Golden Rules

The problem Smallville is that ITP is a chronic disease and is for life. Once the medication is stopped, the symptoms come back. Spleen removal basically solves the problem and means no more vet visits. I'd be interested to know why your vet sees this as a last resort.

Hi Smallville Very interesting reading Bandit's story and good to hear things seem to be improving all the time. I have had a lot of experience with human ITP and generally the treatment is to remove the spleen as this is the organ that produces most of the anitbodies that destroy the platelets. I know humans live long happy lives without their spleens, not sure about dogs! It's not ideal for a dog to be on steroids for the rest of it's life obviously, the side effects will inevitably shorten the life of the dog while creating other health issues along the way. The chemo drug will likely have similar effects. With the increased appetite, try feeding plenty of cooked veges, particularly pumpkin as this is a great filler without having any calorific value to the dog. Look forward to some updates

My first dog came to me with a multitude of health problems from years of neglect, the worst one would have been his chronic ear infections. I too would recommend as natural a diet as possible with as few grains as possible. Ear infections I believe are a symptom of a lowered immunity therefore anything you can do to increase their immunity will be a good thing. What I used with great success was the following: Isopropyl alcohol (this comes in a small bottle from the chemist) Water Betadine liquid Mix 30% Isopropyl Alcohol and 70% water. Add a few drops of Betadine. This is an excellent, effective and very inexpensive ear cleaner which can be used on a daily basis if need be. You do need to make sure the dogs ear drum isn't perforated before using anything - chronic ear infections may have perforated the ear drum but you don't say if this is a new thing or an ongoing thing. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

There's this: ... from http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/eggwhite.htm Many clinical nutrition books discuss biotin (one of the water soluble vitamin B complex) as being an essential nutrient which can be bound by avidin, which is found in raw egg white. This binding prevents it's absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately cooking deactivates this effect of avidin, and egg yolk is so high in biotin content that biotin deficiency does not occur when whole raw eggs are fed. So, whilst biotin deficiency is a potential problem - in reality it is unlikely to be seen in domesticated animals unless they are fed an extremely imbalanced ration that is predominantly egg white. On the positive side - raw chicken egg white does of course have some nutritional value and contains the following : 88.3% water 9% protein Trace of fat Trace of carbohydrate Minerals - Sodium - 190mg/100g Chlorine - 170mg/100g Potassium - 150mg/100g Phosphorus - 33mg/100g Magnesium - 11mg/100g Calcium - 5mg/100g Vitamins and vitamin precursors Tryptophan (an amino acid and niacin precursor in dogs and other species but not cats, mink or fish) - 2.6 mg/100g Riboflavin - 0.43 mg/100g Pantothenate 0.3 mg/100g Folate - 13 mg/100g Biotin - 7 mg/100g Vitamin C - 0 Vitamin D -0 Vitamin E - 0 No dietary fibre 36 kcal energy per 100g

:D That aside, I'm sure the dogs loved it. :p I refer to it as a "Canine Smoothie" and yes they are very popular!

It's absolutely fine (in fact preferable) to feed raw eggs to dogs and as far as fish goes, you can feed any fish but oily fish like sardines, mackeral and salmon are the best. Tuna is very low in fat (oil) so there's less point in feeding it to your dogs. I sometimes just give a tin of sardines for a light meal or I'll add it to whatever else they are eating, I really don't think it matters how they end up with it, I have even given sardines, raw egg and youghurt all mixed together and that went down a real treat!!

Only time I have ever suffered from dreadfully smelly farts is when I fed the dogs bones that smelt a little 'off' - the 'off' came right back out the other end but 10 times worse! Never again!

Incubation period is two weeks isn't it? Don't know if it can be carried on clothes though, don't think so. eta - have you got some Manuka Honey? If so, give him a teaspoon two or three times a day. If not, ordinary honey will at least relieve a sore throat.

My first thought too.

My dogs get fed mainly raw and their poo is almost always black. I find the higher the protien in the diet, the blacker the poo. When I feed a lot of bones or chicken frames, the poo is lighter. If your dogs have only started having black poo since you started a raw diet, then yes it is likely it is just the changeover. The consistency will obviously change as well as there is usually less fibre in a raw diet - and you may have to adjust the diet more slowly rather than totally switch from one to the other. Just keep an eye on your dogs poos for another few weeks, sometimes something new just scares us a little until we get used to it

Coprice and Bonnie would be the pick of the budget foods. My Better Pets & Gardens no longer stock either due to the increased preference for premium foods but they only need a weeks notice and they can get it ordered in easily enough. City Farmers always used to stock Bonnie, probably still do.

Put a little honey in the drinking water for now, this will encourage her to drink a little more. Agree, your vet should be answering your questions

I just roast my pumpkins, and feed to the dogs skin and all. They aren't so keen on it raw, but love it cooked.

Different strokes for different folks!! I find it far more pleasant smelling than old urine!! Why not try both? I guess the other problem I have with Nilodor is that it doesn't remove the original smell, it just has it's own smell that is so overpowering, it simply overpowers the original smell. At least the white vinegar neutralises the urine smell.

Do yourself and your dog a favour and DON'T use Nilodor - it's the most godawful smell and hard to get rid of. Years of working in hospitals and that smell now just makes me want to vomit! Seriously, I'd try the white vinegar, 50% strength.

Have been through ruptured cruciates twice now. I wouldn't walk him at all for the next 5 days - give his leg a chance to rest and heal - just in case it's just a partial rupture. If it's a full rupture, no amount of rest will heal it. But you won't know that for the next week or so. All the vets I've dealt with (and there's been a few who have pulled on my dogs legs to check the cruciate ruptures and subsequent repairs) have all been able to tell straight away the difference. So if your vet isn't too sure what has happened with Henschke, that might just be good news! Fingers crossed for you anyway.

Coprice? It's made with Australian grown rice. Not expensive. Might be worth a shot.

Use the white vinegar (50%) on his furry areas as well! He'll have a very shiny coat 'down there'

I use a Mars Coat King Rake (#18) for my Goldie - tried the Furminator but the rake is better IMO.

You should be able to post in the Retriever thread the same as any other thread here

Aloveen here too! Gorgeous wee darling you have there

Just bought some on your recommendation AF - 2 tubes, actually, as it was free postage...one for us and one for the dog Zig got a couple of very small spots on his back - I suspect I didn't dry him down properly.....silly me I've just got it in the mail and whacked a bit on. Will be very interested to see how it goes! Yes I use it for human use too! Let us know how it goes with Zig!

I still swear by Living Nature Rescue Gel (used to be called Manuka Oil and Honey Antiseptic Gel) just because I witnessed the disappearance of a nasty hot spot within 24 hours. I was amazed. I haven't tried the Curash Powder, haven't had the need to for quite some months now thankfully.

That's a very good breakdown of the 2 different types of pet insurances - and because everyone is always asking - maybe it could get pinned in the Health section? (Under Pet Insurance of course)

I have dealt with loads of ear infections in the past and no dog really likes it, HOWEVER I always made sure there were extra special treats available and fed those during and after the ear cleaning sessions. Huge difference in the behaviour of the dog! (Mind you, I was dealing with Goldies)