stormie

I also thought a dog had to be tested before any heart worm medications if started over a certain age. Can you explain more fully why the injection is ok without testing but daily isn't ? I should have been a bit more specific, sorry. If the dog hasn't had any heartworm medication for more than about 2-3months, they still should be tested, but it takes about 6months for the stage of the heartworm that you can test for, to develop so you need to take that into consideration too. The drug used in the daily tabs, DEC, can react with the babies of the heartworm, which can kill the dog. This doesn't happen in the modern monthly/injection drugs, which work by just killing the larval stage of about 0-30days old, so if a dog does have a heartworm infestation, giving the injection or a monthly treatment will not harm the dog. But they should still be tested at some point

The test the vet did is called a SNAP test and is a perfectly legitimate test. It's also ok to give the injection on a dog prior to testing. There is nothing wrong with what the vet did. It's the daily tablets that are dangerous to give without knowing if a dog has heartworm. But like others, I wouldn't give the injection myself and would stick to monthly.

retained just means its still there.. Here's a picture of a dog who still has its puppy canine...

double post

My puppy is a pure bred poodle she is not x bred but i will wait a few months because as you say all dogs are different. you first post does say toy X mini poodle.... Sounds like a behavioural problem which needs to be corrected, however I would also suggest a vet check to make sure her mouth/gums are healthy. What is her weight like? Is it possible she's slower to eat because she's just not as hungry? How much exercise does she get daily?

I go to ridiculous lengths, even I can see they are ridiculous, like getting wild rabbit, hare and vension into their diet and giving them a wide diversity of meat sources, types of offal etc. But I also know I could do half the work for a third of the xpense and still given them a pretty good diet they'd do OK on, even including a premium kibble. I just enjoy the efforts I go to Oh don't worry, if those meats weren't so expensive to buy I'd be doing the same! I have thoughts of rabbit and goat farming purely to supply Orbit with food

I just try not to be too precious at all when it comes to diet these days. Dogs have a pretty good ability to be able to survive on just about anything. Obviously we want them to have a balanced diet and be healthy, but I do wonder if people stress way too much about what they feed. But again, if you've got the time and the interest to get everything balanced down to the right percentage - awesome. But if not, I wouldn't stress too much.

Steve Brown's article comparing the main RAW foods is an interesting read.... http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/articles/...0Comparison.pdf

I'm skeptical. These warnings seem to have all starting coming about since the introduction of the Disease Watchdog program introduced by a vaccine company who is very anti the 3 year protocol. I believe its a scare tactic to frighten people into staying with annual vaccination. I'm sure there may be a few more cases happening here and there, but full on 'outbreaks'? Not so sure...

A friend of mine visited there the other day and said Ned wasn't there . For a very large and black dog he can make himself pretty inconspicuous, so maybe he was in a corner somewhere. She said another dog was wandering around, but I've forgotten what breed she said he was. I like PetBarn on Carrington Road and also Aussie Pet Foods (think that's the name) at Haberfield on Corner of Chandos Street and Parramatta Road. There is a good petshop in Hornsby, but they sell puppies . I love this shop too. They have a huge range of beds and sell giant ones for what I consider very reasonably priced compared to what I have seen elsewhere. I was in there about 2-3 weeks ago and Ned was there then. Hope he's ok!

Yeah previcox is probably the most expensive NSAID, but it works out cheaper if you buy the largest pack. For example with us, with the difference between the 10pack and the 60pack, comparing the cost, you're essentially getting 10 for free if you buy the 60's. One that might work out a bit more cost effective is the generic Rimadyl - Carprofen. It's not flavoured, but half the price per tablet and the same thing. Tramadol is pretty cheap too compared to the NSAIDs and is just as good for arthritis. She sounds like she's being a real trooper with the whole thing

Those two won't hurt as a 'treat'. But not something I'd do regularly. Bones to chew on are great for teeth and much better nutritionally too. If you tell us what breed/age of puppy you have I'm sure you'll get lots of recommendations for bones.

