Please beware of OTC supplements/herbs

This is a follow-up to a thread I (proudly) created a little less than 3 years ago. http://www.parrotforums.com/nonfeathered-pets/34641-one-very-itchy-dog-no-more.html

Please, be very careful of some/certain herbal remedies for your furried friends. I could have killed my Oscar.

I'll try to be as brief as possible. I ordered a new batch of supplements for him. The same ones that helped him tremendously a little less than 3 years ago for his itchy skin.

He gets those supplements with his breakfast. He never had an adverse reaction to any of them....until Wednesday.

Oscar began acting 'weird' about an hour after having had his breakfast. Restless, panting, blood shot eyes, confused, complete amnesia. Didn't seem to recognize me and/or his surroundings.

Panic set in and we took him to the vet. All his vitals were fine. (We have to wait for the CBC results). I told the vet what had 'changed', and the only change was that I started those supplements Sunday.

The moment I mentioned the 'Reishi Mushrooms', my vet looked up and said flat out: Your dog is high! The Reishi is the cause of this!

I don't understand it, and probably never will. How can a seemingly harmless supplement with proven benefits suddenly do this? The vet explained to me that OTC supplements do not get tested like other drugs.

Anyway, I laid with my dogs all Wednesday night, cried a lot, and slept very little. As of yesterday morning Oscar is back to 100% normal.

Scary day, scary night!

Hey Wendy (good to see you) and so sorry to hear about Oscar, very pleased to see you say he's back to 100%.

I'm sure this will be a message well circulated as it will be well read.

I am so glad you found out what caused it. Scary stuff there !!

Man. I'm glad you figured it out!

unfortunately that's the huge issue with any supplements, more than likely they changed the ratios of the supplement since you said they were fine before and not now. the one thing i have found is the less ingredients in the supplement the less they can mess up.

as a side note have you tried apoquel for your pups allergies? long story short nothing worked for my shep until we tried apoquel and its worked wonders.

I'm glad he is okay!

Chris, thanks for the info. I had never heard of Apoquel before and am doing some reading on it right now. I can honestly tell you that I don't think I'd want to try that due to the adverse reaction it 'could' have. Some of the side effects alarm me as well. Apoquel for Animal Use - Drugs.com But I will definitely speak to my vet about it.

Strangely enough, Oscar's skin improved once again VERY quickly once I started those supplements, just like it had 3 years ago.

I wish there was a way to prove that one of the supplements were to be blamed. I'm almost tempted to take one, and see if I react from it. I wouldn't take all at once, of course. But I would have to make sure someone is home with me if I do decide to go that route.

IMO there's still a possibility that perhaps this was caused by something entirely differently. A bug sting perhaps? No, I found absolutely none on Oscar on Wednesday or yesterday, but look what popped up this morning:



Here's a picture of Oscar taken late Wednesday afternoon, after he finished his dinner.



And here's a short clip of him outside after dinner (yes, he was still somewhat out of it)
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er5ZB8w2Q1s"]Oscar hi one - YouTube[/ame]

Hopefully this doesnt sound silly Wendy but are you sure his food isnt causing problems?
Allergies?
Ah poor Oscar.

Wendy he is so pretty.

plumsmum2005 said:

Hopefully this doesnt sound silly Wendy but are you sure his food isnt causing problems?
Allergies?
Ah poor Oscar.

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No, not silly at all. I can definitely rule out the food. He's on an all organic diet, and it's still the same batch that they've been eating for the past month. In fact, I'm getting ready to run out to buy a new one.

Christinenc2000 said:

Wendy he is so pretty.

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Thanks Chris!! Words can't even describe how much I love my furried kids. :heart:

Poor Oscar! Super scary event and no absolute answer.

Please give Oscar a belly rub and tell him I'm so happy he's back to normal.

My dogs' vet attended a veterinarian seminar and she's very excited about a new prescription diet for dogs with severe or chronic allergies. I'm picking up a bag for my senior citizen border collie this week, the new diet isn't on the shelves yet. I'll let you know if Sparkle's skin issues improve.

I know Oscar and Ziva have the best diets possible but it doesn't hurt to keep looking.

JerseyWendy said:

Chris, thanks for the info. I had never heard of Apoquel before and am doing some reading on it right now. I can honestly tell you that I don't think I'd want to try that due to the adverse reaction it 'could' have. Some of the side effects alarm me as well. Apoquel for Animal Use - Drugs.com But I will definitely speak to my vet about it.

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i have to admit i did not check out the side effects. they are interesting, oddly some of the side effects they list we had the exact opposite such as the yeast infections (ears, mouth etc), off it my pup would get them. On it, they went away. from what my vet has said most dogs dont have side effects but when it works they very well on it but they use it as an "all else fails".

if you can avoid giving medications its always better, but figured i'd let you know about it in the case that you do need a medication as its been fantastic for us

Oh Wendy, how scary! I am so glad that Beautiful Oscar is okay now.

Wendy, I'm relieved to hear that Oscar is okay now! How scary that must have been to realize something was wrong with him. Also scary to think that this bottle of supplements was different from the same stuff you used 3 years ago! Oscar is really such a gorgeous dog.

Very scary when something like this happens. And it's shameful that the regulations on supplements aren't much tighter.

I'm really glad, though, that the effects have worn off, and I only hope that the itchiness subsides as well. Poor Oscar.

Thank you all so much!!! :heart:

Oscar is fine! The blood results came back, and all his organs are functioning perfectly normal. His globulin levels were slightly elevated, and my vet believes this was caused by 'whatever' caused him to have this severe reaction.

I will have him re-tested in 3 weeks.

In the meantime I'm giving him foot baths twice a day in an attempt to help his itchy feet on which he's been gnawing. Foot bath consists of peppermint tea, chamomile tea, Epsom salts, and a gentle shampoo that contains aloe vera and tea tree oil.

I came down with a heavy dose of 'flu' on Friday night and haven't been able to give him those foot baths on Saturday and Sunday, but starting today, he's back in for a 'treat'. <-- Oscar does NOT like those spa treaments.

Oh poor Oscar and poor you!

Wishing you luck giving him his spa treatments, and hope you are back to tip top very soon.

Glad you're feeling better, and that Oscar's blood tests look good. I really hope the foot baths do the trick for him.

You take really good care of your animals. He may not like those spa treatments, but I'm certain he feels the love.

Anansi said:

....but I'm certain he feels the love.

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I have to try and take a picture of his facial expressions during his next 'treatment'. Let's just say "If looks could kill...." :52: