I need to rant..

[CrissAngelLover12345]

As many of you know.. We are pretty sure Jonny is allergic to grains and we have been struggling to get my dad to stop giving him treats and items with grains in them.. We have tried talking to the vet and then telling him what the vet said.. We have tried calmly explaining our observations to him and trying to convince him to try eliminating ALL grains from his diet for at least 3 months to see if that stops his chewing on himself.. We have tried literally everything we can think of.. If we stop buying the Ol' Roy treats, he will become extremely pissed off because he thinks they are the best treats in the world (at least it appears that way because he refuses to give out anything besides those ones).. We thought about just keeping the packages and buying a grainless treat and putting the new treat in that bag, but none of the grainless ones are shaped like the ol' roy ones (those ones are shaped like bacon and I have not seen any of the healthy, grainless treats that are shaped that way..), which would make it impossible to be sneaky about the change in treats.. Wednesday night, my mom tried again, and he simply replied with "whatever" and continues to refuse to listen to us. His allergies to the grains have gotten worse since he continues receiving them.. He went from chewing on himself a little bit with only getting grains from the ol' roy treats, back to chewing on himself to the point where he's bleeding from many points on his hindquarters within minutes to a half hour and scratching sores on his ears if the e-collar is taken off of him (before, he would chew himself this badly when he was getting grains from his kibble as well. It went to just a small spot and not as much when he was switched to a grainless kibble, and is back to that point, even though he is still on a grainless kibble). Unless some miracle happens and dad actually listens to us, he is going to be stuck with the e-collar on for the rest of his life to keep him from putting horrible sores on himself thanks to my dad's extreme stubborness.. He claims he wants the cone off of him, but isn't willing to try the most cost effective method of being able to do so, and as a result, is forcing Jonny to be uncomfortable and itchy for the rest of his life.. He claims he loves and cares about Jonny, but clearly not enough to stop giving him something he's allergic to.. I know it's not much of a decent life for Jonny and he can't be happy or comfortable with or without the e-collar because of the allergies.. Unfortunately, my mom and I don't know what else to do.. We are both extremely upset and frustrated with this and the fact that we will never be able to remove the e-collar for as long as Jonny is alive, and the fact that my dad is shortening his life by refusing to stop giving him the grains.. One of the last times I tried to calmly talk to him about it (after having to put the e-collar back on him within a half hour or so of my dad taking it off of him, he actually seemed genuinely worried about him and the fact that we can't leave the e-collar off of him), he seemed to be listening, but then made it clear he was still refusing to believe that it's allergies to grains. He's there like "how about you brush him, that might help." I about wanted to start bashing my head against a wall because he thinks that Jonny's' shedding fur is the cause? He isn't shedding anywhere near as much as he used to since he's been put on Blue Buffalo Wilderness/Freedom, AND shedding fur wouldn't cause him to do what he's doing to himself. He obviously continued to give Jonny grains after that too..  

[Celestial Fireflies]

What the heck. Sounds like your dad needs the sense smacked into him. gonk I'm sorry. My mom used to be the same way, refusing to do simple things that take NO additional effort whatsoever, but would have HUGE benefits, just because she was stubborn. To this day, I still don't understand why! The sad part is he's not just affecting himself, but the poor dog who has no control over what he gets to eat. sad  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Celestial Fireflies

What the heck. Sounds like your dad needs the sense smacked into him. gonk I'm sorry. My mom used to be the same way, refusing to do simple things that take NO additional effort whatsoever, but would have HUGE benefits, just because she was stubborn. To this day, I still don't understand why! The sad part is he's not just affecting himself, but the poor dog who has no control over what he gets to eat. sad