As a general rule - over 60ml/kg per day is a bit odd and over 100ml/kg per day is abnormal. Either way anything over either of these amounts should be investigated property by a vet.

I love THESE ones!

Hey WP. Sorry I haven't replied to you yet. Did the vets tell you exactly what they thought the splenic tumour was? In older dogs, they can get masses in their spleen which aren't tumours as such, but more a haemangioma (a benign tumour of the splenic blood vessels) and also the possibility of a haematoma, and splenic nodules, all of which are benign. So we wouldn't be trying to connect the shattered leg with the splenic tumour at this stage because it's quite possible they aren't related at all. Shame they didn't get the tumour histo'd because then you'd potentially have your answer. As to her shin shattering, one would naturally firstly think osteosarcoma in this sort of situation. Sometimes it's not always obvious on an xray, but I'm assuming they will continue to xray her leg to monitor its healing progress, in which case it will become more obvious if this is what it is. Obviously too, dogs can just twist themselves at the wrong angle and snap a bone. Osteoporosis is something else to consider which again, you cannot always diagnose via xray. We not long ago had a 14yo BC who broke his radius, which like the tibia (I'm assuming by shin you're talking about her tibia) has a poor blood supply, poor muscle protection and is slow to heal. We aligned it and put it in a cast which came off after about 9weeks and he is able to walk really well now. Hope she is feeling better and you aren't stressing too much.

it makes you realise then, for the brands that just have a meat as their first ingredient, how little meat there actually after the cooking process.

Good idea. I emailed Euk, but I will email our EP rep today too. Thanks!

I crated Orbit, in the same crate he flew on the plane in. Oh how he loved travelling in that crate and tried so hard to squash into it after he'd outgrown it!

The other thing I'm trying to find out at the moment, is how the actual ingredients list works. They say the ingredients are listed in order of weight, most to least. So that could mean two things. For example, here are the first 5 ingredients in Euks Premium Performance: Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Brewers Rice, Fish Meal. So it could be that the ingredients are added in the following weights: Chicken - 100g Chicken By-Product Meal - 95g Corn Meal - 90g Brewers Rice - 85g Fish Meal 80g..... So whilst Chicken is technically the highest weight, out of the 450g total, chicken is only 100g worth, where as grain is 270g. So chicken really isn't the main ingredient as such. Or, is it calculated that chicken is the main ingredient, in that if the mix weighs 500g, Chicken makes up over 250g of that?? Does anyone know for sure how it works? Google isn't helping but but I have a feeling it's the first example...

Erny - its not just allergies that are a problem. Some dogs have food intolerance issues too. Others have things like EPI, or inflammatory bowel disease. As to why some cope better on commercial over raw, I can't be sure. Raw meat, whilst easily digested, I would say is overall quite rich and obviously bones in the diet mean more digestion needs to take place. Many people believe that because the commercial diets have grains in them, they're not very digestible, but this isn't quite true. The part of the corn which is so indigestible is the main husk, but the meal inside is highly digestible. And grains like rice are also very digestible and easy on the stomach. Interestingly, many dogs who don't tolerate raw meat, can cope very well if the meat is cooked, which again I put down to being not so rich? Another thing I would add is that the dogs who have a more sensitive stomach, can often not do very well on the holistic diets, like Eagle Pack, which I wonder if its due to the complexity of the food - there's so much in it and it's also quite rich, where as something more commercial like Eukanuba, Advance etc, doesn't have as much meat and may not be so irritating to the stomach, being simpler, so they can do better on it. But as to the whys of it all, I think it would come down to the individuals problem, whether they can't digest it properly, of the intestines are too inflamed to cope with bones etc etc...

