stormie

Twice daily here. Giant breed so prefer two smaller meals. Feeding is pretty much done at the same time every day. We're in a routine but that works for Orbee. He doesn't stress if the routine changes - will stare at me for a bit trying desperately hard to tell me he's hungry, but then he'll go to bed and wait.

Enrofloxacin (Baytril) (or any of the other fluoroquinolone antibiotics) with Clamoxyl would be my bosses choice and he'd probably also keep going with the Flagyl. Hope everything goes ok...

I'm pretty sure that Nobivac don't claim that 10wk vacc to last 3 years - pup would still need another booster 12 months later and then it's 3 yearly.

Be surprised if many Vets would prefer to give one vaccination when they can give 2 or 3 Actually considering most puppies should have already had their 8wk shot before going to their new owners, by the time the other Vets see the puppies they're still likely giving one vaccine anyway. We have it if people request it. But even though we're of the 'less is best' with vaccines, we still generally stick to the regular protocol, that is until we're 110% sure that the Nobivac provides complete coverage and is also safe for a puppy's immune system (it's clearly different from the others if it can override the maternal antibodies).

I managed it with Orbit but I don't think he has a huge prey drive. They were separate for a while first, only getting interaction through secure chicken wire. Then I took them into a larger fenced of section together with Orbit on lead but kept him away and distracted with a toy. Eventually he just learnt to ignore them and shares his yard with them safely. I have always made sure that the chickens have a secure fenced off area only they could get into, but I guess that's easier for me seeing Orbit's so big. I always feed Orbit in his crate so he can eat in peace and chickens get fed in their secure pen that Orbit can't get into. Overall though I think I'm pretty lucky Orbit has such a soft quiet temperament and don't think many dogs would be as easy as him to accept them.

Where I was working before, the graduate Vets were starting on about $40k or so and I believe the senior vets were earning less than $60k. Obviously better than nurses wages but the hours are much longer and obviously stressful.

Reason I asked was because I'm a qualifed vet nurse, in a regional town in Vic, and I (and everyone else I work with) earn a considerable amount more than $32,000. I wouldn't do what I do know if I only got paid $32,000. I started on less than that with my previous boss. It was only after I networked the practice, set up email and built a website that I managed to negotiate going up to about that figure. I since scored an awesome boss who really looks after his nurses and pays me well over that, but I still do the website side of things for him and help make lots of decisions. Yes I guess bosses like mine are few and far between, but they are out there and you won't meet them if you don't try! I recently inquired about getting a loan and the bank was happy to lend to me, however my salary just meant that I couldn't borrow enough to buy a place in Sydney.

That is a very interesting statement to me. Have you (Or others in the vet industry, open question) seen many already vaccinated adult dogs come in with parvo? I haven't, but then again in my 6 years of nursing I've never seen a case of parvo - I don't even know what 'that smell' is yet! That was probably a broad statement to make, but I was referring to the parvo strain we vaccinate against. If a dog doesn't seroconvert a vaccine as an adult, I'm just not sure it will if you keep on vaccinating it? But that's just my belief and I'm definitely no scientist! There are still dogs that can contract parvo after a vaccine, but is that because it's a slightly different strain or because the dog no longer has antibodies to the virus? I don't know!

So glad to see someone has seen her. It's not that uncommon for people who bring strays into our clinic to tell us they've actually had them for a day or two. Seems some people think they're doing the right thing keeping them at home and enjoy the novelty of a new dog, but then the novelty wears off and they hand them in. Let's just hope this woman hands her in!

I thought it was discontinued due to the health risks?

My understanding is that when these core vaccines were originally registered, the duration of immunity wasn't really tested, although they knew they lasted at least 12months so went with an annual dosage, possibly out of convenience and maybe even due to the costs that are involved in obtaining a longer registration. Back then it would have been quicker and cheaper to do a 12month study rather than a 3+ yearly study. I don't believe there is any hard scientific evidence that vaccines directly cause problems, however we are seeing immune mediated diseases being triggered off soon after vaccines. So it's possible those animals already had an inefficient immune system and the vaccine is just the stimulant to get it fired up. What it comes down to for us (vet clinic), is that we now know vaccines are lasting much longer than 12 months. So with that in mind, why give them more than they need? Why give them something every 12months which creates such an immune response? Remember the vaccine is usually at least 3 viruses in one go. Obviously you have areas where the incidence of Parvo is higher, however this is commonly in lower socio-economic areas where people don't have their dogs vaccinated at all. So you have unvaccinated bitches producing puppies who therefore have no maternal antibodies and then in many cases won't get vaccinated at all. If we could just get those people to vaccinate their adults once and have puppies receive at least their puppy shots, I believe we would see a massive reduction in parvo cases. I also believe that if a vaccinated (adult) dog gets Parvo, then it likely would have regardless of whether you vaccinated it triennially, annually or even weekly. My dog has allergies which is an overactive immune system. So because his immune system is already a bit 'broken', I won't give him another vaccine unless I have to because for me, it's not worth the risk of his immune system possibly having a melt down and possibly developing auto immune problems.

