stormie

The Opening for Vets was a week or two ago and apparently it's amazing inside!!

That is a very good question. They used to perfrom the surgery, and wake the dog back up (ie let it recover) and then euthanse it. You can see how that is potentially inhumane. Then it was changed to perform the surgery but never let the dog wake up, and now the dogs that have the surgery can be rehomed. I'm not sure when that happened, but I can tell you when my boss was doing non-recoveries (and this was just over 20years ago now), they were never woken up - hence the name NON-RECOVERY. Once the procedure was done, they were put to sleep whilst still under GA. Perhaps allowing a dog to wake up, experience the pain and then be put to sleep, could be considered inhumane, as they'd be experiencing unnecessary discomfort. But putting them to sleep whilst still under GA, is not inhumane.

Glad to hear Mickey is doing well. Just a thing though, do you know what 'shot' your vets gave him for his allergies? After just coming out of hospital with mild pancreatitis, cortisone really should be avoided as it can be a cause and really not something you want to give to a animal who's just recovered. The new diet is unlikely to be the cause of the flare up, particularly seeing it's a novel food source. If he's had flare ups and things before, it's likely to just be similar to what's happened before. As for the coughing/sneezing - may be an allergic response, especially seeing his skin has also flared up, but could be something else. Has your vet given you any other ideas for managing his allergies other than cortisone? Cortisone is great for offering relief (tablets more so) but in Mickey's situation with his recent pancreatitis, I would avoid it as much as possible or you could end up with a sick boy again!! Also, cortisone is a treatment for IBD, so just be aware that improvements you see may be from the cortisone and not necessarily the diet, so just keep that in mind. Hope things continue to improve!

I don't have a problem with Uni students desexing dogs. As made clear by my opinion on the subject, any experience for our next generation vets is a good thing. I just think its ridiculous that the RSPCA are now using the issue to paint themselves in such a glorious light, because they're happy to volunteer their pound dogs for the students to get experience on, but for another pound to do this, is inhumane, because the animal doesn't wake up at the end. I'm just interested in which part exactly is inhumane? The surgery? Because they're happy for that to happen to their poundies, or is it the putting to sleep bit? Because they do that themselves every day.

So according to the RSPCA, putting an animal to sleep after it has been anaesthetised is inhumane? Lethabarb is an overdose of anaesthetic. If the RSPCA are happy to inject animals with this to put them to sleep, how is it any difference to give them a lesser amount first, prior to putting them to sleep? The animal has no idea what's happening to it whilst it's under GA. It just goes to sleep with the GA and doesn't wake up - no different to being put to sleep with Lethabarb. So they're happy to volunteer their pound dogs for use? And they're only put up for rehoming after the surgery has been successful - no doubt because they realise there's a higher risk with students performing the surgeries and they understand they may not all return. But this is ok, apparently.

But the difference is, your dog had a condition which enabled him to pull through. A dog with severe allergies doesn't get that option and actually only gets worse. I agree with Poodlefan - it's the owner we should be blaming here.

Oh yay!!!! So glad to hear everything went well and the lump isn't bad!!

I would seek vet advice first and have some bloods run. It may be dementia but I would want to make sure it's not a medical problem causing her pain/stress/discomfort.

Yah this happens to Orbit too. Turns out he's allergic to oats. Poor thing, I think of the times I made up an oat mash for him and plastered it on him, thinking I'm unleashing the awesome power of oatmeal. Nope, I'm unleashing the power of allergies

Skin is an organ - left inflamed and infected for a long period of time can affect the rest of the dog, just like any other diseased organ can. 'Skin condition' could be something severe, like chronic allergies which can be very difficult to treat and can involve medications that can have negative side effects. Sure, the RSPCA could afford the treatment to make the dog comfortable, but what about the people that adopt her? My dog's allergy medication (to keep his cortisone doses as low as possible) cost me $550 every 2-3months. Sometimes it's not as simple as some flea treatment and a medicated wash. I must say, I do find it funny that people can diagnose and suggest such a simple treatment to 'fix' a dog, without knowing anything about it, its temp or its health. Also, we do not know when this picture was taken. Possibly this was after she'd been in care for some time, pending the court case and had gained some weight?

Advantix is toxic to cats while it's on the dogs, not just immediately after application. So if your cats sleep up close to your dogs or groom them, I wouldn't use Advantix, or any flea collars etc. Having cats, I would use the Frontline Spray for the ticks and maybe look at using Comfortis for the fleas. It's a bit of a double up, but if your cats are in the picture, then you don't have a lot of choice, unfortunately.

;)

My vet charges around $90 to tt. We've done it for the last 2yrs and are yet to need to revac either dog. For that price they also get their annual health check up. She doesn't make much on the tt, so maybe your vet charges extra to get some profit from the tt. It depends who the vet uses to run the test. For example, we now send ours directly to VetPath in WA, which makes it considerably cheaper. It's a bit more fussing around though, in terms of packaging up the blood etc. If we used our regular Pathology Lab, whilst they still send on to VetPath, they add their own mark up and handling fees on top of the VetPath fee, so it becomes more expensive. Some Labs like to send to overseas Labs too, which can make it even more expensive.

