"no one will accuse them of smelling doggy "--- nope, just musky! lol, adrea!

My nephew's 14 yr old beagle has a slight, but VERY unpleasant "skunky" odor. He has psorasis which looks like dandruff all in his coat. Other than that, he's healthy besides arthritis, which he has to have remidal, remadil or something like that. Any idea why he has that odor? After a bath, he's stinky by the next day! ;(

hi, poo. i usually call that old age smell...varies from one to another. my old man smelled extremely bad for awhile and i really thought he smelled like death. he was probably feeling very unwell at the time. he promptly received a bath a few days later adni haven't noticed it since. he also has a skin disorder...i amsure skin disorders contribute immensely to odor. hmmm, just thought of somethng...beagle huh? have the anal glands been checked lately? beagles are prone to needing them expressed and get very smelly. this is a job for a vet!
"rymadil"?

I'm sorry, but I'm LMAO!! Because if you didn't know your "old man" was your dog, FTM, someone might worry about your DH. LOL

Carry on. :)

Brenda

lol, brenda! i have had to explain it before. stinky, my cat, is so old...he is respectfully called a man. acts like an old geezer, too! i am worrying about incontinence...it is coming eventually.

i had to reread! oh, i kill myself! i call him that so often i didn't realize the context of that sentence! well, i guess i reallly love the guy, huh?

That brings up a problem I have been trying to figure out with Pookie. She has always been very particular about her fur. Grooming has always taken up a large part of her day with good results. Now though, no matter how much she grooms, she has huge knots of matted fur. Combing them out is hazardous as she has all her claws and her teeth are almost as sharp. What is going on? Is there some sort of ingredient in cat saliva that isn't produced when they get old? (she is 22 years old). I tried rubbing in some lanolin but that didn't seem to do the job after a while. Sandy

at least she grooms! my old man cat :) rarely grooms anymore. and, he has loads of dead undercoat to comb out. thankfully he is short hair. does she scratch more? that'll matt her up. excessive shedding also, say season change- that is when my romeo gets matts. ithink some people try to loosen upthe matts with cornstarch. you could also use a small sewing seam ripper with sharp end pointed away from her to work them loose. ihaven't tried that, but have heard it works. also, on the lanolin note...this may or may not apply. old man is excessively greasy which only makes it harder for his loose hair to come out.

oh, on topic, i have been bitten by my own cat :) sorry, adrea!

I call Guyu the old man. Okay he's only 9....

Sandy,
Have you tried cutting out from the skin with the mats? The lady I used to work for had a cat that was old and getting clumps and they didn't come back as fast when she cut through them.

I get bit by my friends cat every day!! She comes up I pet her then she bites me (not hard mind you). She just won't learn I don't appreciate it...

Adrea

I'm an IDIOT! I knew you have a cat, FTM, but I screwed up the joke by calling him a dog. I'm glad he didn't hear me. :D As long as you don't check DH's anal glands, I think we're safe.

My Pookie (only 12) recently had a couple of hair mats on either side of her tail (which she'd never had before). I tried to work them out, but after feeling them for a couple months, I impatiently cut one of them off. The other one will have to wait until she's less dangerous and less grumpy, so she may live with it forever. :D

Brenda

AAAAAAAAAAAHHH! brenda, ya caught me off guard again! somebody please put my eyes back in their sockets! lmao! so my subtle correction didnt offend? that's good. actually, since he was raised with 3 dogs (my cat) from 6 weeks old for 2 years never saw another cat...i think he relates to dogs much better. for awhile, i think he thought he was a dog, poor guy. even used to wag his tail when he was glad to see me. he would meet the pizza delivery at the door and growl at him. he uses his mouth more than his paws- doglike, cats would swat first, he bites first.

hte thing with matts is you hvae to watch them. if you can't get thme out, or even cut them out as i have done with romeo a couple times, they can get tighter until the skin is being pulled...can become painful or sensitive and then she will be cranky. mind you, i know how difficult cats are whenit comes to their tails! oh, the indignity!

adrea, if you just pet her once, does she still bite?

Poo, one of my dogs has a rather poor coat and gets that 'doggy' smell. The vet suggested 3V Caps, and it helps very well. It's basically cod liver oil. I get it via the internet.

