Staffyluv

Check the ingredients list - it the first few are grains, cereals, and meat byproducts then give it a wide birth. Also if it has too many preservatives added - these cause all sorts of issues with a lot of dogs (especially skin, ear and eye issues). Personally I don't think you can do any better for your dog if you feed it a natural food diet (like us - we all do better on fresh food as opposed to packet goods).

Totally agree Nekhbet. You only have to look at pound shots, every second dog is a staffy or rotty cross and more than half of them don't look like either.

Have to agree with Helen on this - Ollie had recurrent ear and eye infections after his chemo and when they finally tested his thyroid levels they were almost non existent. Also the veges in a raw diet won't be a problem, it is mainly the grains that people add to diets that cause these yeast infections. Good luck I hope you get it all worked out.

I have some dust in my eyes now. So true Warls... Forever sunning yourself Rhino

Sending good luck to you guys. I forgot about the no raw meat, probably because Ollie has had cooked meat for so long now. Good luck

So sorry that you had to say goodbye to Gladys. Rest in peace old girl

Just found this, how devastating for the pups. I hope they pulled through but it did not sound good from the OPs previous posts.

She sounds like my old stafford - he was dxd with MCT 2 just on 3 years ago and they gave us 12-18 months. He had chemo and has been holistically treated for cancer as well as being supplemented with tonics and vitamins to keep him well. He is still here and while he enjoys laying in the sun, taking his daily walk (all of about 600m to 1km depending on how he feels), eating his dinner and having a nightly play with the family and he has NO Pain, then he will stay with us. He is in remission at the moment but he still has tumours and cannot be cured, so we take one day at a time. I know people that would have put my old guy down by now because the costs for his treatment is quite expensive as is the ongoing cost of his meds because the chemo damaged his thyroid so that no longer works and he has stomach problems sometimes which we don't know is from the chemo or the cancer. I think it is a personal decision for each and every one of us. Have you considered some supplements to help her stay as well as possible in her elderly years and to help her system cope with the invasion of the cancer? Good luck with her, she sounds like a gem.

HI Jinx, I have been following the progress of all the terminal pooches and can't remember if Boof is using holistic therapy as well as chemo? Ollie was dxd as MCT grade 2, no clear margins just on 3 years ago now and was originally given 12-18 months by the oncologist with chemo. We did the chemo but also put him on high doses of Vit C, fish oil, lymphodran, five mushroom extract and a few other things that helped initially. I believe that he is still here because the chemo knocked the cancer around and the holistic therapy has kept him well enough to enjoy his life, more than 12 months longer than origianally suggested. Wishing you and Boof lots of luck

I agree with everyone else -lose the rice and add some veges.

Thanks Moops, hugs given (he never knocks those back) and he smells good and is all shiny because he had a shower for the halloween party on Friday night. DBS, I had a giggle at the Miss being scary. Ollie would not hear them coming - most of the time he does not even hear a knock on the door these days. He is not a guard dog in any way, he is a lover not a fighter and he is so grey now there is not much scary about him anymore. Give Lucinda a big hug and I am so glad to hear that she is still able to send them jumping fences

So sorry, rest in peace Ziggy.

I can't believe it is 3 years since he was diagnosed with MCT and we were told 12 to 18 months if we were lucky. The will of the dog and his owner (not wanting to lose him) is still very strong Just a quick update on his legs - well both cruciates appear to be healing. I have been letting him go for small walks of a morning and we upped the ester C to 8mg per day. He is still weak in the back legs as he does not attempt to jump on the lounge and even getting on his bed seems to be an effort and that is only about 20cm off the ground (although this could be a bit of a novelty about being picked up a lot - no mean feat the fat boy is back up to 24kg again). We pick him up to put him in the car and get him out, on the lounge, on our bed, on his bed etc - he even stands there waiting to be picked up or put down now (mmm the more I think about it, I think it might just be the novelty of it all). He is happy and would love a game of tug but the legs don't let him win, so he won't play - just stands there and waves the toy around in front of you. As far as we can tell he is still in remission as there were no active mast cells in his last blood tests. I know he still as it because he still has MCTs that we can see and have had aspirated but it all seems to have just stopped for now - thankfully. I hope it stays this way for a long time (he will be 12 next year). Cheers

Hi pampa and thanks for the well wishes - yes we are still fighting on. The cancer is still in remission (our vet says it is the longest remission he has ever heard of ) and we are very thankful for that. Hijack away, I love to catch up on what Lucinda is doing as well - she is such a character and still feisty at her age.

