Dogs eating their own flesh!

[dean 29 27]

I am writing this after two of my mates recently losing their dogs. Overnight saturday, my first mates dogs chewed her own front legs so that tendons and bone was showing. He woke up to a kitchen covered in blood and the dog wimpering in the corner, he rushed her to the vet who had no idea what was going on and decided the best course of action for her was to put her to sleep, he kept her body so he could run tests to try and find out what caused it. We thought it was something she may have run through whilst out the night before had irritated her skin baddly.... until yesterday when another friend woke up to find his dog had eaten his back legs and his testicles and had pulled part of his intestines out, needless to say the poor dog was quickly euthanised by a vet who still had no idea. This dog did not go out with the bitch. The same boy walks both these dogs but not together. My mate who owned the secong dog has now noticed one of his fathers sheepdogs starting to chew itself, he's been taken to the vet but they are still none the wiser as too whats going on. The sheepdog is a working farm animal and is not in contact with the boy that walks the other two. As a precaution (which may sound cruel to my friends) i have asked them to stay away from me and my dogs for the time being (they may be my friends but i dont want to risk passing something so bad onto my own animals). I'm writing this to ask if anyone else has experianced this or knows what is going on as it is seems to have passed through 3 dogs in 4 days and i am worried about the others in my area.... the vets are on the case but they are taking their time and judging by how quicly it is affecting these dogs we dont have a lot of time, anyone with any info please feel free to post up. I am currently searching the net and my mates who's dogs have had it are calling the vets daily checking for any advances and if we get any i will let you all know.

[riohog 5,621]

I am writing this after two of my mates recently losing their dogs. Overnight saturday, my first mates dogs chewed her own front legs so that tendons and bone was showing. He woke up to a kitchen covered in blood and the dog wimpering in the corner, he rushed her to the vet who had no idea what was going on and decided the best course of action for her was to put her to sleep, he kept her body so he could run tests to try and find out what caused it. We thought it was something she may have run through whilst out the night before had irritated her skin baddly.... until yesterday when another friend woke up to find his dog had eaten his back legs and his testicles and had pulled part of his intestines out, needless to say the poor dog was quickly euthanised by a vet who still had no idea. This dog did not go out with the bitch. The same boy walks both these dogs but not together. My mate who owned the secong dog has now noticed one of his fathers sheepdogs starting to chew itself, he's been taken to the vet but they are still none the wiser as too whats going on. The sheepdog is a working farm animal and is not in contact with the boy that walks the other two. As a precaution (which may sound cruel to my friends) i have asked them to stay away from me and my dogs for the time being (they may be my friends but i dont want to risk passing something so bad onto my own animals). I'm writing this to ask if anyone else has experianced this or knows what is going on as it is seems to have passed through 3 dogs in 4 days and i am worried about the others in my area.... the vets are on the case but they are taking their time and judging by how quicly it is affecting these dogs we dont have a lot of time, anyone with any info please feel free to post up. I am currently searching the net and my mates who's dogs have had it are calling the vets daily checking for any advances and if we get any i will let you all know.

 

 

brain damage!!

[chimp 299]

omg , thats a strange one.

 

where they all sheep farm dogs ?

[redmoor 0]

I have seen something similiar about 8/9y ago with a farm JRT who ate through her own belly - she made a real mess of herself but we were able to save her. Nothing could be found that explained this self mutilation..but it later transpired that she had run through pesticides...we had a Collie from the same farm do the same thing 3w later..it was put down to the pesticides...he was destoyed due to the severity of his injuries.

 

It sounds either like a contact problem or something that they have eaten and is making its way around the body and causing an irritant?

 

Poor dogs..what a terrible way to go.

[dean 29 27]

omg , thats a strange one.

 

where they all sheep farm dogs ?

 

no, one was a lurcher bitch kept in the house by the one mate, the second was a lurcher who was kept on my other mates fathers farm but doesnt come into contact with the sheepdogs, and the third possible case is one of my mates fathrs sheepdogs, kept on the same farm but has no contact with the lurchers. My mate on the farm has two other lurchers who appear fine at the moment, they have disinfected the farm, and animals there as a precaution.

[Brimmer 220]

Sorry not a clue. Sounds really grim.

[chimp 299]

i was going to say sheep dip but that wouldnt make sence .

 

let us know what the vet says please

[dean 29 27]

I have seen something similiar about 8/9y ago with a farm JRT who ate through her own belly - she made a real mess of herself but we were able to save her. Nothing could be found that explained this self mutilation..but it later transpired that she had run through pesticides...we had a Collie from the same farm do the same thing 3w later..it was put down to the pesticides...he was destoyed due to the severity of his injuries.

 

It sounds either like a contact problem or something that they have eaten and is making its way around the body and causing an irritant?

 

Poor dogs..what a terrible way to go.

I thought pesticides as the first bitch was out the night before, but i dismissed it when the other two came down with it as they didnt, and wasnt in contact with her. I then thought maybe the boy that walked them and took the bitch out had transferred it between the two dogs but then the sheepdog threw me off.

[dean 29 27]

i was going to say sheep dip but that wouldnt make sence .

 

let us know what the vet says please

As soon as i hear something i will let you all know.

[wink hound 0]

the only time ive know this was when some hounds had been in contact with poison. some ate their bellies and rib cages (i assume to get rid of the poison) and the others chewed their pads and legs. the ones that showed early signs of this you could grab there legs and really squezze them and infcat needle them and it would apper like ther was very little sensation. we suspected it must of felt like pins and needles as aposed to no sensation.

 

this was poision that had been used to pts feed that they had then eaten.

[tullyeyed 90]

hope to here some news soon, it needs nipped in the bud.

[tarvae 0]

Do you know if the vet had sent skin biopsies from the euthanaised animals off for analysis?

 

Pass this reference onto the vet if you can - the symptoms rang a bell. I *think* that the nerve pain and necrosis can cause self mutilation in some cases but I've not got access to a lot of the papers - the vet probably would have.

 

good luck

 

http://www.vet.ksu.edu/DEPTS/dmp/service/s...reptococcal.pdf

Edited December 23, 2008 by tarvae

[mad al 146]

sheep dip is a possible cause, now we have a Spaniel that had a recurring wound and the fecker would have a serious go at it to the point where I thought he'd get up and fall over one day as he'd eaten his leg BUT, then I remembered "Stockholm Tar", stuff used on lambs after docking, job done

 

So I'd say it has to be linked to a sheep based thing, God knows what these animals have been exposed to over the years.

[dean 29 27]

Do you know if the vet had sent skin biopsies from the euthanaised animals off for analysis?

 

Pass this reference onto the vet if you can - the symptoms rang a bell. I *think* that the nerve pain and necrosis can cause self mutilation in some cases but I've not got access to a lot of the papers - the vet probably would have.

 

good luck

 

http://www.vet.ksu.edu/DEPTS/dmp/service/s...reptococcal.pdf

I am asuming they have as they kept the first bitch, my other mate wanted to bury his dog so only the bitch is being tested, i havent heard anything else about the sheepdog. I dont think that the two lurchers have been in contact with sheep dip, though i will check up on that one... theres still no news from the vets so were all still baffled, i will check out that link now though.

[shooter2000 0]

sorry mate sounds terable