monsterpup

Here's a list of Melbourne metro vets who are members of the Australian Association of Holistic Veterinarians - they have conventional veterinary qualifications, but have also done a lot of extra courses/study. My vet is Dr Nicole Hoskin, from Prahran Vet Hospital. I can't recommend her highly enough. We have also seen other vets in that practice and they are all exceptional. Hope the list helps, there is a vet in Northcote and one in Thornbury (I think these are near Brunswick?). Good luck with your dog. Dr Carolyn Anderson BVSc Warranwood Vet Clinic, 1 Colman Rd, WARRANWOOD, Vic, 3134. Ph: (03) 9879 0900 Fax: (03) 9876 6938 Mob: 0417 590 944 OT: Diploma of Phytotherapy, IVAS Interests: Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture, Nutrition Dr Onn Ben-David BVSc 463 Hawthorn Rd, CAULFIELD STH, Vic, 3162. Ph: (03) 9528 2525 Fax: (03) 9523 8242 Interests: Herbal & nutritional Dr Philippa Gemmell BVSc 22 Manningham Rd, BULLEEN, Vic, 03) 9850 1600 Mob: 0408 451 421 OT: IVAS, Flower Essence Cert, Reiki II, Pranic Therapy, Grief & Loss Counselling Interests: Behaviour, Psychology Dr Nicole Hoskin BVSc 646 Malvern Rd, PRAHRAN EAST,Vic, 3181. Ph: (03) 9510 1335 Fax: (03) 9521 2841 Mob: 0408 164 254 OT: IVAS Interests: Acupuncture, Bach Flowers Dr Carl Muller BVSc 646 Malvern Rd, PRAHRAN EAST, Vic, 3181. Ph: (03) 9510 1335 Fax: (03) 9521 2841 Mob: 0419 002 405 OT: Dip Acup; Dip Chinese Herbal Medicine Interests: Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, Bach Flowers Dr Ann Nevill BVSc South Rd Animal Health, 565 South Road, BENTLEIGH, Vic, 3204. Ph: (03) 9555 1899 OT: Acupuncture, Reiki, chinese herbs, flower essences Interests: Acupuncture, Herbs, Nutrition Dr Margaret O'Riordan MVB 160 Collins St, THORNBURY, Vic, 3071. Ph: (03) 9480 1823 Fax: (03) 9480 1823 Mob: 019 131 196 OT: Dip Hom; IVAS; Interests: Homoeopathy, Acupuncture, Nutrition, Herbs Dr Alan Sultan BVSc Northcote Plaza Veterinary Clinic, 43A Dennis St, NORTHCOTE, Vic, 3070 Ph: (03) 9489 3322 Fax: (03) 9489 3299 Mob: 0417 014 759 OT: IVAS Interests: Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

I don't have anything helpful to add, sorry, although I agree that mashed pumpkin and acidopholous/probiotics are good if she can keep them down. Hadn't heard of it before, but the dogade sounds like a great idea, too. I really just wanted to say how sorry I am that Pixie is so unwell. :D It's just awful when they are so ill, and you don't know why, or what to do. Fingers and paws crossed that she improves very soon.

Thanks for the update Netti. Hope the pain improves, and it turns out to be nothing serious - sounds optimistic from the vet visit? Hope he is back to 100% very soon.

