skwo2

I am looking for dog boarding place around the Hills District area in Sydney. I am looking for a dog boarding place, preferably around the Hills District area in Sydney. I want a place where they can feed human graded food, e.g. chicken with rice/pasta (I know it will have an additional cost), a run which is indoor and access to grass area during the day. The dog will get walk at least once a day. I was at first thinking of Pet Resort at Terrigal, but it is too far to travel. Any recommendation? You can PM me if you like.

I am aware that dogs are not allowed in national parks, but is it ok to have the dog travelled in the car and drive through national parks? I heard that there are some walks in the Morton National Park (where Fitzroy Falls locates) which allows to take dog, has anyone been to there? Thanks

With the pet insurance, how long does it take you to get back the claim? Any other pet insurance claim comments are welcome.

Thanks. Is there a need to have a x-ray to prove ruptured cruciate ligament? The vet said there is a 'drawer sign' in the knee area when he held Chelsea's upper thigh and then move the leg

Is operation the only way to fix the problem?

Just back from the vet and the vet said it is cruciate ligament rupture. The vet showed me the "drawer sign" and certain that this is the case, no need for x-ray Chelsea needs to have a surgery to correct this problem Yes, Chelsea is a small breed, bichon frise, 3.5 years old

Sure I will let you know the outcome. Anyway, when I touched her knee cap area, she seems to be in pain. She is now resting on her bed

Chelsea was running around at home and jumping onto the sofa as usual, but today, after running a few rounds, and then jumped onto the sofa, she screamed in pain. Then she was limping on her back right leg, and only walked with her 3 legs afterwards. I am going to take her to the vet tomorrow, as they are closed now. Can anyone give me any advise for the time being. Thanks.

How about Canon G10? I am also looking into getting a new camera, but I don't want to spend money on DSLR yet, when I don't have much knowledge in cameras.

I gave Chelsea the Spectrum Interceptor tonight, and she had a vomit about 3 hours afterwards. She vomitted out her dinner, and I saw some brownish thing in there, believe to be the heartworm tablet. How long does it take for a heartworm tablet to start taking effect on the body? Do I need to feed her another heartworm tablet? I am not too keen to overdose her, as she is currently having liver problem. I crush the tablet and mix in the food to feed her.

Thanks for the reply, have been busy recently. I will email Sunny's owner (at first I thought it is someone on DOL forum, but then realised Sunny is the dog on the website link) Chelsea had a blood test on Sat, ALT has gone back up, from 11xx to 29xx, disappointing result. I asked the vet about the l/d food, he said it can be mixed with some chicken and rice, he thinks it is important for Chelsea to eat something, as Chelsea's weight has been going down. Chelsea still doesn't like the l/d food, or the rice, but she will take chicken. I have done a mix in there, but she will just dig out the chicken and eat The vet said to continue with her current treatment, Clavolux + Ursodeoxycholic acid, and do another blood test 10 days later.

If it is not white turkey meat, does it mean the bones? Sorry, what is the contact name for the person who owns "Sunny'? P.S. It is Tomas who posted up the useful homemade diet link.

I have asked the vet about milk thistle, the vet suggested there is something very similar to Milk Thistle, and works almost the same way (i.e. protect liver), it is called S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe). It is something that was suggested by the specialist examining Chelsea's biopsy result. However, the specialist said SAMe is not always effective, it may improve and it may not. Given its price and the uncertainty of its effectiveness, I haven't bought SAMe for Chelsea. Also, as with all medication/supplement, there can be side effect, I am more worry about this. She is currently on Ursodeoxycholic acid and Clavolux. The vet said many dogs are on Ursodeoxycholic acid, and they seem to be doing alright. I am worrying about Chelsea not eating the l/d food, she just eats so little of it, and getting more skinny

Maybe can you should consider buying pet insurance? Vet bill can end up in thousands of dollars. Choose the one which has a lower premium per year and higher excess fee, however not everything is covered.

The links I posted above have more than enough advice for someone to be able to feed their own dog. Vets have little to no idea about nutrition. It's easier to open a can or a bag though I do admit but frankly I would be making my dogs food myself whether that be raw or cooked if they were ill. I really don't think prepared diets are the way to go with this. Here is the diet plan that has worked for many peoples terminal liver disease dogs. 9 cups of WATER in a BIG STEW POT 2-1/2 POUNDs GROUND TURKEY (NOT white meat turkey) 2 cups BROWN RICE 2 CUPs WHOLE OATMEAL 1 LARGE PACKAGE (sack) MIXED VEGETABLES 1 LARGE PACKAGE (sack) of FROZEN PEAS or 1 Large Package of Chopped Broccoli 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder MORE whole oatmeal to mix in after preceding mixture is finished - Mix in enough oatmeal to absorb all liquid and leave the mixture a tad dry. This can be found in the 2nd link I posted,read both in their entirety and you have your answers. Thre are slo supplements to be added to this ,also in the link. Thanks Tomas, yes, I did have a read on the links you provided. My vet said to keep Chelsea on the l/d diet as much as possible, but Chelsea is not interested in it. She only has a mouthful or two. I end up throwing away more than she eats every meal. I dare not to give her anything else to make her condition more worse. She will have the blood test next Sat, will see how she goes and talk to the vet again. She is still active and doing well at the moment. What is ground turkey? which part is it? What is the minimium size of a pack of l/d kibbles?

