calliech

Allerziet, Did the vet find only widespread haemorrhaging or did he also find microthrombi which are small clots in the organs and blood vessels? It's a big clue. Many toxins/envenomations and autoimmune/immune mediated diseases cause clotting throughout organs and blood vessels producing what is termed microangiopathic haemolysis (clots in the blood vessels leading to destruction of red blood cells) or dissemeninated intravascular coagulation (DIC) which is another term for the same but more describes the clotting and sequelae. The animal gets massive clots in all vessels and organs which leads to organ failure and neurological symptoms such as seizures. Once the clots form, the cells that are responsible for clotting (platelets) are completely consumed and inappropriate bleeding occurs, hence haemhorrage into the tissues. Other toxins inhibit the clotting cascade so instead of appropriate coagulation, no coaugulation occurs at all and the animal bleeds into all orifices, tissues, joints and organs including the brain which again produces seizures. Warfarin (rodenticides) is such a toxin. Various envenomations behave in unique ways. Some cause DIC and some cause haemorrhage. Some cause tissue necrosis. Urine and stomach contents are required for strycchnine analysis and urine for snake bite. Sometimes you will not find anything in the tox panel due to the degree of autolysis of the deceased animal. It's a terrible feeling not knowing, but you may never find out. I am very sorry for your loss.

197 could be right. I pay $50 for C5, $55 for proheart and $38 for consultation fee. If you add in extras like frontline and variable consultation fee then $197 might be correct. Don't ever be afraid to ask "is that correct".

That's right. If you're dosing a puppy at 11 weeks old that weighs say 4kg but the dog will be 9kg fully grown (just as an example), it may be underprotected for the last few months of the duration of dose which is 12 months. It's a great product but you don't want your dog to be underprotected. Discuss this further with your vet or contact the manufacturer.

Mine love absolutely anything porky. Too much pork fat can cause very loose stools so just don't give them too much fat. One DOL'er put a Heinz spin on it .....Pork means farts, which I have to agree with as too much pork causes rancid flatulence but they probably think the same thing about us. :rolleyes:

None of my dogs hump. My next door neighbours however dog is a closet humper and does his humping in secret. We babysit him if his owners go away and the strangest thing started occuring only when he was around. I'd go to my bedroom and the bedspread would be pulled half way off the bed at one corner. I didn't quite know what was going on and I started to think I was losing my mind having not made the bed, until.........one day I walked into the room and found Hoggle humping the bedspread!!! Okay, if it was my dogs I'd be dismayed but the next door neighbours.......I was horrified. He'd drag the bedspread down, bunch it up and away he'd go, hammer and tongs. When I told his owner she was shocked and said that the same thing occurs in their spare room and she had to weigh down the other side with bricks. She had no clue he was a hump-aholic addicted to bedspread.

He'll learn. More importantly for you though....don't stress if it's on floor boards. It can be cleaned up. He's only a baby and he'll get the hang of it and even prefer to go outside eventually. My first boy was trained on paper but after that all others were trained to go outside mostly by my first male who kindof ushered them outside.....such a good lad for helping his mummy like that. Even though he had started going outside by about 12 weeks, he liked to pee at our front door. So I put his water there. Then he peed a few times in our hallway in the same spot so his water went there too. He didn't pee where he drank so that stopped him doing that. Funny story: I gave my parents a baby Westie from my first litter and they were all house trained by about 9-10 weeks although there was still the odd accident because all they know is I gotta go NOW. Outside is a long way to walk with little legs. Anyway, I boasted to my folks how good she was because she was house trained when blow-me-down-with-a-feather THAT INSTANT she came bolting in thru the doggy door, squatted on Mum's cream woolen CARPET then bolted straight back outside. My father looked at hubby and me and said "ah ha! So outside's for playing and inside's for peeing." Just goes to show she was confused at the change in environment. I still haven't lived it down.

That's fantastic!!!! I had kept my fingers crossed all this while that you would put her back on cortisone. That's wonderful news. It doesn't have to be forever, just long enough to give her time to recuperate properly. I'm just so pleased she's doing better.

Are you sure she's humping them and not fluffing them up trying to get nice and comfy? Is she an only dog or do you have others?

