stormie

I have an itchy puppy too... Orbit is only 16wks old and has been itchy since his second day at home with me at 10wks of age. Have tried anti histamines - didn't help. Been treated for scabies - didn't help. Sent skin biopsies off which came back suggestive of either parasites or food allergies, however food allergies in a puppy so young would be very rare, though I guess its possible. Just finished a course of anti biotics and anti inflammatories which helped, but his itching has just started up again this morning. And its not just the occasional scratch too. Its intense itching. My vets have never seen a puppy so itchy before. Will start adding ACV to his food tonight. Was on fish oil but I stopped it for same reasons as SAS. He also gets terrible smelling gas with his food and poos 2-3 times a day, which could be a hint that his food isn't agreeing with him...

bumping this cause I'm also keen to know... My food supplier said he was going to drop me some samples next time I make an order, hopefully they'll remember and I can give an opinion!!

If a 5-6month old dog comes in for desexing in our clinic and still has their puppy canines (by this I mean that the adult teeth are fully down, but the puppy canines have failed to fall out, as the adult teeth did not erupt directly under the puppy teeth) we remove them. Saves the owners having to come back in a few months and have another anaesthetic to remove them if/when they still haven't fallen out. Generally speaking, often if they haven't fallen out by the time the adult teeth are completely down, they won't come out on their own and can lead to over crowding of the teeth and other problems.

Another suggestion to help with vet visits... Take some treats with you, or ask for some from the vets, and give them to puppy as they are having things done to them. I use them to distract my pup whilst we empty his anal glands, give needles etc and he doesn't even feel them anymore, in fact I think injections have actually become fun!!! I also use a work, like 'Check' for when he's having an examination, so he knows to stand still, and gets rewarded for everything good he does.

My pup was like that in the beginning. But I would just put him back in his crate, make sure the room was dark and ignore his cries. Now that he can hold on longer, he wants to sleep in, and its me struggling to get him to wake up and get out of bed to come to work!! :rolleyes: He's only 15wks now too, only took him 2 weeks from when I bought him home before he didn't wake up in the night needing to go.

Sound like pustules. May mean a mild bacterial infection, which is common in dogs with bad skin. The natural barriers are broken from the itching/licking and the bacteria that usually live on the skin can get in and overgrow. Washing with a mild medicated shampoo might help.

I'd also get your vet to check her spine...just to be sure. My old golden has changes in her spine due to old age, which makes it harder for her to get up, and also affects her hind legs. Once you know what you're dealing with, you can go from there. If its arthritis, you're better off staying on your normal diet and adding Omega 3's as well as Glucosamine and Chondroitin etc. Hills J/D is, IMO, a bit of a money making strategy by Hills. They've added the omega 3 and the gluc and chondroiton and given it a name. I think its much better for your pets for them to stay on their current diet and then add the extra's to it yourself. JMO though.

Thanks again, Cav. The strange thing is, we do watch them! It's the other goldie we used to worry about more too as she's a real hoover! This one always lay down to eat cause she was so slow and liked to crunch everything slowly. She did suffer vestibular syndrome about 8 months ago, which we're starting to think may have had a slight impact on her swallowing, but I guess we'll never know. Had she not have aspirated, she most probably would have been fine after surgery, but because she was old and had dimentia, we're not sure she knew what was really going on at the time anyway.

Thankyou... I found her in the morning after having one for dinner. She couldn't get up and had vomited all around the yard. We x-rayed her and could see tonnes of bones stuck, which we thought was odd as she always takes the longest to chew down hers usually. We could see a whole wish bone in there! She often has chicken frames etc with no problems, but this one wasnt meant to be, i guess. She aspirated some vomit in the night - she was 14 and quite senile - so for whatever reason, didn't get up to be sick. We put her on fluids and went to operate, but her lungs were just too damaged and she couldnt maintain a high enough oxygen saturation in her blood to sustain herself. We put her to sleep as she would have just suffocated.

One of our dogs died last weekend from her chicken frame, after i just ordered 10kg of them. Now i'm too scared to give them to my other dogs and also have a freezer full of chicken frames

Your pup won't starve itself. Do a change over gradually, and only leave the food out for 10mins or so, then take it away. I had a similar problem with my puppy when I bought him home, except he wouldn't eat anything! I started mixing in about a tablespoon of eagle pack holistic canned with some water to make a gravy, then mix it though the biscuits. Whatever was left after 10mins, was taken away. He lost about a kg during the first week because he wouldnt eat, but now finishes every meal i give him!

As the heading says, can anyone recommend a training club in Sydney that will accept titre tests results? Really don't want to have to do the annual thing. Also, do most clubs request a C5 or can it be C3?