DBS, that old lady of yours is such a character - give her a big kiss for me. Anne, you are never far from my thoughts either. I hope you are doing well. Rottifan, Ollie is predominently holistically treated these days but still requires conventional medicine for an inactive thyroid and stomach ulcer both a result of the chemo he had to treat his cancer. But thanks for the info, it never hurts to put your experience out there, it may well help someone. The lad is limping a bit worse today but that is because he is a staffy and refuses point blank to sit still (silly old bugger does not realise it is for his own benefit). It is a slow process but we will get there - I am confident of that.

Hi guys, Thanks for the well wishes. Glad to hear that Jack has no signs of MCT Moops. Helen how is your crew and the lively Lucinda? The boy is doing remarkably well. He is weight bearing already but still limping. He is getting higher doses of Ester C along with fish oil and chondritan to help repair the damage. The vet is happy to give me some time to try and heal him this way because his other knee came back so well (I am so glad that I did not do the surgery last time, when the other vet up there was so pushy about it). It is wait and see, if he needs the op he will get it but if I can keep him relaxed (ever seen a relaxed staffy???) and quiet until he heals a bit, I think he will be fine.

ditto. Surely the carer knew this old dog was in its last legs well before it got to this point. How very sad that an old dog passed with pain

Rest in peace old girl

Oh poor babies. We were warned that if one goes then the other one usually goes within 18 months - well we have just had the other cruciate ligament go (last week). Fortunately once again, it is only a partial tear and the vet was so impressed with the way the first one has healed without surgery, he is giving me 6-8 weeks to use the same treatments I did last time before he makes any decision to operate. It was only a week ago, yesterday and he is already putting weight on it - fingers crossed for another full recovery without surgery. Good luck to all the pooches having surgery, I hope they all recover quickly.

Another vote for West Queanbeyan Vets - 6297 5540.

Why haven't they done an ultrasound if the xray showed nothing? I would be requesting this today if it was my dog. There are so many things that this could be. I would assume it is not a tick because it has been over a week (although there are plenty of ticks around at the moment). It could be both cruciate ligaments torn at the same time. It could be a pinched nerve in the spine somewhere. It could be a tumour on the spine (not necessarily malignant). It could be that the poor little one has just put his back out and needs a doggy chiropractor. It could be a dislocation of knee or hip. These are just a few off the top of my head but I am sure others will come in here with more ideas for you. Firstly go and ask for an ultrasound and see if that brings anything to light - they may have been xraying his legs and it could be in his back too. Good luck and I hope he gets better soon.

RIP Zy. Condolences to your friend jbbb

I'm sorry Teebs, give my best to your dad and the rest of the family. RIP Duke

Thanks for the good wishes. The old man is really limping this morning (it is the other one, so that is both back legs now) but it is also only a partial again and our wonderful vet said after the good job of getting the original cruciate ligament tear, back to as well as can be expected, that he is going to give me 6 weeks and see how it is then. He thinks Ollie will make a recovery like last time - I hope and pray he is right. Even though he is 11 and sore, he still won't sit still so we have had to have someone sitting with him to keep him still. Lucky it is school holidays and the youngest is at home because Ollie is more than happy to sit in amongst him and all his friends in the lounge room when they are here.

Thanks Kirsty, It looks like Ollie has damaged his other rear leg cruciate ligament also - he may end up needing both of them done. I am going to rest him for a week and see if I can get him back to where he was before this last set back. Hopefully with rest he will not need the operation at the moment. I am really hesitant to put him through surgery, he was 11 in June and even though his blood work comes back clear, I can see the tumours that he does have are growing. Will see how he goes in the next week.