SoL

better than coffee

I've used the multivit one (don't know if that's the same one) and to be honest, I paid $20 for a little pot and it lasted all of 3 days between the 5 dogs so really, I couldn't tell whether it worked properly.

I have only experienced one case of demdectic mange and it was in the weeks leading up to a bitch's first season so naturally her immunity was quite low. Once treated it never came back but we did take precautions to use Advocate especially on her to prevent a recurrence. As others have said before, every dog has the mites present, it just seems to affect some breeds more than others, Staffords, being the sensitive little precious things they are are quite susceptible. If the mange was recurrent throughout adulthood as well, I would seriously consider breeding with that dog, but that's just me.

my dogs ADORE fish but there's no decent fishmongers around my way, only Woolies Oh, and one at Dora Crk but you never know when he's going to be in! So the substitute is tinned and they'll eat anything that comes their way! They had sardines last night and Sunny tipped the table over in excitement!

To start weaning our pups, I scrape some steak or push minced steak through a sieve and just offer this to them on my finger. This will soon get their interest. I also use Advance Puppy Rehydratable mixed with Biolac. This goes down right to a mush and mixing it with the Biolac also makes it runnier and then you can make things more solid as they get older. Take things at their pace and always put them back to mum straight afterwards. Good luck - your friend is getting to the fun bit

Yep both. Re Barko: If you phone Laucke Mills in SA they will give you the number of your local LM rep who will then tell you where to buy it. Alternatively, you can just wait and see if someone else answers your question more specifically

Doesn't a wet rubber glove work as well? Never tried it, just heard it How about dying your dogs the same colour as the couch

Hi Daniela Have sent you a PM. I'm sorry you're going through this with your boy. As I suggested, get the anti-toxin (the toxoid described above) into him. IV is fastest acting but can be administered under the skin to avoid allergic reactions. This will attach to the radical bacteria floating around and kill it but will NOT undo the damage already done. My boy was given two lots of toxoid - one IV and one under the skin. Regarding fighting the bacteria, procane penicillin is what worked most effectively on my boy (after switching him from Metrogyl tablets). Twice daily injections under the skin for 2-3 weeks. Then he was changed to tablets. I would also suggest the vaccine as well with a booster one month later. Things to look for: you say that you are syringing fluids into him. Pinch his skin regularly to check for hydration. Also be VERY careful when administering fluids as it can go down the oesophagus into his lungs creating a very nasty situation (asphixiation). Really, if he is not drinking by himself then I believe it best for him to be on a drip in hospital. If he is not going to the toilet by himself then he will need a catheter. Just watch his heartrate as well. Sometimes the sedatives given to keep them quiet can in fact drop the heartrate too low, requiring a stimulant to be given. Just don't take a chance. If ever you feel he is getting worse, get him to the vets. This is a horrible time and I know what you're going through. It's almost a silent condition because they just can't do anything but I know that both of you are suffering and I really wish you all the very best of luck. The consensus is, all being well, you're looking at one month's recovery at the very least. I think the worst of this was the feeling of guilt, like I could have prevented it happening to my boy, especially because most vets will say they've hardly ever (or never in my first vet's case) seen a case of tetanus in dogs. The fact that it seems so uncommon makes it feel like a harder battle to be won. But it can be won. There will be days of plateau and days of getting better but hold onto the fact that he doesn't get worse and take it as a good sign. Your boy is older, stronger with a better immune system than my Davey. Take comfort in that fact. Good luck and I really wish you and your boy all the very best. Em

my boy Chester went through the same thing, vomiting up undigested food every single morning. Turned out he had a blocked bowel. He was lucky, could have been a lot more serious requiring surgery. As it was, a good cleanout, an enema and a few laxatives sorted him out (he walked funny for a few days though!). Get him to the vet asap. If it is a twisted bowel then it needs to be addressed pronto.

Rest easy Turbo.

