stormie

The thing is though, that the pain killers you're talking about are anti inflammatories, not just pain relievers. In many cases of lameness, it can just be a strain, muscle damage etc, in which case those non steroidals, combined with rest, are actually the best thing for the problem. And then you also have to think that in a young, healthy dog with no history of lameness, the most common cause is often just soft tissue damage - a knock, landed bad, twisted etc. So it does make sense to try a course of anti inflammatories along with rest, because in many cases this is enough to allow to body to heal and therefore fix the problem. Obviously though, if there is little or no improvement then further investigation is warranted. But lots of people would be pretty annoyed if they went to the vet because their dog had a limp and they insisted on xrays, fluid taps etc straight away and they spent a few hundred dollars, only to be told it was only minor soft tissue trauma that a simple dose of NSAIDS and rest would have fixed.

The anal glands don't produce mucous - the mucous is coming from the large bowel. The colon produces mucous normally, but just not so much to be noticed. When the colon becomes irritated or inflamed, it goes into 'overdrive' and secretes more mucous than normal, and also occasionally blood. Many things can irritate the colon - a tummy bug, a food that didn't agree, a sudden change in food etc. All4addy's advice was good. You can fast for 24 hours and then introduce something bland like chicken and rice in smaller amounts. But if it doesn't improve, it might be a bug which requires vet treatment. Anal glands are basically there to produce a strong marking scent. So when a dog defecates, a small amount of the liquid is secreted and acts as a scent marker for communication Same reason dogs sniff each other's bums when greeting - their smelling their 'calling card'.

I'm thinking about coming too

It may even be a Guide Dog puppy. A little OT, but in the ads for puppy foods, why do they always put so much food in the bowl!?

My Boss's last dog was a Curly Coat. We were talking about her just the other day actually and he said she shed quite a bit. But she was a really lovely girl with a great temperament.

I'm pretty much the same as OSoSwift. I'm happy for Orbit to be part of certain advertising/promotions for companies and products I'm ok with. But I don't think I could see him used for products I'm really not ok with - it just wouldn't sit right for me and would kind of feel like I'm selling out

We love the Chilly Dogs coats for daytime here. I've tried Weatherbeeta's but found they just slip around too much. The Sweater is great for in between days and the Great White North is great for those freezing cold days, particularly the wet ones. Sweater: Great White North (you can see how excited he was about the soccer here) And for the evenings, he has full pyjamas for the really cool nights, made by 'itsmeg' here on DOL. She put little velcro ankle straps on the back legs so that they don't slip off his legs too . And she surprised me with a pair of matching ones for myself, but I don't think I'll put that pic up

yes! All my sheets/doona covers are deliberately a blue/grey colour.

Wow Orbit really is a grandpa!! He generally puts himself to bed around the 630-730pm mark (and quite often when Prime Possum says it's time ). But then he's up at 6am every day for breakfast before we go to work. Weekends he still gets up at 6am but will often go back to bed after breaky and stay there till around 10am. I guess he does sleep a fair bit!

Orbit will growl on command sometimes. As others have said, it's just a variation of 'speak'. He's certainly not in an aggressive mind set at all. I don't think dog's only growl when being aggressive, I've heard plenty of dogs make a growl sound during play.

So clearly it's a lot more than just half a day! I think it's a bit unfortunate what has been said during this conference. Maybe it's different in the USA, but I can't help but think if they've given false information regarding Veterinary Study, how much of the other information is also incorrect? well, the digestion part is not really nutrition- more physiology and GIT anatomy. So there is about 30 hrs of nutrition lectures; i'd say around 10 hrs on smallies, the rest on large animals. Strange. I just spoke to old colleague who graduated about 4-5 years ago from Syd Uni and he said that almost an entire semester in 2nd year was dedicated to nutrition. Said they didn't go to food factories but did go to abattoirs.

If you go to the Sydney Uni website, you can look up the course description and look at each study unit. This is currently the description for Animal Nutrition: So clearly it's a lot more than just half a day! I think it's a bit unfortunate what has been said during this conference. Maybe it's different in the USA, but I can't help but think if they've given false information regarding Veterinary Study, how much of the other information is also incorrect?

I'm pleased to hear that, Staranais. Do you now how the NZ Veterinary Studies compare to the Oz Studies? Are they the same? This sounds similar to what my Vet friend did when she studied in WA from memory. I remember her telling me stories of field trips to similar places.

