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Written by: DJ Geribo

Category: Our Pack

For many years now I've given my dogs a small piece of carrot every night, somewhere around 5 -6pm. And don't think for a minute that they don't remember and start hanging around the kitchen from 4:30 on. Although they are on a schedule for when they get their carrot each night, their schedule for eating a meal isn't as strict. They seem to be hungry at different times, from first thing in the morning to early afternoon. There have been a couple of times when I was eating carrots as a mid-morning snack and offered my Poms a small bite. Kitsu was fine with it, but Meko promptly threw it up. It didn't seem to agree with her with nothing else in her stomach. But I will mix up a small piece in her food with other raw foods (apple, piece of meat, green beans, oatmeal, etc) and she is fine with it.

It seems she has a couple of odd little food sensitivities like that since she had IMHA over two and a half years ago now. I don't know if there is any connection at all but it is enough to know that she has this reaction and to not give her even the smallest piece of carrot on an empty stomach. I found out that a neighbor whose dog is also being treated for IMHA has a similar problem with carrots and will vomit it up even though they gave their dog carrots for years without any upset. I don't know if the dog receives the carrot on an empty stomach but I think it is an interesting similarity between two dogs who are both on IMHA medication.

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Written by: DJ Geribo

Category: Our Pack

Although it is the law in many states that your dog must receive a rabies vaccination every 3 years, you can decide whether or not to give them a regular 'booster' shot which protects them from a variety of other diseases.  Our vet recommends we give our dogs the regular vaccination every three years. In the meantime, we have a titer done - a titer, which costs a lot more than the actual vaccination, is a blood sample taken from your dog to see if it still has the immunities to protect it from the various diseases that they are at risk of getting. If they still have the immunities and are protected, great. If they no longer have the immunities, we have them vaccinated.

When Meko got very sick (with IMHA) from having a bad reaction to too many different medications all at one time, we became very leery of giving our pets too many vaccinations. Consequently, they now only get titers and get a vaccination only if they no longer have the immunities to protect them.

Meko, of course, is exempt from ever having a rabies shot (we have to get a letter from a board-certified veterinarian every year to give to our town when we renew her license). And although we are taking a chance, we do not give her any other vaccinations. We will not take the risk of going through what we went through again when she contracted IMHA (for more about Meko's story, see "The Miracle Dog" which will be available for purchase from this website this spring). 

Our dogs are mostly indoor dogs so we feel they are at less of a risk than a dog that is allowed to roam free. 

For more information about titers and immunizations, contact your local veterinarian.