hortfurball

CavNrott, I don't know what to say, but I'm thinking of you and Sophie, and wishing you as many good days as you can squeeze in. Stoopid eyeballs have gone all teary. Hugs to you both.

Just dropping in to let you guys know I'm thinking of you and your dogs. I didn't realise how many sick rotties there were until I read Shek's thread My heart goes out to all of those with sick dogs, stay strong. My condolences to those who've already lost their much loved friends.

I have no idea whether that would be alright but would lean towards 'not' to be on the safe side. I have that 'yummy' beef flavoured toothpaste anyway, so that sort of thing would be ok if his teeth just needed maintenance. Twilight sedation seems worth asking my vet about. I might get him to have a look at Kuga's teeth next time we're in and let me know what he thinks.

It's not really an option. It's not only his age it's his heart condition too. At his age, the last time they anaesthetised him was with an opiate derivative and a saline drip. Took him forever to come around from it. They told me he was ready to go home but when I went to pick him up they led him out of the back ok but he paused long enough for his feet to slide out from under him and couldn't get back up. The floor was too slippery. I ended up lying on the floor of the consult room spooning him to keep him warm for about two hours. Every half an hour or so I tried to get him up and he'd give it a good go but just slide back down again, even with an old towel under him. Eventually I did the whole "Come on, you can do it" thing (people were staring at the vet but I didn't give a damn) and he staggered out to the car. When I got home I had to call then OH on the mobile...from the car...Kuges had his front feet on the ground and that was as far as he was going. The two of us manhandled him out of the car and he made it through the front door onto his bed and there he stayed for another 5 hours or so. I'm just not really prepared to take the risk I think of him not coming out of the anaesthetic at all.

In lieu of doggy toothpaste? Is it better? Might give it a go. I thought it was alkaline though, I'm sure it's bicarb I use in the aquarium to neutralise acid. Xiaorose, one of Kuga's toothbrushes is a battery operated one that I donated to him when I got my electric one. There is no way that I'd just change heads on my electric toothbrush, Kuga's generous lips would be flapping all over the handle! Oh well, at least the way I'm going I get the majority of it, I wonder if I can train him to open his mouth for me to get the inside...somehow I doubt it. Thanks for all your responses.

Thanks for the replies. Sorry, had to go to a friend's farewell thingy. Bones? I don't think he has ENOUGH teeth left to chew them. I have always given them bones for their teeth, sorry, forgot to mention that. Chicken necks go down whole with all three dogs so are useless. Beef thigh bones are so full of marrowbone I end up with sick dogs. Lamb shanks seem kind of ok but big boy was too much of a gummy bear for them last time and gave up before he even got half way and Ella finished it for him, hers being long gone. I think he just sucked it for an hour or so until he got fed up with not being able to get all the meat off. He also just tries to pull bits of meat off with his incisors. He doesn't use the back teeth any more (the ones I was targeting) as there are only two per side at top and one per side at bottom. Throwing up and toileting accidents happen after bones so I still have to learn the right amount to give, and don't like to do it all the time. Twilight sedation...I can ask, but Kuges can be a little funny at the vet...he had a nasty experience there once and has been fear reactive ever since, so it depends how 'out' he would be with the twilight sedation, I don't know much about it. Wonder if that's what he had when they did the ultrasound of his heart? Thanks Puggy puggy. The Hexarinse I have says it aids in prevention of tartar buildup, but doesn't get rid of it once it's there. I wonder if it's that you are thinking of. Poor boy - his gums have receded too, so there's about 5mm I can't clean at the top of his canines because it's that fibrousy tooth root material with no enamel, so I just brush it and don't scrape it - ouch!

I consider clipping Ella's nails to be a major form of exercise. She lies down and tucks her feet under her and it takes all my strength to pull each foot out and keep it out long enough to clip then file the nails. Takes about ten goes per foot because she always manages to snatch her foot away just as the clippers are poised. After an hour or two, I always end up the victor, with the nails of all four feet clipped and filed, and me sweating from the constant exertion. Thankfully she doesn't scream though. Bath time is even worse! I kid you not she generally has at least one back foot pushing against the wall above the bath, with one front foot pulling for all it's worth on the edge of the bath and the other usually pulling at my waist or thigh. Bathing her outside is out of the question as I have nowhere to pin her against. *sigh* Kuges and Ebony are so easy, but I guess you have to have one problem child.

Kuges is 13 and on heart meds so it is too risky to anaesthetise him for anything unless strictly necessary. He's also one of those dogs who has always been prone to REALLY bad teeth, and has had most of them removed now except for the canines, a few incisors and a few premolars. All his life I have sat down and chipped away at the tartar with a teeny tiny flat headed screwdriver in between official vet scalings. I have just done this again today but obviously can only do the outside of the teeth. I also have hexarinse for him and an assortment of toothbrushes, which don't really work now that his teeth are bad again. Never worked that well anyway, it's hard to brush when he's chewing the toothbrush! Any tips on how to get the tartar off the inside of his teeth? I don't want a bacterial infection to start in his mouth.

Thanks people, I also found these two websites which say lavender is ok. http://www.intheglow.com/speech.html http://www.essentialanimals.com/treatment.htm#DOGS Dogmad, what's permoxyn? Don't worry, I'll go googling again...

Hi A friend of mine has an Akita and was using lavender oil on the ears to keep the flies off. I mentioned that some essential oils can be bad when used undiluted as I remember reading it somewhere on the forum and suggested that she research what is ok and what is not. So now she has stopped using the lavender and her dog's ears have got quite sore as she hasn't been doing anything, so is lavender ok and at what strength, and what should she use to soothe them now that they are sore? I did a search but couldn't find the info I was looking for.