I haven't vaccinated Orbit since his 16wk shot. I'll get around to titre testing him one day If a dog has any sort of immune problem, eg auto immune diseases or history of, we generally don't vaccinate them again. That's also been the advice from Specialists who we have referred auto immune cases to. My understanding that if a dog does not seroconvert a vaccine, it's unlikely to do so with repeated vaccines. I think the vaccines registered for triennial use now out number those still advocating annual use. In fact I only know of one company who still encourages annual vaccines, even though their vaccines are exactly the same as one registered for triennial use (made by the one company, just different labels). We offer titre testing and do so direct to WA which keeps the cost down. Still around $80 dollars or so which doesn't include a check-up (optional) but much cheaper than using our regular path labs which would see the cost much higher. Pays to ask around in case there are others like us.

Not Orbit (cause he would have been standing back saying 'guys, I really don't think you should be doing that!) but my boss's (Vet) dogs dug up something from his backyard that had been in a body bag with some swabs and things. No idea what it was or how long it had been buried there, but it was at least 2 years as it would have been buried by the previous owner at some point. But anyways, they ate it and needless to say spewed it back up. I'm not sure I've smelt anything so bad in my life...

Many products our clinic orders have had a rise recently. Most noticeably was the 10% rise on Sentinel. And the reason? Because Novartis felt it was too cheap so people weren't valuing it enough. If it's expensive, it must be good, right?

It's just me and Orbee. We have such a close bond that I think his little heart would break in two if I got another dog I think one is enough for me whilst I'm single.

now I want to go put some chicken outside just to see it glow

Slightly off topic, but how lovely is the Dane with the toy in his mouth on the NDN website :D

Tony Black is now part of the team at SASH, so I would assume Andrew Marchevsky would be the one to see instead?

This is the funniest thing ever!!!!! :rofl:

me too. I actually cannot comprehend how someone can carelessly dump their dog like that without becoming upset of the thought of him/her being confused, frightened and alone. Every time I read stories like this, I just imagine Orbit and how totally petrified he'd be being left alone like that and I just bawl my eyes out. RIP doggy and I'm sorry your life was what it was.

Why does the title say they were slaughtered in 'Au'? Implies Australia??? Also, maybe this could be moved to the Cruelty section of the News forum? Many people, myself included, will find this upsetting....

Yep Orbit is allergic to lots of things so buying certain meats is hard. Used to by from Just Food 4 Dogs, which was supposed to be Turkey, but in the end I was pretty certain I was getting Chicken, which is number 1 on the allergy list. Tried Myella Pet Foods who kept stuffing up my order and sending me the wrong things or delivering to the wrong address. Lately have been using Burns Pet Foods who I have been mostly happy with, until I was requesting a certain regular order which they just couldn't seem to fulfill and would just substitute the tail bones with large neck bones which were completely inedible. I've learnt to be specific with them because some of the cuts they offer are just large pieces of fat or sharp bones. I'm back to Myella for turkey necks now, but I drive out there to pick it up so I can ensure it's correct. I also use Burns for my red mince meat and tails if they remember! It's annoying having to go to two different places, but just means that I'm back to buying in bulk to save lots of trips! Probably the best people I dealt with were Canine Country Barf, though unfortunately their prices were just too high.

I'd probably do an elimination diet, too. Have you looked at Euk FP? I used it with Orbit whilst he was still growing as the calcium/phos ratio was pretty much on par with most other Large/Giant Pup foods.

But then another thing to consider, is that Distemper may be low because it's not as common in the environment anymore, so the dogs aren't encountering it to trigger the antibodies.

Orbit comes home with a smell even after just staying with my boss for a weekend, which is a house and backyard situation. But it's because he's spent most of the time romping around with my boss's two dogs, mouthing each other, dragging manky toys around etc etc.