westiemum

Some years ago there was a dog dumpage survey completed by the RSPCA and Burke's Backyard. Now before anyone goes overboard I recognise that its highly likely to be flawed, particularly in regard to breed identification. But it does make interesting reading in general terms and appears to support many observations people are making in this thread. - link here

Yep Lyndsay, - 4 days a week for the moment and having a lot of fun - unlike my last job! The people at Roseworthy are fantastic. Beat me to it. Dr Hill is awesome and a lovely guy too. Don't expect it to be cheap, he is a specialist, but worth it. OT: Westiemum - are you on the Roseworthy campus?

Hi LMM, Suggest you try Dr Peter Hill, who is a veterinary dermatologist out in the new Companion Animal Health Centre at the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Adelaide at Roseworthy. Yes its a way away but worth the hike in my opinion. Link here, Contact details for the Centre here. Please note though this is not a free clinic - funds are re-invested back into teaching and research. And just so you know, yes I do work in the School - I have recently started a temporary contract in HR so have no financial interest at all - apart from being highly impressed with the clinicians they are gathering out there. Hope that helps.

Yep I mix it with meat or veg as wel and Mac wolfs it down! I'll give it a try. He doesn't have much breakfast, though. He won't mind if you mix in some HR tea into his small breakfast-portion, mix it with some turkey mince and he will gobble it up. PM me your address and I'll send some to ya.

Hi Sheridan and Boronia, Sheridan you're right - Mac won't drink the herbal tea on its own either - but mix it in with his antioxidant dry food (Hills b/d) and give it to him morning and night and he wolfs it down - he's one very happy westie! I give him about a teaspoon morning and night. The added bonus is that it ensures that he is well hydrated - which is always good for a boys brain! Boronia's 'stuff' is good stuff! I'll give you a hoy B after I finish my current supply (couple of months).

She's probably out looking at dishwashers!! ;) :D

Friends of mine have a 12 year old westie who has recently come down with it. And similarly we have absolutely no idea where she has picked it up. She has very little use of her back legs now. And because it is so rare here and even rarer in older dogs, it took sometime and a vet then a specialist to diagnose, along with MRIs and spinal fluid evaluation ($$$). With drugs, the paralysis appears to have halted at her back legs for the moment. She is using a doggie wheel chair her parents imported from a terrific company in the US with great success - 'Walkin' Wheels' (5 days from order to arrival in Adelaide from the east coast of the US) . But the longer-term prognosis is not good - we genuinely have no idea how long she has . So sorry to be the bearer of bad news but everything I've read on this wretched thing points to poor outcomes. Good luck.

The map looks pretty accurate to me - I had a cat with a paralysis tick who nearly died while I was living in Coffs Harbour in the mid 1990's. Scarey stuff. One of the great things about living in SA is no paralysis tick - thank goodness Good luck with your decision.

Probably drives better than most Darwinites anyway :D (And before anyone gets upset, I'm having a go at me too seeing I spent 18 years in Darwin... )

Hmn... you're obviously very observant SnF Hard to know - I'm a Joint Guard convert from way back and I think it gave my dogs good relief - but it is expensive. In fact I can't think of a joint supplement that isn't. The only way to get Joint Guard at a semi-reasonable price is to hunt around, bite the bullet and buy the 750g tub if at possible - the best price I can find with a quick scoot around is here - and Trent is very good. However a couple of ebay sellers are competitive as well. There are a couple of other supplements around as well - but I don't know as much about them - maybe someone else will jump in. Hope that helps

Will be interesting to hear how Grumpy gets on with someone else in the house. Andy is usually very timid for the first day but after that he warms up very quickly - its another lap to sit on and someone to lounge all over, roll over and get tummy rubs from! Mac just loves the extra attention right from the start!

Hmn... Yep OSS, thats certainly the impression I got from my vet on wednesday too - except I think her remember saying its not confined to puppies here. Hence my caution. My friends from Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills, their 11 year old westie girl is very disabled from neosporosis and has just started using a doggie wheelchair. This parasite is really rare here and no-one can work out where she picked it up from... its genuinely scarey. So I figure it just pays to be careful with these nasties - they can be around where and when you never expect them. And as the vet said being in the (upmarket) eastern suburbs doesn't make us exempt.

The honest answer is that I'm not really sure. I assumed by calling it 'particularly nasty' she's implying a mutated/different strain or worse than usual virus that is around at the moment (afterall, virus' do mutate). She made the point that old dogs could be particularly vulnerable. I understand that vaccination is not 100% effective, and is less effective against a new/different strain. But it still gives dogs a fighting chance if they are exposed to a different strain. If its the difference between a dead unvaccinated dog and a sick vaccinated dog with increased chance of recovery, I'll take the sick vaccinated dog every time. how can this parvo be any worse then any other time unless it is a new strain in which case the current vaccination would not be any good against it?

Independent with a bit of spunk Alert barker only Cute as anything Lap size Affectionate Copes with my working hours ... And I have to add doesn't care what I look like in the morning! So my westies are perfect for me!