If the limp originates in his right front shoulder, and hasn't been alleviated by rest, you probably need to see the vet and get a (high-quality) x-ray, as it could be OCD. It's usually found in younger dogs, but it can develop in older dogs. Here's some info about it. Osteochondritis dissecans, commonly known as OCD and osteochondrosis dissecans, is a disease of the cartilage that affects the joints in a dog’s body. In any joint in the body two bones come together and movement is allowed between them. Where the two bones meet, an exceptionally smooth area of cartilage covers their surfaces. This acts as a cushion and protects the underlying bone. If anything disrupts this smooth cartilage surface, movement of the joint becomes painful. In a dog with OCD, this cartilage is damaged or grows abnormally. Instead of being attached to the bone it covers, it separates or cracks, causing great pain. In some cases, small pieces of cartilage break off and float free in the joint. These pieces of cartilage do not die, but rather continue to grow and increase in size. These are known as joint mice. Approximately 15% of all dogs will develop OCD. This article will cover the disease and its treatment and will explore some of the suspected causes. Who gets OCD? OCD is primarily a problem in large or giant breed dogs. It has been reported in small dogs and cats, though it is not very common. It affects male dogs 2 to 5 times as frequently as females, most likely due to the males’ larger size and increased stress on the joint. It generally occurs when the animal is between 4 and 8 months of age, though it can show up in older dogs. There are several breeds that despite being larger breeds, have decreased incidences of the disease including the Doberman Pinscher, Collie, and Siberian Husky. What are the symptoms of OCD? The symptoms are lameness in the affected limb. Some dogs have a barely noticeable limp and others are unable to bear any weight on the leg. The lameness tends to worsen after periods of exercise and improves after rest. Seventy four percent of the cases of OCD occur in the shoulder joint, 11% in the elbow, and 4% in the hock. When it affects the front shoulder, a shortened forelimb stride may be noted due to reluctance to flex and extend the shoulder joint. Occasionally, the disease will affect both limbs simultaneously and the dog may be reluctant to move. How is OCD diagnosed? Diagnosis is based on history, physical exam, and radiographs (x-rays). On physical exam, we notice joint pain. For instance, most healthy dogs show no resistance when their shoulder joint is fully flexed and extended. However, if they have an OCD lesion in their shoulder, they may resist shoulder manipulation and may even cry out in pain when it is attempted. In addition, this flexion and extension of the shoulder joint may worsen the lameness. Radiographs of the affected joint are taken to confirm the diagnosis. The dog is often sedated so that full relaxation of the joint can be obtained. Several views of the affected joint and the healthy joint on the other side are taken for comparison. The separations of the cartilage or joint mice are often identified on radiographs. If the radiographs are not confirmatory but OCD is still suspected, radiographs may be taken again in 2 to 3 weeks. What causes the formation of OCD? Trauma to the joint, hereditary factors, rapid growth, restricted blood flow to the cartilage, and nutrition contribute to the formation of OCD lesions. The cause of OCD is considered to be multifactorial. It is thought that there are several factors that contribute to the formation of OCD lesions including trauma to the joint, hereditary factors, rapid growth, restricted blood flow to the cartilage, and nutrition. Trauma, whether chronic or acute, may contribute to the formation of OCD lesions. Injury to the surface cartilage may lead to the separation of the cartilage from the bone or cause a decrease in blood supply that leads to cartilage flap formation. It appears that there is a genetic link between parents and offspring and the formation of the disease. Certain breeds and genetic lines are much more likely to develop the disease. Careful screening of parents against this disease is recommended during the selection of all breeding stock. The disease usually occurs during periods of rapid growth. Therefore, it has been suggested that nutrition that creates rapid growth may lead to the increase in incidence of the disease. It has been recommended that animals that are susceptible to the disease be fed a diet that is lower in protein and fat, or that they are fed in a limited manner to allow steady even growth during the first year of life. This theory may have merits, but more specific studies need to be done before any general recommendations can be made. How is OCD treated? There are currently two ways to treat OCD; conservative medical treatment or surgical removal of the lesion. Conservative treatment may be indicated for dogs that have early mild symptoms of OCD or where a specific lesion cannot be identified on radiographs. Conservative treatment consists of strict rest for 4 to 8 weeks. Leash walking is permitted but no running or playing is allowed. Anti-inflammatories and painkillers such as buffered aspirin or carprofen (Rimadyl) may be indicated. (Do NOT give your cat aspirin unless prescribed by your veterinarian.) In addition, the use of glucosamine/chondroitin products has been suggested, yet there are no current studies that confirm their beneficial use in this particular disease. Conservative treatment may be difficult in young active puppies who may still need to undergo surgery, if the symptoms do not improve. Surgery is indicated in animals that show severe symptoms, in cases where large lesions are identified on radiographs, or when conservative treatments fail. The surgery is very straightforward. The affected joint is opened and the offending flap, defect, or joint mouse is removed. There is a very high success rate for surgery and most animals recover fully without any further problems. Summary OCD is a cartilage problem that affects young large and giant breed dogs. It is due to several factors including genetics, trauma, rapid growth, and nutrition. Treatment is either conservative including strict rest, or surgical removal of the damaged cartilage. Prevention is aimed at good genetic selection, reduced activity, and careful feeding. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...p;articleid=464 Hope this helps, good luck with your boy.

