Rappie

There's no real physical reason stopping people from removing sutures themselves - in itself it is a relatively simple procedure. I like to take sutures out myself so that I can check how wounds have healed and satisfy myself that everything is ok. Sutures from speys and castrates aren't so important, but with a big surgery I want to know that everything is ok before we "undo" it, so to speak. It's nothing personal! As SnT said, you've got a few days grace on taking sutures out. I have taken sutures out of a rabbit, and JRT that had been in place for 3 mths and 1 year respectively :D The owners has just forgotten about them.

I suspect (hope!) that the vet wrote a prescription for a specific drug and the pharmacist offered a cheaper / generic brand for a lower price.

That's an interesting thing for them to say... I see a lot of itchy dogs and I do my best to avoid steroids in treating them (unless it appears to be true atopic allergies where all other measures have failed and the owners don't, for whatever reason, want to see a dermatologist). Antihistamines can work well, especially in conjunction with all the other symptomatic treatments (Aloveen / oatmeal washes and conditioners, Malaseb, omega oils, dietary trials to rule out food allergies etc). The problem with them is that their effects are not as profoud in dogs as in human, which means that sometimes only a reduction in itch will be seen rather than making it disappear - but I feel that even a partial response is better than nothing. Using antihistamines is a bit of trial and error in that you may need to try several before you find one that works. Most of the over the counter ones from a pharmacy are quite safe to use, even long term, however the doses needed can be higher than in people. The older generations of antihistamines often work best and side effect likes sedation are less noticeable than in people. PM me if you like.

I no longer work at the clinic I had mentioned in that post, so I cannot check however the heartworm injection was rarely given to dogs that were not "difficult" - thus I suspect it was on a monthly treatment.

I have come to this thread late, and have a couple of comments to make.... Firstly, apologies to the original poster for not replying earlier, it is awful to see an animal in distress and having little power to relieve it - glad to hear he's on the mend though ;) Secondly, lets everyone have a careful think about the reality of internet forums. There is a wide range of knowledge, skills and experience amongst the members of this forum. It doesn't really matter how big your home pharmacy is, nor how frequently you use it, nor the amount of experience you have with it - what suits you and your situation may not be suitable for another dog (cat, horse, etc). Bottom line is that there has been some information put forward in this thread that is getting quite close to being interpreted as direction to give an animal a potentially harmful medication - advice offered to complete strangers, and by a person/s with no specific knowledge of the animal in question. I don't assert authority on this forum very often but I am going to now: DO NOT administer any prescription veterinary medication (or human over the counter medication) to your animal without prior direction from or after discussion with YOUR VET (or after hours / emergency vet) To posters - it is not appropriate to recommend to other posters that prescription medication be used, nor to recommend dosages, nor advise on administrations. There is a fine line between sharing your own experiences and suggesting that an owner speak to their vet about whether something may be appropriate, and offering what may constitute direction to give a medication because "a vet" said it was safe, or you have done it a hundred times before and nothing bad has happened. People are welcome to PM me with questions or to ask for advice (and many do) however even in relative anonymity I post and reply within the bounds of the legislations and codes of ethics that apply to me as a veterinary surgeon - and unfortunately sometimes that can lead to me appearing to be unhelpful in my "providing information and advice of a general nature".

Revolution has no registered claim against Paralysis Ticks. For people in the Blue Mountains - we had our first clinical case of tick paralysis last week. Please everyone keep a close eye out and check your dogs daily.

I get what you mean, however the situation you are referring to in particular really needs to be outlined by the poster. I desexed my own dog for a token cost paid to my employer - I did it with constant anaesthetic monitoring, full surgical pack etc, same degree of care as any other spey. I have previously desexed a male cat in return for software for the clinic owner. I have honestly been asked by my bf's mother if I could bring drugs and instruments to her place to desex her two female cats one weekend and had to stop laughing before I could finally let out a decisive "NO". Being paid in a non monetary "currency" and doing something properly aren't mutually exclusive, although I can understand that potentially that could be the case. Edit: Wanted to be less specific.

