Blackwatch Feed Program for HOD Help!

READ THROUGH THIS WHOLE ARTICLE FIRST,

THEN PROCEED WITH RECOMMENDATIONS

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A Summary of Instructions:

What You Need To Do:

1. Locate a this dog food - Eagle Natural or Super Premium Eagle Large/Giant Breed Puppy (not the Holistic Large Giant Breed Puppy).
2. Go to a health food store or Walgreens or Wal-Mart - for supplements (see below)
3. Then order supplements on line that are in my Puppy Feed Program for life.
4. Read the information links I send you in this email so you understand HOD
5. Take the dog to the vet and have a blood test done to rule out infection this is by far more important than an xray.

 

Turn around time for Nutritional HOD is about 30 days, with improvement within a few days once a change in feeding program and some pain management.

 


HOD - 12 weeks - Clare

 

The first stages of HOD is actually called "knuckling over" and it is the easiest to resolve with a change to Eagle Natural or Eagle Super Premium Large/Giant Breed Puppy food, both are 23% protein and 12% fat.

Do not use the new Eagle Holistic Large/Giant Breed Puppy food since it is a new food we do not know how well it will correct this problem. We have a 20 year history correcting "knuckling over" using Eagle Natural or Eagle Super Premium Large/Giant Breed Puppy food. Here are some examples of knuckling over. To correct this problem you need to do the same steps as you do for HOD, except you do not need a steroid or antibiotic.

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First - A Trip To The Vet

Please take the dog to the veterinarian for a diagnosis and make sure they run a blood test to rule out a serious blood infection - septicemia/septic-arthritis and get an xray.

If it were my dog and a vet wants to "tap the joint" with a needle I would never allow it. I would search for another vet. You do not want to risk getting staph infection into that joint by breaking the sea. , grab the dog and run to another vet!!

Great Danes often have reactions to the Sulfonamide family of drugs so you need to let your vet know this and it might not be the best kind of antibitoic to use, if septicemia is the issue. They often have a reaction to Chepalexin/Keflex as well, so this much be watched very carefully and only used knowing it can worsen the HOD like symptoms. (info below)

If it were my pet, would not use an antibiotic unless the vet says there is an elevated blood count, one that indicates infection and not just slightly elevated due to the pain.

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What is HOD?

HOD - Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy - in lay terms simply means "swollen joints"- so before your vet can treat this, we need to determine the cause - many things can cause swollen joints in a young growing puppy. Diagnosing HOD can be very difficult and confusing for your vet because several conditions can "mimic" the symptoms of HOD and they may not be familiar with that information.

These are the things that can cause HOD- like symptoms:

Diet -a caloric dense diet and your dog is being over fed; intake vs output,and/or an imbalance in the diet due to addition of certain vitamin/minerals or human foods such as calcium tablets, meat, rice, cottage cheese. And/or a diet with no chelated minerals which means the body can't utilize these nutrients properly causing malabsorbtion of nutrients, either due to quality of macro-minerals or lack of micro-minerals in a diet, which are necessary for macro-minerals (Calcium/Phosphorus/Magnesium) to work properly. A dog can come down with HOD if you change dog food brands more than twice during delicate growth periods 10 - 16 weeks.

Blood infections - Septicemia/Septic-Arthritis - Have a blood test done immediately to rule out infection, this is by far more important than an x-ray. You already know the dog has swollen joints, if you have to make a choice between an xray and blood test due to financial reasons, a blood test is more important in ruling out infection. Keep in mind that pain alone can elevate the white cell count a little, it is significant elevated white cell counts that indicate infection. Editorial Comment:I NEVER recommend tapping a joint with a needle to check for infection, this is antiquated method. Once you break that seal in the joint area it is very vulnerable to staph infection in the joint, as well as early arthritis.

