stormie

You can't tell a leg isn't broken/fractured without an xray

+1

I turned on just as they showed footage and had to turn it off. The cries were too distressing

I would think most horses are floated/trucked in a usual manor and wouldn't be any different to them being transported to and from properties/events etc. I just hope it's all done properly when they're killed, ie taking the previous body away etc.

You can't get camel?? not in Sydney that I've been able to source both meat and bones. But so very happy to hear of a contact!!!!! I know WA has camel but I've never seen in here. I've tried getting venison and goat but the cheapest I've found of that is about $7/kg which to feed a Dane, just isn't practical. I'll spend a fair bit on him, but $10 a day on food is just out of the question

If his body was possibly full of drugs like bute or steriods, I'd not be wanting to eat it. Ask yourself what sort of drugs the trotting industry uses. Plenty of off the track standardbreds end up as pet food. Horse meat for pet consumption doesn't have to pass the same strict testing that it will for human consumption. If you have no choice in the animal you feed your dogs, then at least make sure its not going to do them harm. For sure! I didn't mean just feeding all dog meat. It was just a point I was trying to make, that hypothetically, feeding dog meat once it has died (assume by some other means, not lethabarb) suits me more ethically, in that the dog had a great, fun, loved and happy life with a family, where as a lot of the meat used to feed pets, unfortunately, probably lived a life of pain and discomfort and born entirely for the purpose of being killed. Yep - I'm aware the horse meat I'm feeding isn't undergoing strict testing. But it's a choice I have to make, to help my dog. If I didn't have such an allergic dog, I wouldn't be feeding it. I would be like most normal people and feeding chicken and other 'normal' meats

If a dog has had an awesome life and gets to the point where he needs to be pts, what does it matter what happens to the body afterwards? My problem with feeding a particular meat is to do with the life the animal had before it was ended. I would think that the horses that are used in pet food most probably had reasonably better lives than the cattle and chickens used. I am sure most of the meat used in commercial foods wouldn't be free range, either would the meat/carcasses bought from supermarkets/butchers, unless specified. I know the horses used in the abattoir I use spend a good few weeks out in the paddocks, just being horses, unless they are in terrible pain. Probably it's to put condition on them, but atleast they're just 'being horses' and not being fattened up in some tiny pen or being continuously bred...

I will be feeding Orbit horse as of next week. Maybe I'm a hard ass but I don't feel too awful about it. No more than I do when he's eating beef or lamb. I don't think horses are farmed for meat anywhere in Australia (?), not like other animals are anyway. I just see it as not being wasteful. The horses have ended up at the abattoir for whatever reason, I like to think mostly due to injury/age etc, but to have their lives ended. If their meat can be used to not be wasted, then so be it. I hate that they've ended up there, but afterwards, they are dead and have left their bodies. And yep, I'm a horse person and at the time when he did have a bit of horse, I had my own horse. Unfortunately, for me also, there are no other alternatives. I have a very allergic dog who cannot eat many foods. I now need to do another food elimination diet and horse is the only thing thats (mostly) novel, that is accessible.

I'm sorry? What was so wrong with my reply? I am well aware of Hemolife, Oakway. My Boss and I went to Jeans talk. Why are you always so keen to turn what I say into a negative? I'm trying to post up something positive here, in that a Specialist Centre, who often holds seminars for vets on all different topics, by Specialists that the vets all know, respect and use, is finally holding a talk on Vaccination Protocols. I'm sorry you're upset by what I wrote, but unfortunately, it's the truth that not many Vets across Australia would have heard of Jean unless they googled her, but they'd have to be told about her in the first place. There is no relationship that exists between her and the Australian Vet industry. The Specialists who speak at these seminars I'm talking about, are regularly in contact with clinics. We refer cases to them and they regular speak about topics relevant to their chosen field. So unfortunately, its the truth that a well known registered Specialist's words are probably going to have more meaning to the Australian Vets, than a woman they've never heard of before.

Jean's talk can't have been advertised to vets very well because our clinic never heard anything about it. The only reason we went was from me hearing about it through DOL. These talks are generally pretty highly regarded and the vet doing the talk is a well known Small Animal Medicine Specialist, so most likely to have a fair amount of respect from the Vet industry, as opposed to someone like Jean, who unfortunately most would never have heard of and a lot of what she had to say was just her opinion.

Almost weekly we get invitations from the local Specialist Centres, inviting vets to attend seminars to listen to Specialist Vets talk about different topics, keeping them up to date with the latest treatments, techniques, discoveries etc. Some recent talks have been Skin Disease with a Dermatologist, Dentistry, Nasal Disease, Joint Disease etc etc etc. Not long ago, we received an invite to a talk regarding Vaccines, but the talk was being held down in Wollongong somewhere - unlikely many Sydney vets would travel down on a 'school night' for this. Anyways, today we got another invite, to a talk named 'Vaccine Protocols in the 21st Century', being put on by a Specialist who on googling, seems to be pretty up date on Vaccination and has done some studies on Vacc reactions in Wei's etc. I found a powerpoint presentation on the same titled talk by him that was held somewhere last year and it looks really promising in terms of discussion vaccine duration, providing data on duration, as well as reactions etc. This is the first time I've seen an invite to a seminar from a Specialist Centre, regarding Vaccination. So lets hope that with the new protocol 'out there' now, lots of vets will attend this talk and think about reconsidering their current annual protocols!

