Dear Pat,
My spaniel bitch had a litter of four puppies two months ago. Three are doing just fine and are due to go off to their new homes shortly. The fourth puppy, however, seems to be very slow in his development. He seems healthy enough and eats well. He was the runt of the litter and he still clings to mum and wants to suckle constantly. Our vet has checked him out and everything checks out fine. He is smaller physically, but also he seems more timid and is quite scared of everything. He hides behind his mother's skirts whenever anything new or different is happening. He seems not to respond so much to the other pups play. It is rather like he is only one month old rather than two months old. Is there anything you can advise that we can do or use? - John W
Dear John,
He sounds like he needs a short course of a homoeopathic called Baryta carb 30C. This homoeopathic often brings on these slow developers. I would suggest you give him a few drops twice a day for up to about a week. Then stop and wait and watch for signs of speeded up progress. If nothing happens after the second week start him on another course for a week again. - Pat
Dear Pat,
I have acquired a little "bitzer" dog recently. I would say she is a mixture of Jack Russell and something bigger. She came from terrible circumstances and was badly abused. The Animal Shelter kept her for a time and has brought her back to health and she is a little sweetie. We have two other dogs, both old, and they treat her quite well, although mostly they ignore her. The only time things are difficult is at meal times when the others sometimes threaten to take her food. She loves the attention we give her. She has a great spirit. However, we are concerned that as soon as she eats she blows up in her belly, followed by terrible emissions that are hard to cope with inside. Have you any suggestions to help her bloat? - Sonia S
Dear Sonia,
Firstly, good on you for taking on this little one. I would suggest that you sort out a different system at meal times. It's likely that in the abused house, food was not that available and she may well have had a lot of anxiety about food. She is probably scared it's going to be taken away from her by your other dogs, so she is wolfing it down fast. See if you can feed her at the same time but separately to the others. I would suggest you take their food out first and then take her and her food to another location, visibly separated.
Also if it can be easily facilitated, I would suggest for a time that you feed her half her food at one time and half at another time so her digestive system is not so strained. You can resume once daily feeding when the problem settles. You'll have to organize this so your other dogs get a little something in their feeding area also.
I would suggest you get some slippery elm powder to put in her meals - about half a teaspoon would do. This will settle her stomach and soothe any inflammation. If you needed anything beyond this you could find a medical herbalist who could make up some digestive herbs for you. - Pat
To read about how to protect your dog's liver, go to the previous page.
Pat Hunter, www.animalherbs.co.nz
