good choice, their protien percentages are ALOT lower than that of Orijen so you will end up feeding more (and he will poop more), but nutritionally it is a good alternative. Also the Natures Variety either Instinct Rabbit, or Duck, or the Prairie Lamb or Venison. Also Natures Variety sells a pre-made complete raw diet in both lamb and venison protien sources, and it usually readily available at pet stores, if you wanted to incorporate it into your kibble choice (I feed Orijen kibble and Oma's Pride raw diet) and it could help as well.

IF Royal Canin is something you wanted to go for, I'd do it VERY slowly. Go from Orijen, and slow switch to a higher quality grain food (like the NV Prairie, or Innova) and then from there, go slowly into the Royal Canin.

I hope that helps a little bit.

Best of luck to you and Prince. :)

Who were his parents?

vomtreuenhaus, Wow thanks for the post..I did not realize that Natures Variety had a pre made complete raw. I will look into this. I do not like Royal Canin, I just threw that out to see what people thought about a so called GSD specific food...I agree with you 100% ...

Also, because it has been mentioned twice, here is Princes pedigree..

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=659136 

It HAS NOT been determined as to the cause of Princes fistulas. We are scheduled to see another vet who specializes in this condition on Feb, 14th and I will have better answers. I spoke with the breeder and she has not seen or heard of AF in any of the dogs in Prince's pedigree.

My gut tells me the fistulas are symptom related to a food allergy,,I could be wrong, but that is just my opinion..I will update the thread as I get more information.

Thanks so much..