Staffyluv

I hope he is as lucky as Ollie and they do become less severe. Ollie's first few were so frightening. Watching your dog collapse with white gums, stop breathing and a vet working on them, injecting them etc is scary... We were lucky his became less severe - I hope Gilbert's do to.

Ollie had anaphylaxis with bee stings - he actually seemed to build tolerance over the years as the last few bites were nowhere near as bad as it was in the early days. We nearly lost the sill bugger a few times when he was young and obviously did not learn that catching bees was bad for his health...

Full access to the house and the yard - I leave the back door unlocked all the time (not ideal but he is a big puppy and barks really loud at strangers)... Ollie was the same, when he was alive - he always had access to the house and the yard. When we have fosters here, I tend to limit them to the yard and the laundry area when I am not home. The yard, laundry and my office when I am working at home (or the whole house and yard if I am home and not working)...

Yep and our new pound pup is the same - I picked up a poo this morning that was more plastic bag than poop...

Everything here crossed for a full recovery...

It is always sad to see a perfectly healthy animal go to the bridge. But as others have said, better humanely pts than some of the other options... Good on the owner for staying - it really is the best you can do, hold them while you say goodbye...

'Giant' being the best description... He is only 10 months old, weighs in at about 22kg and he is so strong... He seems to have slowed on the height growth and be filling out across the chest, back and his legs seem more solid (rather than that gangly puppy look they get)... I have never had a cross breed before and I now understand all those threads in general - what breed is my dog.. It really does play on your mind, what is he??? :laugh: I accept he is a cross but when we are out walking we do get lots of people asking what is he??

Good luck for Nova - they can test us can't they... Our first stafford, Louis, was a nightmare - he had 2 surgeries for obstruction years ago. Both surgeries went fine and he recovered well. He was an absolute horror for eating 'everything'... The last surgery removed some foam (from a foam mattress) and lots of wood splinters, as he used to chew the wood on the wood pile. This was not a bored dog, he was walked every day, played with kids all day (our youngest was 3 years old) - he had someone home with him all the time and he was an inside dog... He was just a chewer of everything and some of those everythings were swallowed... Fingers crossed for good news today

Our first consult was not free but our treatment wasn't either. I think we spent in the vicinity of $6,000 on chemo alone, operations were up around the same and the holistic treatment (including supplements and consults) would have been that and more... I stopped keeping track when we hit around $20,000. Don't feel like you offend anyone, we are all different and all prepared to do what suits us, our dog and our finances... There is no real right and wrong in this... A free consult can't hurt.. If they give you an outrageous fee proposal, you don't have to go back... If it isn't suitable, the holistic treatment can help keep them feeling well. And it does not have to cost the earth.. If they say she does not have long, it might be more beneficial to just take her home and let her have whatever she wants for her time left with you. Wishing lots of luck for your appointment.

Yeah he is definitely a cross - not sure what with but he is way to big to be a stafford. He is a big cuddle bum, he loves to sleep on you or as close as possible... Thanks all, he is pretty special to us...

:laugh: He is trouble, with a capital T... But so cute that he gets away with so much... He is really submissive and plays so well with little dogs at the leash free park we go to each weekend... Really large dogs seem to frighten him, so we stay in the little dog/puppy section.. He just adores little puppies and SWFs, poodles etc.. He goes nuts when he sees them... It is the funniest thing to see this big boof head playing with all the little dogs...

Cruelty laws would not go at enough if it was my pet... His poor owners must be beside themselves...

Excellent point, Snook. Or if this had been an irresponsible owner letting their dog run around loose in a carpark and jump all over a frightened kid, people would be screaming for blood (as they should). No one is saying that the parent was in the right and children should be allowed to pat all dogs. What some people pointed out is that these things happen and it is in your dogs best interest to prepare them for this. I know what you mean but it is nigh impossible to prepare a blind/deaf elderly dog for the rush of kiddy pats. Some things can be prepared for and some can't.

One more...

Here is the little (not so much) Mister... He is 10 months old and weighs in at 22kg now.. I would love to know what he is crossed with - we got him from the pound when he was 7 months old as a staffy cross.