When my boy was desexed I asked for an alternative pain-killer. I'm sorry, I can't remember what it was, but it wasn't an NSAID. You have every right to ask for something else with less risk - my vet was perfectly happy to find me an alternative. Personally, I think Rimadyl is way over-prescribed. It should be kept for use in dogs with severe arthritic pain, etc, where the risk is worth it. Hope your boy is ok after his "de-jewelling".

I'm sorry I hope someone has some info for you.

I just saw this. I am so sorry I have all fingers and the dogs have all paws crossed for Jewel, and for you. Sending her lots of good vibes.

Hi! Please post puppy pics in the weim thread!! Love the puppy pics With the reaction to a needle - was it a vaccination? If so, you will need to be careful, as weims are particularly susceptible to vaccinosis. I have one at the moment who had it. The needle and ears sound vaccine related. PM me if you want more info. Also, with the rock eating, you should try to stop him - a lot of weims do it recreationally, and have to have surgery. It's very dangerous. None of mine have done it, but I know several people whose weims have had surgery. Don't know why they do it, silly buggers I have to agree with everyone else - they are bundles of trouble - but you have to love them.

I'm not Falling Dawn, but the Lenards I'm talking about is the Victoria Gardens one. And they did put everything in it. I know, because I asked and they were quite open about it. There's no reason for them not to be, because it's perfectly legal. That's why it's called pet mince - it's not suitable for human consumption. I think, however, that they changed hands recently. The new owners might do things differently.

I bought some of the Lenard's pet mince once - is this the type of mince you mean? The pet mince has a lot of minced bone in it, so I think this is what you're referring to? After it was defrosted, I found it had a lot of onion etc in it, as they mince up all the stuff they can't sell, so you get all the hamburger patties etc. This is is also why it doesn't last after defrosting - because it was already too old for them to sell to humans. I wouldn't buy it again. I'd suggest you just get the chicken carcasses - about $1 a bag of 3, as opposed to $1 a bag of the pet mince. You can freeze the carcasses if that's easier. HTH :rolleyes:

That was exactly the problem with our first x-rays. Did Diesel make a full recovery?

I agree with Mel. Go to a specialist vet - it saves time and money in the end. I've gone through OCD with a dog, and the first set of x-rays taken by my ordinary vet weren't good enough for the eventual operation, so had to have them done again by the specialist vet. Apart from the double cost, there were 2 GA's instead of one. Don't want that if it's not necessary. If it really is a bad case of OCD all the anti-inflammatories and stuff won't stop the dog needing the operation in the end. We did all the medication, rest, waiting, and still had to have the op. Good news is that the op was perfectly successful, and after the recovery period he went on to lead a perfectly normal and very active life Good luck! I hope it isn't actually OCD, but if it is, your dog has every chance of making a perfect recovery from the op.

Personally, I would never rehome a dog for behaving like a dog, but regardless of what you decide to do about your puppy, you need to get a better fence for the chooks. If a puppy can push it down it would be like offering an open packet of lollies to foxes. If you were upset by what the pup did to the chook, you will be devastated by what foxes will do.