Sure, I will check with the vet first.

Thanks all for the info. What I am doing now is to steam a piece of chicken, and pour the water from the steamed chicken onto the l/d food, to add a bit of favour and make the l/d food warmer, and more appeal to Chelsea. However, Chelsea is still eating a lot less than the prescribed amount, she eats about 1/4 of the can a day, instead of the prescribed amount 1/2 - 3/4 of the can per day. Without the chicken water, she won't go near to the food. It is not because she doesn't have the appetite, but she just doesn't like the l/d. I guess probably because there is no meat. Do you think I can mix some cottage cheese into the l/d food? All of the information I gathered, says that cottege chesse is high in protein and low in ammonia.

skwo2 where did you go in Sydney for the titer test? All natural vet care at Russell Lea Btw, your normal vet can also do titre testing, it is just getting blood and sending it off to the WA lab. Any vet is able to do it, but not sure if every vet like this idea vs vaccination

Chelsea has suffered cholangiohepatitis, and she is on Hills l/d canned food for 4 - 6 weeks, recommended by the vet. What sort of diet will be good for dogs with liver problem? High protein? Low ammonia? I also notice that the Hills l/d diet use chicken fat instead of chicken meat as part of the ingredients, is it because meat can produce a lot of ammonia, so use fat instead of meat? For the owner with dogs suffered from liver problem, what do you feed? Chelsea is not too keen on the l/d food, but I will just let her have it for the next 4- 6 weeks, any idea on how to make the l/d food more attractive to her?

Chelsea had an antibody titre testing done last year, titre testing alone cost about $90, but because this titre testing also comes with a consultation, so I get charged about $150. This is done with a holistic vet in Sydney. However, when I talked to the normal vet that Chelsea used to visit about the antibody titre testing, he mentions that titre testing is useless, because the dog's own immune level can be low and still have a high level of antibody in the body, or the dog's immune level can be high and a low level of antibody. I don't quite understand what he says. I also talked to a person in another forum (before I talked to my vet), and she also mentioned that the titre testing is useless in terms of measuring immune system. Anyway, I did the titre testing for the sake of training, and I hate to tell people that my dog is not vaccinated.

The vet suggested Ursodeoxycholic acid or S-Adenosylmethionine for treatment, in addition to antibiotics Clavulox. This treatment will be about 4 - 6 weeks. S-Adenosylmethionine seems to be a milder drug, and has less chance of side effect, it is kind of like "holistic" medication. However, both the vet and the specialist said Ursodeoxycholic acid is more effective, so I decided Ursodeoxycholic acid. Chelsea needs to be on Hills l/d food for about 4 - 6 weeks or longer. The vet said the bacteria that infect the liver is a broad spectrum of bacteria (from the biopsy report), so there is no need to do a culture. It could be bacteria that is normally present in the gut gets into the liver via bile duct. Those bacteria is not harmful when inside the gut, but once it reaches outside of the gut, it infects the liver. If Chelsea doesn't vomit or in good condition, she may be discharged tomorrow or Thursday If anyone has more knowledge of the treatement, etc, please let me know. Is milk thistle recommended?

Chelsea's biopsy result has came back. The diagnosis is "chronic suppurative cholangiohepatitis". The vet said it could be some bacteria from the intestine travelling thru the bile duct to the liver. The treatment will be antibiotics. I search through the internet, it is an illness that is more common in cats and rare in dogs.

Have a look at this link, I find this very useful and has a good coverage. It mentions about the differences in DEC, Heartguard, and Interceptor, and also talks about the 'holistic' way of preventing heartworms http://www.dogaware.com/wdjheartwormprevention.html

tkay - have you got the contact details of Geraldine Hunt. Thanks. The vet has asked the ultrasound specialist again yesterday, to double check what did he see from the ultrasound last week, will he think of any other possible "cause", and the speicalist said the same answer as before, basically "diffuse hepatopathy - consider toxic insult versus immune - mediated choloangiohepatitis vs suppurative cholangiohepatitis" The seizure I mentioned before, and after asking the vet, she thinks it may be a faint. I told her what I saw, Chelsea was vomitting, then fell onto the floor, 4 legs were moving involuntary for about 4-5 seconds, then she stood up again, look normal, so I went down to grab the phone to call the vet, and then next thing I knew, was she had also came downstairs, jumped onto the sofa and lie down, tired, but not comma or anything. Vet said a faint can sometimes cause involuntary movements, the only way to tell if she was having a faint or seizure is how Chelsea look after the incident, conscious most likely to be a faint, unconscious most likely to be seizure. I have agreed that Chelsea to have a biopsy done (possibly today, if her condition allows). She looked well and normal yesterday, if anyone just came to see her for the first time, couldn't tell that she has been sick. I guess I will just have to trust that Chelsea is in good hands

Thanks very much, Miranda. Will PM rappie At the moment, I am very worried, just reading articles on internet about liver disease. Really want to find out an answer.