Cruising With A Service Dog....everything You Ever Wanted To Know!

[dvdfreakmc]

Best wishes for a wonderful time away Roz and Brenda!

[wizard-of-roz]

Best wishes for a wonderful time away Roz and Brenda!

 

Thank you so much, Peter and his gang!

We've never been on the Sapphire (although she is the sister ship to the Diamond) and the Diamond has been my most favorite ship of all our cruises.....this should be one of our best!!!!!

Brenda goes to the beauty shop tomorrow. She was at the vet, yesterday (for the Agricultural form and a vet check) and he found redness in her ears and eyes (how do you avoid the grass; the winds; the trees; the smog, etc., etc.?)

CURE: Visine for the eyes and Otomax for the ears....Labs have an amazing leaning towards allergies and it seems she's innundated with them!!!!! The doctor said she'll probably do better on the ship and in Mexico (getting her away from her normal allergens, at home!)

I get so much more back from her than I'll ever put into keeping her allergy free!!!!! I just consider her a high maintenance kind of gal......:p;)

[DisneyKidsDad]

Thank you so much, Peter and his gang!

 

We've never been on the Sapphire (although she is the sister ship to the Diamond) and the Diamond has been my most favorite ship of all our cruises.....this should be one of our best!!!!!

 

Brenda goes to the beauty shop tomorrow. She was at the vet, yesterday (for the Agricultural form and a vet check) and he found redness in her ears and eyes (how do you avoid the grass; the winds; the trees; the smog, etc., etc.?)

 

CURE: Visine for the eyes and Otomax for the ears....Labs have an amazing leaning towards allergies and it seems she's innundated with them!!!!! The doctor said she'll probably do better on the ship and in Mexico (getting her away from her normal allergens, at home!)

 

I get so much more back from her than I'll ever put into keeping her allergy free!!!!! I just consider her a high maintenance kind of gal......:p;)

 

Our older lab suffers from allergies too. Especially her ears. We started giving her one Benedryl a day. It's done wonders. Her ears are alot better and she doesn't shake her head or paw at her ears nearly as much as she used to. They also smell alot better.

[wizard-of-roz]

Our older lab suffers from allergies too. Especially her ears. We started giving her one Benedryl a day. It's done wonders. Her ears are alot better and she doesn't shake her head or paw at her ears nearly as much as she used to. They also smell alot better.

 

 

Peter, you may have hit on something.....Are you giving a 25 or 50mg dose? I'm going to suggest this to the vet. (Sometimes the doctors need our help in the best and least invasive roads to the cure!)

[DisneyKidsDad]

Peter, you may have hit on something.....Are you giving a 25 or 50mg dose? I'm going to suggest this to the vet. (Sometimes the doctors need our help in the best and least invasive roads to the cure!)

 

I'll have to check the dosage when I get home.

 

BTW...who's Peter??:confused:

[wizard-of-roz]

I'll have to check the dosage when I get home.

 

BTW...who's Peter??:confused:

 

OOPS!!!! I'm sorry....you're not Peter (you knew that!) I had been writing with Peter and I apologize for the error.....Peter is a lovely man with a beautiful family, who travels the world with his son's Service Dog, Werin.

Now I know who I'm writing to.......I spoke with my vets office and they recommended using the 50mg dosage (not to exceed 150mg per day.)

Great suggestion from you (why didn't they ever suggest it? Who knows!)

 

Wouldn't it be great if a simple thread on Cruise Critic helped me resolve Brenda's allergy issues, that have cost me a bloody fortune, over the past 6 years and a horrible reaction, which almost cost her her life (using Prednisone.)

I'll let you know how it goes.

[flsunnymommy]

We do benadryl as well. We do it before bed so he is not drowsy duing the day. We have also been told by the vet we can do claritan and tavist D as some meds work better for some dogs and people.

