westiemum

Similarly Juice, I have two elderly westies and a younger one who had unrestricted access to the house and outside through a doggy door 24/7. But during winter, I suspect the young one started weeing inside so he didn't get his feet wet. So mine are now restricted to the kitchen with water and their beds and the doggy door. They didn't like kit at all - particularly being banned from the lounge and someone scratched the kitchen door in the early days, but they seem to have settled well and no probs since - although they do bang the door when they hear me come home! I've been in my house over ten years and about seven with the dogs - not one barking complaint . Touch wood.

Lucky spoilt guys DD!! My guys got their usual raw meat and veg tonight.

That's great news wil. Really pleased your girl is more comfortable and responding so well to your thoughtful changes. Yeast is a bugger - once it gets a systemic foothold it can be so difficult to get rid of. I have started thinking about and treating my Westie girl as I would a girl hooman with systemic thrush - and it seems to have worked. Basically she gets nothing that will possibly feed it - minimal ABs, minimal carbs, no grains and short-term Hydrazole followed by Canesten. Will be really interested in your updates. Pics???

My Godmother has used Adelaide Hills for many many years and loves them - and she still uses them even though she now lives 'on the flat' in town.

AA22 I agree with everyone else - the lump needs to be at least aspirated pronto. It's big. I've had experience with two lumps recently. The first was a foster which sounds very similar to yours - large on his neck unde his chin. While he was being desexed and having his ears flushed under GA, the vet aspirated the lump. It was a fluid filled cyst which drained on needle insertion - nothing further required and lump gone. The second one was on my girl westies back. Original aspiration showed lipoma or fatty lump. But it got bigger so we decided to remove it and it was much bigger than was obvious from the outside - size of an egg. Vet felt it was benign but I wanted it checked through histopathology - turned out to be a benign epidermal cyst. I was relieved and so was the vet. Nothing further to do or worry about. Also be aware that needle aspiration has an inaccuracy rate of about 25% or one in four procedures are likely wrong according to my vet. So depends if they are odds you can live with for the sake of an $80 - $120 test. I decided on the test to be sure but certainly understand if you decide not to test. Hope that helps.

Yes it's incredible what a difference a day makes - my Sarah was nowhere near as polite at the vets as Takoda!!! I'll never forget getting a politely plaintive call mid afternoon at work from the vets - 'Pleazzzzze come and get her' - and Sarah barking the house down in the background - boy did she let them know she was ready to come home! She's a beautiful smiley girl and looks so happy to be home - and I'm sure she's feeling so much better. Well done K9A. Glad you're feeling much better too!

Just read your post properly HW - agree with everything you've said.

k9a My Sarah has had two bouts of HGE 13 or 14 months apart some years ago. The first time was serious like yours - and after a really hairy 12 hours she recovered - she was at the vet for 2 days if I remember correctly and by late day two she was much better and letting the whole neighbourhood know about it! (I got a call to please come and get her!) So while you'll be worried sick for the first 12 hours or there abouts - you've done everything right by getting her straight to the vet and on the drip. The drip is the citical thing IMO. All fingers and paws crossed for you here.

Oh wow! She is perfect!! What a beauty! Congrats Perse - mission accomplished!

Bob the Bedlingtons were superb. Congratulations and good luck for Saturday. And yes littleduck - I saw that Bernese Mountain Dog too - what a beauty!! Apart from the terrier group, whippets, cave and min pins, it seemed to be big dog day! The malamutes were huge and gorgeous ... And the Shepherds (gorgeous eyes!) ... ah a very good day.