Yey!! It's finally my turn!! Name: Orbit Sex: Male Date of birth: 7th Aug 2007 Age: 10 weeks old Colour: Blue Breed: Great Dane Hobbies: Sleeping, romping with the cat Loves: His big giant flea, our cat Hates: Eagle Pack

we recently had a client who bought this and said it was a different active ingredient and claims to last 3 months...???

There is a percentage of dogs where the mothers antibodies interfere with the parvo component of the vaccine up until 16 weeks of age. IMO, it's not worth the risk of being in that small percentage. But as I said before, it depends on the vaccine used. Companies that manufacture the vaccines make guides for a reason. There might only be a one in 100 chance that your dog might be one of the ones whose parvo vaccine has been interfered with at 12 weeks, but is it really worth risking it? Vets (and nurses!) have to recommend using the guidelines put out by the vaccine manufacturer. If a dog contracted parvo and it was shown that the dog was using the vaccine that needed 3 boosters, and the vet (or nurse) advised that the 3rd vaccine was not required, they would be hauled before the board and liable.

I think it could be a case of vets like to receive money. A consultation fee and a fee for the vaccine that costs very little. Or maybe its because thats what the company that make the vaccines have registered as the dosage. Mother has antibodies that protect the pup up until about 6wks. The first vacc at 6-8weeks gives partial immunity, as they no longer have mums full protection (passive immunity) and starts them on their way to producing their own antibodies (active immunity). However, mothers antibodies still interfere with the vaccine (making them less effective) up until 12weeks for Hepatitis and Distemper, and 16wks for Parvo. A vast number of manufacturers recommend this dosage guide to get 100% response to overcome this problem with the interference of mums antibodies. A few companies have since developed a vaccine which they claim is unaffected by maternal antibodies at 12weeks, and hence only requires 2 injections.

hi Spikes, I have a 14yo golden retriever that displays the exact same symptoms as your newf. Getting up from a sleep is much harder for her, and her backlegs also fall out from under her occasionally. Her problem is in her spine (when she puts her dead down and stretches her back is when her legs tend to fall out from under her) and she also has arthritis in her joints. I have elevated her eating and drinking bowls to help with her spine, and also have her on carprofen tablets (its whats in Rimadyl, just without the flavouring, and half the price!). She had a course of cartrophen injections too which helped a little, and I still give her the occasional jab of it when she isn't looking so good. The carprofen tablets make the most difference though. Even a day without them and you can tell. Also keeping her lean really helps with the added strain on her joints. Sounds like your newf is in great health for his age!

The strain we are seeing here is a different strain to the one which affects dogs. My horse is just getting over it now, and we have dogs out there all the time. They are fine. There are thousands of cases of EI now, if it was affecting dogs, I think we would have heard about it by now.

Just thought i'd let you all know, Greenies have changed hands (now owned by masterfoods I think) and they have made them with a new formula after the problems that happened in the US. They are now incredibly digestible and have a different texture, much more like rubber - really flexible. Can't remember what the difference is, but we have it all at work so I'll type it out tomorrow if anyones interested! Still really expensive though, and considering you need to use them every day to see benefits, much more economical (and probably better for the dog!) to just gives bones!!

Have the lesions been biopsied or his head been x-rayed? Wishing all the best!

PW - Did you vets tell you why they were x-raying, even though they've told you it was a luxating patella?

I constantly talk to my vets about bloat. Both have them have been to countless talks and lectures on the subject in the 20 odd years they been in practice. To this day, there is still no known cause identified. Some speakers said that soaking food had increased bloat in thier studies, others said it decreased the chance. Same goes with elevated feeding. The common thing with all of them regarding reducing the risk was that of feeding smaller meals more often of a high quality dry, or even better, feeding raw. I've seen a dog bloat from eating canned Pal! Luckily, we got a stomach tube into it quite quickly and the dog was fine!

This is a really common behaviour that is seen by pets that have encountered an intruder of the BAD kind. Is there any way that someone has come into your yard/house while you weren't there?

She does have a degenerative condition in her eyes, though it has not changed or worsened since she was here a couple of months ago. We stained her eyes to look for any problems and also to check her tear ducts etc. Had a really good look and they seemed ok. Vet says very unlikely to be toxoplasmosis, as her mental degeneration has been coming on for a couple of years now. More likely to be her old age catching up with her. Over the past 12 months she has become more and more vague regarding her surroundings and people. She went through a phase of terrible anxiety which left her pacing and barking 24/7, and desperate to escape the yard. She has since quietened right down, but I think that's more due to her condition getting worse. She is also finding getting up and lying down increasingly difficult, even with her arthritis drugs/supplements. Possibly this realisation is stressing her a little within the pack as she would be feeling more vulnerable. She wasn't too bad last night, so will just see how she does over the next couple of weeks. Thank you all for you info and support!

As per topic, can anyone recommend me a good sound training/obedience club around the Hills District in Sydney? Preferably one that also does agility classes? I would like to go a visit a few classes to try find a trainer/method etc that suits me. Thanks!