I agree.. I do not understand why he will not give it a try.. It's not like it is that much more effort to just grab a different bag of treats and give him those instead.. It's not like it will be a lot of effort to not give him a piece of bread or piece of breaded meat, or the left over rice/pasta (in fact, that would be less effort than giving it to him). Because of his refusal, the poor dog is stuck with super itchy skin all the time and is permanently stuck wearing an e-collar to keep him from hurting himself. All he knows is that he's itchy and that he feels the need to relieve the itch, no matter what the cost. Dogs don't have the capability of saying "I'm allergic to that, I shouldn't eat it" and then refuse it. He doesn't understand that the treats are why he's so itchy all the time.. He just knows he is and he tries to do what ever it takes to relieve the itch, even if it causes him a lot of pain and damage in the long run.. Dogs trust us to give them food items that won't make them sick or uncomfortable, and he's violating said trust. He has it in his mind that if the dog takes it and eats it, then it's good for him, no matter what it is (He's given them things with onions in it, the fat off of meats (to minimize this, mom and I tend to try to trim off as much of the fat as possible and discard it before he even comes into the kitchen if we're the ones serving the meal), and many other things (aside from chocolate, which thankfully he's at least smart enough to NOT give them) that is on the list of things which you should NOT give to dogs (same goes with the cats (besides Charcoal since I have absolute control of her diet thankfully).. He thinks that because he's had dogs ever since he was a kid, he knows everything he needs to know about pet care, when, clearly he doesn't.. And the information I have learned through all my research is a complete load of bull because I got it off the internet AND haven't had pets for nearly as long as he has (considering I haven't been alive as long as he has been..).. gonk  

[Eileen50]

Your dad is obviously very set in his ways and is not listening nor paying heed to the important information you and your mom have been relaying to him from the vet. I'm sure your vet has run tests to narrow down the causes, so get copies of those tests and show the results to your dad. Give him any pamphlets from the vet's office for him to read, and ask your vet for trustworthy internet sites about said information to show your dad. Perhaps by bombarding your dad with all that information, you'll hopefully make him see that HE's the one who's making your dog suffer so by continually feeding the poor thing the wrong foods.

Have you tried bringing your dad with you to the vet for say a [group] consultation visit? I'm thinking that maybe if your dad heard it directly from the vet himself, he might better understand what dietary changes need to be done in order to make your dog more comfortable.  

[Celestial Fireflies]

CrissAngelLover12345

I agree.. I do not understand why he will not give it a try.. It's not like it is that much more effort to just grab a different bag of treats and give him those instead.. It's not like it will be a lot of effort to not give him a piece of bread or piece of breaded meat, or the left over rice/pasta (in fact, that would be less effort than giving it to him). Because of his refusal, the poor dog is stuck with super itchy skin all the time and is permanently stuck wearing an e-collar to keep him from hurting himself. All he knows is that he's itchy and that he feels the need to relieve the itch, no matter what the cost. Dogs don't have the capability of saying "I'm allergic to that, I shouldn't eat it" and then refuse it. He doesn't understand that the treats are why he's so itchy all the time.. He just knows he is and he tries to do what ever it takes to relieve the itch, even if it causes him a lot of pain and damage in the long run.. Dogs trust us to give them food items that won't make them sick or uncomfortable, and he's violating said trust. He has it in his mind that if the dog takes it and eats it, then it's good for him, no matter what it is (He's given them things with onions in it, the fat off of meats (to minimize this, mom and I tend to try to trim off as much of the fat as possible and discard it before he even comes into the kitchen if we're the ones serving the meal), and many other things (aside from chocolate, which thankfully he's at least smart enough to NOT give them) that is on the list of things which you should NOT give to dogs (same goes with the cats (besides Charcoal since I have absolute control of her diet thankfully).. He thinks that because he's had dogs ever since he was a kid, he knows everything he needs to know about pet care, when, clearly he doesn't.. And the information I have learned through all my research is a complete load of bull because I got it off the internet AND haven't had pets for nearly as long as he has (considering I haven't been alive as long as he has been..).. gonk

The bolded is exactly right. It's like with children: you don't just let them eat the heck out of snacks and soda, or they'll sit there and eat until their stomachs explode (or, in my case, they gain a ton of weight they carry into adulthood and now have to lose). They don't know anything about nutrition, they just know it tastes good so why NOT eat it?

I'm sorry. I hope your dad comes to his senses and starts paying attention to his dog's allergies.  

[Eileen50]

Exactly ... For example, say you knew a child who was allergic to peanuts, which if consumed could possibly cause severe allergic reactions that might include hives and/or life-threatening breathing difficulties. By knowing that in advance, would you continue to let said child have peanuts, PB&J sandwiches, peanut butter cookies, or any other food product that may have been processed by machines that processes peanuts and/or other tree nuts? If you were responsible and caring enough, the obvious answer would be No, and you'd make the necessary dietary changes needed in order to keep that child safe from having those allergic reactions.