Hi Pugs-are-great, If she was improving on cortisone then perhaps you should ask the vet to continue it for longer. I believe you said she was on cortisone injections but you can change her to oral prednisolone. While cortisone shouldn't be used long term it can be used for a long time and at least until the dog recovers. Humans can be on it for years. There are times when it shouldn't be used but if this is an immune response as your vets say, then cortisone is the best line of defense for a while. If she also has an infection then it may be contra-indicated but you have to weigh up the pros and cons and decide which is going to be of most benefit. Has the pneumonia resolved? Did she have aspiration pneumonia? Did the vet do any blood tests....I would be very interested to know any results if they did. I've just weaned a male off high dose oral prednisolone which he was on for 5 months due to allergic bronchitis. He to couldn't breathe and his O2 saturation was down to 82% which is alarmingly low. The cortisone supressed his immune response in his lungs and gave his lungs a chance to repair. He was basically drowning in his own mucous and white blood cells which were attacking the lung linings and had lost the elesticity to appropriately expel air and breathe in. He's back to normal now with no problems at all. They are a little dull on cortisone but at least they are brighter than when they are sick if you know what I mean.

Holding one's hand on the scruff the dogs neck (not pushing or pinning it down as you suggest) does not physical abuse make.

No good with carpets. I didn't have a big problem with fleas but it's the carpets that are the problem, even though I persisted with flea bombs too. So I eliminated the carpets and now there are no more fleas Yay for me

NEKHBET, whilst I respect your opinion, this is what works for my dogs and that is how we were taught by obedience trainers many years ago. Our dogs never fight over food and don't have to be separated or supervised no matter where they are fed. I didn't give you advice on how to handle your 55kg dog and I NEVER physically punish my dogs ever. If you knew me or my dogs you would never even suggest it. Is it really that necessary to be so offensive toward me when all I am doing is telling DAVID99 what works for my dogs?

Hey Dachie Chick, Your puppy is lonely. I live in a very hot climate not unlike Townsville. I wrap up an icebrick in a teatowel or pillow case and put it on the floor or wherever the puppy is going to sleep. They love it. They usually lie with their chin and neck resting on the ice brick and it calms them right down. They don't get too cold as they just roll off it when they need to. It's very comforting to them. All the puppies I have bred go to their new homes with various things including ice bricks and pillow case. The new owners are told that if they want the pup to bed in a particular area to put the cold ice brick wrapped in the pillow case into the basket/bed or wherever and they will stay there. This is how mine are taught from 5 weeks old however, so your 9 week old may be different but you can give it a go as Townsville must be sweltering now. She'll still be lonely but not so whiney. Are you able to check in on her when you go back to work? I've attached some photos of a couple of happy puppies resting on their icebricks.

SHOWDOG it's your choice to totally disagree. I am also entitled to share my opinion regarding what has worked with my dogs. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa or for DAVID99. It is trial and error and doesn't make either of us wrong. It's certainly easier to teach all dogs from puppies than to have to avoid fights by separating them when they are older, especially if they are larger breeds which become more difficult to control as they get older if boundaries and rules haven't been established early on. This method has worked for the last 21 years on small and large breeds, Westies, Scotties and bitsa pig dogs. Perhaps it is more difficult to establish rules for older dogs, rescues and in a kennel situation but the dogs in question belonging to DAVID99 are 5 months and 3 months - hardly uncontrollable or too powerful and the perfect age to establish boundaries. I don't know that he would appreciate being called inexperienced. As KAZ said...nip it in the bud.

In my house the hierarchy is ME at the top followed by hubby, then 4 year old alpha female, 4.5 year old male and at the bottom of the heap is youngest but biggest 2 year old male. They all fed from the same plate/food bowls. I teach my from a very early age that I'm boss - no-one else. I control their food so I'm boss. They learn to feed with me handling their food so that if anyone comes along and tries to remove a bone or whatever, there will be NO biting or backlashes. I fully handle their food, offer bits off their plate to them with them all sitting in front of me. They are fed female, male, male then back to female. Then the plate is offered to them ALL at once with me standing there so that they know there is no fighting. I still do this perhaps once a week. When I was very young, my next door neighbours daughter tried to take a bone from our English Bull terrier and he bit her face leaving her permanently scared. He was destroyed as my father didn't want a dog that couldn't be trusted around his 2 and 6 year old children. We learned then from obedience trainers to handle any dogs food from day 1 when they are puppies and establish the rules that food can be taken away at any time and given back when we feel like it. We control it, not the dog. Growling is punished with a stern Ah AH!!! and grabbing the collar region of the neck and holding down. Not so that it hurts but so that alpha status is established as belonging to the adult human. If one dog is gutsing more than the others, then they are pushed away under the neck across the shoulders and held back. Dogs establish amongst themselves who is the leader of the pack, but unless they are taught manners, they will not develop them. We also babysit several friends dogs and they all eat happily with our dogs from the same plate/bowl. It's all very polite and well mannered because our dogs have been taught that way. You can separate them which will not teach them manners or you can feed them both at the same time from the same plate but OFFER the food with your hands to each dog one at a time. It's a bit gross with chicken and rice but you get used to it. Make them sit and offer to them. They'll develop manners after a time.

