Staffyluv

No storm and it is a quiet night. That is the strange thing, there does not seem to be a reason I have suggested he might have Eaten something or stung by a bee or worse a snake. It she has been over him and can't find anything ( he is mostly white with a couple of tan patches) so a bite would be easy to spot

No crate but at the moment she has him in the lounge with her, sitting on her lap and patting him like you burp a baby but he spins out as soon as she slows down the pats. Poor boy this is not the first time this has happened to him.

My sister just called about her 18 month old stafford and she is worried about him because she said he is actIng like he is totally freaked out, running around, panting, hiding under the table. He has done this before and the vet gave her Valium for the dog and she has just given him a dose of 2mg and he still won't settle. Not even food can entice him to sit still. Anyone have any suggestions that I can offer her as she lives out of town and can't get to a vet right now Thanks in advance

We collected our beautiful boys ashes last Friday. It is so hard without him but the new pup and our lovable foster boy are keeping my mind off it...

I am looking on net but out of interest what `fillers` did you use instad of carbs/rice? Veges - lots of them. Ollie's diet was mainly cooked free range meat (or at least human grade - no pet mince). Cooked due to chemo and we did not want him getting ill from raw meat products with a lowered immune system. Cooked and raw veg (carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, zucchini, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, really whatever I shopped for). He had cottage cheese, yoghurt, eggs, flax oil or fish oil supplements, vitamin C (about 1000mg a day). He liked fruit as a treat or frozen chicken stock (homemade)... There is a whole lot of diet info out there for anti cancer diets but your holistic vet can offer so much more as they will be treating the dog based on what type of cancer, treatment and other medications. Ollie also took the following supplements: Anti-Ox, Lymphodran, Five Mushroom drops, a few different chinese herbs (only while he was having chemo). He had some arsenica drops and a few other different drops from time to time, depending on what was going on with him. The type and duration of his chemo damaged his thyroid, so he ended up on Thyroxine after he finished chemo. But the chemo bought him a lot more time with us as well as quality time too. There is good and bad in all of the treatments but I truely believe that he had such quality of life due to the holistic treatment and quantity due to the chemo... It is never easy and in our case very expensive but we all do what we can for our dogs.

The rice in the diet needs to be reviewed. The standard rule for an anti cancer diet is carbs feed cancer so you will want to remove as much as possible.it is also better if it has plenty of good fats. The Internet has many anti cancer diets for dogs just google it. Although I found it overwhelming so contacted our holistic vet to help design a diet suitable for Ollie.

Yep a second opinion is needed. Perhaps his heart has something wrong with it. Hence the reason exercise is exhausting for him. Hope you get it sorted out, good luck

Sorry for your news and unfortunately I cannot assist with this other than to say, as the owner of a dog who survived many years more than the text books suggested, research, research and more research. What does your vet suggest as treatment? Surgery would be the first option, if possible. You would hope for clean margins and a low grading of the tumour. Chemo/radiation can be expensive (prohibitively so for some people). Chemo does not affect dogs like it does people - they do not get sick and lose all their fur. They cannot be given the large doses that it requires to kill all the cancer cells (as this also kills off many good fast dividing cells like bone marrow - bone marrow translpants are relatively new to the canine world and I would assume expensive). If you are not sure, get a second opinion and also ask to be referred to a canine oncologist (we used Rod Straw in Brisbane but we are located in Canberra - ours was a telephone/email referral). Diet plays a huge role in cancer patients - the right diet can add years of extra quality life to a terminally ill patient. I suggest you check out the local holistic vets in your area (we used All Natural Vet Care in Sydney - again, telephone and email). Research and diet are the key in my opinion - the more you know about the type of cancer your dog has, the better. Good luck Jodie

The boys were both desexed today. Ziggy has bounced back as if nothing has happened and is not even trying to lick the wound. Gussy is. It so bouncy poor baby. He is being very tolerant of our little staffy bless him but you can see he is very tired and he wants to lick the wound all the time. It stops when asked. I am going to keel the boys with me tonight, so I can keep a close eye on both of them. Gussy is off to the local show tomorrow (if he is up tk it) to hang out at the ACT Rescue and Foster display tent. I am pretty sure he will be fine but if he is not, I will keep him home.

Gussy is doing really well... He is still jumping up but you only have to say down, firmly, and he gets down. He waits to be invited up onto the bed of a morning. He will be a lovely boy once we get him some decent training because he is really smart and such a cute little man. He goes in for desexing tomorrow (so does the staffy pup, Ziggy)... The two boys love being with each other. Gussy is smarter than Ziggy, so can get toys by being smart, where as Ziggy is so strong he just takes what he wants. They are still happy to eat and drink out of the same bowl with no sharing issues at all. Ziggy is still really shy around people - he stands off (where as Gussy is happy to say hello to anyone). I know the few issues we have will be sorted once they get into training and a more regular routine (we are working on the routine, with meals as the same time and place, walking at the same time, play at the same time). Together they can be destructive, chewing up anything and everything (I think it is much more Ziggy than Gussy though). When it is time to go to bed, they are pretty good but around 2am they think it is time to play (I just ignore this and hope they get sick of it). But all in all, they are doing really well and Gussy is an amazing boy.