The same would apply to any responsible pet owner, of whom their pets are dependent upon to care for their needs.  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Celestial Fireflies

CrissAngelLover12345

I agree.. I do not understand why he will not give it a try.. It's not like it is that much more effort to just grab a different bag of treats and give him those instead.. It's not like it will be a lot of effort to not give him a piece of bread or piece of breaded meat, or the left over rice/pasta (in fact, that would be less effort than giving it to him). Because of his refusal, the poor dog is stuck with super itchy skin all the time and is permanently stuck wearing an e-collar to keep him from hurting himself. All he knows is that he's itchy and that he feels the need to relieve the itch, no matter what the cost. Dogs don't have the capability of saying "I'm allergic to that, I shouldn't eat it" and then refuse it. He doesn't understand that the treats are why he's so itchy all the time.. He just knows he is and he tries to do what ever it takes to relieve the itch, even if it causes him a lot of pain and damage in the long run.. Dogs trust us to give them food items that won't make them sick or uncomfortable, and he's violating said trust. He has it in his mind that if the dog takes it and eats it, then it's good for him, no matter what it is (He's given them things with onions in it, the fat off of meats (to minimize this, mom and I tend to try to trim off as much of the fat as possible and discard it before he even comes into the kitchen if we're the ones serving the meal), and many other things (aside from chocolate, which thankfully he's at least smart enough to NOT give them) that is on the list of things which you should NOT give to dogs (same goes with the cats (besides Charcoal since I have absolute control of her diet thankfully).. He thinks that because he's had dogs ever since he was a kid, he knows everything he needs to know about pet care, when, clearly he doesn't.. And the information I have learned through all my research is a complete load of bull because I got it off the internet AND haven't had pets for nearly as long as he has (considering I haven't been alive as long as he has been..).. gonk

The bolded is exactly right. It's like with children: you don't just let them eat the heck out of snacks and soda, or they'll sit there and eat until their stomachs explode (or, in my case, they gain a ton of weight they carry into adulthood and now have to lose). They don't know anything about nutrition, they just know it tastes good so why NOT eat it?

I'm sorry. I hope your dad comes to his senses and starts paying attention to his dog's allergies.

That is quite true. It's very frustrating.. >.< I don't even see how those treats remotely taste good.. Their ingredients are horrible and they smell bad.. The only thing I can think of is that Ol' Roy coats them in something that will make them appealing to dogs.. They're appealing enough since Rascal, Country and Jonny accept them (Bandit too, though I've banned them from his diet once I was finally able to gain control of his diet... And that took almost two years of almost constantly fighting with him over it and then finally using his own words against him of not liking being told how to take care of his animals by telling him the same thing (except replacing his with my) and putting emphasis on the fact that Bandit is my dog.. He now gets either Wellness Pure Rewards, or Blue Buffalo's Wilderness line of treats.).. I do hope for his sake that Rascal doesn't develop any food allergies.. Or he'll end up in the same predicament as Jonny.. gonk

He goes and claims that mom has a say in policies, animal care, etc, but when it comes down to it, she has absolutely NO say in anything.. gonk

I hope so too.. But, from what I can tell.. That will take a miracle.. Or the vet practically smacking him with a brick or something to get him to stop.. and chances of that happening is slim to none since he is at work when ever the dogs have vet appointments, so he will not be able to talk to the vet about it.. He obviously won't listen to us on what the vet told us.. gonk  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Eileen50

Exactly ... For example, say you knew a child who was allergic to peanuts, which if consumed could possibly cause severe allergic reactions that might include hives and/or life-threatening breathing difficulties. By knowing that in advance, would you continue to let said child have peanuts, PB&J sandwiches, peanut butter cookies, or any other food product that may have been processed by machines that processes peanuts and/or other tree nuts? If you were responsible and caring enough, the obvious answer would be No, and you'd make the necessary dietary changes needed in order to keep that child safe from having those allergic reactions.

The same would apply to any responsible pet owner, of whom their pets are dependent upon to care for their needs.

Exactly.. We've been trying to get this exact info through his thick skull, but it is clearly not working.. Mom and I don't know what else to do.. We've tried everything we can think of and nothing is working..  