I understand which comment you were remarking on, but I'm not sure I understand your particular concerns. It's not as though students are let loose with a bottle of ether and a couple of rusty scalpel blades

I guess this is a little off topic... Been reading the thread with interest but I couldn't let this pass - apprentice? Veterinary science isn't a trade - I'm not sure who you are referring to with this comment. Veterinary students desperate for surgical experience on an animal that is living and breathing, performing surgery under the very close, very direct supervision of an experienced surgeon? Or new graduates (like myself) with a professional qualification and skills and knowledge that require constant development, performing surgical procedures under the wing of a more experienced mentor? In terms of possible surgical complications (rather than anaesthetic complications), to be blunt, it's probably better for inexperienced (which is completely distinct from incompetent) surgeons to perform speys and castrates on younger patients - much less blood, much quicker surgical time and much better recoveries.

Mycobacteria are sometimes considered "fungal like" bacteria, but they are definitely bacteria. I am assuming that it IS mycobacteria rather than a mycotic (fungal) infection as far as the owners know. If that's the case then systemic infections that involve more than one part of the body usually have a guarded prognosis. The clinical signs that result are due to the bacterial invasion of different tissue - because the bacteria are circulated in the blood then any part of the body with a blood suppy is at risk. Since mycobacteria live within cells treatment is difficult and requires considerable time (the antibiotics the dog is on are appropriate for intracellular bacteria incidentally, among other things). It is possible to culture the bacteria from skin lesions, but they are finnicky organisms and often even if they ARE present, they wont grow in the lab. Basically the bacteria can be found in the environment and can gain access to the body through any kind of break in the integrity of the skin - be it a bite, puncture wound, surgical wound, scratch etc. Contact with infection animals or people is rare but it can be transmitted through water. The typical clinical signs in dogs are respiratory problems (if M. tuberculosis is the culprit) and mouth problems, though as I said before - any where blood goes can be affected also. When infection spreads it can any of the organs leading to heart and lung problems, weight loss, fever, abdominal and organ masses, skin masses and oozing infected tracts in the skin, non healing ulcers, uveitis (inflammation of the eyes), lameness and neurological signs (and sudden death....). In short, it could be possible for a mycobacterial infection to cause the clinical signs the dog is displaying - however in itself mycobacterial infection is uncommon and usually requires some other condition to cause the immunosuppression that allows the bacteria to take hold. There are other equally strange conditions that could be the cause, perhap multiple causes but I suspect there is at least something underlying also (I haven't gone into any of the other possibilities as you mentioned that the working diagnosis was mycobacteria - PM if you have other information).

Food intolerances are tricky and frustrating to both diagnose and deal with. The protexin shouldn't be causing a problem, metronidazole can sometimes cause vomiting as a side effect so consider that as a possibility also - however the metronidazole will treat any potential giardia infections as well so it's a tricky situation. Usually with elimination diets we try to choose one novel protein source and one, so that's one that a dog has previously never been exposed to (usually things like turkey, kangaroo or fish) either in it's fresh form or as part of one of the commercial hypoallergenic diets (Hills z/d, Euk F/P, RC Hypoallergenic etc). Animals tend to develop intolerances to proteins that they have exposed to on a regular basis - so the regular culprits are beef, lamb and chicken in addition to a variety of vegies, supplements and additives. If your dog has been exposed to chicken regularly then I would speak to your vet and try to get hold of some protein that he would have never eaten - otherwise you may not get a true picture. Regardless of this, it will take time for any positive changes to be seen - that is why a diet trial takes at least 6-8 weeks. While signs of colitis are being seen it means that the intestinal lining is still not normal - it is inflamed, all the cells are swollen and this leads to the mucosa being "leaky". The gaps between cells let more material through than normal, so the proteins that the dog is intolerant to, as well as new proteins that wouldn't normally be able to fit - we need to try to get the intestinal lining back to as "normal" as possible before we start challenging it (by returning possible suspect proteins back into the diet).

Three monthly is the recommended gap but in your situtation you might need to shorten the intervals, particularly if it's likely that the dogs that you take into care are already infected. Very little of the drugs in the worming tablets are absorbed systemically so it's safe to dose more frequently (as the 3 month protocol just coincides with worm life cycles) - I would suggest something like worming on arrival, then repeating in 2 weeks, and then going onto the 3 monthly cycle. Either that or repeat the worming prior to adoption?

Good to hear that she's improving! I hope you didn't think I was making any kind of slight on your vet in my post above - I was really just "thinking out loud" as I've seen three cases of neck and back pain this week that have presented with neurological symptoms in addition to just being "off", that part of my brain is on high alert . I'm glad you have a vet that have faith in - it's a nice change to hear something complimentary! It doesn't have to take much to cause a neck to be sore, so it may well be the case that the cold is affecting her enough to cause symptoms.

