Joypod

Hey Disorder! I'm good babe. Still alive and kicking. Both kids are back home now and snoozing again on their beds. Right where they love to be. I'll have to take some new pics of the Guster and post them in the Frenchie thread for you all. Vic

Hi all, Just a quick update about the kids. Gus is fine but Daisy has one cast in her blood. From what I understand, that's not serious and won't affect her kidneys long term. They're doing one more blood test on her just to make sure it's not progressing but it sounds like they'll both be ok to bring home tonight. YAY! I'm so relieved and so thankful I got them to hospital when I did. Thanks again for all your advice and support. Vic

thanks everyone for your replies. Gus and Daisy are both at the Werribee Animal Hospital and are staying there overnight on a drip to help flush their kidneys. I'm glad I took them in, they're definitely in the best place possible. It's still pretty upsetting though. It's horrible coming home to their empty beds. Thank you all for your help and advice. Vic

Thanks Mel and Kirty. I've just found some vomit on the back porch so she's already got most of them up by herself by the look of things. I also just saw her dig up her wing and eat it so she's probably going to be ok. I'll call the 24 hour vet in Blackburn anyway. Just to be sure. Thanks.

Nothing because they don't have an after hours service which is why i posted on here... I thought I'd get some helpful advice.

Gee, thanks so much Terrorbull.

Hi guys, i just got home and found a large bunch of grapes (that I'd thought were out of reach of little long nose) eaten with only the stems scattered around the floor. I'm not sure when it happened but it was bound to be Daisy, my 11 month old whippet as gus can't reach up that high. I gave them both a chicken wing for dinner and she buried hers which i've never seen her do so she's obviously not feeling particularly hungry. There was runny poo in the back yard too. Other than that, she's running around and seems to be ok. Should I be worried or should I just keep an eye on her? What should i look out for anyway? Thanks for any help you can give me. I know that grapes are toxic but aren't sure what I should be doing! Vic

Just had Gus's titre tests done. He's 1:20 for Distemper and 1:80 for Parvo. Still waiting for Hepatitis to come back. The stupid vet that took his blood (who said i was the first person to ever get their dog titre tested at their clinic) said that even though his results were "fine" i should still give him the full round of vaccinations at 12 months (he's about 11.5 months now) then 3 yearly after that. I really don't think he needs it though. Based on his results, I think I'll just get him the nasal KC vaccination yearly then get his titres retested in maybe 3 years. Does that sound reasonable?

Actually, the straining helps empty their anal glands which is in fact healthy.

I stopped reading when I got to this sentence: "However, raw diets cost more money per day and require more time and labor in order to prepare the meal." ...because if they think that then they obviously don't know what they're talking about. Feeding Gus and Daisy a raw diet cost SO much less than if i were to feed a quality dry and only takes me maybe 30 minutes every two weeks or so to bag up their meals for freezing.

Hi Sam Good on you for coming up with such a novel idea for an HSC project. I'll answer what I can for you. Can you feed a dog Raw mince?? Yes Can you feed a dog cooked mince? Yes As long as it doesn't contain bones is any cooked meat okay for dogs?? Yes Besides meat whatelse do you feed your dog <not treats> Any offal (so things like liver, kidney, gibletts, tripe, brain, tongue, etc...), sardines, whole egg (including the shell), table scraps very occasionally (things like left-over veggies). Hope that helps and good luck with your HSC. :rolleyes:

I thought heartworm was still quite a problem in Adelaide. A family friend had their two labs die from it because they didn't give them heartworm treatments.

Hi Tess, This is such a good idea. I'm going to get Gus titre tested after his next vax at 12 months. Can you just quickly explain what the results mean please? Thx Vic

Hi Wolfgirl! I was the person who asked you what sort of dog your Black Shep was because he's just stunning. I wish someone had got up on stage and asked how many DOLers were there. I bet there were more than just a few. ;)

Trish, thanks for organising this. I enjoyed the day very much. Steve was an entertaining presenter and had many interesting stories to tell. I'm sure we could have all stayed there for days asking questions and picking his brain. The venue was great. A very comfy room, just the right size and excellent food and beverages. It was really nice being able to sit outside and watch the dogs play in the lagoon during lunch. :D All in all I think you and all at Kapala deserve a big pat on the back for a very well run event. ...and sorry again about the hot chocky! You know I was just testing you to see how well you coped in a stressful situation don't you? ;) Thanks again Vicki :D

I'm so so sorry for your loss Kaffy. Kaden looked like such a beautiful boy. :D

Gus is just soooooooo cute!!!! :D Thanks Aly :D . I think so too. :D Gus actually gets probably 50:50 chicken:red meat (as well as his offal, rmb's, etc) during the rest of the week. I don't feed him any beef so rely on chicken, roo and lamb. The majority of his RMBs are chicken too. Should I try and increase the amount of red meat overall do you think? Thanks RoT. :D

Thanks Tess. :D Edited to add a thanks to Aly too.

Maybe. Any new food can cause diarrhoea.

Hi everyone, I feed Gus whole sardines once a week but just this weekend got some bigger whole fish (called pinkies...???) from the market for something different to give him. They're about 20-25cm long and probably equate to about 4-5 sardines. I was just reading on this website: www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/foodsavoid.htm that "Raw fish can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death. More common if raw fish is fed regularly." and that "Bones from fish, poultry, or other meat sources can cause obstruction or laceration of the digestive system. NEVER, EVER feed COOKED bones!". Now, I know about not feeding cooked bones but it got me thinking about the bones from the larger fish. Gus hasn't had any problems scoffing down the sardines but I'm now wondering if these larger fish are going to be ok for him to eat whole. Any thoughts? Ta Vic

Hi Erin, Gus is doing really well on a raw diet. I used to add a Vitamin E supplement because I freeze all his food before feeding it (which destroys the Vit E) but I found his coat started getting a little bit oily. THEN I discovered that the raw egg once a week would be giving him sufficient Vit E so stopped adding the supplement and sure enough, his coat improved. It's been slightly trial and error but I couldn't and wouldn't put him back on a dry food or any other processed food for that matter. It's so satisfying watching him with one of the larger RMBs like half a carcass, ripping the flesh off it and crunching on the bones. You can just tell he's getting in touch with is 'inner wolf'. I've actually just started adding some natural yoghurt to his diet for no other reason than a lot of people on DOL seem to swear by it. Again, if it doesn't suit him for whatever reason, I'll ditch it. If you need any other help then just PM me and I'll be happy to have a chat. It's really worth looking into though. I'm amazed at how little I knew about the benefits of feeding a raw diet. Cheers Vic

Bugger. You're really lucky having such a great supplier.

WOW!! That's brilliant! Where are you????

I also just feed less the next day.

Not sure WHAT you mean about puppy ears doing amazing things Gayle! Gus at about 10 weeks: And again at about 4 months: Nope, no change there. ;) ;)