Hi All, Mac was at the vet yesterday for a check-up - and she's thrilled with him. He continues his combination of Vivitonin, Hills b/d and his Herb Robert herbal tea twice a day (Thanks tons again Boronia). So we're keeping on with this routine while it seems to be working. The other thing that I have definitely noticed is that he also seems brighter and much more alert since I've been home with him for heading for three weeks. He's getting out and about more and seems to thrive on my company... so now for that Lotto win so I can stay at home full-time with him! So all good here.

My vet suggested yesterday to be careful - parvo is rampant in patches across Adelaide at the moment,and its particularly nasty. She suggested try to stay in areas where dogs are more likely to be vaccinated...

Interesting. For what its worth, my old boy Mac (12 years) had a C3 three yearly vac yesterday and is very sleepy today - even ignored the vacuum!

Very interesting discussion as usual. I generally agree with Westielover - raw human grade diet and no vaccinations... except according to my vet yesterday we are seeing particularly nasty parvo outbreak in patches across Adelaide at the moment. And as I'm not working at the moment I'm taking the westies much futher afield with me. I inadvertently took them to a dog park (Oaklands) a week or so ago and then found out it was a source of parvo - lucky for me alls clear here - so in line with the vets advice I decided to vaccinate yesterday so all three westies are vaccinated for the next three years and this will probably be their last. (Will titre test them all at the end of 2014). I trust my vet implicitly and have learnt that if she is being more insistent than usual (as she was yesterday) that I should listen carefully. She explained about this really nasty parvo which is around at the moment and that if I want to continue taking them to public parks, and given they are all otherwise perfectly healthy then vaccinating is wise and should be no problem for them. She said if Mac,my old boy contracted parvo it would be likely to kill him - so vaccinate I did.

You guys are amazing - some fantastic suggestions here. I too like simple names that are easy to remember, describe the business and get you near the beginning of the phone book. Having said that, I particularly like names which also play to the emotion that dog owners feel towards their dog. 'The Spoilt Dog' is around the corner from me - and apart from being a fantastic groomer providing brilliant service, I think Elise's name of her business is a stroke of genius. She's booked out 9 weeks in advance and has closed her books to new clients (boy am I glad my three are already regulars!) So 'The Happy Dog' wins it for me, hands down . I also really like 'Heaven Scent Hounds' (Clever whoever posted that! ) I think 'The Devine Dog/Doggy' also works. Also like 'Canine Cuts' and 'Hair & Hound' but they somehow don't quite have the emotional edge that I think makes a name like 'The Spoilt Dog' work so well IMO. Good Luck and will be really interested to hear what you finally decide on.

Winterpaws that would be terrific - thank you so much - will pm you.

Thanks everyone - this is a really helpful thread. Very occasionally, my dementing old boy Mac seems to leave a trail of urine across the floor - its very infrequent at this point so at the moment I just get the mop and wipe it up. (And God bless wood floors!) But as his dementia progresses, I suspect that this dribbling incontinence will become more frequent. (He's only wee'd on my bed once and that was months ago). Even so I have bought a couple of fake sheep skin larger cat beds from a brilliant ebay supplier in NZ. Link here. She was really helpful and scouted around to get me a slightly bigger one - and the postage was really cheap!. These beds are ideal for putting on a bed as they aren't too bulky, Mac seems to love the feel of it and they wash like rags. I bought two of them so when one is in the a wash I have another spare. So he still sleeps on my bed and loves his cat bed! If/when his incontinence gets worse, I plan to get a 'kylie' or two (blue blankets used for people with continence probs in aged care), to put on top of his bed and something waterproof to put underneath between his bed and my bed and then see how we go. If that then becomes too problematic I'll then try the doggie nappies overnight. So for me there is a 'progression' of management here - and hopefully we never get to the nappie stage...

And for any South Aussies - its worth the trip to Jo's shop on Payneham Road (Adelaide Dog 305a Payneham Road, Royston Park) - she makes the most fantastic mix - 'The Formula' and its a very reasonable price. (And no I'm not involved in the business - just really appreciate the effort she goes to make this stuff and how good it is). I'm very fussy with my dogs food - human grade only - and I find that its cheaper in the long run than most pet grade food anyway. And Mac's last precautionary blood test (he's 12.5), was 'perfect' according to the vet - so I must be doing something right.

Yes its serious enough that it made the prime-time news last Thursday night... I was at the Oaklands Park Dog Park last Tuesday...

If I'm choosing to go away for a weekend then I take them with me - full-stop. If they can't go, I don't go. For longer or unavoidable work trips I get someone in - preferably my mother, but if she's not available then I have some single friends who are happy to help out.

Good to hear from you Sheridan. Grumpy with poodle feet! Bet thats a sight! But all for the best... Mac is continuing to do well. Although he continues to bark loudly right at me at dinner time and seems to be getting more raucous and strident! But its definitely very puposeful! :rolleyes: Has been a couple of weeks since a 'cluster' of purposeless growling (no recent puposeless barking either although it happens occasionally)- so we continue to do well. I'm also carting him around with me and getting to the park and trying hard to keep him well stimulated -and that seems to be helping too.