stormie

If he's got muscle wastage, he's not using the leg like he should be and you need to find out why. The idea of resting would be to help the injury/problem that is making him reluctant to use the leg, not to help the muscle wastage. I'd want a second opinion - find out where the pain is stemming from, eg muscular, or within the joint, and go from there.

my changing sigs were for a bit of a laugh in the Dane thread but I forgot that everone else would see them when I posted...

We have been waiting on supplies for months now, but finally got it in stock today - you may find it easier to get hold of from today

I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but why are those with breeds not listed entering? The facebook page is just being flooded with pics, many of dogs not on his list. I get that everyone would love to have a chance, but he's specified the breeds/colours he wants..?

oh this is so Orbit's thing!!

Mine goes every day But seriously, I love that he's here so often. Obviously I know what to look for, but having someone see him who's not as close to him and can pick up on changes that I maybe haven't noticed is good. Sometimes it's not always easy to see changes, specially if they are slow. I had a friend who's young dog had a tumour grow in her nasal passage, but they didn't really notice the change to her face until they were faced with other symptoms and actually started to look. Where as I, on the other hand, noticed the mass straight away because I hadn't been looking at her every day.

Awesome - off I go!! Thanks!

I'd just give him a call. He gets turkey mince for me which isn't listed on his site. He has beef, chicken, roo and lamb from memory - both mince and bones.

Agree with FruFru.. You need to see a vet because your dog might have allergies. They can be allergic to environmental things like pollens and grasses, as well as food, but food allergies are less common than environmental ones. I wouldn't be playing around too much with the diet yet of a 4.5month old. There are elimination diets that are suitable for puppies so this is something I'd speak with a vet or Dermatologist about first. Just switching to a raw diet won't do anything if you're still feeding a protein source he is allergic to. But go see a vet first - rule out all forms of parasites likes fleas and scabies and make sure there's no irritant plants like wandering jew around your garden. If your vet suspects allergies then I would get a referral to a Dermatologist to find out what your dog is reacting to. Once you have answers, then you're free to look at holistic/naturopathic options but I wouldn't waste time/money with supplements, herbs etc until you know exactly what your dog is reacting to.

Rogz have a some pretty big beds, I think the one I saw was about 100 x 130cm and retailed for $179. The Snooza Big Dog Bed is a good size but would retail for over $300.

The really awesome ones are the ones where they express their anal glands in their sleep...on your bed..

Agree... I wouldn't be jumping on the surgery wagon just yet. Removing them is a pretty big operation and one we try to limit to those who have had chronic ongoing problems, for months, if not years. It's possible in that space of time, that it was an initial infection that wasn't cleared up the first time. I'd go for a longer course of AB's first, packing the glands with AB's, diet changes etc...

Orbit had nightmares a fair bit after I bought him home. He'd wake up screaming - pretty freaky! He dreams a fair bit now and is very very vocal and active while he sleeps - it's pretty funny. I'd love to know what he's dreaming about cause he whines, howls and growls. Occasionally he still has the bad ones where he'll wake up terrified, usually if something has changed, like I've moved house or something.

Yep, Cliff's still going - he just dropped off my meat! Mobile number is 0417 666 690

I wouldn't use the ProHeart inj regardless. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually link some autoimmune diseases to the injection.

true but it treats fleas which is where they get the tapeworms from. I use Interceptor then just flea treat if I need to with Advantix. I wouldn't use the heartworm injection if I was paid to.

I ended up with him on the Euk Large Puppy till he was about 10-12months then put him on raw

I had a similar problem with Artemis and other Super premiums - I put it down to just being too rich for Orbit's stomach and changed till I found something that worked better. :D

Vicdrg - just wondering whether any medical conditions have been ruled out, like EPI, or inflammatory bowel? Sounds like a fair amount of calories were going in, with the Advance as well as the pasta. Probably best to get him on to a bland diet first to try and overcome the diarrhoea and then try and introduce a good quality dry with maybe a bit of chicken mince. But if the diarrhoea is recurrent I'd probably be wanting more vet work done.

There's two reasons you see glucose in the urine. The first been two much in the blood stream which exceeds the kidneys threshold, allowing it into the urine. The second, if the blood sugar level is normal, then the kidneys must be abnormal to allow it through into the urine. Most of the diseases BellaDonna listed would also show a high blood glucose level too, if excessive glucose was present in the urine. So basically if the dog doesn't have diabetes, then it's going to be some sort of kidney issue, assuming it wasn't just a one off occurrence. The Fanconi like syndrome that was seen in dogs, caused an increase in thirst and urination, as well as glucose in the urine, whilst having normal blood sugar levels.

Meal is what you want, so long as its a single protein. It's just the meat that's had the water taken from it. For a dog food, I think the ingredients in the grain free are good.

Sorry to hear about your boy. We've had clients who've had success with Enzyplex combined with an easy to digest diet. Feeding raw pancreas can also help but needs to be fed with each meal. Goodluck to you and your boy and I hope you get some improvement soon!

Actually the cockroach baits use the same chemicals as flea controls, not heartworm control. Eg Fipronil (Frontline) and Imidacloprid (Advantage and Advantix). Just because a substance is poisonous to one species, it doesn't necessarily mean that its toxic to another, take paracetamol for example. I'm all for minimal use of substance and as far as we know here, the cooler areas like was mentioned, didn't have heartworm 20 years ago. But we need to take other things into considerations, like mutations - perhaps there has been some evolution in the heartworm which is seeing them survive these temperatures. Also as was mentioned - artificial heating in homes could make a difference. We know it makes a difference with the flea cycles so its possible it could for heartworm. But, in saying all this, I've never seen a positive heartworm in Sydney, so it's more unlikely to see it down south, but impossible? Maybe not...

If your girl is already 12 months old, why will you wait a few more months???? For what??? If she has retained a baby tooth then it needs taking out. She could have gingavitous(sp)infection of the gums or a rotten tooth can cause some serious problems as well. Well firstly i am not 100% sure that her tooth is retained. secondly i am going to wait to see if it fall's out and thirdly i know that all them diesese's are life thretning if they dont get treated!!!!! if there's a tooth there that you're waiting to see if it will fall out, then there's a retained canine. Retained is not a vet word - its just a word that means 'kept hold of', so in this instance, its a tooth. Leaving a baby tooth in can cause mouth problems. Rather than waiting months for it to get worse, why not take your dog to see a vet? Why leave it in possible discomfort when there's somewhere you could take her now??

Chilli Coats allllll the way! All of the 'horse style' coats slip and twist on Orbit. The Chilli is the only coat I can happily leave him in all day and even night and know that he's not going to get stuck or have it slip around. At the moment he's in the Great White North which he seems to really love. Two Small Puppies stocks them too!