suezija

Never even thought of pancreatitis. Just didn't occur to me. Definitely worth a look at when he goes for another blood clotting count at our own vets in the next few days. (will continue with this regime) Looking at him now there is nothing at all wrong except he seems a little lean. He was also very weak in his hind legs for a good 4-5 days, but that's ok now. Not so bad that he can't try to rape the Kerry who is thinking about coming into season. Oakway, we don't usually get spiders around their kennels as they are sprayed so regularly to keep mossies etc at bay. We have Pestrol. Staff'n'Toller, it appears the vet didn't bother to explore any other avenues even though OH told him there was no way he could see how poisoning could occur, especially as there was no vomiting, diarrhea, frothing etc. By the way, this little man has been poisoned before, that's why we changed to the non-residual poison and his reaction was not at all similar to these symptoms. He will stand out of the way and bark at a snake and does not attack so why can't the little bugger leave other things alone. Thanks for all your help and I will explore all other possibilities, especially pancreatitis.

No, any poison for rats, mice that we use has no secondary residual effects. But his colour would be very pale, even grey, if he had a dose of poison. Neighbours don't poison as they don't have horse feed etc around and we checked with them. Others too far away.

On Friday while I was interstate my OH came home from work and found the Boston male all roached up, unable to stand, his ears quivering and eyes watering. The bitch in the same run was ok. Called me on his way to the vet and said that it didn't look like poisoning as he was a good colour, hadn't vomited or diarrhea, just the above symptoms. Our vet was at a funeral so the vet nurse called ahead to the next vet who is 15-20 mins away. OH raced there and then waited another 30 mins until the vet arrived who then saw two others who were waiting before looking at the boy. Said he had rat poisoning as his blood clotting time was 2.5 mins, not too bad I thought, should be 2 mins. OH called me and I spoke to the vet who said that the initial cost was about $400. "So?" says I. He gave him Vit K1 and said he would keep him. I was not happy with this but OH was worried so agreed. Vet called next morning and said his clotting time was now 3 mins. OK, stress could cause this, never been away from home. Colour still good and no vomiting etc. I told OH to go get the dog and make sure he got some Vit K1 tabs. He was a little improved so I decided that OH was handling the situation so didn't go home then. When I arrived home on Sunday evening he was a little roached but eating well and by Mon morning he was much improved and now, Tues evening looks great and has never vomited or had diarrhea yet. Still giving him Vit K1 and watching him but I just can't get the idea that it was rat poison. OH has checked every where and has no idea how he would have got the rat poison if that's what it was. Anyone got any ideas?

I don't know what advice to give to this question, so I thought, Ah ha, DOLers. A perfectly "normal" dog has started to the other faeces that are left around. Picking up would be a problem as the area is very big, although the night time pen is kept clean and picked up. Why would this dog begin to do this? He is fed a balanced diet, but started this after a bitch in season was around. I've never had this problem so am unable to help. Can any DOLers give me some advice to pass on.

I really feel for you and understand your worry about knowing when the time is right. You will be able to tell. Are you in a position to have another furkid to be with these two now? If you are it is possible that this will help all of you to cope a little better. I know that nobody can take the place of you lost one but will help bridge the gap. I've always brought my dogs home with me and their earthly bodies are in the garden, their spirit is always with me.

I find one of the best ears cleaners is Peroxide. I just lay the dog on his/her side and use a wad of tissues or kitchen towels to stop it going into the eyes and pour from the lid, don't syringe, into the ear. I then turn the head and allow the liquid to drain out. I repeat it with the other ear. Because it all evaporates quickly there is no residue and as soon as it dries the dog no longer shakes it's head. I have Kerries with very hairy ears that need to be plucked and Bostons with wide open ears that can collect all sorts of dust etc. By the way I also used this method on my kids when we lived in Darwin and they never had "tropical ear" from swimming.

If you feel the back of your unclenched hand it will give you a good idea of what covering you should feel on the ribs of your dog. I find that as good a rule as any.

Yeah, right!! Sorry but I've just spurted coffee all over my keyboard. Can't stop laughing. The beating of the offending item will surely get you a ride to the funny farm.

Use the comb to get the bulk out by holding it like a pencil and draw the end only through (with the lay of the coat) it's amazing the amount that comes out without stress. I've always used a comb to take out the coat when the moult is really heavy, eg GSD, BC, Bouves etc You are then left with a coat that looks normal but has been thinned out quite a lot. The dog does not get upset by this and it is far easier on you as well.

To 250ml shampoo add 1 tbsp glycerine. Wash and massage well into the skin, rinse, then shampoo again and rinse again. Don't use a conditioner. Before the bath use a stripping block, like a rough soft pumice that's used for horses, sorry, can't remember the name. Really get down and shift all the old coat off the body. Sardines work from the inside, say, twice a week but this is a quick fix. Usually works well. Enjoy your trip.

I use Martha Gardners Wool Mix on both the Kerries and Bostons, mixed with glycerine and water. Some horse shampoos are also good.

Bret, during this very dry period we lost all our grass and only have dirt for a backyard and runs (growing now a bit with the use of our grey water), so we brought home fleas from somewhere. One of my dogs is just so allergic. Washed them in Nucidol, then sprayed the whole yard, runs etc with "Grubkill" from the local produce store. Did it twice, a week apart, no problem but still give a final rinse with Nucidol before a show so they bring nothing home. I also have a spray bottle with some diluted Nucidol for those occasions when someone might have a bit of an itch. I keep Capstar just in case and can buy it from IGA, Woolies etc. I find that conditioner on dogs only seems to increase the dandruff, try putting a little Glycerine in the rinse for a shine, just a little, a few drops only.