:) Mary

Pookie no longer takes kindly to anyone brushing out her fur. It is extra fine, but there is a lot to the square inch of skin and it is no more than 1 1/2 inches long. It does not lay flat. The under coat is so soft and fluffy the cover hair stands out. When she did allow brushing, there was always enough hair in the brush to make another cat. Her momma was a purebred persian and her daddy was a big, panther like, midnight black, short haired traveling man and her fur is a neat combination of the two set of genes. Since she got so squirrely about combing, she checks our hands and the location of any brushes or combs so we won't sneak one in. If I could get the scissors close to her, cutting through the matted knot would work but getting them where they could do some good is next to impossible. I hate to think of the money I have spent on things to get those knots out. Do those 3V caps work on cats? Sandy

If I just give that cat a pat she won't go away. Doesn't matter how many times you put her on the floor..she wants her attention.

Better than the pomeranian though ;) Isis was drooling to eat her and Misha (or as I like to call her Barf Bag) refused to listen and kept getting closer...luckily Guyu stepped in and put Isis in line. I wasn't out there my friend was giving the big dogs the ham that had gone bad. Found dog or not that thing is a walking breathing living 500$ bill that I can't afford to replace.

Adrea

lol! adrea. my mom's mini poodle once stood between my 80+ pound dog and the house cat. stood her ground and growled at him. my clown backed away, of course. i can hear him now, "i was just curious!"

Sandy, I just checked for you, yes, on this website (http://www.24hourpetmeds.com/caps-caps-liquid-c-60_78_98.html) it mentions dogs as well as cats.
This is not who I got it from before, (can't remember their name anyway), besides, I always check for price and s&h, I was only looking for the cat info.

:) Mary

Thanks, Mary. Now I just have to find a set of metal gauntlets I can use while trying to get it down her throat. Sandy

Heehee. After just finishing a course of antibiotics after herself got her ear bit through in a fight - yes, metal gauntlets! Why didn't we think of that before! The heavy leather elbow-length stove gloves are only so-so successful...

:) Mary

PS fish oil can also be bought loose and put on food... I wonder, what about putting it on tuna? Would that cover up the smell? With its own smell? (trading one smell for another)

The boys almost went at it again I separated them before any teeth really came out.

I came back inside heard growling ran outside and it was just Isis getting Guyu for food thieving. In this case I say get him girl. I've had to put his food bowl by her because he was eating her food and saving his for later (and she couldn't get to his food).

Adrea

That sound (growling, then the actual fighting) is one of the scariest things I've ever heard. I feel for you, Adrea!

One of the dogs we used to have (Red, chow/retriever cross, who wandered into our yard one day) was always a little psycho, and you'd never know when he might go off. He even grazed a vet when she was trying to treat a collar rash, and that was after she put a muzzle on him. He would growl and lunge during his rabies shots, and he was just plain dangerous. He even growled at me once, and nicked my step-son on the cheek, although SS WAS teasing him.

He went after our other dog (Clyde the pug) several times. The third time, I heard those awful sounds out front, and he had Clyde's head in his mouth and was shaking/dragging him across the yard. A thumping with a plastic pellet gun to his head didn't even stop him. DH was at work, so I finally had to make the decision to have him put to sleep.

The only time I've cried harder was a month later when we had to have Clyde put to sleep, since he never did recover from the injuries during the Red incident. Kind of disgustingly ironic.

And now there is one (Pookie, the ol' gunfighter cat). :)

Brenda

oh, brenda! :(

well, adrea, they do keep you busy, eh?

I'm so sorry about your troubles, and I'm not qualified to comment on your behavior issues - at some point you may need to relocate one of them for safety issues, or consult with a behaviorist.
In my own multiple dog household (4 dogs-all spayed or neutered at 6 mo) I had a corgi (here first) and a golden (8 years his junior) that developed a vicious hatred of each other. Corgis are known for preferring one dog households, the golden finally discovered she was bigger than he was. After the 3rd time he had to have a bite wound tended to, my mom declared that Gus (the corgi) would need to recuperate at THEIR house. He's been confiscated. And though I do have unlimited visitation, I miss him a lot. But he LOVES my folks, and lives the life of a KING, (they have a golden who doesn't care about the hierarchy as long as he can retrieve something, bit of a dim bulb, but I love him too). Sometimes training, love and time can overcome agression, sometimes it can't :(

But I do want to comment on something mentioned eariler, THE SMELL.
In my experience: Dog and cats that are healthy should not have a strong odor. Frequently it is diet related.