OMG, I've only just found this thread too. :D Horus I'm so sorry! I know you loved her to bits and my heart goes out to you for having to make the tough decision. Hope Ellie and you are healing well. R.I.P. Cleo :cool:

Sorry Tish, didn't come back to the Health Forum for a while so didn't see your post. Still no more idea than at the beginning but Sandgrubber is right, there can be many variations. Ella seems better after the KC meds. BTW, I have changed vets. After thinking long and hard I would rather we had tried the $30.00 meds and then if that did not work, resort to spending mega bucks. I think my old vet was doing things the wrong way around, especially as I'm not made of money. Then, and this is the cruncher, I found out that another vet in my area sells Kuga's heart pills for $50.00 cheaper per 100 cap bottle. Given that he is on 4 per day so needs a new bottle every 25 days, I'd much rather spend $135 than $185 for EXACTLY the same product!! Rip off merchants or what!! I worked out I would have saved $1100- over the 18 months he's been on them had I found this out sooner. Damn but that would have come in handy lately!!!!

I was using human Glucosamine caps for my old boy's arthritis, but since Ebony was diagnosed with HD, I have them both on Joint Guard too.

Possibly..depends when, where and how much, if it's not too early in the new year, I'd be in a better position financially. Also depends on how crazy a dog he's willing to play with! Ella would love to fly like the airborne Charlie pic, but it wouldn't do her back any favours! She's a lovely quandary...hypo dog who's not allowed to do anything strenuous! Bwahaha! Hence crazy!

Can't vote for only one as my dogs are on different foods. Big boy is on Euk senior large breed, Ella is on Advance, just put Ebony on Advance as well so that's a vote for 2/3 Advance, 1/3 Euk!

OMG! And I thought my furries were having health issues... Big hugs to you both from me and my tribe.

If I look at it the other way - if they had found something I wouldn't be complaining, would I! I would be pleased that they'd found the cause, so I can hardly complain that they tried, not their fault she's an aberration! I think it was just shock talking before when I questioned it. Ebony was done at a different vet not my regular one because her spey is included in the adoption fee, so I had the x-rays done at the same time and just paid separately.

Inclined to stick with them, I think. I think I'd rather they look for things that aren't there than miss something that is. Ok, the money side of things was a bit of a shock, but all other things considered...

I think it's weird that she doesn't have the typical inflammation and pus and infection they would have expected to find if it was CC, I guess. I walked into the vet and the vet nurse organised payment before I went in to see the vet and collect Ella, so when I did go in I said "For that price, it would wanna be something serious!" Should have seen the expression on his face when he tried to explain that they had found nothing, and that's why it cost so much! I can understand why they felt they had to go further, and from the sounds of it, he's as confused as I am that she appears healthy in tests (bar the tiny bit of inflammation) but is presenting as sick.

Ok, so an anaesthetic, scope of throat and trachea, a chest x-ray and $330.00 later , Ella is on one of the antibiotics they would give for Canine Cough, Doxycycline. I called ILFC to see if it cost her $330 to find out Grover had CC (already guessing the answer!) and she suggested I call the vet and find out exactly why they thought it necessary to do all these tests. The answer: She did not present as typical CC, but with the gasping and the white foam, it appeared to suggest an obstruction. When they did the scope and did not find what they expected (an obstruction), nor any typical inflammation that would present with CC, they were gobsmacked and decided to do the X-ray to see if they could find a reason for her symptoms. Basically I have a healthy dog with no signs of the sort of inflammation CC would create in the trachea or throat, who for some bizarre reason was coughing her lungs up. X-ray also showed nothing! There was some mild inflammation in the pharyngial (?) region (if I have that right) so the vets are still absolutely astounded that an apparently healthy dog with a teeny bit of inflammation is coughing the way she is. It's either a weird strain of CC or a different virus but the antibiotics should fix it, and they also have a mild anti-inflammatory effect.

Sorry to hear about your girl, FM. Hope she's the exception to the rule and it doesn't reappear.

I'm having a good run, aren't I! To top it all off my wrist has decided to play up this week and I'm wearing my wrist brace again. We're a sorry lot! Oh, I didn't mention it but Ebony also has demedex at the moment which we can't treat until after she's healed from the spey, and her op site has become inflamed so she's now on antibiotics. Not only that, but because I'd rescheduled my consult from Wednesday to Friday because of Ella, I couldn't get her to the vet who did the op, so had to pay a consultation fee that I wouldn't have otherwise! What a week!

I'm off to the vet in 5 mins, Kaz, they are going to knock her out to have a proper look. Thanks for the link, will read it now before I go.

Very interesting reading! I'd been meaning to find out what this titer test was all about for ages. I agree this should be a sticky. Regarding the 3 year vaccination, I was reading recently that it IS an extra strong dose. Please don't ask me what thread, but I think it may have been in General.

No idea, nor have I. Been lucky up til now I guess. What I can't figure out though, is Ella hadn't been anywhere but my house and yard the week before she started coughing because her back was playing up after our wrestling match to bath her and clip her claws. She started gasping and coughing AT obedience, on Monday night. I just thought she'd snorted some grass. Then she had the odd gasp on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning was full on so I postponed a consult I was supposed to do and ran her to the vet. The previous week I'd taken Ebony to obedience, not Ella. Ebony had a teensy bit of a cough over the weekend but I thought that was because she'd been intubated for her spey on Friday last week, and it stopped after a couple of days. So if Ella hadn't been anywhere, and Ebony surely couldn't have passed it on without showing symptoms herself, how did Ella get it?