Not necessarily. That is a very unusual adverse reaction to occur! I am not sure an antihistamine would help in this situation as it appears to involve the nerves and/or muscles. I am not sure why the vet wouldn't be concerned??? Surely paralysis warrants further investigation? Sometimes when my lab has an itchy ear, it will make her face appear lopsided, because she holds it in a lower set position Also there was a time I thought one lower eyelid was droopier than the other, but it isn't apparent anymore. +1 (except for the last bit cause I don't have a lab )

I'm so sorry to hear this. DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) is such an awful thing.

Either way, it sounds weird for a vet to not be concerned!!! I hope the dog is ok!

Erny have they actually had the problem looked at? Tetanus can cause similar symptoms (though usually taught, rather than droopy), as can damage to the facial nerve, deep ear infections, or disease/inflammation to the nerve. Bells Palsy is also a possibility.

The prices on Harls and Mantles is already high if you ask me. $2000+ Very few Harls/mantles are refused/excused from the ring based on markings alone. I can think of one in the last 4 years, that was based on markings alone - As stated by the judge. Many currently being shown world wide do not have the 'perfect' markings yet are still show quality. I think it's wrong to charge more, BUT if i wanted a perfectly marked one I would offer more to make sure I got it. Yeah for sure... I totally agree the price of them is crazy high. Mismark was the wrong choice of word - I know they're not excused from the ring, but was just referring to what you said, how many don't have the perfect marks, so was wondering whether you got one or two that DID have perfect markings and everything else was great, would that be ok? But you pretty much answered that anyway saying you'd pay more.

What about markings within a colour? For example, in Danes, a well marked Harli and Mantle isn't exactly 'easy' to breed - if one was a good example of the breed and had the correct markings, would it be wrong to charge more than a mismark that wouldn't really be show quality (purely because of markings)?

No it's not. NEVER use Panadol for dogs. I would also not give aspirin without a vet's OK first. There is a safe dose of Panadol for dogs. If the dog is in enough pain to require pain relief, IMO it should see a vet. If it's just mild, just rest is enough. I thnk it is best not to advise people on a public forum to give their dogs panadol. Some would take this advice instead of paying money to visit a vet. Far too risky to play around with at home. You could do damage to your dog. Where did I advise people to give their dogs Panadol? I simply clarified a statement saying that Panadol can NEVER be used, as it can be, under direction from a vet with a calculated dose. I did not provide the dose or suggest anyone give it without instruction from their vet.

No it's not. NEVER use Panadol for dogs. I would also not give aspirin without a vet's OK first. There is a safe dose of Panadol for dogs. If the dog is in enough pain to require pain relief, IMO it should see a vet. If it's just mild, just rest is enough.

I don't, only cause I'm not a fan of feeding weight bearing bones. I think turkey legs are pretty big and have the potential to break into larger shards and cause some damage. I happily feed wings and necks though.

I guess maybe it varies then because for my boss, he swears for his year, it was the total opposite. He says the fact they were operating on live animals made them so much more careful as they were aware the animal was alive and anything they did wrong, could potentially kill it. He says the whole experience was quite emotional, the students were very careful and gentle. His perception is that this would not be the case so much working on cadavers, as they are already dead and there's no risk of doing anything wrong. So again, maybe things changed as the years went by, but I can tell you from my boss's personal experience with his year and his wife's year, what you mention certainly wasn't the case.

Why? People say - gee I hated such and such a movie or an ad for the following reasons. Why on earth cant they say they cant stand a tv show? Exactly. I'm sure if it was a TV show about breeding dogs which portrayed breeding in a completely unrealistic way, there would be a lot of negativity. I will complain because it's my industry and a false representation of how things actually happen. Yes, most of us here probably know better, but a lot of people out there don't .

Me too... I'll keep Sasha in my thoughts, I hope it's not bad news! Thank you And thanks for that info Stormie, appreciate it (and good to know). GT - you're right, but easier said than done. Sasha is... for lack of a better word... 'special' in so many ways. I couldn't bear to lose her or have her go through extensive treatments due to her fear issues. However, I would do it in a heartbeat if I had to. Oh DEFINITELY easier said than done. I'm a shocker when it comes to Orbit, especially now that he's older. Any change to him and I'm freaking out Truly, at least once a week I'm asking my boss to tell me something on him isn't cancer! I remember the first time I felt his lymph nodes were up - one was pretty big and I totally convinced myself he had Lymphoma, even though logically I knew it was unlikely. Sure enough the next day we found a little ulcer between his pads which was why that node was up. I was so relieved I cried again! (I should add his nodes go up and down a bit with his allergies). So I totally understand you being worried cause I would be exactly the same.