Vaccine reactions - multivalent/combination vaccines are an enormous problem with young dogs with immature immune systems, especially if the dogs have not received adequate amounts of a antioxidants to help the body to detoxify from being bombarded with combination shots. It is even more of a problem when Lymes Vaccine or Rabies Vaccine has been at the same time as the combination shots. Rabies given before 6 months of age is not recommended for Great Danes (Purdue Vaccine Study) and should be given alone. In some states it means breaking the law if you follow this protocol. Discuss it with your vet first and if you are not comfortable with waiting until 6 months or older at least back up the system by using antioxidants (Vaccine Prevention Information).

Allergic reaction to certain antibiotics ( Sulfonamides or Cephalexin). Sulfonamides seem to be a problem for many Great Danes, Dobes, Goldens and perhaps other breeds. I do not recommend it's use unless this family of drugs is absolutely necessary (based on a blood culture) for a specific pathogenic bacteria. (Research References). Cephalexin on the other hand, although a good broad spectrum antibiotics, can also produce HOD like symptoms because it dries out the synovial fluid of the joints. My suggestion is to use something else if you have a choice and wait until more mature to use this drug. Adult dogs can have HOD like symptoms on Chephalexin as well. If you have to use this drug, use it with a watchful eye, and if the dog acts achy or lethargic, stop the use of the drug. Guide to Recognizing Bone Diseases.

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Part 1 - Here We Go:

Most people have the best success with the Blackwatch Feed Program - Print out for reference and order supplements necessary to correct these nutritional problems. This is a program for life.

It will take you time to get your supplements ordered for the feed program, so before you can put this comprehensive feed program into effect, you will have to go to a health food store, or Walgreens pharmacy or Wal-Mart pharmacy area and pick up 3 things to get your dog jump started on the program. Info below.

1: Fill out this form HOD FORM and return to me with 911 - HOD in the subject line of the email. (If I am out of town on business, on inundated with emails I may not be able to get back with you but you can still put this program into motion without me.

2: Send me a photos of the dog in JPG format - front joints, standing if possible, laying is OK too as long as I can see the joints. Front and back knee area. Note the photos are property of Blackwatch Nutritionals LLC and if used in educational seminars or publications, I respect your privacy and do not use names of owners or dogs and crop photos so it is not recognizable by the public. These are used to help educate others about this problem, the cause and how to reverse it.

3: You need to find a distributor for Eagle Natural Pack OR Eagle Super Premium Large and Giant Breed Puppy (not the Eagle Holistic Large/Giant Breed Puppy - it is a new food so we have no history of using it for correcting this problem.

These are the foods that give us the fastest turn around because they are of moderate in calories - 23% protein 12% fat - human grade, high quality usable minerals which are sequestered & chelated and this is critical to getting your puppy back on track. www.eaglepack.com

AS A LAST RESORT, AND I MEAN LAST RESORT, IF EAGLE IS NOT AVAILABLE TO YOU WITHIN A 50 MILE RADIUS, locate a food that is 22-23% protein 10-12%fat but it must be one of the "Super Premium" foods with chelated minerals and human grade ingredients (it will say this on the bag or description of the food at their website).

Foods that will NOT work: Hill's Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Pedigree, Purina- Proplan, Diamond, Kirkland, Ole'Roy, Costco Brand, Authority, Sam's Club, Nutro, or any grocery store level food will not work.

DO NOT USE ANY LARGE/GIANT BREED PUPPY FORMULAS EXCEPT EAGLE NATURAL PACK OR EAGLE SUPER PREMIUM LARGE/GIANT BREED PUPPY.
THESE ARE THE ONLY GROWTH FOODS ON THE MARKET THAT HAVE BEEN DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR LARGE/GIANT BREEDS AND THAT HAVE EXTENSIVE GROWTH TRIALS DONE ON GIANT BREEDS. EVEN THOUGH A BAG SAYS "LARGE BREED PUPPY" DOES NOT MEAN THERE IS ACTUALLY SCIENCES BEHIND THAT FOOD AND MOST ARE VERY PROBLAMATIC FOR GROWTH!!

