eating problems

[kim glazer]

A good friend of mine got a St Bernard from our local dog pound on Sat. it is now Wend. and he will not eat I have a German Shepherd and know nothing about Sts. so if anyone could give me any information It would be greatly welcomed.

[Dawn]

A dog or any animal really will go off of his food when there is a change in environment, and there is usually nothing to worry about. However if he hasn't eaten for 5 days, I would begin to worry. She should probably have him looked at by a vet. When I got my first dog from the pound, he was fine for a day or two. Then he stopped eating. We took him to the vet to make sure everything was alright. He had parvo. It is quite common for dogs to come home sick from the pound. It's just something that's going to happen when you have a lot of dogs in a small space and no way of knowing their history.

[kim glazer]

thank you she has a vet appointment for Mon. but I'm going to talk to her and see if she can get him in sooner. He is 2 yrs. old and weighs close to 200 lb. When she brought him home on Sat. he was matted and filthy. Some of the mats were so tight to his skin I was afraid to cut them out. She called a groomer and they were going to charge her $70 to $100 just to bath him so I went over and clipped as many of the mats as I could. He had grease, gum, and what looked like tree sap in his fur. the spots that had grease on them literally had sores underneath. I took my Adams flea and tick shampoo over and we bathed him twice after I clipped all the mats out. We brushed him out before and after his bath, and found both his front elbows have sores also. He is so sweet he layed and let us work on him for close to 6 hrs. He didn't like the baths but was not aggressive in any way. Every day since we've brushed him and have got all but 2 of the mats out. He is absolutly beautiful. I told her to use triple antibiotic ointment on his sores till she gets him to the vet. They look like a red rash. He has a definite rash in his genital area I think in urine burn. My dog experience doesn't go beyond German Shepherds though so I really apprieciate the imput.

[Dawn]

Wow, I would really have expected the humane society to at least shave him down if he was matted that badly. That's a little odd. If he was kept in poor conditions and it sounds as though he was, it is very possible that he does have some sort of illness.

[kim glazer]

We do not have a humane society in our area it was actully a dog pound. We are not sure how long he was there. Dogs only have 3 days though normally from the time they are surrended until they are put to sleep sometimes they do make exceptions for purbreds though. Its a very sad thing they don't have room for all of the dogs that are surrendered. They are kept usually 3 dogs to a cage. I hate going down there. I wish I could take all of them home with me. They only charge $30 and thats for the dog and license. They have a high return rate also because of not having much history on the dogs. I was told a couple of yrs. ago that every 5 dogs that are adopted 3 come back. I wish it was a humane society then at least they would do background checks on the perspective owners of some sort. My gsd is a rescue he was in poor shape when I got him. A very bad cut on his nose that I had checked for mange because of the looks of it. He only weighed 60 lbs and is full blooded German bred german shepherd. He now weighs 110 lbs and is extremly healthy for his bad start. The cut turned out to only be a cut and I had him nuetered and he has been the best dog I've ever had. I think that anyone thinking of getting a dog the first place the should look is local pounds/humane societys. The dogs/cats there need us more. I feel that they are a gift that should be treasured not something that if you get tired of you just throw away pretty much. I think that her St. was most likely in the shape he is in when he went in and the people that had him should be prosecuted for animal cruelty. They need stiffer laws for animal abuse and cruelty. It sickens me to see people not treat animals of any kind right.

[kim glazer]

I just got off the phone with her and he started eating last night!!! She also has a vet appt. for him at noon so I wanted to let you know . Thank you so much for your help. I'll keep you posted as to what the vet says. thanks again!

Kim

[kim glazer]

The vet gave my friends St a clean bill of health pretty much. He has worms, so he gave her wormer. He gave her salve for the sores and rash. I can't remember the name of it though. He had all his shots because she had no idea what he has had if he had any(probably not). One of the sores was infected so he put him on a antibiotic. He was a perfect boy while she had him there she said. I'm just glad there wasn't anything serious wrong. Thanks for your help.

Kim