That's nice to know. We had a bee hive in an old bin when we bought our house, we had the bees relocated and still have 2 liters of their honey in the cupboard - I know a little pooch who's getting honey with his yogurt tonight. Wow, you are really lucky! You couldn't get more local than that! We used to be able to get local honey from an old guy near us, but he moved :p Now I wait for the local farmers market - they sometimes have it there. Dogs are not allergic, but daughter is.

No problem, but like I said, I only have my first certificate - Animal Practitioner is still a dream. Just editing to mention that I'm offline for a couple of weeks (yay, holidays!!) so I'm not being rude and ignoring anyone pm'ing me about this

Hi Monah, No worries. Will give you a brief over view. There are 38 Bach Flower Remedies. They are all single remedies, but there is one remedy called Rescue Remedy, which has 5 remedies already mixed - they are Star of Bethlehem, for shock; Rock Rose for terror and panic; Clematis for faintness;Impatiens for agitation; Cherry Plum for loss of self-control and hysteria. Rescue Remedy was formulated by Dr Bach to deal with the immediate effects of emergencies. People often use it for animals because of lot of their problems can be related to shock/terror etc. These 5 are also available as single remedies. All the remedies, including Rescue Remedy, can be bought in the 30ml dropper bottles, which cost about $18 each. If someone was making up a treatment bottle they would put two drops of each remedy they wanted to use into a clean 30ml dropper bottle, and fill it up with still mineral water. This is why I suggested that it might be economical for you to buy the remedies yourself and mix them. Three remedies is not too much. More than five are not usually recommended. But with animals, less is best. If you are giving a remedy which isn't appropriate you won't do any harm, but you won't really help either. I'm not sure who is giving you advice, or what is on the list they gave you, but 2 easy tips to help you find out if they have any real knowledge of Bach Flower Remedies: 1. It's pronounced batch, not bark. The doctor who discovered the remedies was Dr Edward Bach, and he pronounced his name Batch. If the person giving you advice is saying Bark Flower Remedies they have only a very superficial knowledge and probably won't be of much help. 2. If they start talking about "prescribing" remedies for your dog back away, as they have misunderstood the whole philosophy of the remedies. A Bach Practitioner is interested in helping you to help yourself - they are not wanting you to assume the passive role of "patient". A qualified Bach Practitioner will have the letters BFRP after their name. As far as I am aware, as of the beginning of June, there are only about 25 active BFRPs in Australia, and there is no-one in Australia who is entitled to list themselves as an animal practitioner, as that is a further qualification. I am working towards Practitioner at the moment, with the aim of animal practitoner - but it all takes time. You can PM me if you think I can help at all. edit to add, I like red wine too

Thanks for alll the info. I'm very 'green' at this. The list was from a professional dog behaviourist. I will get some this week. My local health shop has a naturopath who prepares them, and I thought maybe just a mix of 3 first. Is that too many. How often do you give it. I was told 4 drops under the tongue. Is this once a day? And if it takes a while, what do people call a while? A week, a month? Or does it depend on the dog? I'm looking forward to trying it out and seeing if it does have an effect. What should I look for? I'm after calm, less anxious and less fear aggression. Thanks again everyone.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Bach flower remedies come already prepared, from the Dr Edward Bach Centre, at Mt Vernon. You shouldn't need a naturopath to "prepare" them for you. Do you mean they are going to mix several remedies together for you into a treatment bottle? You would be much better to buy the full bottles of each remedy and mix them yourself. It's very simple, and will end up being cheaper for you, I imagine, if you want to persevere with the remedies. (About 3 weeks is the "usual" time for humans to feel effects, but animals are often faster) You would use 4 drops of Rescue Remedy (which is five remedies already mixed) as often as needed, but if you are mixing the other remedies, you would be using two drops of each remedy in a 30ml treatment bottle of still mineral water. You would use 4 drops from this bottle about 4 times a day. You can put it in food or drinking water. Which remedies did they recommend?

