i was torn btw which forum to post this in, so decided on here. it was recommended to me that i post my lab's experience with vaginitis and her new natural diet. i had originally posted months ago about my lab's vaginitis that was complicated by having excess tissue surrounding her vulva. vet wanted to do a face lift surgery on her vulva to remove the excess tissue, vet also prescribed various shampoos to help with irritation in this area. in july of this year, my lab and i made our first trip to a holistic vet. WHAT AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE! from that day til now, we have been in the process of 'cleaning up' my lab's health and detoxing all the various drugs that had been prescribed to her for the vaginitis and other chronic health ailments. among the changes to my lab's health, i elected to try the raw diet for her. she has been on it since mid-september. a few wks ago, i rechecked her vulva for any signs of irritation as it occured to me suddenly that she hadnt been licking in that area for a while now (funny how you stop noticing when your dog stops doing the licking). i couldnt believe what i saw, so i rechecked yesterday again. and much to my surprise the excess folds of skin around her vulva had gone away!!! she will be 2 years old this december. I WAS ASTOUNDED! i thought, wow, from at one time being told she needed surgery for that to now having NO excess tissue, amazing! i have read so many things about vaginitis on this board and on the web. i have also read alot in holistic books talking about how when you switch to a diet that is more natural to a dog, that you will see outward signs of their health improving, shinier coat, clearer eyes. and that these are a reflection of the very changes that are happening on a much deeper and cellular level. i had no idea that by adopting a healthier diet for my dog, this would in fact, play a LARGE part in curing her vaginitis that was caused by excess tissue folds.

i wanted to share this for those struggling with vaginitis with their own labs. i really believe the raw diet and holistic approach has played a part in helping my lab with this. and why not, right. the holistic approach is to view the dog as a WHOLE, vulva included, and while we were not directly aiming to reduce the tissue folds, i believe this ended up benefiting from the all encompassing holistic approach.

:clap: :clap: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap: :clap:

You ROCK emmapie!!!!

I hope everybody reads this thread!

:tup: WOW emmapie this just floors me with amazement!!!

Thanks so much for sharing this very exciting news and real cure for Emma's chronic vaginitis.

Just look at the grief and money you saved yourself and Emma by not having done the 'facelift' surgery and letting nature take its course.

Way to go, you will continue to see good things and as many people I know say the trips and $ to the vets get less and less:D

letting nature take its course is right! and letting emma's own body heal itself. :) very very cool! gotta love that!

i have DEFINITLY had less trips to the vet, and consequently less vet bills! back in the traditional vet care days, we would be going 1-2 per week w/o fail for one problem or another. now, emma has gone the longest EVER in her 23 months of existance w/o a trip to the vet for over 3 months now!!! YAHOO!!!!!!

Thank you for posting this. I believe that our adopted lab may have vaginitis. We have been struggling with constant licking of her bottom since we got her. I just switched to a raw diet about 1-1/2 weeks ago, so I'm hoping to see a change.

Thanks for the encouragment!!

Farrah

I was going to try and email you and ask you specifics about the diet you are feeding. I'm still new to all this and I can't find a holistic vet in our area.

Also just to verify... it took you about a month or so to see results from the diet?

hi farrah,

have you checked out zencat's thread about locating holistic vets? there is an association of accreditied holistic vets that you can look up by location.

we are using the raw recipies in Dr. Pitcairn's holistic book (available thru any book store, i purchased mine online at amazon-i believe zencat has posted a thread on reading materials and the pitcairn book is listed there as well as some others), i have found the recipies very easy to follow and make. our holistic vet recommended following the recipies in the Pitcairn book. our holistic vet here in michigan informed me that we might continue to see positive changes over a year time period as some of these changes can be slow and take time as her body gets used to assimilating and eating raw.

by licking her bottom, do you mean her vulva area or rear end? if its her rear, then you might be dealing with anal glands as the culprit to the licking.

for a good 2 months, my lab had soft stools after switching to the raw, at first i was panicked that it wasnt working, but after REPEATED conversations with my holistic vet, she continued to assure me that this is the dogs natural way of expelling toxins from her body and that the stools WILL become firmer, and they have. also, when switching to raw, its probably a good idea to do the switch gradually just like if you were switching kibbles.