[wizard-of-roz]

We do benadryl as well. We do it before bed so he is not drowsy duing the day. We have also been told by the vet we can do claritan and tavist D as some meds work better for some dogs and people.

 

Good idea, nothing worse than a sleepy service dog!!! :rolleyes: Too bad you're in Florida or I'd ask who your vet is. :o

Which type do you use? The capsule or the caplet?

[dvdfreakmc]

I'll have to check the dosage when I get home.

 

BTW...who's Peter??:confused:

 

 

I think it is a little quoting mix up -- I'm Peter (I think), but can't take credit for the great allergy suggestion, DisneyKidsDad.

[flsunnymommy]

We have used both pill and capsule. Now I just buy the generic since he takes it daily. The capsule seems to slide down easier, but the pill is smaller. Twice a day if flare ups. I can tell you we went through heck with vets until we saw a dermatologist for him.

[S.S. Cruisers]

Its a small world after all! Its a small world after all! I love these boards. I thought Reno was the only dog in the world that took benedryl, people always look at me like I'm crazy. He has been on it for years. 25 mg. 2 in the morning, 2 at night. He was licking both his arms so much it was taking the hair off. Now only does it when he gets really nervous. His vet did say to only use the meds with the exact same ingredients as the benedryl. I had some of the melt in your mouth ones, thinking it would be easier to get him to take them and she said absolutely NOT. I do use the generic brand and push it in his 1/2 can of canned food, along with his thyroid, crystal in the urine, enlarged liver pills, glucasomine and whatever else he takes! :o I'm so use to it, don't even think about it.

[sunshine426]

I put a big squirt of sqeeze cheese (stuff in the can) on the capsule and the dog just eats it up. Well at least the SD I had at home took it that well. I always did the put in the back of the tongue, hold snout, stroke throat etc. Works well, but the cheese worked was much easier.

[wizard-of-roz]

Yippeeeeeeee!!!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!! Squirting the cheese stuff on the pill.....so clever!!!

Reno, you're costing your mommy a bloody fortune.....but, I know how worth it you are.....And, I'd do exactly the same!!!!!!

Can you believe the issues with allergies these dogs have?

I feel that Benadryl will be the answer for Miss Brenny....at least I hope so!

She takes her first pill this evening.....I don't know how she'll react to it and I know that it makes me very drowsy. I hope works!!!!!!

Thanks again everyone......You are all a God-send to me, and I'm truly grateful for all of your advice! :)

[sunshine426]

Let me know if you try the squeeze cheese. I copied it after I saw one of the trainers using it! No more rubbing the throat, holding the mouth open, sticking your hand in the dog's mouth! As if putting my hand in a dog's mouth is the worst thing I have to do!!!! Try taking out what was in the dog's mouth.

[flsunnymommy]

:p Sometimes you really don't want to look and just close your eyes when you pull something out. I don't have a cheese dog, but I think I will try the peanut butter stuff you put in a kong. Kinda like the spray cheese.

[S.S. Cruisers]

I use KMART and Rite Aid generic brand benedryl, whoever has them on sale. I was really upset awhile back when they stopped carrying the 400 mini-caplets, thanks to our lovely drug world. I guess the druggies were using them to "cut" there dope with and the stores stopped carrying the larger quantity. Well, since my big boy takes four a day, it didn't take long to go through a 100 caplet bottle, not to mention the smaller bottles cost more. Well, all is good they are now carrying the large quantities again.

Roz, don't know if you will be back before you go, but safe travels. I bet even Brenny is getting excited. She has to know something is going on.....

Nancy

[sunshine426]

One trainer also told me that she puts a bit of peanutb butter or cheese and then tosses it to the dog. When they catch it they swallow before they figure out something is in it. Whatever works. I must say the cheese made it so easy to give the SD in training I had at home her meds. I would tell her we needed to get her meds and she walked right to the kitchen counter and waited for me to give it. Thought it was one big treat!!