Tyra some dogs just can't tolerate raw food, no matter what it is. But hey, I work in a vet so we must be talking crap to get everyone to eat the food that we sell. Funny though, that we recommend a raw diet where possible and stock lots of different foods, from the Eagle Pack Holistic to that nasty Hills food. So no, not all vets just want to push that food they they stock, some, believe it or not, encourage people to find a food that works for them. I get that you're passionate about raw food. And lucky for you that your dog can eat any type of raw. But spare a thought for those who can't. I feed raw but I'm not a natzi about it. Except Orbit has allergies so we have to be careful about what snacks and stuff I give him. I guess my food isn't human grade. I know it comes from a human grade company though. But my dog is a dog, and the road kill rabbit he'd happily munch on isn't exactly human grade either so... There have been times where I've forgotten to get meat out to thaw the night before so in those cases I have opened a tin of Hills I/D as its turkey and rice which he can eat. He also gets my left over veges and stuff here and there, which sometimes comes from the Organic markets, but other times the supermarket. Like I said, I'm not a massive natzi about it all - he gets cortisone for his allergies and other medications, so being worried about other things is kinda pointless for me.

Meat meal as a first ingredient is preferable to a food that lists meat first. The ingredients you see listed are not in 'dry matter' form, but prior to the cooking process. So chicken meat may be most used ingredient, eg, 100g chicken meat, 90g corn meal, 80g wheat gluten, etc etc, however chicken meat and other meat is about 70% water, so once the food is processed and cooked etc, the moisture is gone, so that 100g of chicken becomes only 30g chicken, where as the other grains which don't have as much moisture, stay roughly the same. Meat Meal is the meat that's already had the moisture removed from it. So 100g of meat meal will stay as 100g of meat meal and if used as the main ingredient, will stay that way after the kibble has been made. Kyra - many people feed poultry by product to their animals raw - it would mimic the diet of wild animal more so than just feeding human cuts of meat. Organs are important and things like chicken feet are a good source of glucosamine. I would love to be able to source whole products like that to feed to my dog. Not everyone is able to feed their animals raw for various reasons - health being one of them, so to be offered a dry food that gets them as close as possible is a good thing, IMO. I think your comments to PSA are incredibly rude, accusing him of selling pet poison. Get down off your high horse and open your eyes to the world. Just because its on the internet, doesn't mean its true. People put all sorts of rubbish on the internet telling you whats so awful about commercial pet food - doesn't make it true From the Canidae website - and from the Dog Food Project website: all information from the internet, but contradictory. So which is right? In terms of raw food being mostly moisture, yes it is, but it doesn't change the amount of protein that is in the meat. It changes as a percentage, yes, but overall the amount of protein stays the same. For example, I have a big mac. I could drink 2 litres of water with my big mac and say that overall, I only consumed 5% fat. But the water is nothing. If I just ate the big mac on its own, I'd probably have consumed 30% fat. But the amount of fat, in grams, will not change. So to feed 100g of protein, you might, for example, have to feed 500g of raw meat, but you might only have to feed say 150g of meat meal, because its so concentrated, to get the same amount. So by weight, meat meal would have more protein.

So now your judging and criticizing my relationship with my breeder? And calling me untrustworthy? Orbit was papered accordingly - he was destined to be a pet so he was put on the limited register. Unlike you, I don't glorify papers. I have his pedigree there which proves he is pedigree. I didn't get him so I can stand on a mountain and wave his papers around to everyone to show how awesome my dog must be. Main reg. means nothing in terms of quality. Perhaps I should show you some pics of some rescued Danes who were put on the Main reg. I give up on this with you, BB. You're being nothing but insulting and self righteous.

All of us at our clinic won't use the drop down menu options if its a oodle thing !! all three of us will type in the oodle X floodle, It really annoys me that all the major practice software has the designer dog names on the dropdown menus fifi That's bloody wrong and much of the cause for people to think the breedings are legitimate breeds which only serves to encourage the puppy farmers to breed and charge rediculous prices for them. The only way to stop them IMHO is a law to prevent dog breeding unless licenced which accomodates only pure breed dogs. Absolutely , The lack of catering for the consumer in pure breeds is what drives them to the oodle and BYB farmers. My comment was referring to your post about how 'bloody wrong' it is that vets cater for the clients by calling their dogs what the owner believes it to be. So do we cater for them or not? Or only when it suits?

but BB, we have to cater for the consumer remember