stormie

What are of Sydney are you in, Kelly Louise?

I agree with more toilet breaks. Having a dog learn how to wake you to tell you he needs to go to the toilet is the best thing ever. Every now and again, Orbit desperately needs to pee in the night, or worse, he has an upset tummy, but thankfully he knows he just needs to pace around my bed a few times, staring at me and I'll wake up. If he's really urgent, he'll put in a little cry and I know he's busting!! But thanks to the routine which we started really early on, we've never had any accidents inside.

One of our clients put Frontline on their kids head... apparently it worked too

I'm not sure why people are saying that the annuals are exactly the same as the triennials, as they are not. If you look at the labels, the amount of viral particles is clearly different in the 3 yearly vaccines. T-time - not all vets are members of the AVA, so if they are not, then they don't receive the magazine eta: this is from Intervet, who make an annual DHP and also a triennial one (Nobivac) when asked if the two vaccines were the same: The Fort Dodge rep confirmed their differences too - saying that the adenovirus componant had been 'ramped up' in their triennial. Have a look at this BROCHURE Comparison_Companion_and_Nobivac_virus_strains.doc - again its from Intervet and compares the annual Companion to their triennial Nobivac. The virus components are clearly different and if you look at the '10 to the power of', you'll see how many more virus particles there are in their triennial compared to their annual. If you work out the maths, you'd be giving more of the viruses with their triennial than you would if you dosed an animal 3 times with their annual.

The annual C3's are also included in the AVA's new protocol as lasting 3 years. We are now taking on the new protocol, but using the annual vaccines, as the information we have looked at, some 3 yearly vaccines contain more virus particles than 3 seperate annuals. Obviously it's an off label dose, so each individual needs to be assessed as to whether this regime is right for them.

Just to clarify, the vet did agree that if it isn't scabies, it is most likely an allergy - just seems strange that nothing in the environment has changed so can't pinpoint anything in particular. I will ask about the dermatologist next time - thanks Ahh right. Unfortunately nothing needs to change in the environment for them to develop allergies. It's more that they start to become allergic to things they have been around for long periods of time- both environmental and foods. Goodluck and I hope you get some answers!

Allergies can come on at any age - and generally worsen with age. I would agree with your vet to rule out scabies mites - we had to do this as part of Orbits allergy diagnosis. My advice would be to get a referral to a dermatologist - no offence to your vet, but I find it strange they would say they couldn't think of any other reason for the itching. The dermatologist can start you on a path to determining the cause and then follow an appropriate treatment plan. Either that, or maybe consider a 2nd opinion from a general vet...

Results can really seem to vary - I've heard of larger dogs who have had the TPLO with not a lot of success at all and were still quite lame well after the prodecure. I met a great dane who had recently had his done just with the De Angelis technique and you'd never have known. I personally think a lot of it can come down to how good the surgeon is, as well as how strict the owners are with the after home care.

unless the dog is allergic to whatever fresh food is fed... It's not often as simple as just changing to raw. Take Orbit for example. He's allergic to fish and chicken, plus a few other grains. Had I have just taken people's advice and put him on raw without doing an elimination diet, I'd not have gotten to the bottom of his food allergies as fast as I did, cause I know I'd be feeding him chicken. I dont recommend switching to raw unless its for an elimination diet (in which case I think it's a great idea). Once you know what, if any, foods she is allergic too, then you could feed only those in a raw based diet. But just switching to raw and feeding the same protein sources could make things worse, particularly if you are feeding something she is really allergic to.

I would recommend doing a food elimination diet first - that is, starting her on a completely novel food she's never eaten before, for 12 weeks and being very strict, and noting if you see any changes. If the itching lessens, you can then start to reintroduce different foods one at a time to try and work out the culprit. Quite often atopic (allergic) dogs can have issues with both the environment and food. The fact she was contained would suggest to me that she has environmental issues too, eg pollens. Best thing to do would be to get a referral to a Dermatologist who can start you on a process to work out the true cause of the issues so you can hopefully avoid them, or atleast manage them.

Yep he's alllllll mine!!

did anyone notice a particularly handsome doggy on that website? The one with a toy in his mouth?? On the homepage, the main image that continuously changes. One of them is Orbit!!

your boy was 'happy' to see you! It's called the bulbus glandis and it swells up when males get an erection. Perfectly normal!