[flsunnymommy]

I wish mine thought meds were a treat. He takes him, but then looks at me like I stepped on his tail.

 

Anyone know what they use in the potty box on Royal Caribbean? Going to try and fill a small pool with it on the back porch to get him used to it (just need to keep the cats out)

 

And an odd question.... do you bathe your dog on the cruise? Wet wipes can only go so far. So what do you do to keep them clean?

[sunshine426]

Probably the secret is starting real early. My own dog rarely has to take medication, but when I tried the cheese on the antihistamine, she looked at me like I was nuts, also with the peanut butter. So, back to sticking it on the back of her tongue. My own lab/golden gets very itchy skin usually in May, although this year it was in June. A very young vet suggested allergy testing and then allergy shots. My more seasoned vet(when I returned after the antihistamines weren't really working, gave her a steroid shot, and she was fine. Luckily she has no problems with steroids(like poor Brenda) and since we seem to only have trouble once a year, probably ok. I do wonder what it is that is blooming, that causes her itches. She has actually started some licking and itching,this past week, and I am watching her to make sure it doesn't progress, otherwise back to the vet. I'm pretty lucky as she is a nice healthy girl, and tolerates the SD in training I bring home pretty well.

[Crusin' from Fl]

Thanks all! I'm on the Board of the Lighthouse of Broward LHOB.org and we have a cruise planned for March 09 on NOS from Ft Lauderdale and I'm sure there are several people who are wondering what to do/how to deal with taking a trip like this with the Service Dog.

 

I will share this and I'm sure it will answer alot of questions! Thanks so much!

 

Safe and Happy Travels!:D

[dvdfreakmc]

I wish mine thought meds were a treat. He takes him, but then looks at me like I stepped on his tail.

 

Anyone know what they use in the potty box on Royal Caribbean? Going to try and fill a small pool with it on the back porch to get him used to it (just need to keep the cats out)

 

And an odd question.... do you bathe your dog on the cruise? Wet wipes can only go so far. So what do you do to keep them clean?

 

 

Werin goes for a furminator treatment and bath right before we leave. However, we haven't really done anything else on the cruise, except teeth brushing, and regular hair brushing on the cruise and it has been fine. Actually at our class they discouraged washing constantly, due to the oils in her coat and how protective they are. I'm interested though if you run into different problems by not washing every week or so? We go much longer, so the cruise is no problem. I'm curious.

[flsunnymommy]

I use two prescription shampoos and a creame rinse on Chewey every 2 to 3 days. I so wish he could go longer without bathing. Each shampoo sits on 10 minutes so it takes an hour to wash and dry the big goofball. As it gets cooler and the pollen count goes down he will only be bathed twice a week and it he does good on the medications it will be once a week. YAY!

[Agutaya]

I wish mine thought meds were a treat. He takes him, but then looks at me like I stepped on his tail.

 

Anyone know what they use in the potty box on Royal Caribbean? Going to try and fill a small pool with it on the back porch to get him used to it (just need to keep the cats out)

 

And an odd question.... do you bathe your dog on the cruise? Wet wipes can only go so far. So what do you do to keep them clean?

 

On RCCL's VOS last year they used mulch. The two guide dogs weren't thrilled with it at first but when they realized they had no other choice they adjusted fine. Part of the problem might have been because the box was smaller than what they said on their website that it would be and the mulch wasn't very thick. Later the staff made it thicker. Having a "dress rehearsal" is a good idea to get him used to it.

 

Mary

[Umbarger]

Wizard of Roz and others,

 

Would like to know your opinion on this thread about a woman who took her comfort dog on her cruise to 'calm' her. :confused: Is this woman scamming the system or is a comfort dog a true service dog?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=876666

 

Would like to know what the pro's think.

 

Linda

[denversees4me]

comfort dogs and emotional support dogs are NOT recognized under the ADA as service dogs... yes they scammed the system, but it is the systems fault for not knowing the difference in my opinion