Well. Just got back from 5 hours at the show for the first time in a couple of years.. Working in rescue when you tend to see the other side of the breed, it was soooo good to be reminded what really good westies look like and see such cherished dogs - and feel a proper double coat again! The four local westie breeders I really like were all there so it was good to say hello again. And the whippets!!! There were 168 whippets entered and the whippet judging in the other ring seemed to take all morning!! Amazing breed. And lovely to have a cuddle with Pippa the GAP greyhound who was there as well with the GAP programme - came perilously close to bringing her home with me! Rabanne I'm so sorry I didn't check this thread before I left so I didn't look for you. Would love to have said hello otherwise. Maybe next year? Gee the Shows are a good reminder of why good breeding is soooo important. Congratulations to everyone who goes to the most amazing lengths to show their fantastic dogs. I'm in awe of you.

Thanks BC - good post. Forgot to mention that. A laryngeal tie back has the effect of de-barking. Mac now has a very quiet muffled bark - exactly like shoo an who has lost their voice ( cos that's essentially what has happened).

K, good pick-up to notice the bark change and Id suggest you get off to the vet pronto. This could be nothing, the beginnings of a collapsed airway, tumour/nodules or laryngeal paralysis - they're the common ones. It's not a sign of normal ageing IMO. I missed the signs with Macs laryngeal (vocal cord) paralysis such as a change in his bark - a friend who knows him well commented on his 'raspy sexy' bark many months before and I didn't twig - put it down to age. He also had difficulty keeping up on walks and excessive panting. Some dogs cough and gag, particularly when eating and drinking but Mac didn't - I wish he had as that might have alerted me to something else being wrong. Some also faint through lack of air. I so wish I'd joined the dots much sooner. I took him to vet and we came to the conclusion it was an exacerbation of his dementia. I mistook the rasping noise he made when breathing in for dementia panting - and so did the vet. Given his history of dementia it was an easy mistake to make. In the very late stage, the day before his emergency surgery, his breathing was heaving (really working hard to get air down and his chest was heaving) and he couldn't get comfortable and paced - for hours. Mac almost died a miserable death essentially through suffocation. Luckily, there is a straight forward surgical solution called 'Laryngeal tie- back' which works very well. And emergency Sunday night endoscopy (confirmed laryngeal paralysis) and surgery at the Emergency Vet Hospital saved him. He's still quite doddery but he's so much better and brighter - now he's quite the spritely interested old man. So... IMO there are two ways to view this - and only endoscopy will give you a definite answer. If your dog has only the bark change, it may be just that - or it might be the early onset of laryngeal paralysis or something else. If your dog shows any other odd symptoms as well as the bark changes then I'd be discussing with your vet and going down the endoscopy route. Despite the expense it may save your dog going through what my Mac went through. If it is laryngeal paralysis then you can go from there, before your dog goes into respiratory crisis like mine did. . Good luck and will be really interested to hear how you get on.

Jules, looking at the pics B posted of 'Just Joey', I went 'hang on...' . I have two very old 'bush' roses in my garden in front of the lounge room windows which I believe are at least 30 years old - possibly older. And one of mine looks exactly like Bs pics. And I have a vague recollection that someone told me years ago that its name was 'Just Joey' . And if its not exactly the same its incredibly similar. The bushes are tall - a bit taller than me and I'm just over 5'6" and quite bushy. The roses have a lovely old-fashioned perfume. So when you get yours, assuming its not a climbing variety then give it some space when you plant it. And if you're in town anytime and would like some roses then give me a hoy... Love to catch up.

Will: Yep Will, I find the same thing - given a choice of raw or dry they go for the raw first every time. I know this is humanising the whole thing, but I can't imagine eating the same dray day in day out ( except for medical purposes).

Minimax : Come to think of it, I had the same thing happen to me with my Sarah while I was at the Vet School. Her sample I collected with a kidney dish had crystals but the sterile sample the vet collected directly from her bladder didn't .

Maybe if the dog had been allowed inside it wouldn't have barked? The one next to me in the polling booth was fine - quiet, leashed, controlled didn't even realise he was there to start with as I grappled valiantly for ages with my metre long senate ballot paper, numbering 1 - 73 below the line.