Some foods contain poor quality ingredients that are not easily digestible. Better quality foods have fat that more closely resembles the natural fatty acids that are better for the skin. Adding CORN oil (as I understand it the most closely related oil to natural fats) may help with dry skin, but will not help much with a poor quality diet, and will not help at ALL with dogs with smelly, oily skin. The old adage 'you get what you pay for' applies. Nationally known 'grocery store' brands are good. Stay away from 'generics'. A vast majority of dogs and cats live full, healthy lives on so-called generic brands of food, but if you have a pet with skin/hair coat issues, look into a better diet. If you already feed a good diet, perhaps a change is in order, consult with your family vet.

Also: Dogs and cats are less able to groom themselves as they grow older. Whether it be arthritis, obesity, etc. they just can't get the job done. You, as their caregivers, MUST help. Please don't take offense, but for those that don't groom regularly, do it. Start slowly, getting them used to gentle brushing, but DO it. How would you feel if you couldn't even run your fingers through your hair anymore, and no one would brush it for you? Many times odors from a pet is just lack of grooming, even younger pets get 'stinky', like my own golden if I don't get the brush out and get rid of her undercoat once in a while.
Sorry, but don't forget the obvious like ear infections or dental disease, probably the 2 most common causes of the BAD SMELL.
OK, I'm done.

I'm not sure but I think Pookie knows when she has bad breath. It's always after she has canned fish for dinner. That is when she climbs up so we are face to face and breathes at me with her mouth open. Yuckkkkk. Sandy

jsut a quick note on oil supplementation: for cats, if it isn't fish oil, the most easily absorbed and utilized oil from a "vegetable" source is olive oil (i hvae been told)...say, olive oil in sardines (oops vice versa).

When it comes to pen time Guyu and Isis will have one and Loyal will be by himself until Isis has a girl pup that I can't part with (which may not happen I only plan on two more litters from her she's about hit retirement or Sagira may end up back with us I'll find out at the end of the February).

I can not rehome either of them. Loyal's a stable almost normal dog with us (and very bonded) but would get skitish in a new place (not totally freaked but he'd never completely settle in).

Guyu is 9 years old and would take advantage of a weak positioned owner (if they got to have a peaceful dinner ever I'd be shocked). He tries to steal people food from visitors unless one of us is around. He's convinced Ocean and I have eyes on the back of our heads and x-ray vision to boot lol.

He will eat male stray dogs. My friends had a lot of trouble with the neighbor letting his 9 dogs run everywhere. Guyu was in the yard less than a week and the neighbor started letting them run less. They had lost 2 or 3 cats, a potbelly pig, some fish, four ducks, some peacocks, and I think maybe some chickens to those dogs because they would dig in under the fence. Animal control doesn't like coming out here and they tried setting a trap but all it ever caught was Isis right after we moved in ;)

Adrea

ouch!
something similar happened to me a couple of wks ago.....
i was walking my golden retriever/lab/doberman/rottwiler mix outside while my brothers pekanieese (i no thats spelled wrong) was on the lead. spooky(my dog) started to sniff him and benji(bros dog) snapped at her. spooky totaly tried to kill him......she grabbed him by the neck and started to swing him around. i lifted spooky and accually tried to open her mouth w/ my hands...my dad came and he had to hit her to make her let go.....he ended up loosing his fingernail had some broken skin(no stiches) and i lost half my fingernail and have a scar along the inside of my finger. we still have her but we keep the 2 seperated.

OK
everytime i post i seem to be the Last person to post.
ug.........

That is usually what happens to me, sistacrysta. If you look at the time of your post, you may notice that it coincides with getting ready to leave work, start dinner or chase down the kids. I'm currently housebound, the DH is at a football game and the kids are grown and on their own. LOL, so I'm it for a couple of hours. Sandy

oh, i didnt realize that! ok.

Okay I went out to feed them yesterday and Guyu started trying to pick a fight. I decided to see what happens if the roles are reversed. Loyal really wants nothing to do with starting stuff with Guy.

I tied Guy up and let Loyal go. Loyal was even smart enough to stay back when I walked past Guy until I was out of the immediate area then he would catch up.

There were a lot of people over and it was better to have Loyal out anyhow because he's not really interested in strangers an doesn't chase dirt toys out to the dry lake.

Extra people did result in a certain toy dog jumping of the balcony. She didn't hurt herself. Lucky pup. We need to put up chicken wire to keep her from doing that again. I thought for sure she was hurt but she was just screaming because she scared herself so bad.