:D did anyone notice a particularly handsome doggy on that website? The one with a toy in his mouth??

Thanks for all your input I've got an appointment with the Eagle Pack rep on Thurs so all going to plan, we'll probably start stocking their Holistic line to complement our other vet brand. Thanks again!!

I'll be speaking with a rep on monday with regards to stocking it at work, so I will see what they have to say!!

Sorry, but this is totally incorrect. Food doesn't all sit in the stomach until its all digested. It goes from the stomach into the intestines where its digested as it passes through. If you're theory was correct, then feeding RMB's would be just as bad, as bone takes a lot longer to digest than meat.

I think most people would earn more than vets!

Interesting, Sandgrubber, as that was my boss's understanding of the titre too. He said that if a dog would likely only show a titre if it had recently come into contact with the virus, so a dog that was up to date with its vaccines but yet never seen the outside world, could possibly show a 0 titre as its body has not come into contact with the virus. It explains why we see so many titres coming back with low distemper and/or hep results - because these viruses are not around as much as they used to be and therefore dogs are no longer being challenged with them.

Thanks but I'm well aware of the requirements of foods within a veterinary clinic. I'm not talking about our prescription range - that won't be changing. I'm talking about the general use food available to clients. There is no rule saying that you need to stock the same brands of prescription as you do in the general range. And yes, in my experience, 'holistic' foods such as EP and Artemis refer to themselves as Super Premiums. Thanks all for your input. We have big plans for this clinic and want to offer the best we can for our clients. I hate the theories that vets push certain brands of food for commissions etc and would rather offer food which people really do actually trust.

yes please, what change? i use eagle pack holistic duck and oatmeal. I can't find the exact thing I read now... But the Great Dane Lady has stopped feeding and recommending it, since it has been sold to another company. I'm so sure that a couple of weeks ago there was something mentioned about how it has changed, but tnow I can't find it anymore so perhaps what was posted was wrong. The idea is really to just offer something other than the typical vet foods. Obviously for allergic conditions, a proper food trial would be done first rather than just putting them onto a holistic. But it would just be nice to offer something else, other than the typical vet brands, for people whose pets may not do so well on the typical vet brands or those who may be a little but more conscious of what they feed and would like the option of something different. Price will also play a part in it, particularly if it works out to be a lot more expensive to buy from us than other sources, but at the moment its just an idea to be a little bit different.

Bit of market research - what better place! One of our vets has just bought a new clinic and I'll be joining them in a week or so. We're looking at possibly changing the brand of food the place currently sells, as well as adding a Super Premium to the range too. Basically what I want to know is what your preferred brand of Premium food (vet brands) is, if you had to chose, ie Hills, Euk, Royal Canin, Iams etc. And then what would your preferred Super Premium (Eagle Pack Holistic, Artemis etc) food be? We were going to run with Eagle Pack, but after hearing about the change in the recipe, now I'm having second thoughts. Any suggestions would be most welcome!!!

He could be allergic to something in the shampoo. Lots of them seem to have plant extracts in them these days, so if he's allergic to one of those plants, it's going to cause a reaction. I can't wash Orbit in Aloveen because he's allergic to oatmeal. The only things I wash him with these days is Rufus & Coco, or a pet coal tar shampoo. I have also used natural soaps made from goats milk with success too. Alpha Kerry Oil can help keep the skin moisturised too.

Every dermatologist I've heard talk about any kind of allergy, has said the first thing people with allergic dogs (food or environmental) need to do is notify their breeders, because it is genetic. Doesn't matter what they are reacting to - it's still an abnormal over reaction of the immune system. That dog that 'gets a bit itchy' from buffalo grass can produce a dog with full blown allergy issues. Even though it might be mild, it's still an allergy. I would be getting it fully worked up by a dermatologist to know exactly what you're dealing with. Allergies in dogs causes skin conditions - the release of histamines causes a reaction which makes them itchy. They can also have GI symptoms to foods they are allergic to. If it's just GI symptoms, then it's generally most likely an intolerance and not an allergy.

awwww you guys are too nice Ian's officially starting this Thursday. I'll be started with him (and thus reuniting the A-Team ) on Wednesday the 9th. The place needs some work, but that aside, Ian is a wonderful vet - you only need to be at his old place a few hours and see how upset his previous clients are, to hear how loved he is!