Gastrointestinal Problems in the German Shepherd
I am a veterinary surgeon and a senior lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College in London and one of my research areas is gastrointestinal disease in German Shepherd dogs. I was wondering if there was someone at your facility who I could speak to to discuss my research and to ask whether you are seeing a significant number of dogs with diarrhoea, and if so whether it would please be possible to collect some stool from these dogs for the purposes of research, to try to determine why this might be more prevalent in this breed, in order to try to prevent or treat this. Please let me know if you have any questions and I very much look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much.
The above question was emailed to the rescue, below is the answer given - probably not what they were expecting!
DO NOT TRUST YOUR VET! Given that most vets are now no longer able to support the use of alternative medicines but are encouraged to continue to bombard people's pets with toxins, this may not be the answer you were looking for.
The number of GSD's we are seeing with autoimmune problems have escalated dramatically over the last 30 years.
The GI tract is an important part of the immune system, comes under attack at a very early age with toxic wormers usually being the first assault, then junk kibble food followed by vaccines loaded with toxic adjuvants - all before the tender age of 3 months. Leaky gut is now a major problem in our pets and will lead to lifelong problems and shorten the life of our pets.
It is known that GSD's have a predisposition to a deficiency in IgA which suggests that they have weaker immune systems than most other breeds, leaving them less likely to cope with these assaults on their immune system.
Pet owners are positively encouraged by vets to compromise the health of their pets by the use of toxic vaccines, now yearly vaccines, which are setting up many dogs for a lifetime of problems because they compromise the immune system rather than boost it. There is no evidence to support yearly vaccinations, even the companies own data sheets do not state that they should be given yearly. In fact, there is no independent evidence to support vaccinations per se, only expert opinion from experts bought and paid for by big pharma.
The problem with vaccines is that they contain toxic adjuvants which elicit an abnormal immune response. The adjuvants used in animal and human vaccines are thimerosal (mercury) which is extremely poisonous and aluminium, which is a potent neurotoxin. Common sense should tell you that neither we or our pets should be having these toxins injected into the body.
So over the last few decades, we have seen the lifespan of some breeds like the GSD reduced by as much as a third - the Kennel Club produced those figures. It is rare to see a GSD over the age of 10 these days and many now suffer lifelong problems such as GI symptoms, EPI, skin allergies, chronic ear infections, then in midlife DM and anal furunculosis. Bloat/Torsion/Volvulus is also on the increase and although anecdotal, there seems to be a link between bloat and EPI. It is possible that dogs with a history of bloating/torsion and or bouts of unexplained diarrhoea may be EPI carrier suspects. Dogs that have survived torsion often have full blown episodes of EPI a few months after.
Also immune-related, over 50% of dogs are now getting cancer with haemangiosarcoma a major killer of German Shepherds
Veterinary medicine has become a huge revenue generator where profit now comes before the welfare of the animals. Make an appointment at the vets and you will be lucky to come out of there with a bill under 3 figures and from the minute you walk into that surgery you are bombarded with information on annual vaccines and prophylactics for parasites - fear mongering to encourage the regular use of these toxins.
Big Pharma creates customers not cures and we see the problems manifesting quicker in our pets because they live shorter lives than we do.
Because prevention would mean a loss in revenue, all your research will likely do is create yet another pharmaceutical treatment that will be hugely profitable for vets and big pharma without ever addressing the underlying problem. Of course, going against the industry or the establishment funded by the industry is very career limiting.
Only when people wake up to the fact that it's their vets that are causing the problems, will we have any hope of preventing these expensive, debilitating lifelong ailments.
Jayne Shenstone
If your dog has persistent gastrointestinal problems it will be because it has leaky gut caused by vaccines, toxic spot-on treatments and junk kibble food. Even giving just the puppy vaccines is enough to compromise the health of your dog, weaken the immune system and lead to lifelong problems.
To repair a leaky gut:
- Stop vaccinating, use nosodes and titer test
- Stop feeding your pet junk kibble - grains, carbohydrates, sugars and dairy are all bad. Try to feed organic foods if possible.
- Stop using flea and parasite pesticides and use natural alternatives
- Stop all drugs where possible and find yourself a good homoeopathic/holistic vet.
- Remove stress from your dog's life
Supplements:
There are many helpful supplements but the most useful I have found are turmeric, MSM, slippery elm, coconut oil and ginger.
You can give your dogs fermented foods if they will eat them or you can buy prebiotics and probiotics which will help to restore order in the gut.
I also give all my dogs a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar in their food every day.
Most important is to STOP vaccinating your dog - The Dangers of Vaccines