To locate Eagle Holistic Foods there is a list of distributors at the Eagle website www.EaglePack.com or you can call them 800-255-5959 and have it shipped to you directly.

Click Here: List of Better Foods

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Part 2 - GET A JUMP START

While you are waiting for your supplements to come in the mail for the your Blackwatch Program, go to a health food store, or Walgreens pharmacy or Wal-Mart pharmacy area and get things to get you started until you get ordered. These are not the same quality but at least will give your dog a jump start on correcting the problem.

Vitamin C or Ester C - 500 mg daily with food



Probiotics - Purchase a "multiple beneficial bacteria" Probiotic product from the refrigerator section of the health food store - (acidophilus) and double dose for 2-3 days, according to the container for an adult human - then just once a day to get the flora of the gut established.

If you do not have a health food store, your pharmacy has Lactobacillus Acidophilus ask the pharmacist for help. Yogurt does NOT have enough cultures or guaranteed living cultures so don't bother to use it for this purpose.

Purchase a small bottle of MSM- Nutritional sulfur start dosage 1000 - 1500 mg daily divided into two meals. MSM is critical in helping with malabsorption of nutrients/minerals.

When you get on line and order the things you will need for the feed program you personally can take the balance of these vitamins listed above, for yourself so there is no waste. You might consider a Wellness program for your self as well.

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Part 3 - All the supplements for the BLACKWATCH FEED PROGRAM FOR HOD is now available through Dr. Wagner at First Choice Naturals, Inc. at a 20% discount and shipped priority mail 2- 3 day delivery.

Click Here: HOD Kit#5 to order or call in an order: 800-937-1104 or you can order supplements individually.

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1) MSM-nutritional sulfur - use divided AM and PM dosage is on the container. .It is my understanding from reading the patent info and discussing this with Vita-Flex the oldest distributor of MSM, that this is the recommended dosage and it is my experience that this helps to level out the uneven growth spurts the dog has gone through. Vita-Flex MSM corrects malabsorption of other nutrients such as minerals whose imbalance relate to problems such as osteochondrosis (HOD, OCD, Pano). It also helps with pain and inflammation. To order: 800-937-1104 - or - www.firstchoicenaturals.com

2) 4 in 1 Probiotics - (multiple cultures/digestive enzymes/Ester C and Barley Grass) order from -800-937-1104 - www.firstchoicenaturals.com

3). Spark of Life Trace Minerals - all commercial diets on the market are missing critical micro-minerals necessary to make proper bone and run the body's electrical system. Often unusable or lacking micro-minerals are at the core of many developmental orthopedic problems. www.firstchoicenaturals.com or 800-937-1104

4). Liquid joint support supplement - www.flexicose.com or Level 5000 Joint Support

5).Nzymes - these dietary enzymes that are natural anti-inflammatory - and important in you not having to use risky medicine like Rimydal. Nzymes are part of every one of my comprehensive feed programs so you will need these anyway, when you switch to the whole program for the life of your dog. Nzymes come in pet treats or granular. If you have more than one dog, the granular goes further. Call 877-816-6500 or order online www.nzymes.com

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SUMMARY:

You will be feeding the following:

Eagle Natural or Lg/Giant Breed Puppy Food - feed with some water but not soaked, used canned Eagle meats - 2-3 tablespoons for variety. Add the following to the food, daily once a day, except MSM use AM and PM. Dosage will be on container.

• MSM - Nutritional Sulfur - correct malabsorption of nutrients
• 4 in 1 Probiotics/Digestive Enzymes/Ester Vit C/Veggies
• Nzymes - Dietary enzymes/antioxidants to detoxify
• Spark of Life -trace minerals missing from all commercial diets
• Flexicose or Level 5000 liquid joint support complex

 

Read the Amount To Feed Chart and use the low end recommendations, especially if your dog is not up and moving.

If the dog is immobile, then it may be eating only small amounts, that is OK.If they are not up and burning off calories then you need to reduce what they are eating until they are moving again. Think of this as intake vs output. Just remember if they are less active then reduce the amount you feed by 1/3 - 1/2.

Water is far more important - dehydration is life threatening. You can entice with ice chips or Pedialyte popcicles, to get liquid in them and canned broth works as well.

Have the vet show you how to check for dehydration. If you pull up the skin on the neck of the dog it should spring right back, if it does not, it stays up or slowly snaps back the dog is dehydrated and could need IV fluids. This is by far more important that eating!! Fluids they can't live without, food they can go without for a couple of days. At Petsmart or any pet store or he vets, you should be able to find something called Nutri-Cal. It is a brown paste and it is very calorie dense and you can wipe it on the roof of their mouth to get some energy in them, if they go more than 24 hours without eating.

One of the reasons they do not eat when they have HOD is they are 1) in pain and 2) the body is trying to use up all the nutrients that are stored in the body.

One of the very worst things you can do is cook chicken or hamburger and rice and feed it to the dog. It is very unbalanced in it's calcium and phosphorus content and will only make matters worse.

If you are really worried about them eating something, just feed Eagle Holistic canned meats, it are balanced in calcium and phosphorus and they are moist which will help with a dehydration issue. The dogs many have a soft stool with only canned food, this is not a problem. Some people add a little broth to the canned meats and the added salt from the broth will encourage the dog to drink water. This will at least provide some nutrition when they are not really wanting to eat.

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How To Transition the Diet:

In this case, the sooner you switch to Eagle the better -- and when using Eagle the transition can be made quickly. Less disruption of the nutrients.

Feed 1 meal 50/50 and the second meal feed all Eagle and throw out the old food or donate it. DO NOT FEED A 50/50 COMBINATION UNTIL THE FOOD IS GONE !!!!!!!! Because you are feeding a probiotic/lactobacillus acidophillus product, the dogs will transition easier.

Once you get this puppy established on the Blackwatch Feeding routine you should see a a gradual improvement over a weeks time. Sometimes there are setbacks...just stick to the program and make sure once the dog is up and moving that it is given ample free exercise - not forced and not with little kids making it run wild and out of control. Use your head with this one, these dogs are fragile!

IF YOUR DOG STARTS TO IMPROVE TO NOT INCREASE THE FOOD AUTOMATICALLY.. we need to allow them to utilized all the nutrients that are stored before we can move them up to normal rations which takes 3-4 days.

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What Drugs to Use:

Well, I am not a vet so all I can tell you is my 34 yr experience in helping vets and owners with this problem. I have come to realize the best way to handle true "Nutritional HOD" is with a change of feeding protocols and steroids. This is also the same course you would take for vaccine reactions - except it will require longer used of steroids to pull the dogs through vaccine mediated auto-immune problems.

And again for vaccine reactions, we have found the best route is to change the feed program and use a shot of Dexamethasone followed up with Azium or Dexamethasone pills for 7 days, sometimes a little longer is necessary for vaccine issues. Dexamethasone is indicated for use as an anti-inflammatory and/or glucocorticoids agent in conditions such as acute arthritis. Some veterinarians recommend supplementing with SAMe (S-Adenosyl-Methionine) to protect the liver, and I agree with this as well. You can purchase SAMe from Walgreen, Walmart or a health food store - use 200 mg daily.

Also as Dr. Brown states: "Administer antacids (Pepcid, Zantac) to counter acid secretions stimulated by the Prednisone."

I am not a fan of steroids, but in the case of nutritional HOD or Vaccine reaction HOD, we have no choice, because Rimydal or Deramaxx also compromise the liver and are really worthless in this instance, it provides little help with pain and both drugs are very questionable anyway. Prednislone and Prednisone do not work well either, for some reason, nothing works in HOD the Dexamethasone.

If your vet feels there is an infection present due to white cell count, it is best not to use Chephalexin or a Sulfonamide antibiotics during this time, as I have far to many sensitivities to these drugs especially during an HOD flair up.