The need for twice daily injections is OVER He's doing really well, ears are almost fully down and he's charging about like there's no tomorrow. He's now been put on Amoxyl tablets (I personally am very happy about that LOL). I think I can actually take him for a walk now I'll put a photo up of him when he's fully recovered.

So can I then ask what would a typical day's diet be for one of your dogs (brekkie and dinner)??? And where typically would I find RMBs considering that briskets are like hens' teeth nowadays?

First question: I was just wondering for those of you who feed 100% raw, how are your dogs' pasterns? Are their feet nice and tight or are they flat? Have they changed since feeding raw (either way)? Just curious as there is opinion that too much meat/protein in a dogs diet leads to weak pasterns and therefore flat feet. If that is the case then surely everybody on a raw diet would have or would be in danger of having flat feet? How then is that balanced out? How do you ensure the correct calcium:phosphorus:vit D ratio? Second question: Does anybody's dog get constipated on the amount of bones given to them in a raw diet? Look forward to answers

Yes because Advocate doesn't cover the hydatid.

I'm really sorry to hear about your pup. I hope he recovers soon.

Thanks guys :D I can't actually tell you how much of a relief it is to see him getting better. It'll take a bit longer I think but he's definitely on the right track. Can't wait for the day when the vet says he doesn't need meds anymore.

Well, he's definitely getting there His ears have only relaxed ever so slightly but the rest of him is nice and supple. He can run properly now, jump and is a lot happier in himself. His meds have been reduced to 3mg instead of 5mg (which is better for all of us - poor kid is very lumpy from being a pincushion) and I've just asked if I can take him off the Valium. The vet is also very happy with his progress. I just wonder how long recovery will actually be? And yep, he's teething so fingers crossed there as well. Em

Ok, we may be at a bit of a corner here ... Ears still drawn but third eyelid not coming over when startled or turning head. Muscles a lot more relaxed, feet can touch when lying down on side, leg actually bent today whilst lying down and he can now scratch his head with his hind foot (something that was impossible a couple of days ago). He's also getting cheeky - nicking bits of my son's toast this morning and running (yep, running!) off with them. I'm taking all of this as very good, though def not out of woods just yet. Just have a query to those more experienced than me with injections: The penicillin is given subcutaneous however because it's so damn thick it keeps blocking in the syringe making it impossible to depress the plunger, meaning I have to withdraw, squirt and stick him again, turning one jab into about 3. The medicine is shook up properly and air is tapped out and the I make sure the needle goes under the skin. Any tips?

Sounds like exactly what happened to Supercrap er I mean Supercoat.

Hi guys Well just a quick update. Went round the vets house last night after hours where he gave Davey an IV anti-toxin and I gave him another penicillin injection. The vet was relieved to see him shake, wag his tail, do a wee (clear) and run in the opposite direction when we went to pick him up LOL He said that he's seen worse cases survive but that we're not out of the woods by any means. This morning he was his happy self, wagging his tail alot and even managed the steps by himself, so I'm taking that as a good sign. However, he's getting very fed up with the needles, has become very suspicous of hand-fed food as they usually contain more meds and is off his food a little. To top it off, after his needle this morning, we let him out to toilet and the little shit bolted under the house and hid there for a good 10 mins. We've blocked it off best we can but Sunny is on heat and our block-head Chester keeps ramming through the baracades to try and get to her so we're forever trying to close up the gaps! Who'd have 'em?! The vet rang up this morning (this guy has a new client now with 8 dogs!) to check up on Davey and he's asked that I give him daily updates. So basically, no deterioration, ears still drawn. I don't know whether it's my willing it to be so or whether it's the effect of the Valium but he did seem more fluid in his gait today. Maybe it is my imagination as I don't think all the meds would have taken effect yet. Onwards and upwards hopefully.