Most of the monthly chews seem to be safe - Sentinel and Interceptor are as is the yearly injection, but if the dog has heartworm, these products will only kill the young stage and anything older than this can still progress to adult stage. It takes 6 months for them to develop into the adults which you can test for. Revolution is also safe to use in heartworm affected animals, but again, like with all the products, they recommend testing either at the time of starting and again 6months later, or 6months after starting. The daily tablets are not safe to give to a dog with heartworm.

I've seen a few cases. One was a dog who never had that much of a problem initially, but because there was a fold there which wasn't looked after, the constant skin irritation led to the folds of skin to swell and become thickened, further hiding the vulva as time went by. The area eventually became quite red raw (owner didn't like using any sort of medication). I would probably wait until the first season if she can get by. See if the problem rectifies itself and if not, then it may be surgery time. The surgery isn't that major really, it's just a bit of a nip/tuck. It may be more cost effective to have it done at the same time she's speyed?

And you know for sure they are using exactly the same pathology lab to run the test? It's not that uncommon for Vets fees to vary greatly. Some vets have crazy low consultation fees, but higher surgery fees so make up losses there for example.

Unfortunately he's within his right to request whatever vaccine regime he likes. Sucks :D Is the vet who runs this, your regular vet?

Did you ask what that $300 involves? At the time of vaccination, a check up is usually included, so $300 might include a consultation as well as the pathology fee. Some vets may insist on charging a consultation fee as you are using their time and skills to collect the blood. Others might just have a small blood taking fee instead. Our clinic opened an account direct with the lab in WA so we could keep the cost of titre testing down (under $100) but I can tell you, it's a bit more time consuming doing it this way rather than using our regular pathology lab due to the packaging requirements of sending the blood long distance by regular courier. I can imagine this, plus the fact that titre testing isn't that popular yet, could be why many Vets wouldn't be interested in opening a new account with a new pathology lab. If we used our regular lab, the price would probably be close to double because they add their fees on top of the WA labs fees. Also, there are different options for titre testing in terms of what tests. Did you ask what the $300 tests for? There are different standards of testing and some need to be sent overseas which jacks the price right up. We just opt for the lab in house for Parvo and Distemper, but if someone wanted to test for Hepatitis overseas, we could do that, however this would increase the price.

I think the chickens Orbit eats are actually human-grade rejects, if that makes sense. ie they were intended for human use but something went 'wrong - over supply, thawed out a bit too much, etc etc, so I don't know, by him eating them, they're not going to waste, so is that sort of ethical? They probably weren't free range, but if a chicken is going to die, it's best it's body goes to some use rather than being thrown away if it's not perfect?

I think our groomer would be about $70 assuming it wasn't matted to the skin? This includes hydrobath, blow dry and nails.

Nope. I would love to be able to buy free range, organic meat but financially it's just not an option for me, let alone for Orbit. I get his meat from a pet supply place/abattoir. I know they follow the with holding period guidelines etc for anything that's been medicated etc but I admit to not knowing how it's killed. I do know that the sheep, cows and horses are out grazing in the fields prior to being killed though, but I'm not sure about the chickens I get. In an ideal world, I'd be living on the land raising my own meat and growing my own food but unfortunately it's just not an option for me at the moment due to the cost of acreages in Sydney. I did just acquire my first hen though, so I will soon hopefully have organic eggs

It's a known side effect of Comfortis for generally the first tablet to be vomited. Generally you wait 24hours and re dose and they don't vomit again. If they do, rather than going back to the place of purchase, call the 1800 number on the side of the box and the company will organise a replacement or reimbursement. I don't generally treat for fleas unless I see them, but would always worm/heartworm regardless.

Orbit doesn't get what I refer to as pyodermas, ie manky localised hot spots. He gets more of a generalised staph infection all over, so pustules, red bumps, hair loss etc and gets a bit stinky and flaky. I've only used it once (when we had to use up the last of the bottle before it expired ) and his coat was probably the best I'd seen it within a couple of days. But yes, we have used it for dogs with bad hot spots, deep pyodermas etc with success.

Cephalexin really is a terrible tablet to have to give. It smells so bad and tastes revolting. I'm not usually a big fan of slow release injections like Convenia, but after using it once for Orbit, I don't think I'd go back to the tablets if I needed to again! I think if there's any chance she's missing a dose whilst she's with your parents, opt for the injection. The last thing you want is resistant bacteria!!

I get my Cyclosporine for Orbit from Bova - it's still expensive ($550 for 100ml) but its considerably cheaper than if I bought Atopica capsules.