Polaramine for ours too.

Hey TD, glad to hear there doesn't seem to be any lasting ill effects. Just an idea, you said he had vomited grass. Is it possible the grass came from a boundary fence where possibly neighbours, council could have sprayed say Roundup or something similar/ The fact that he threw it up means he didn't get a good dose but the membranes in the mouth do absorb very quickly as you would be aware. Just an idea, but so glad the boy is feeling great.

Just be careful with too many bones as it can cause constipation as the bones leach the fluid from the intestines and cause hard, white stools. You might want to give sardines in oil or something similar a few times a week if bones make up a substantial part of your dog's diet.

I get quail eggs from a commercial seller and my kids get a chicken neck and two hard boiled quail eggs for breakfast three to four times a week. I roll the eggs around to break the shell a little but I don't think it matters, they would eat them anyway. When I'm short of little eggs I scramble 2-3 chook eggs with some stock and divide that up with their necks. I must admit the chicken necks are chewed up first, except for the puppy Kerry who inhales all his food. Can't understand it as he didn't have to compete as a baby as he was only one of two in the litter, but he seems to think that it must all be devoured before anybody else gets it. They are all fed seperately.

Do you mean to tell me that I have read through all these pages and no-one has a solution to the problem? In all these years I have never had such a destructive animal. I can't trust her with anything. It's not like she has nothing to play with, just a big box full of toys and a real Kerry as well. Came home tonight to find the spine off my lovely Kerry book. :p Now that was on the table but it seems we can jump that high. I'm talking a nearly 8 month old Boston here. She has a perchant for paper and destroys anything with paper in it. But then again one of the kitchen drawers has no wooden knob on it now, OH hasn't seen that one yet. All the bird feeders, the plastic tubes that hold water and honey etc are also destroyed whenever possible. It's getting to the stage she may have to go to the kennels during the day when we are at work but after losing her uncle a few months ago from a snake bite, I'm very reluctant to put her downstairs. Any solutions that anybody may have would be gratefully received and applied.

I have a snake killer stick outside each door/gate etc. We made them by rivetting a piece of sheet metal to the end of a hoe type tool. It's got a long handle bout 6' long and the metal is about 8" long and 4" high. It disposes of toads with one good whack (it cuts them in half) but the feeling is so good they get a few more for good measure, then into the wheelie bin not the freezer. ( icky) A scythe would do as good a job too. Oooh, what fun. :D

Well, finally an answer for your girl. Maybe not exactly what you were looking for but at least treatable. I hope it clears enough for travel. Don't throw out anything that you look at and know cannot be replaced, especially those with memories. Cyclone Tracy did that to us, then when we moved from the NT to Qld, all our stuff went missing. We fortunately had packed our valuables and photos etc and they travelled with my OH tools of trade, so we still had those. Especially important when you lose one of your kids and need the photos at times to show grandchildren. Good luck with the packing, moving etc.

Just checking on your girl as I have been so busy the last two weeks that I haven't even had time to check my mail. So I'm hoping that no news is good news. Keep us posted.

Yep, that's the "brat". (lol) She does really feel things and at present things are really not going her way. Send a few little happy thoughts her way. She'd rescue the world if she could.

Hi, I'm so glad things appear to be getting better. I'm really sorry that I haven't answered you earlier but had a few problems here and there. One being my daughter's rescued greyhound killed one of her cats. She is very distressed but unfortunately these things sometimes happen. I think what is upsetting her nearly as much is that her 14 yo step daughter witnessed the attack and she is not coping well. Back to the blood test in case anybody else ever needs to know. A blood sample is taken and an additive called silearth (silica earth) is added to the fresh sample in grey top vacutainers and if the blood doesn't clot within 1.5 mins then there is a problem. Again, it appears that your girl has turned the corner, thank goodness.

Hey Pampa, Just wondering if the vet has done any other blood tests. It seems strange that she seems to have the blood clotting mechanism working OK. How long since the vet did a blood clotting time test? I think I would ask for one, particularly as she has finished her course of vitK1. That would tell you if she needs further vit. or not. If that count is OK then maybe you need to look at other things. As I said we dosed and tested/counted for 10 weeks. Just feed her up, maybe get some Incremin or whatever is used to increase the iron level in her blood. Good old liver is probably as good as anything. Will keep checking on her.

He was on a tablet form of vit K1 and needed 7 per day ( I think) and a bottle of 100 cost $aud75.00. I didn't get any opposition from the other half as I had asked him to get the other form of poison. Can't think of its name but after it has been ingested it is no longer poisonous to the other animals. This then makes me think that Talon has an "afterlife". Although the dogs don't eat rats or mice they still like to play and they would obviously find dying ones around. Except for the lack of blood clotting when he had his tests there was really no discernable difference to him. It was very hard to stop him and really hard to play ball etc with the others and he wasn't allowed. I had to lock him away so he couldn't see them playing. Being a brindle coated dog it was difficult to see any bruising without wetting him down and parting the coat, but because he was confined we were able to keep that to a minimum. I also think because we started treatment before we even went to the vet we got off on the right foot early. This was done through sheer panic, "Lets get started then call Tony" Our initial enquiries from the poison hot line was taken by a very helpful lady who gave us the doseage needed calculated on weight but later when I called again I got a young man who said he couldn't help as the hot line "was for people not dogs". I have since found that this is not true. I would encourage everybody to keep on hand Charcoal tablets and Vit C because vomitting is not always recomended, and Ipecac liquid for vomitting. These should be in all our dog med. kits. I hope your girl is getting better every day.