Same here Mita. The woman next to me in the polling stataion had a very well behaved mixbreed dog, possibly a foxie mix a on a leash next to me. He looked a bit like Ollie my previous foster which is why I noticed him (and I was there a while as I voted below the line! ) . He was a lovely little dog and not a problem at all and well under control. Nobody seemed concerned.

I wouldn't either. Even if there's a 'designated' dog parking area.... & even if there's someone posted to keep an eye on the dogs there. Too many risks for my dog from being out of my immediate supervision out in public. Being stolen, another dog attacking, some stupid member of the public hurting or teasing. The list goes on. If my dogs can't be in my immediate care.... all the time.... when out in public places, then they don't go. Agree in the sense that my dogs need to be under my complete control in public - but I think we are making a rod for our own backs in not exposing leashed controlled dogs and people to each other sensibly in more public places. The rest of the world seems to manage it, why can't we?

& this is a huge contribution to the problem we have with dog attacks, adults & children being scared of dogs, dogs being scared of adults & children & imagined breed hysteria. Dogs need to go everywhere & this was a perfect example of a good chance to socialise the dog which was made unpleasant by someones uncalled for bad attitude. Yes I agree Christina. The attitude to dogs in Australia needs re-balancing IMO. There needs to a loosening up of dogs in public places. Its rare (ever?) I hear of leashed dogs creating problems. There's a very dog friendly cafe (outside) near me and with my three westies, all leashed, and a couple of other dogs all at the feet of their owners and there's never been a problem. The cafe owners wouldn't allow it if there was . I ran into a westie in the BA baggage queue at Vienna International Airport in 2010 and no-one, absolutely no-one batted an eye-lid - he was leashed, trotting along and there to greet his 'Mum' who was coming home (Of course I chatted with his owner). Can you imagine the uproar if a dog so much as put a whisker inside an Australian airport?? I'd be a major incident of epic proportions. I have often wondered if there is a connection between dog fear, breed fear, dogs being scared (and more unpredictable) of people and dog fights and bites and our highly restrictive dog practices in public. Sooooo many people seem to have no experience with animals these days - part of the problem and/or part of the hygiene obsession??

The Electoral Act specifies pencil. But you can use your own pen if you want to. The level of scruitineering is meant to prevent changes to ballot papers. Apparently the rationale for pencil is that they can be sharpened whereas pens just run out. Or so the AEC says. And I took my own mine pencil and eraser as I voted below the line in the senate - and the eraser was very handy!!!

Hi Jules, Have been watching this thread all week trying to find the right words. Its been an incredibly difficult week for you with Joey passing and I was so sad too - and as well for me a rescue friends beloved westie died suddenly earlier this week and my best friends rescue cav died today suddenly, from the scourge of cav heart disease, while they were overseas (her 19 year old daughter has coped well with the loss of her mother's rescue cav). So its hard to know what to say or when to say it. I was so sorry for you and Michael to see Joey had died. He was a beautiful little man and he had a wonderful life with you all. And he'll watch over you until you join him, wherever you believe that is . Take care and you know where to find me if there's anything I can do. Big hugs .

I'm going on Wednesday to check out the westie judging and what breeders are around (I'm always being asked) - so hope to see some DOLers there!

Yep my thoughts too. Again at the risk of being howled down, trying a raw diet maybe with only one low allergenic meat like roo to start with might be the way to go. I really worry about what's in commercial dog food (and yes I'm ducking for cover but nothing I've seen will change that). I've had similar problems with my Sarah severely itchy on BH and had struvite crystals - back on raw and grain free dry for emergencies only and she's a different dog.

Good to hear L. So glad it went well - and yes you're right - the boys get a quick snip while the girls get the full deal. Just one thing to watch out for - I reckon like us, some dogs get a bit of a post-GA 'high' and then a day or so later seem to come down with a bit of a bang. As Mac has had so many GAs , I'm sure I've seen it fairly consistently with him - he's flatter and quieter by day 2 or 3 post surgery. And then back to his normal self. So don't be surprised if Juno's a bit flat and quiet tomorrow.