Dassin and I have become very close friends in the short time I live with my new family. Of course I like the others as well, but Dassin and I have a very special relationship. She is a bit like an older sister to me, and we have a lot of fun together. Here you can see us playing, which we do a lot!
Beautiful pictures and dogs!
ReplyDeleteThank you Hiking Hounds. I am sorry, I have neglected Sunanda's blog a bit due to other activities.
ReplyDeleteDharma,
ReplyDeleteHere's my two cents (Euro cents, to be precise) worth of inputs. However, first the disclaimer. I'm not a vet and will never be. However, I have lived with Mudhol hounds pretty much since the day I was born and that was 45 years ago. I guess this association does give my opinion some legitimacy, even if back-handed.
The rashes that you mention, seem like a consequence of Sunanda roaming around in the open in cold. As you have noticed, Sunanda is not exactly a cold weather dog. She has a thin skin and near zero fat covering. I have seen what I believe were similar rashes on Raja (my first very own Mudhol hound) during excessively cold winter days (at my place, the lowest temperature experienced would be 8 degrees celsius). The remedy was very simple. I would apply vaseline or cold cream on the affected area. One can also apply milk fat or ghee. However, the dog will lick it off. I faced the problem of dust accumulating on vaseline. For that, I had to keep Raja indoors for a few hours. You may not face such an issue as my understanding is, your place is reasonably free from dust.
Mudhol Hounds love gruel made from jowar (it's a cereal grown in the northern parts of Karnataka - from where this breed comes). You simply boil broken jowar in water and, just as it's about to solidify, add milk fat and mix it up. You can feed it lukewarm and she'll lap it up with relish. If you cannot find jowar, wheat ought to do. Also, the milk should be full fat / cream. Skimmed or toned milk is for us humans only - not for animals, especially hounds :). These hounds love this preparation so much that they clean the food bowl to a shine.
Good luck to you and Sunanda.
Dear Sagar,
ReplyDeletethank you for your post and sorry for not replying any sooner, I was a bit busy the past two weeks.
I am quite sure the rash that I mentioned in my blog about Sunanda was not a consequence of her roaming about in the cold, since it appeared in the middle of summer and only on one side of her body. I think that this rash, which consisted of red pustules which turned black, was a consequence of her eating garbage and very cheap and low quality dog food before she came to live with me. With good food and some homeopathic remedies, it disappeared completely and never returned. Her coat has changed a lot as well and even changed colour!
And yes, having lived with sighthouds all my life (which is for 48 years :-), I am well aware that she has a very thin skin and no subcutaneous fat whatsoever. Therefore in the winter she gets to wear a very warm coat which I made for her. But I noticed she also developed a kind of rash later when the temperatures dropped to below 10 degrees Celcius. I think this is the kind of rash you also saw on Raja. But these rashes where on her belly and the inside of her front legs and not on one side of her body. And like you, I discovered that applying a cream (I use a hand cream, which she does not lick off :-) will help with this rash.
Thank you for the recipe, I will certainly give it a try. Sunanda has been so hungry in her life before she came to live with me (she weighed half of what she weighs now), that she will eat anything and lick her bowl clean no matter what I put in there :-) She is an extraordinary creature and I love her very much.
Do you still have a Mudhol hound? I would love to share experiences about living with a Caravan or Mudhol hound :-)