Thanking you. I hope it isn't as full on, but at the moment they seem to get along fine. Mum is establishing that she is the alpha dog, but other than that they are fine. I was also wondering wether anyone has suggestions about removing burrs from dogs hair? I am concerned about his excited weeing, but is that a normal experience for puppy owners? Please everyone, let me know Thanking everyone so much CHarene I have an all-terrain yard and 3 Westies so Paterson's curse and Cobbler's pegs are a way of life for us. Long hair and burrs don't go well but relatively easy to remove. Just hold the burr with one hand and pull small strands of hair out from the burr with the other hand. I don't find using implements of any benefit as it hurts them more than the hold and pull method. It's virtually the same as pulling chewing gum out of hair. The exited peeing will ease as the excitement does. You can also try to cut down the excitement by politely ignoring him and speaking in a deeper calm tone when you greet him. High pitched tones mean excitement, lower or middle ground tones are used for commands and gruff low pitched tones are used when grumpy or disciplining.

would stripping the skin of oil make her skin dry and scabby? she is a greyhound and usually her coat is not really oily and we only bathe her once in 3 weeks. No it will only go dry and scabby if you're washing her repeatedly. Don't forget dogs get all hot and sweaty and sebum is secreted when this occurs. The skin will naturally reoil itself when it's dry so there's no need to worry. It's kindof like when you wash your face with soap and it's dry and tight for a half hour and then back to normal quite quickly. The idea is to make the environment as inhospitable for microorganisms as possible. You'll get used to it and you'll be able to determine a regimen that works for your lifestyle as well as your dog. Most important to stay on top of hot spots and get them before they fester into sores which can happen in the blink of an eye. The fact is that dogs scratch but if I see scratching, I check it out. You'll get on top of it.

Licking won't be harmful. I wouldn't do the aloveen myself as it's not really necessary. The idea is to strip the skin of any oils that yeast and bacteria enjoy so much. You may need to dab on some antiseptic such as iodine or microshield if there are sores present. There are other products on the US market that you can order international through various websites. petmedstore.com is one but if you google you may find others. The products I'm talking about are conditioning rinses: ResiZolve (antifungal with 2% miconazole), ResiChlor (antibacterial with chlorhexidine) and ResiCort (with cortisone to stop the itchies). I haven't tried them myself but they are in larger bottles and in the rinse form. They're made by Allerderm I think. I'm always searching for a more economical method for everyone.

I regularly babysit the dogs we have bred. Mum never forgets her babies even 2 years on, gives them a bit of a lecture when they arrive, lays down the law and they all get along like a family again. They'll work out their own heirarchy and he'll be grateful of the company. It's not quite like training toddlers to get along so don't stress too much and enjoy the humour of their interaction.

My boy Seamus get grass seeds in his toes. Cobblers pegs are the worst. They look just like those photos. He chews and licks them. I have to find the head or hole and squeeze to get the seed out which is a task keeping him still and the pus is copious. Leaves a baggy looking gaping hole. He also gets the same reaction to green ant bites but he pants much more with those as they hurt like buggery.

For a second I thought you were suggesting peeing in the dogs bowl to claim it. My eldest boy marked the shoes of the show manager at 6 months old....when the show manager was still wearing them. Now that takes kahuna's in front of an audience.

:p

They're KISSES mummy!!!!

Mitochondrial psychopathy? Sorry, don't know anything about it. I think it might be more in the forensic criminology realm. There might be a forum on it somewhere. :rolleyes:

OK so you can spell it...but can you say it three times quickly? (I can't - and I did try.) But that sounds like fun. In fact I may try doing some of it this weekend instead of going out drinking. Either way I will feel like a different species by Monday. Seeeeriously...is that one of those 'the sum of the parts is not necessarily equal to the whole' concepts? i.e. Combining the same parts in different patterns produces entirely different structures? UP Yup. Combining the same genes in different combinations results in diversity. Some traits are polygenic ie they have many genes that contribute to that trait. Recombination of polygenic alleles results in permutions. Here's some fodder: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?...cb.section.3267 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlere...gi?artid=545587 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlere...cgi?artid=54839