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INFORMATION FOR YOUR VET - FROM A VETERINARIAN

S. Gary Brown, D.V.M.,D. A.C.V.S. offers this information in his article on Hypertophic Osteodystrophy, presented to the Irish Setter Club of America and located at their website.

1. "Be sure sepsis or other infection has been ruled out before initiating glucocorticoid therapy (Prednisone, Prednisolone). Do a compete workup including a CBC and radiographs.

2. Dosing regime is as follows:

a). Place dog initially on a 1.5mg/kg/day dose of Prednisone for 4-5 days if symptoms show regressions, and up to but not more than 7 days if signs are persisting, with half given in the AM and the other half in the PM.

b). Gradually wean down for 4-5 weeks, cutting the total daily dose by on-half each week and 30 administer 5 mg of Prednisone every other day for an additional 1 to 2 weeks.

3. Cover with Clavamox, Antirobe or even Amoxicillin for at least 3 weeks.

4. Administer antacids (Pepcid, Zantac) to counter acid secretions stimulated by the Prednisone.

5. Two cases of HOD also evidenced sore mandibles(jaw)before treatment. These cases showed more tenderness than that normally associated with normal puppy teeth eruptions."

More information from Dr. Brown your vet will find helpful:

"Early in the disease the metaphyseal regions of the long bone (the area above the diaphysis (mid-shaft of long bones) and below the physis (growth plate) will be tender to digital palpation, slightly swollen and warm to the touch (using the inside wirst). The disease is bilateral, most commonly affecting the distal radial/ulna metaphsis above the wrist joints, although the metaphyses of all long bones are susceptible."

"Radiographic changes reflect the underlying histological changes, and include a radiolucent line (HOD line) parallel and immediately adjacent to the growth plate in the metaphyseal regions. (Trostel, Pool, McLaughlin*). This HOD line represents bone necrosis and reabsorption of some of the microspicules of bone. With treatment and effective healing, the cuff of metaplastic cartilage and bone bridges to the cortex and moves toward mid-diaphsis (midbone)."

*Tostel, C.T.; Pool, R.R.: McLaughlin, R.M.: Canine Lameness Caused by Developmental Orthopedic Disease, in Compendium volume 25(4). Pp282-293; April 2003.

For a complete copy of Dr. Browns article for your veterinarian go here: Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy. or go to the Irish Setter Club of America, then Health and Welfare Tab.

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If This is Vaccine Reaction

Once I look at the info and photos you send me, I can better tell if this might be a vaccine reaction or with a nutritional problem. We hope it is a nutritional problem, because we can fix that if it is, vaccine reactions are tough to fix. If it is a vaccine reaction we need to be very realistic, we do not always have a very high success rate unless we get the dog on a good feed program and steroids as soon as possible.

If a dog has a vaccine reaction (a vaccine mediated auto-immune response) it is my experience that it happens within the first few days of being vaccinated. It is more common in merles or Danes that carry a merle gene, such as blacks out of harlequin breeding. It is also more prevalent when a rabies shot is given at the same time as the other multivalent shots.

I have two vaccine reaction success stories ( Camden and Abby ) at my website and it requires changing to the Immune Boosting Feed Program and Dexamethsone to get the dogs turned around. The biggest problem with vaccines is lumping them all together, repeating them so many times and often with a rabies in conjunction with the other shots.

I can tell you how to prevent these reactions, which Danes are so prone to have, but we can't always save them. It is my experience that harlequins and merles are more prone to vaccine reactions, based on the photos and cases in my files. If your situation is vaccine related, I can't tell unless I see photos of the legs, vaccine schedules, and feeding protocols.

This is what Vaccine Reaction looks like in Great Danes. I have other breeds photos in my files as well.

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Now the Homework Begins:

After you get your resources together, then sit down and read:
A Guide To Recognizing Bone Diseases so you understand what you are dealing with HOD.

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I am always available to discuss this with your veterinarian - have them write me for my home phone number. Write me at GrDaneLady@aol.com - in the Subject Line write: Veterinarian 911 , if I am in town, I will respond in 24 hours.