Bach flowers are great for animals - sometimes it can be a bit harder to select the correct remedies because you can't ask them questions But even if they aren't exactly right for the problem you are addressing, they won't do any harm. You probably don't want to start off with too many at once, as that can just confuse the issue, and obscure the real problem. Where did you get the list that you mentioned? Was it from a practitioner?

Honey is good for dogs, and people. A lot of people actually use it to help with pollen/grass allergies. If you can get local honey, the pollens used by the bees are the ones that you or your dog is probably allergic to. By eating the honey you desensitise yourself/your dog to the pollens. I know quite a few people who are seriously using honey as an antidote to allergies in their dogs. I had a paper written by someone who had been trialling it for several years. I'll have a hunt around for it, and try to copy it here. But the basic idea is that you give your dogs about a tablespoon of honey daily in the period leading up to allergy season, and during the allergy season. But you need to be sure that the allergy your dog has is pollen/grasses, not something else like food, for it to work to combat the allergy. Edit - can't find the article, but messaged someone. It's actually about a teaspoon twice a day, and the comb is best by far. Local area is defined as within about 25km.

That was a really good site, but my vet told me to raise the food bowls. Now Im really unsure, Am going out immediatly to get some mylanta gas or equivelant. would gripe water help??? Thanks The Purdue University study clearly showed a link between raised food bowls and increased risk of bloat. Risk Factors : High risk age group [if large & >5 years or if giant & >3 years] Deep and narrow chest compared with other dogs in the same breed Having any first degree relative with history of GDV Using a raised food bowl Being a faster eater compared with other dogs source: http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/clbr.htm I don't know about gripe water - doesn't it have alcohol in it? (I'm thinking of the stuff people used to use for babies, but that might not be what you mean?)

No, but it's my nightmare. If you even SUSPECT bloat, go to the vet IMMEDIATELY!!!! Here's a site about bloat/torsion which is very good: http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm

Here's a link to a site that lists a number of natural remedies. Cornsilk is one remedy that she suggests, and that people I know from another board have tried with success - but it takes a little while. http://www.katberard.com/hea_incontinence.htm

You probably already know about the possible problems with greenies, but here's an article about it: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/ I also think they are fairly high in fat, if you look at the ingredient list, so that wouldn't help his digestion at all. I had thought about dehydrating lean meat to make it much harder and chewier - but if he can't have chicken, beef or lamb, you are really limited, aren't you? The turkey necks are fabulous - but the only time I've managed to get them is before Christmas. If you do find a supplier I would love to know. I hope someone has some better ideas - I think this must be a common problem for people with older dogs, so it would be great to get some info.

Hi Jill and Bray, Here's a webpage that explains a bit about widely accepted views of puppy development : http://www.thepuppynetwork.com/puppy_development.html (I don't agree with the feeding etc on this site - just this page has a quick overview of development -hope it helps) To make it easier on yourselves and the pup is there any way you can arrange to leave him with the dam for eight weeks? I'm in Victoria, and under the impression that it is actually illegal for registered breeders to send puppies home even a day under 8 weeks? (I could have that wrong) Is it different in other states? If you can't leave him, hopefully some other people here will be able to suggest how you can make up for the early departure from the litter. Good luck!!! I hope it works out for you. ps welcome to DOL ooh people here are too fast - lots of answers before I posted

Did the vet really vaccinate an 11 week old pup and give a yearly heartworm injection at the same visit? Not to mention the frontline. That sounds like a lot of poisons at the same time for a little guy. I would change vets. (Sorry to be negative, but I (BRIEFLY) had a vet who wanted to inject anything and everything into my pup even though he had a vaccine reaction She also wanted me to buy Science Diet, but she had just come back from a Hills sponsored trip to Hawaii, so I figured she had a vested interest :p ) ps I pmed you back about the vet - sorry it took so long, I was away