Pawfect

That's interesting - my vet said to hold off until it gets bad, because the scarring from sugery causes probs in itself & the procedure would likely lead to early arthritis in the area. We were advised to give joint guard daily, and cartrophen injections every 6 mths (or more frequent if necessary).... It's been 2-3rys of doing this & so far my dog has been great apart from when she does strenuous off-lead running. We know she'll need surgery eventually, but so far so good... (she had one knee that was rated a 3, and one that was 2/3).

OMG - so sad for those dogs. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to own pets :

So sorry to have read that about your grandfather. Best wishes during this difficult time

I've used odourgo before - I bought the peppermint scent. I love it as an air freshener & also put a dash in with the washing sometimes. Unfortunately i've found it isn't very effective for eliminating very strong odours though (like my OH's shoes ). On Cat World they all seem to rave about a product called Odaban. I've recently tried this too, and just cannot stand the smell of it!!!... I bought it to get rid of the smell of cat pee in my soft crate (damn foster kitten!). Odourgo only masked the smell for a short time so I was desperate. Unfortunately Odaban smelt just as bad as the pee IMO, which hasn't faded over time/airing out, so now I have a EXTRA stinky crate!!

This is how Mr 'I hate pets - they're yours not mine' spends his evenings:

I've got foster kittens that have been been kept isolated for the last 3 months due to illness. They've now recovered and are going off to their new homes, & as of this weekend only one will be left. I've been bringing him into the house to socialise him a bit with the dogs (this is what I did with the last single kitten I had, & it formed a great friendship with one of the dogs. This put my mind at ease about him being lonely all by himself). Only problem is that this kitten is now quite big, and after having littermates to play with for so long they've learnt to play very rough! My dogs aren't sure if he's playing or attacking, and are a bit scared. They also aren't fond of being groomed, because they're worried they might be eaten alive!! And of course the kitten is very curious and won't leave the dogs alone! I want to encourage the kitten to be good with dogs as it will help his adoptability, but at the same time I don't want to stress my dogs. I'd really like them to all live in harmony rather than keep everyone seperate, so am wondering if anybody had any tips on what I should do? One dog I'm sure will be ok over time, but the other is such a sook!..

It looked liked she'd grazed herself to be honest, & the scabs glowed green... But when you look in daylight it didn't look scabby - just bald & bit red. Does blood glow? ETA- In that pic, and also with my foster kittens the glowing was intense and a bit patchy. Although Cindy's was def glowing green it wasn't as fluoro, and it was uniform within the sore

Hi! My Mum's greyhound was over at our house yesterday, and had very strange sores on one of her legs. I've just gone through a ringworm epidemic with my foster kittens, and although my Mum's dog hasn't had any contact with them...I guess it's possible she picked up spores from my Mum if she hasn't disinfected herself appropriately after touching my kittens... I took a look under the blacklight at Cindy's sores & they glowed green, but the hairs didn't. Does this sound like it's ringworm to you? (I always thought it was just the hairs that glowed). The vet wasn't sure if it was or not, and didn't do a culture to check. I'm a bit frightened my dogs might catch it from her (plus whole backyard might be contaminated), and I'd just die if my kittens got it again (they've just finished quarantine & I was planning on integrating them into the house this week).

Yes, we're planning to use Monash's Echo system which will record both audio and visual of the presentations and they will then be made available online for free. Check the Animal Welfare Science Centre's website after the seminar for links. http://www.animalwelfare.net.au I can't find the link :D

I have vinyl plnks that look like wood. The planks are easy to lay yourself (look like planks of timber), and ended up being about $30 per square metre I think (we got it on special though). They have the wood grains and everything (therefore not slippery like tiles) - look a bit like floating timber/laminate floors, but mine isn't quite as shiny (we purposely got a matt finish so scuff marks don't show up as easily). I got it from Harvey Norman - it's an exclusive special design where the planks stick together side by side, and you don't need to prep the area like other vinyl flooring (which can be expensive). Great for spills and I haven't seen a single scratch yet. Only downside is that you still get scuff marks, but these buff out very easily. And since mine are a very dark colour and light shines directly on them, they show the dust a bit (but I guess polished timber would too).

http://www.rspca.org.au/assets/files/Campa...aperJan2010.pdf All feedback needs to be in by 31 March.

