westiemum

Thanks TSD - will have a look for it in the morning.

Excellent thank you Katdogs. Yes I've had a frantic week and was so looking forward to a relatively quiet weekend and to come home to this was more than I bear - and my rational objective thinking just completely went out the wIndow after over a week of cleaning up every night after I got home! Do you know where to get Delete? I've not heard of it before? Might Petstock have it? I could pick some up tomorrow morning if its available locally. Thanks so much.

Thanks to you TB, Sarah had her op today to remove her lump which the vet said was definitely a tumour of undetermined type. Thanks so much for posting about Bruno - you have helped my Sarah too. The vet said he's confident he got it all and it came out cleanly in one piece with clean margins and without any bits growing into surrounding tissue. But it was surprisingly big - particularly when I compare it with how it felt before removal. So its now gone off to see what exactly what it is - but at this stage the vet isn't too concerned. So big hugs to you both and thank you - and I so hope all goes well for Bruno.

Thanks LG but little tricksters they are!! The thing that makes me think its behavioural for example is if it was a UTI I would expect Andy to be dribbling and weeing whether I'm home or not. So I think some tough love here is called for. I'm going out for the afternoon tomorrow so will put the boys outside with water and vet bed on the verandah - its not supposed to rain here tomorrow (and assuming Sarah is OK I'll leave her inside after toiletting - she had a tumour of as yet undetermined type removed today). I;ll then see where to go to from there. Thanks so much everyone - really appreciated.

Yes 14 is a good age - but I'm suspicious its Andy the youngest westie who is the culprit. We'll see... I've had him checked for UTIs a number of times but not for a couple of months but will check him again.

Possible Aussie but judging by the wee I doubt it. I think its more likely to be behavioural... sigh.... he's very unhappy with the belly band but I'll persevere with it until he gets the message... and I confirm he's the culprit or otherwise.

I've just taken Andy outside for a wee. He did two wees and a poo! Reinforced him with a small treat and belly band is back on... Thank you everyone - feeling better after I was worried I was going to have a complete meltdown earlier tonight.

Tazar thank you. I have three westies - Mac 14, Sarah 12 and Andy 6 or 7 ish maybe? The two boys are puppy farm rescues from the notorious Freedom Kennels. Until Andy came to live with me he'd lived on concrete in a dog run pretty much his whole life. Similarly with Mac I think. So yes I could try locking the doggy door tomorrow afternoon when I have to go out for some hours. Good idea. Yes thats a stronger vinegar mixture than I've been using.

Belly band and pad on!! (One grumpy Andy!)

Thanks RP - that's a good idea - should have thought of that - I have a belly band collection!!!

Thanks Anne - yes I'm sure you're right - the only place I can really coral them is in the kitchen - then they still have access to the doggy door - I'll put some vet bed down. Whats the best thing to use to clean tiles and wooden floorboards which have been wee'd on? I've been using vinegar but maybe I need something more heavy duty? Thanks for your help.

Hi DOL brains trust, Please could you give me some advice... I've come home for over a week to wee inside. But tonight I came home really tired and almost lost it - a wee on the lounge, two wees on the floor in the lounge, two in the kitchen and one on the dog bed and floor in the bedroom - the dog bed now needs washing for the third time since Sunday. And I stepped in the one I didn't see in the kitchen. I know its not Sarah as she was at the vet all day and came home with me. I know its connected to the rain and cold - its rained heavily on and off here all day. But I can't keep this up - I now have another three loads of washing to do. Its been particularly bad this winter. I suspect its Andy - he's such as woose and doesn't like the feel of grass on his paws or getting them wet. Maybe I have to desensitise him somehow and re-train him? And in the meantime, as much as I don't want to, maybe I have to coral them all in the kitchen only when I'm not here as interestingly it has never happened when I'm home. Suggestions and advice please? Somethings got to give. Thanks everyone.

Really interesting discussion . I agree - I do for my dogs what I do for myself - keep it simple and as raw and unprocessed as possible - with the occasional treat! (Mine love hot chips! )

Gee it's a hard one K. But on balance I know exactly how you feel. I've decided I essentially won't be going away and leaving the dogs behind now until Mac falls off his twig, particularly after my last lot of drama with him. Its also not overly fair on my lovely mother who dog-sits for me - I couldn't bear it if he passed away on her watch - she'd be devastated. Instead I plan trips where they can go too - to my favourite pet friendly B and Bs and on road trips to friends where they can come too. Could you plan something like that instead ?

No probs here either. Lou don't stress. Feeding dogs is not the difficult highly scientific complex task that some people and the pet food industry would have us believe! Just do what your dogs do well on. Mine eat better than I do!

Thanks TB. Hope all goes really well for Bruno today. Sarah is back at the vet tonight - will insist on pathology testing this time.

Thanks for posting TB and I really hope all goes well with Bruno. Your posts have reminded me - when Sarah saw the Chiro Vet last week, he noticed her previously aspirated lump and despite me being told its a lymphoma he wasn't so sure and didn't like the feel of it. So I'll make an appointment to re-check it ASAP. . Thanks again.

Anzac Highway is a very good clinic - they saved Mac on 23 June. I haven't met Tony Read but if the rest of the Anzac Highway staff are anything to go by I'm sure he's excellent. Hope Joey recovers quickly Jules. :)

I have an itchy Westie. She saw a dermatologist but The thing that helped her most longer-term was Hydrazole cream then Canesten cream from the chemist and a grain free raw diet. I completely cut out sugar and carbs. Good luck :)

Damn - i've just given bootload of blankets to the Hanhdorf shelter here - Mind you I'm not sure how I'd get them to NSW anyway.

Oh yes please do ailwake! I took the beginners way out and used a sachet for my first experiment andit worked really well. But last night I found a wonderful blog on how to use an easy yo to make yoghurt from scratch, instead of using sachets here. This blog has lots of great ideas which are sugar free, using different milks and cultures and using fresh fruit - even jam as a sweetener. Very clever!

Made my first lot of EasiYo Greek unsweetened yoghurt on the weekend - its so easy to make and it's fantastic - the best I've ever tasted - and a lovely texture. And the westies love it too. Wish I'd done it years ago. Thanks very much for the suggestion.

I have a credit card precisely for this reason - and it went from a very small balance to almost maxed out in three days at the end of June paying for Mac's emergency surgery and that's what it's for and I'd do it again in a heart beat - even though its now of the 'monster' variety of debt. Just hoping there are no more vet emergencies until I've paid some of it off.

And Woolies have EasiYo makers on special for those states without Aldi - 25% off so a bit over $15.00.

Thanks OSS - going off to investigate...