our vet recommended for me to make the recipies in the Pitcairn book for one month to see if this new lifestyle (for both me cooking and for the dog eating) would work, and to just prepare the recipies with the grains, meat, vegetable oil, and veggies (if called for). then after that month was done, to then start introducing all the supplements. she said that that way, i wont go out and spend lots of money on all the supplements and vitamins which can be a large start up cost if it turned out the raw feeding wasnt going to work for me and my dog.

hope this helps! :)

It appears that she is licking her vulva. I've had her anal glands checked and expressed twice and it offered no relief. Initially I had them checked because she was scooting her bottom on the floor. After doing some reading it seems that they also scoot if they suffer vaginitis.

Darby has very firm stools now, but did throw up twice this morning. The first time since switching to raw.

I did check out a few of the websites that Zencat listed and found a simple menu to follow. I am going to try that for a while and see how it goes. I just want to sleep through the night without waking up to the disgusting sounds of licking herself. And believe me she goes at it with vigor!!

when you look at her vulva, does it look red, irritated, or have any discharge?

the other thought i have is if your dog has a urinary infection? i wonder this b/c what happened with my lab was b/c of her excess tissue surrounding her vulva, urine would get trapped and cause irritations and result in a urinary infection. we brought in a urine sample to the vet and they were able to test that to see if indeed there was an infection. along with the infection, my lab was leaking urine which was causing her to lick her vulva, so i wonder if maybe your dog may have something similar going on? might want to run a fresh first morning midstream urine sample to the vet. most vets will let you bring in the sample w/o bringing in the dog at first too.

hope your lab feels better soon! thats gotta be discomforting for BOTH your lab and you!

Thanks for the info.

Although I haven't thoroughly inspected her vulva, is does appear to be red and irritated. I didn't know if that was from the constant licking or if that's why she's licking. I'll look closer tonight.

I was wondering about a UTI. I've often wondered if she is licking because she is leaking urine. I may see if she'll let me get a sample in the morning to take in to the vet. Once you got your lab's UTI under control did the leaking urine stop.

I just want her to feel better so that she can bond with our family. She seems so distracted and anxious now.

yes, farrah, indeed! the leaking urine can be a sign of a UTI. something you might want to do in the meantime is to gingerly wash your lab's vulva with a soothing oatmeal shampoo, most pet supply stores will carry this. this will help soothe the redness as well as help to clean the vulva from any old urine that might be lingering around. my thought is that it is red b/c there is an irritation, the dog licking at that area is a desperate attempt for the dog to "fix" the problem/irritation. thats all the dog knows how to do, (i know you know that already :)
the oatmeal based shampoo should help. make sure to dry it well with a soft cloth or a blow dryer on a low setting. and yes, i have actually stood there hunched over my lab after washing her vulva with an oatmeal shampoo and lightly blowdried her vulva. strange sounding, i know, its amazing what we do for our furkids, isnt it?!

any news from the vet, farrah, about if your lab has a UTI or not?
been wondering how your new pooch has been doing :)

Originally posted by emmapie
i have also read alot in holistic books talking about how when you switch to a diet that is more natural to a dog, that you will see outward signs of their health improving, shinier coat, clearer eyes. and that these are a reflection of the very changes that are happening on a much deeper and cellular level.

You mentioned the clearer eyes and it got me thinking. Riley has always had red eyes, as if he's affected by some environmental allergen. After I get Cleo (my cat) started on her raw diet I may switch Riley as well and I'll be paying attention to his eyes is particular!

Thanks for your post!

Hi! Thanks for asking about Darby. I took her in yesterday to have the stiches removed from her spay and talked some with the vet about the licking. She said it looks like it might be dermatitis due to the skin folds around her vulva. She said she could give me some antibiotics, but that I could try treating it with benzoyl peroxide and see if that helps.

Now last night as I was applying the benzoyl peroxide I noticed that she has a lump under her incision area. Called the vet this morning and he said it was probably just reaction to the internal stiches but I could bring her in to have it looked at. UGGHHH... does it ever end!!