Ginger is def supposed to help - try feeding a ginger biscuit before the ride, and perahps a few drops of rescue remedy. In severe cases my vet said to use a very small dose of phenergan (sp?) from chemist.

Havahart spray away motion sprinkler. It is has a motion sensor and sprays water when activated... Not sure where to get it in Aus though - might have to do some googling...

I had my first experience of a vet clinic cat just recently - it was a total pain!! Apart from the fact the seats were right near the litter tray (that stank), the cat was a stickynose and wanted to inspect every animal that came in. It attacked a poor little Lab puppy that was just sitting down minding it's own business, and kept hoping on the crate of my foster kittens who were sick and very contagious (cat flu and ringworm)...and when I was weighing the kittens, it kept jumping onto the scales as well! So annoying (and unhygenic)!...

According to our vet surgery should be a last option because it leads to scar tissue, which causes arthritis later in life. My girl has luxating patellas also (one knee is Grade 2 and the other is Grade 3) as well as elbow dyplasia. She was diagnosed 18mths-2yrs ago. With cartrophen injections every 6 mths and joint guard daily in her food she's been symptom free for about a year. I know it'll likely get worse with time (she's almost 5yo), and she may need surgery in the future but surgery advances get better and better over time so i'd rather wait until it it gets more sore and unmanagable. The main thing for the meantime is to limit jumping, sharp turns, etc which will aggrevate the knees (which is more easily said than done!).

I'm glad everyone likes these toys. I've been stocking them for awhile, but found they don't sell well online as opposed to the pet days I attend - I don't know why cause my dogs think they're great !! Nice to know others agree with me

Vets All Natural Joint Formula has a much higher recommended dosage compared to joint guard, so it isn't as cost effective IMO (for my dog I have to give her 3x more).

Use unsweetened pineapple juice in their food. If that doesn't work apparently chorophyll tablets from the health food shop works wonders.

Eeek - don't like the sound of that!! Poor dogs - how terrible. Mine were fine apart from the snort attacks, and this has eased up heaps in the last day or two. I plan on fostering, so need to make sure they have the KC vaccine yearly, but I don't want to do a C5 every time so I thought the nasal one would be perfect.

Thanks Puggy - I've been covering their noses when they get an attack, and this makes them breath through their mouth and stops it temporarily. They seem to be getting the snort attacks less frequently now (phew!).

My dogs have all had the jelly-poo too, but it wasn't from a vaccination. Vet said there's a few tummy bugs going around... Perhaps your dog picked it up from the vet surgery when you were there?

My dogs had a Kennel Cough intranasal vaccination a week ago, and in the last few days they've both had attack of the snorts. Is this normal, and if so, how long does it last for? It sounds like they're hyperventilating...

Ask The Spotted Devil (from memory the company she was working for was looking at stocking them - but their name escapes me). I remember seeing them at the Pet and Animal Expo (they were asking people to fill out a questionaire about whether they'd buy/use them).

I can totally sympathise - even the vet needs a lie down after cutting MY dog's nails

Thanks for all the replies - i've given the entire list of suggestions to Mum today. They've had her for approx 7 weeks I think. I don't think stress has been an issue - she settled in just beautifully. Yes she's a GAP dog, and she's black (so it really shows up!). Her previous owner had never bathed her, and I'm not sure if GAP did because when my parents picked her up it was mentioned that it didn't look like she had bathed. My parents haven't washed her (yet), because they were a bit scared it might make the dandruff worse (and they're not sure how she'd react is she's never been washed before - so didn't want to rush into it). However since she's arrived the dandruff has got a bit better, it is no longer on her tummy - just on her back now. Her coat has certainly improved and is extremely soft and much shinier. Since it seems like diet has improved it somewhat, they haven't taken her to the vet for a skin scraping or anything, but I think washing her was going to be their next step, so thanks for the suggestions.