Just wanted to add that chemo is not a cure. It is only to put them in remission and give them more time. We were originally given 12 to 18 months with chemo and we had our wonder boy for six year post dx. It really depends on so many factors and there are always exceptions to the rules

OK I am going to tell you what I was told. Don't worry until you have to. Research, research and more research. Now chemo fir dogs does not affect them like it does humans because they are not given the large doses that humans are. They rarely get 'sick' like people but may be a bit flat a day or two after treatment. They can't give dogs the large doses of chemo because the cost of a bone marrow transplant in dogs is beyond most people (and chemo is expensive enough as it is). Chemo attacks ALL cells both good and bad (fast dIviding cells like cancer and bone marrow) so if the dose is to high it can cause more damage than good. We used Rod Straw in Brisvegas and his team up there. They liaised with our vet and us. We also used All natural vet care in Sydney for holistic treatment while Ollie was having chemo and after his protocol had finished. It helped keep him well. Ollie's chemo protocol was lomustine and vinblastin on a three week cycle.. Happy to answer any questions you have, if you want to chat send me a PM and I will send you my phone number. Diet is very important Shekky. A diet low in carbs is portent to cancer doggies

He had a check up this morning and his vaccs as well. Vet thinks he is Kelpie cross with something small - he weighed 10.2kg this morning (different scales at different vets from the weekend - I have not fed him that much).. He thinks he is about 18 months old and he commented on how sweet he was They boys are rumbling around the yard at the moment - my son took a video of them playing, so will post it up on you tube later and put the link in here, so everyone can see how crazy these two are together. I caved last night... I left the back door open to see if they would toilet outside of a night (and they did)... I also let them both sleep on Ollie dogs old lounge (which is inside, in the lounge room) - Gussy made his way to my son's room and Ziggy ended up on my bed. Then about 6am, they both got up, went to the toilet and then ended up on my bed asleep until 8am. They must have worn each other out yesterday with all the playing and the big walk we had in the morning.

Comfortis for fleas and vet injection annually for heartworm. Thankfully I have never needed tick control up to now and the vet gave me something called Advantix (I think)

Poor baby, I hope he gets well soon

I hope so pers - I am exhausted watching them... I have done hardly any work today (my clients will be sacking me)

This toy that Gussy has is only about 30cm long - so that might give an indication of how small he is.

I really think Gussy has so much potential. He is so quick and loves the ball and other toys. Flyball champ maybe?? I just bought out Ollie's toy basket and both of them are having a ball with the 2 footballs and all the other stuff - they have it all pulled out all over the place. They are both in my office with me - rumbling behind me over a football. The noise are so funny.

Thanks so much but getting the boys playing this afternoon has been wonderful. They are rumbling in my office right now over a football - the staffy noises are amazing but he just does not have Gussy's stamina and needs a rest every so often. They are getting along really well, playing ball together, drinking from the same bowl (I won't test meals together - I think they should have their own food). I have given them both a treat at the same time and they were happy to eat their treats together. I am not not worried at all about leaving them with Cory while I go away. I will be getting them both desexed on Friday 11th November - so they are both laid up at the same time and I think their soft crates will be fine. They will both be going to training - I got the number from West QBN Vets this afternoon for a good local trainer. I will get Gussy assessed and find out which level he needs to go into but Ziggy will need just a socialisation class for beginners and then further training as he is so shy around people. Is there by any chance a discount for training foster dogs? Does not matter if there isn't, he will still go to training as I really think he has so much potential.

The first photo in this thread is Gussy - he is definitely Kelpie x but it would be with something smaller as he has a tiny frame (he almost looks fragile - but I am used to robust staffords)... He does not have any staffy traits or look like stafford at all to me. There are so many black and tan dog breeds, it would be hard to say what he is crossed with. But he is a little ball of cuteness.

Photos in the photo section Gussy and Ziggy

Not sure what Gussy is crossed with pers but he is really little. I know Kelpies are not big dogs but this guy is really small. Ziggy is a solid lad and very laid back but still gets that puppy excitement (staffy style)... he can be full on but is very afraid and drops to his tummy at any raised voice (Cory called me from inside and the poor boy just froze) Gussy weighs in at 9.2kg and I will weigh Ziggy when we take him up for vaccs later today but he is heavier than Gussy by a few kgs

And here is the new staffy boy we picked up from the pound this morning. Ziggy

I seriously can't believe we have done this. Here is our adorable foster boy, Gus (we call him Gussy as it suits him better because he is a fairly soft dog).

We have the new pup here and he is the over exuberant staffy that I knew he was going to be.. Gussy has done very well, only snapped and growled twice in a couple of hours. I have Gussy in my office with me at the moment to give him a break from the pup but we can't keep them separated totally all the time. My son is really worried that one of them is going to get hurt but I keep telling him that Gus is just correcting the pup - not fighting with him. The pup is really timid, which is a bit of a contradiction but if you raise your voice, he wets himself. They will both be going to training and I am going to ask about puppy pre school at the vets to boost the pups confidence. He is worse than Gus was on a lead but I am sure he will come around. So does anyone have any suggestions on mixing these two with the minimum of fuss? I have never had 2 dogs together before, apart from when we were really young and we got them together. (I think I am going to be spending a long time in the training thread)