Lilysmum, it could be early signs of arthritis, but if Lily were presented to me with that history I would be doing a thorough physical exam and paying close attention to the lameness and neurological components of it. Although there are a number of possibilities, with the absence of really significant changes in blood work it could be neck or back pain (stress from pain can also influence the white cells on blood work, and pain will cause trembling and the posture that you're describing). This episode may be related to underlying arthritis, but may also be an isolated change in the neck that has flared up now. Let us know how you go at the vet. In the meantime, strict rest (with confinement if neccessary) and TLC.

Rusky, I can't think of a commercial food low in phosphorous off the top of my head that suits your requirements. However, there is a product available Phosphobind (which as it's name suggests binds to phosphorous) which might be suitable for your situation - it's a meaty flavoured paste that is given with food. It might be worth chatting to your vet about if you're not able to feed a prescription food.

Nadia, I think some people report that ivermectin has some action against fleas (there was a reference to it earlier). Unless it's Program (lufenuron) but I'm not sure that I've ever seen that as an injection for dogs (as is available for cats) as it is included in Sentinel Spectrum.

If you have Advantage already I'd continue using it - at least your dogs will receive some relief by having the fleas that are on them die instead of carrying them around until they die of their own accord. Remember also that all sorts of environmental things influence the number of fleas you see - it may be that after 12 days, a bunch of flea eggs laid 6 weeks ago just hatched! Rule of thumb: If a flea is slow enough to catch on your dog easily, it's a reasonable sign that the flea treatment is working

Essentially yes, atopy is an environmental allergy. It's similar in a way to hayfever in humans in that it is an allergy to inhaled allergens, rather than those that an animal is in direct contact with. Unlike hayfever, the clinical signs are usually related to the skin - intense itching, often leading to chronic ear infections, red feet etc etc. As for treatment, sometimes patients can be managed with symptomatic therapy like medicated washes, antihistamines and hypoallergenic diets (which do not treat atopy specifically, but reduce the general load of "irritants" that the body is exposed too) but most often more severe cases end up on long term or repeated intermittent courses of corticosteroids if referral to a dermatologist is out of the question. Although not an ideal solution, it is often the only way to keep animals comfortable. Steroids, like NSAID's often get a lot of bad press, they are very powerful drugs but like anything need to be used in moderation. A dermatologist can perform intradermal skin testing and identify which pollens and grasses etc that an animal is particularly sensitive to, then administer desensitisation injections. Although theres no specific cure, the allergy injections work well in about 60-70% of cases - unfortunately the process can become very frustrating, time consuming and expensive!

Australia only has the SR12.

Assuming you're using a flea / tick only product (ie. not Advocate / Revolution).....you get dead adult fleas

Similar in action GT - but you have to be very certain that you're not dealing with a corneal ulcer if you're going to put a steroid (cortisone) in an eye.

Bleph-10 is an over the counter antibiotic eye medication. The active ingredient doesn't appear in any of the common veterinary opthalmic preparations that I can think of, but it is mentioned in passing in the pharmacology text that I have. I don't think using it would do any harm, but if the discharge were to continue for too much longer I would recommend a vet visit to make sure that nothing else is going on.

I usually use Malaseb once daily for three days, then every 3 days (which is essentially twice a week ). Once things have settled down, then drop the frequency to weekly whileever you're still having trouble. If you re using Malaseb then you shouldn't really have any reason to need to use Betadine as well. Chlorhexidine has a residual action that is extended with repeated use, so Malaseb, along with some kind of humectant / leave in conditioner should be all that is needed. I know plenty of people swear by wool mix, but I'd prefer to use something like Aloveen conditioner.

Nekhbet - as far as I am aware its the BB component that stings. I don't know whether it is because the components are mixed, or the all in one syringe is a little more awkward to handle but I find that I have more "yelps" using the CSL/Pfizer C4 + BB compared to other brands (although all round I feel more comfortable with their product). With the Intervet and Fort Dodge vaccines, I give two separate injections for a C5 and don't seem to have the same trouble. Which brands have you been using? I suppose the alternative would be to use a C3 + B2/3 intranasal vaccination although that option also has its problems and critics.

You can also get Heartgard in an unflavoured tablet form, however you'd probably need to ask your vet to order them in for you. We get them for a client of ours with a beef allergic dog.