[Eileen50]

I still say that you need to get your dad to talk to the vet himself, be it by phone or in person. If he trusts this vet with the care of your family's pets, then he should at least be willing to hear the facts from the vet himself. Perhaps then he'll understand what needs to be done to help alleviate Jonny's allergies.

If he continues to feed the wrong foods to Jonny, the dog will continue to bite and scratch himself, which will cause more sores. As with all open wounds, the possibility of getting an infection exists, and if it worsens and spreads elsewhere in the body, say into the bone, that could possibly lead to the loss of a limb, or in a worse case scenario, become life-threatening.  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Eileen50

I still say that you need to get your dad to talk to the vet himself, be it by phone or in person. If he trusts this vet with the care of your family's pets, then he should at least be willing to hear the facts from the vet himself. Perhaps then he'll understand what needs to be done to help alleviate Jonny's allergies.

If he continues to feed the wrong foods to Jonny, the dog will continue to bite and scratch himself, which will cause more sores. As with all open wounds, the possibility of getting an infection exists, and if it worsens and spreads elsewhere in the body, say into the bone, that could possibly lead to the loss of a limb, or in a worse case scenario, become life-threatening.

The hard part is, convincing him to talk to the vet about it.. Especially considering in his mind, Jonny isn't allergic to the grains.. gonk And that somehow brushing him will cure him of it.. I don't know how many times it will take of brushing him and the condition not improving it will take (he has brushed him before as a way to try to "cure" it, just for it to not help at all..) And the really bad thing is, he usually tends to wait until the sores get infected before he decides it's time for the e-collar to go back on him.. Usually if he takes it off, and mom or I put it back on him after he puts a sore on himself, he gets mad and takes the e-collar off again.. Thankfully the last time, he didn't get mad and the e-collar is still on him.. Though if the sore wasn't bleeding, he probably would have gotten mad.. gonk He has probably gotten extremely lucky that the infections have never spread.. Unfortunately, something tells me that it would take an infection to spread somewhere else to get him to realize that he should stop giving him grains, and that's if that will even get it through his thick skull..

The only thing that I don't like about this vet, is we had taken him in several times because of his chewing on himself and the vet took one look at it and concluded boredom without ever running any tests of any kind to rule out skin conditions, allergies, fleas, mites, parasites, fungus, etc.. As if the only possible explanation for a dog chewing on itself to that extent would have to be because he's bored.. gonk We do have plenty around for him to do.. With him being blind, it does limit the activities we can do with him by quite a bit, though we do still try what he's not afraid of (he became scared to go on walks after he lost his vision for some reason..).. After they determined boredom, we did try to keep him interested in other things, but he'd stop doing them and go right to chewing on himself, which should have been a big hint that something else was going on there.. I personally would not have accepted "boredom" as an answer and would have made them run tests to rule everything else out first. I was not happy that my mom accepted that as a reason for his chewing.. I'm glad she has realized herself that it was allergies and not boredom, though it took putting him onto a grainless food and his chewing on himself to reduce by quite a bit for her to realize that..  

[Eileen50]

Well, I'm glad your mom finally realized what was going on, and that Jonny's chewing has lessened since then. But now, both you and your mom really need to come down hard on your dad, as it seems to me that he really needs to hear all this from the vet. I wish you the best of luck with that, and I hope your dad will soon come to his senses and cooperate, especially for Jonny's sake and well being.  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Eileen50

Well, I'm glad your mom finally realized what was going on, and that Jonny's chewing has lessened since then. But now, both you and your mom really need to come down hard on your dad, as it seems to me that he really needs to hear all this from the vet. I wish you the best of luck with that, and I hope your dad will soon come to his senses and cooperate, especially for Jonny's sake and well being.

It had lessened.. Because we were never able to get my dad to stop giving him grains, his allergies to them have gotten worse and his chewing is back to almost as bad as it was before he was switched onto the grainless food and back to the point where he has to have an e-collar on his head to prevent him from chewing himself up.. We have been trying hard to come down hard on him.. And we will continue trying.. If we can manage to, we'll try to get him to talk to the vet about it.. I doubt he'll listen though.. >.< I hope he will cooperate as well.. The only other option we have is getting the allergy tests done, and we cannot afford them and it will be quite some time before we can..