Link A dog-fighting ring may be behind the death of a pit bull terrier discovered with bite marks on its head in Victoria. RSPCA inspector Simon Primrose said the American breed dog was found with a plastic bag tied around its head on a vacant lot in the coastal suburb of Tootgarook, on the Mornington Penisula, The Age reported. "The dog had injuries such as puncture wounds to the head that could be consistent with dog fighting," he said. He said the investigation had not ruled out dog fighting as a possibility. Mr Primrose said there had been a number of suspected cases of dog-fighting in the area, including one in the nearby suburb of Rosebud. He said it was difficult to gain information about dog-fighting "because it is usually linked to other organised crimes". The dog had been microchipped and the owner has been contacted. A person found guilty of dog fighting could face two years in jail or a fine of up to $60,000, as well as be banned from owning an animal for 10 years. How terribly sad...

I think I just fell in love with you for this comment. I was gonna write that raz but decided I would probably get flamed for it..

Parents should be in control of their children (disability or not)... I realise sometimes it is difficult but honestly it would have been the parents fault if anything had happened to the child...

Peanut butter would be way to high in fat content for a dog with pancreatitis. Sadly so are most cheeses (most dogs love cheese) Mixing stuff with her kibble is a good idea though, perhaps use low fat cottage cheese and some grated apple or carrot... Lol apologies i didnt realise there was a special diet involved....my bad, well scrap the peanut butter, have you tried pureed veggies with a low fat cottage cheese?.. or rice and low fat yogurt? can they eat rice :S.... the happy paws appetizer this in great I just bought some to sample... Gus LOVES it. Unfortunately dogs with pancreatitis have to have a diet as low in fat as possible to reduce the chance of it coming back. I know people who have had it and they say it is very painful... No need to apologies, I should have explained why in my previous post. :)

A good vet will discuss your options with you. If you wan to treat or just do palliative care until the end, then your vet will respect that. Ours never once pushed us to do anything, he made recommendations and I researched and then decided. You need to find a vet you and your dog are happy with. Our vet did not really agree with the supplements and holistic treatment but he sent Ollie's results to the holistic vet every time I asked him to so they could adjust Ollie's treatment when needed. There is so much to be said for holistic treatment. It supplements conventional medicine so well... With cancer, you need to know what you are fighting. I don't know anything about mouth cancers but if it is weeping and affecting her eye, I would think it is quite advanced. There are salves you can get to help dry things out, there are diet changes you can make to slow the cancer down (one idea is that carbs feed cancer cells, so remove as many processed carbs as possible)... Get rid of grains in the diet. These are onlymsuggestions but you really need to know Wheaton are fighting if you want to try and keep your girl well for as long as possible. Good luck and although I don't know much aboutnmouthncanacers I have done lots of research on cancer and dogs in general. See if you can get a diagnosis and see a canine oncologist to discuss treatment (if that is what you want to do). That is the first step... Good luck.

Peanut butter would be way to high in fat content for a dog with pancreatitis. Sadly so are most cheeses (most dogs love cheese) Mixing stuff with her kibble is a good idea though, perhaps use low fat cottage cheese and some grated apple or carrot...

I second what Blackdogs has suggested...

My Ollie had cancer and pancreatitis.. He used to get the heart smart meats from woolworths. I always cooked it as it removed even more fat. I made a meat loaf with mince (turkey and beef), grated veg, cottage cheese (low fat) and a couple of eggs. Then baked until done.. He loved it. Yoghurt, bits of fruit as treats - banana, apple, plum, nectarine etc. Most cheese is reasonably high in fat for pancreatitis sufferers. On really off day, milk arrowroot biscuit soaked in a little warm milk to make it go really soft and fed off a spoon. Not so much a regular food but it was a sure fire method to get him to eat something if it had been a whole. Boiled chicken meat (no skin or bones), tinned fish and small amounts of other meats offered as little meatballs were good as well... Lastly, I am so sorry. It is a shock to receive that news and even harder to get your head around it when a vet gives you a time frame.. We were given 12-18 months but with diet change and care, we had 6 years together before he finally succumbed to the cancer.. Wishing you all the best.

There is plenty you can do with diet and supplements to keep her well but how far you want to go is up to you and what you are comfortable with. I suggest a good holistic vet for diet and supplements. My old dog Ollie lived 6 years after he was diagnosed with MCT (not an aggressive or mouth cancer)... Mostly due to the holistic treatment in my opinion. I am a big believer in the fact that we know our dogs best, we know what they are happy with and what they can and will tolerate... You know what is best for your girl... cNr, I saw a beautiful Rott girl the other day and my thoughts went straight to you and Sophie...

This is excellent advice on what to do when being rushed by off lead dogs... It is what I have always done and it works... Most dogs won't take on a person to get to another dog, they just take off. It is frustrating but there will always be people who do not do the right thing in public with their animals... So it is a good idea to learn how to deal with it to protect your dog..