Miss B

I will be coming with my OH, we are bringing our 'problem child' Luna

600g, I'd be happy with that :rolleyes: I've got my two Cavs on the Hills R/D weight reduction diet and they are doing really well. You will probably find that she will lose a really decent amount for the first couple of weeks, and then her weight loss will slow down or even plateau. Just continue with her diet/exercise and you'll see results. Slow and steady is the key to weight loss success

Exactly. I know a clinic that does dirt-cheap desexing, but they skimp on a lot of things in order to keep the price down - post-op pain relief is not included, nor is the recheck appointment. And to top it all off, they do not have nurses monitoring the anaesthetic during surgery.

If a few customers don't want their precious Fluffy crated, I'd tell them to take Fluffy elsewhere. The vet hospital I work at has an in-house groomer two days per week. The grooming dogs are admitted in the mornings, groomed throughout the day and then discharged in the afternoon. At all times while they are not being groomed, they are kept in kennels or runs in the hospital's dog ward. They have a comfy blanket to lay on, fresh water at all times, and the dog ward is air conditioned. If a customer owns two dogs and wishes them to be kennelled together, then that is fine but other than that, the dogs are not allowed to mingle. Many of them do not socialise well with other dogs anyway, it would be a disaster waiting to happen. I don't like the idea of benching the dogs, or allowing them to roam and mingle together. As a client, I would not take my dogs to a grooming salon that did not securely crate or kennel my dogs.

We recommend to clients that they keep their dog as quiet as possible until the stitches are removed (10-14 days post-surgery). No vigorous exercise, no jumping up and down off couches/beds, no swimming, no rough play with other dogs etc. All of our castrates/spays are sent home with three days of post-op pain relief, which sometimes has owners amazed at how well their dog seems to have recovered in such a quick time. Truth is they are still sore, the painkillers are just masking it. We recently had our rescue girl spayed and I kept her indoors for 10 days, until the stitches came out.

Mum to Emma, do you actually understand the difference between dogs and humans? The human medical system versus veterinary practices... it's apples and oranges I'm afraid, so there is absolutely no point in comparing the two.

There is always a risk with any surgery under GA, and obviously the risk is increased in older dogs - even more so if they have a heart murmur. Have a chat to your vet, he/she will be able to assess the old girl and give you an idea about whether they'd be comfortable spaying her at this age

Minook went to Puppy Preschool at 9 weeks of age (after her first vaccination), but other than that we kept her at home until two weeks after her final shot (which she had at 16 weeks). During that time she did come with us to visit my Dad and my other dogs, but I know their vaccination history.

I actually took a phone call at work the other week and was asked, "Oh hi... just wondering if you bulk-bill?"

LOL, that's ok - the other week I saw a lady with a ridgie and she and I got talking... then a few minutes later I asked, "Are you Katherine" and she said, "Er, no" :cool: I'm on the early shift next week so I should have no trouble making it there - might catch you then :D

I didn't make it tonight Got held up at work with an emergency case.

We've had so many tick cases at work this week, including a few that were too far gone :nahnah: Tick season is well and truly upon us.

You should ask your vet about purchasing Vetmedin in larger amounts to save on dispensing fees, it seems odd that they would only allow you to purchase two weeks worth at a time - especially as they are obviously aware that your dog will be on the Vetmedin long-term.

We had our rescue girl desexed recently, and I opted for the tattoo. If she somehow gets loose, I want whoever finds her to know that she's been spayed and is not a potential baby-making machine

Geez, no need to be so rude. It was equally as appropriate for it to be in the TRAINING section, imo. Considering it is, after all, show TRAINING. I had to work late tonight, but I'll be there next week ridgeback-lover

Advantage/Advantix contains an active ingredient called Imidacloprid, which is suspended in a benzyl alcohol mixture. The benzyl alcohol helps spread the liquid over the body of your dog, and it gets absorbed and then locked into the lipid layer of the dogs skin. It does not travel into the dogs bloodstream, it remains in that lipid layer and kills fleas on contact. The ingredient in Advantix that kills ticks is Permethrin. And yeah you should be fine to treat your pooch after a bath but just make sure he is fully dried first We had a Bayer representative give us a presentation on these products recently actually. They were telling us about how one of the Bayer reps applied a tube of Advantage to her own wrist to demonstrate how it works... a few hours later her arms, shoulders, neck etc were all glittering with the tiny crystals of Imidacloprid which had been carried over her skin by the benzyl alcohol.

Buy in bulk where you can, that way you only pay a single dispensing fee. If your vet has put your dog on the drugs long term then there shouldn't really be any problem with you buying them in larger amounts. Our dispensing fee is nowhere near $18, and it's charged on prescription medications only. And yes Frudix and Vetmedin are pretty expensive drugs.

Toy aussie mom, I am glad that you plan to stick around The DOL forums are a wealth of information and there are plenty of lovely people happy to share their knowledge and experience. How are your pups going, are they still shaking their ears?

Depends, do you use a flea treatment that covers some intestinal worms? If so, you could use Virbac Tapewormer tablets, as tapeworm is the one usually not covered. Otherwise I'd recommend Drontal - my dogs go nuts for the chewables.

Glad to hear it went well I did the same thing a few years ago when I got my two Cav puppies I still take my Sibe pup to work with me every now and again BUT it's a bit different these days as I work in a vet clinic so she's really not that out of place.

I see a lot of nasties at work - breakdown of wounds, infection, stitches chewed/popped out etc. So I guess I tend to be overly cautious.

I agree with persephone. We have a girl here who was spayed last week, and she has been confined to a puppy pen in the loungeroom and only allowed outside on-leash for toilet breaks.

Yes, she's on a lead when outside with the other dogs.

Thanks Bec. Thank you. Yes it's very difficult without knowing her history. From what I can gather (I managed to track down her previous vet records) she was purchased from a Pets Paradise store and then basically dumped in someone's backyard. They didn't do any obedience with her, and she doesn't respond to her name (the one listed on her microchip). She had apparently ended up in the pound several times already. We would dearly love to keep her as she's a gorgeous dog with a very loving and affectionate nature towards people. But I cannot risk the health and safety of my own dogs. Hopefully a trainer will be able to help us deal with this situation. Yep she is very submissive towards people and hasn't shown even the slightest ounce of aggression towards us. As I said to my OH earlier today, if she was showing aggression towards people then this would be a whole other kettle of fish. But hopefully the dog-aggression issue is something we can resolve. They are not fed together, no. The other dogs are fed outside, she is fed inside. They eat before she does. I will get in touch with a trainer, and in the meantime I'll continue with the supervised play sessions.

Thanks for the input guys. I really do not know what I should do, as I would hate to unintentionally exacerbate the situation. Puggypuggy; yes, I corrected her when she started the fight with my Sibe puppy. She became very submissive/apologetic, cuddling up to me, putting her paws in my lap etc. She's an absolute angel with people, but not good with dogs. I am thinking she has probably had absolutely zero socialisation with other dogs and perhaps does not know how to behave? I had originally thought that they would work themselves out, but it actually seems a bit worse today than it has been so far? She's had one or two very minor spats with the Sibe puppy, but this afternoon she was so worked up she was frothing at the mouth, thank god she was muzzled. I am thinking we need to get a professional trainer in to assess the situation. This is not really something I want to attempt to tackle on my own. Does anyone have any recommendations for dog behaviourists in the Brissie area?