Adrea

LOL, Adrea. I remember Linus doing that. He didn't even realize he had done it until later. He often checked the entire balcony before sitting close to the edge after his leap through the rails and he was a full grown dog, not a toy size. It seems that the little ones are always so excitable. Do you think it's because they are afraid they will get stepped on? Sandy

ummm....I think toy dogs are just miswired. Sorry I'm biased lol. It does seem though they bred most of them ditsy.

I think dachshund are an exception I've by no means played with all toy breeds to make a conclusion on all of them. I don't like chihuahua or poms though.

adrea, i call it "little dog syndrome." they think they are as big as the rest of us, and more ornery in case they aren't.

how long are dogs preagnant?

9 weeks.

Why?

cuz my dog is pregnant and im tryn to figure out when thur due......she looks like shes about to burst!

Oh, my! Do you have plans for the puppies?

we have a place for them to nurse with spooky(the mom)in the basement...away from the other dogs. and were still looking for homes for them. im asking local friends if they want them cuz we own too many dogs right now.

We accualy own the mom of spooky and the dad and gave away 3 of her siblings to friends and kept another...but she ran away last january. it was very sad...........do u want one?

Adrea, How's the wrist?

Thanks, Crysta, but I'm at my limit for pets right now. I hope you can find nice homes for them all. Sometimes dogs have really big litters.

Sharon

i can understand that, like i said so r we:)
i cant wait to raise another litter of puppies tho! its so fun to watch them grow!

Michi,
I still have a small bump under the skin below my thumb. I think he hurt my tendon without breaking the skin or causing bruising. It doesn't hurt unless I start getting into heavy work but not enough to stop me.

He might owe me for taking this picture anyhow ;) I'd be embarrassed...
{{gwi:173645}}

Adrea

oooooooh, i wanna get that tummy!

Adrea,

Why do you have wolves? They're not domestic animals, like dogs. I know they're pretty, yours are...but they're also wild animals. Your animals seem to bite you a lot. And you say they kill any animal that goes through your back yard, if they can get ahold of it. Doesn't sound like a very safe situation to me.

in case adrea doesn't get back here and the questio ngets lost...i believe she rescued some hybrids and one was unbeknownst to be pregnant. anybody?

That's the way i remember it.

:) Mary

(DH and I shaking our heads in wonder at anybody brave enough to attempt to rescue wolf hybrids)

The first one or two might have been some sort of a rescue. Loyal was from her '05 batch of puppies and she kept him. Read above in one of the posts. She's planning on letting Isis have two more litters before that dog hits RETIREMENT so she can maybe get a female puppy she can't part with to keep while the rest of the litters would be given away again. But then she might get Sagira back that could also have litters of more puppies but she won't know until February. A female puppy could keep her breeding program going since Isis will be to RETIREMENT age soon. I don't think any of her dogs are spayed or neutered.

I guess with so many animals getting nuked because there aren't enough homes to go around why is anybody breeding hybrids OR making more puppies of any breed that need homes with all kinds of low cost spay-neuter programs out there? These hybrids aren't exactly great family pets and they do seem to bite and kill a lot so why do it? These hybrids don't have behavioral issues, those are their behaviors. Her own husband said she should have known better than to get close to the sharp end. HELLLLLLLLLLLLO! These aren't great pets, they even gnaw on each other.

There's no accounting for love.

Awwwwwwww yes! Proof once again that the universe seems to be overfilled with a never ending supply of bored disingenuous individuals who apparently have nothing better to do than to stick their noses where it does not belong (ie. in other people's lives & decisions) and continuously trying to shove their own personal opinions (whether right, left, or wrong) down everybody else's throat.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Far Side cartoons:

{{gwi:173675}}

Merry Christmas! LOL!

love the cartoon semper.

i will be honest here. i had a hard time not passing judgement on the issue of keeping and breeding hybrids. i have had to make decisions myself on what is acceptable and what isn't, for me. and, i have tried to keep an open mind- i don't know the entire situation.

on the other hand, wolves tend to get the worst end of hybrid attacks. there are many hybrids in sanctuaries. my concern is for those who purchase a hybrid to reach a status quo and are unable to properly care for the animal nor understand it. on that note, there may be a lot more to adrea's situation than anyone here knows. she is not expected to come here and defend herself. it is also her choice whether or not she would like to speak on the subject, while not defending herself but educating us.

still, this isn't the place for personal attacks on anyone because of differing opinions.

LOL, Semper, and I now have a Far Side cartoon as my computer background!

:) Mary

*Amen on the personal attack thing*
*If one disagrees, one should do so in private or with all possible civility*