kayla1

Hi allie181, have you tried contacting the rescue group as they can put you in touch with a behaviourist if you need help. :)

a proper dog door would be good, but im guessing having one cut into the glass will be expensive? shes a german shepherd too so we would need a biggish door, and i worry about someone getting in the house, although i guess they would be pretty stupid with a german shepherd present, i wouldnt want to take my chances against her. I have seen them in glass doors but I'm not sure what the cost would be.

I would also recommend a doggie door. Mine spend the day inside and use the doggie door when they feel the need to toilet or munch on some grass. They have some low value toys lying around inside and anything I don't want chewed is put away. The bin is out of reach, as is any food.

Not a Snooza but I have a K&H version with 3" foam and I still put something underneath, even with carpet.

Thanks for your replies. It's unlikely my dogs will be kennelled so that's not really an issue. espinay2 - that's really interesting, I remember reading 6 mths somewhere but didn't know it could be as few as 3 mths.

Yes I understand the general recommendation for KC is annually, but I'm curious as to why some people may not. :) My dogs do not get vaccinated (core vaccines) annually, however in the past I have maintained the annual KC vaccine because of foster dogs coming and going. However as I am not taking on any new foster dogs at the moment, I am rethinking the need for the annual KC.

For those of you that vaccinate your dogs triennially with the core vaccines (or less frequently, or titre test instead), do you still get the annual kennel cough vaccination? If not, why not? Just curious.

It could be that she was not allowed to ask these sorts of questions under her ethics approval conditions. -- A couple of things I think it would be helpful to remember: - We don't know if this survey is the extent or even the main part of her study. It could be just an extra part of her work and her core conclusions are coming from elsewhere. - an Honours year is very much a TRAINING position. The students are generally 21 year-olds with NO research experience. The primary objective is to provide these students with experience in designing and running a small project, and if the results turn out to be something that is publishable that is just a bonus. If the research turn out to be flawed or inadequate, it won't make it out into the peer-reviewed literature anyway. - From what I've seen, many uni's are making students do more and more peripheral work in addition to their thesis (other essays, group projects etc.). It's a tough year. Suggesting helpful advice and constructive criticism is fair and hopefully will be received in the spirit it's intended, but let's cut the kid a break, huh? Thank you Weasels, so well said :) I've bolded it in the hope more people will read it and calm down. She may have problems with validity of data due to the way some of the questions were asked, but she can discuss that in the discussion/limitation sections in her thesis.

Glad he is doing well!

Mine are 4 yrs, 5 yrs, 12 yrs, and 13 yrs. I didn't plan it that way, it's just how it worked out (some failed fosters). The two oldies love short walks and food. The two younger ones get longer walks and lots of games. They all get along really well.

What a gorgeous little man :) He is very lucky to have you.

Thanks, glad to hear your girl didn't have any relapses. My boy Coco responded quickly to the treatment too. He had the 6 wks of antibiotics and cortisone, and remained on cortisone for pain. He was doing really well but unfortunately his spine hasn't fused and the movement has caused more inflammation and pain recently, so he's back on antibiotics and also dexamethasone now. Did your girl lose any function in her hind legs? With Coco it seems to have affected his right hind leg in particular, which is now weaker and sticks out at an odd angle.

Anyone have experience with discospondylitis? If so, how did your dog respond to treatment and did you have any relapse?

My old boy is on pred for spinal problems and it's working well for him. He does have some side effects such as drinking more, peeing more often. Also was quite restless for the first few days but that seemed to settle after a while (not sure whether that was pain related though).

Agree re Monash Vet, they diagnosed a problem in one of my dogs that other vets had missed. Cartrophen injections are not doing a great deal for my older girl Kayla.

Just following on from helen's question, is stem cell therapy used mainly for severe cases of arthritis, say where the dog is not responding to nsaids or other medication? Or is it also useful for arthritis that is not so severe.

OSoSwift is your boy's excruciating pain caused by pressure on the nerves in his spine? kayla1. I had my boy treated for arthritis last year with stem cell. The same vet done stem cell on a dog with spondylosis, and the vet is over the moon with the results. He does the therapy in conjunction with a company called Medivet. I spoke to them quite a few times before I took the step and they were very helpful with my questions. They also have a office in Vic. Thanks boppa, did you see Ray with your boy? That's who I took Coco to yesterday, though we didn't talk about stem cell therapy.

Coco has started on pred now too. The vet yesterday said it's a combination of major disc collapse, along with discospondylitis. Poor boy. So he had a cortisone injection, and is now on pred, antibiotics, and tramal. We will get some relief, it's just going to take time.

I love what you are doing for your boy. Im in the same position myself and running out of options if things deteriorate from where my boy is currently at. He too has that will to do things and will never give in which in some ways makes life harder as he constantly gets his ambitions mixed up with his capabilities which leads to him aggravating things further which is not good if he is having a tough day. I had been able to keep things fairly stable for a while, but the deterioration over the past 2 months has been frightening and Im dreading winter and what that might do It is frightening when they go downhill so quickly. Coco was only diagnosed a month ago, and some days are better than others, but he's been much worse this week. Showdog does he try to lick off the arnica cream, and how often do you apply it?

OSoSwift is your boy's excruciating pain caused by pressure on the nerves in his spine?

Thanks for your reply Rappie. He's only had one xray, and that was the initial xray done (without sedation) to rule out obstruction as the cause of pain, but it showed spondylosis of L2/L3. Would further xrays be needed to diagnose the other conditions?

Coco is a 13 yr old Brittany and was diagnosed with spondylosis a few weeks ago. He's been on onsior (NSAID) for about three weeks, and that seemed to work well for a couple of weeks, but then the pain started to return. He went downhill a few days ago to the point where he couldn't stand up, so he is now also on tramal three times a day. The tramal helps with the pain somewhat, however it seems to wear off after a few hours, leaving him in pain again. I'm taking him to Ray Ferguson next week for another opinion, but in the meantime will look at switching from onsior to another NSAID to hopefully help with the pain. Does anyone know if certain NSAIDs are more effective with pain relief? Or any other suggestions to help with the pain?

I've had problems with Pookinuk too - very slow delivery and no response to my queries. Recently purchased TOTW through Natural Pet Store and found them to be good.

For Coco I was told three days between carprieve and onsior, with tramal on those days to get him through.

I've had good results with Glyde, it has certainly helped Kayla with her arthritis, but it's very expensive.