Reviving this thread just to say I ordered some of the Lemon flavour. Got a response to my email the same day of my enquiry giving bank details etc and replied the day after I made payment saying it would be sent promptly. Can't wait to start spraying everything in my house! ;)

For sure - it's the same with body temp too - a healthy dog can have a slightly higher temp during a consultation due to excitment, stress etc. But what about during anaesthesia? You can tell, to an extent, the depth of anaesthesia by the heart rate. Once an animal is properly anaesthetised to an appropriate depth, they have a 'normal' heart rate. I would think that the data an dog/breed average heart rate would have been collected on 'resting' animals - ie animals in a relaxed, resting situation. But really though, the guides that we have for 'average' resting heart rate are just that - guides. It's a matter of knowing what your dog's normal heart rate is really.

Personally I'd probably flip out if any dog had a heart rate of 38-40! I, nor my vet, are regularly seeing sighthounds, but those we have seen have not had a heart rate that low! So I'd be one thinking that that is abnormal for a regular pet dog, sight hound or not and would probably want an ECG. But then, if sighthound people think that's normal, then perhaps it is!

It might just be that she's not thirsty? Dogs cool down by panting and will drink to keep/stay hydrated. I much prefer my dog to have settled down before drinking anyway rather than drinking directly after exercise. Basically, if she's thirsty, she'll drink

Orbit's had a couple of lumps come up after different injections. I guess it's possible your dog just doesn't react well to trauma? Do you know if your vet uses a new sterile syringe from a packet for injections are are they washed and reused?

Isn't it great when you see this. We saw a family with a Mini Schnauzer this week and they are very keen to socialise the puppy and have her be a well balanced family member. They were very insistent that their child not carry the puppy around the house everywhere and explained to the child that it was a dog with its own legs and she is to walk herself.

Probably cause Danois bumped you down the list

The thing is, not all imported food is irradiated. They started the story talking about dog food brands that are found on our Supermarket shelves, but then went on to mention Orijen which clearly isn't a supermarket food. There were plenty of Premium 'vet brands' that were recalled with the Melamine problem. Ironically, it's probably the Supermarket brands that are mostly Australian made and potentially the 'safest' in terms of what they were talking about, yet they made out that the foods on the supermarket shelves are potentially bad!? So now not only will we have people questioning the 3 year vacc protocol with the 'deadly virus epidemic' but they'll probably also be too scared to buy our Eagle Pack and/or Euk because it's not Australian made, even though we all know it's probably better quality than the supermarket brands.

WTF was with the Dane/Bloat lady?! To claim that was linked to the food??!!! Not a bad story all round, and some nice eye candy with Justin Wasn't a fan of the way they said you're safe with 'Australian' at the end, just because something's made here, doesn't mean the ingredients are sourced here.

Hey stormie - shouldn't your sig thingy read "Hee brew I only it plinktun"???? you're right, it should!!!

Never heard of that one ASP.Well known vets are paid very well to endorse products,as are actors. Did you know: Colgate Palmolive own Hill's Science Diet Mars: Advance,Pedigree,Whiskas & more Proctor Gamble:Eukanuba,Iams.....what-ever this one is Nestle:Dog Chow,Friskies,Beneful,Purina One+ I realise u all needed to know this very interesting,informative imformation! I was just meaning the introduction of foods from America like Canidae, Eagle Pack Holistic etc (they're classed as super premiums). Yep, many of the premium pet foods are owned by large companies, but this gives them the budget for marketing. They still have standards to adhere too. Just got this email from the AVA - Pet food in the spotlight on Today Tonight

I wonder if its to do with the American Super Premiums being imported into Aus? I saw them mention something about 'how to ensure your pet lives a long life' or something ridiculous. Wonder which foods they're going to recommend...

I was just saying that Rimadyl is exactly the same as Carprofen and Norocarp. So if the fatalities from Rimadyl are due to the lining of the stomach being stripped away and organ damage occuring, that's going to be from the Carprofen, and very unlikely to be something specific to just Rimadyl. In dogs, Carprofen is a selective Cox-2 inhibitor, as is Previcox, Metacam etc. Cox's are enzymes that synthesize prostoglandins. The prostoglandins that Cox-1 synthesize are responsible for protecting the stomach and the kidneys. Cox-2 is associated with inflammation. The way in which these drugs work, however, is known to vary within species. It is believed that many of these NSAIDS, whilst being Cox-2 selective in dogs, are not so target specific in humans, therefore they may inhibit both Cox-2 AND Cox-1 - hence the side effects noted and why they were pulled from use. We know that in dogs, the NSAIDS that we use, eg Carprofen, Meloxicam, etc, are over 100 times more selective in inhibiting Cox-2 over Cox-1, so they predminantly reduce inflammation and spare the stomach and the kidneys. But, they are not 100% in sparing Cox-1 and I guess its possible that some dogs are different, in the same way that the action can differ amongst species, may affect one dog more than another. Or maybe the excretion process in some dogs is different, so the drug stays within the body and builds up. Or maybe some dogs have lower levels of Cox-1 than 'normal' so those that may be affected may leave the dog with no protection at all.

The critical growth phase for a Dane is up until about 10-12months. The critical growth period is the period where by they do the majority of their growing. After about 12months the growth rate slows right down, but they still continue to grow slowly sometimes up until 2-3years. I would say a GSD had come through its critical phase by about 10months. I love feeding a raw diet and will probably always do it, but as for growing a large breed puppy on raw? No way. Too risky, IMO. If you stuff up the calcium/phosphorus ratio you can end up with terrible growth problems. Too much fat and you end up with OCD etc. Not worth the risk, personally, when there are good quality, perfectly formulated dry foods around. In saying that though, I take my hat of to those who've researched raising puppies on raw foods and who know how to get it right. But unless you know what you're doing 100% and understand the balances and ratios, I'm just not sure it's worth risking.