Signs of tetanus in dogs: Drawn up ears right on the top of the head, wrinkling the forehead. Unable to put them down. Wide eyed expression, unable to blink. Third eyelid comes across eyes when startled. Stiff muscles generally, tail out straight, unable to relax. Possible spasms and convulsions. Trouble opening mouth (lockjaw). Trouble eating/drinking. Rocking horse posture whilst laying down and stiff gait if able to walk. Can develop to full paralysis. Action to be taken: Vet ASAP. Request full bloodwork. Check CPKs to see if muscles breaking down. Check heart rate and make sure lungs are clear. Check urine for clarity and colour. Dog to be kept as calm as possible, preferably in darkened room. Medicines: Penicillin to kill the bacteria, Anti-toxin to bind to free toxins in blood to prevent further damage (will not undo damage already caused) and toxoid (vaccine), valium or rebaxin for muscle relaxant. Hospitalisation if not eating/drinking, goes into convulsions, heart rate to be monitored. Catheter if not urinating.

Not fantastic :rolleyes: I went to another vet today - the one recommended to me and the one who was very helpful to me yesterday. I wish he had been recommended 3 weeks ago Anyway, he has said that Davey is actually quite a classic and severe case of tetanus and he couldn't understand why he had been misdiagnosed for so long. To the original vet's defence, she had never seen a case before and she did everything she could and was probably confused by the fact that Davey can still walk around, is eating etc (as was I), lending her to believe it was more parasitic. So he's basically taken him off the Metrogyl and wanted straight penicilin, which you apparently can't get now (or is so expensive as to make it almost unobtainable), so he's loaded me up with a bottle of compound penicillin and syringes with instructions to jab him twice a day, more anti-toxin and also toxoid at the vet's house tonight and then its up on the valium stakes, nice and calm environment (which is going to be VERY hard in my house!) close observation and many fingers and toes crossed. He said that we probably wouldn't see any significant improvement for about 4 days or so and that in a weeks time we should see which way this was going to go. Any deterioration will land him in hospital on a gastro tube etc. Whilst the situation has been made clearer to me for the worse, I am happy he is now being treated with the right meds by a vet experienced with solving a case of tet. I just hope we aren't too late. I'm also going to invest in some earplugs: the penicillin is very thick and makes him yelp somewhat! Poor kid

It is completely possible, probably not with an old bone though as we're pretty careful to take all bones off them when they come out of their run. More likely he's pushed through the dog wire to get underneath the house and has been scratched, the bacteria has gotten in there. The anti-toxin won't reverse the damage done, but it will prevent further damage. The penicillin will kill the actual bacteria. Poor kid's going to be radioactive by the time this is finished, the amount of medicine he's had to ingest. Oh, recovery is about 3-4 weeks so naturally I'll keep things posted. It's actually been quite a learning curve in quite a sad way. Neither I nor my vet have seen a case of tetanus before (one's enough thank you!). And just so I know sods law is working perfectly, his bottom canines have decided that NOW is the perfect time to come out so I'm not able to get them surgically removed as was planned. So fingers crossed that he can eventually open his mouth properly again and toes crossed that he has a good mouth when that happens!

Well, after speaking to quite a few vets and specialists today, the consensus is tetanus, even though it's not full blown (yet). Apparently it can present within a few days to a few months of initial infection. So it's off for anti-toxin jabs this afternoon and to change meds yet again. Keep fingers crossed for the poor little fella. Em

Well, results are back and ......... NOTHING! All counts are good, no traces of neospora etc. Vet is more stumped and I am really worried. There is no real test for tetanus so we are throwing all a/bs into the poor kid. The vet has spoken to a NZ vet who deals with problem cases who has only thrown up one other suggestion: cryptococcus, which is a fungal infection and very rare. Apparently the only test for it is a spinal tap, the treatment is very aggressive and the survival rate is slim to say the least Personally, my unqualified gut feeling is that it isn't that - if it was some kind of infection his white blood cells would be through the roof and they presented as normal. Plus the fact that he hasn't gotten any worse, plus the fact that as it affects the dog neurologically, he would be having balance problems, which he is fine with. I have now contacted another vet recommended to me. I am waiting for his call now. Kinda feeling low now