karly101

45 minutes is awhile, it works fairly instantly (5-10 minutes from when I've seen it used). What are you trying to bring up? Get to a vet.

I have heard good things about his surgery and his facilities are all new and am sure it has top of the range equipment and I know many good specialists are now there. I can also recommend Charles Kuntz, one sign of a good surgeon I think is that for quite a few cases my previous clinic referred to him - he recommended against surgery. After surgery is a critical time and I know they've done a lot of research on it. Make sure you go through all of it during that pre op check out so you are prepared. Good luck :)

Oh sorry didn't realize you were only interested in correspondence, its one day a week in class if you wanted to do it that way. If not they do correspondence with a practical component that is run on a weekend and I think it is only once per semester. Same course materials and I am not sure but they may do a workplace visit as well.

I went to Box Hill TAFE- the vet nurse campus area is small, you are in the same class room most of the time. Its good to meet other nurses, learn different techniques, the days where you get to work in the surgery there are really good. My only criticism is more hands on stuff would be great but the course is designed as they assume you should be able to do all that stuff at work. Got to assist in a Cesarean though which was awesome. Cons - our notes were outdated for many units (but I'm told they are updating them all now), some units seemed like a waste of time (entire course has now been changed I'm also told). Books, I prefer the books designed for veterinary technicians as I found the one tafe recommended was too basic. I bought from amazon - Anaesthesia and analgesia. John Thomas, Phillip Lerche Small animal surgical nursing: skills and concepts. Sara Busch BSAVA Textbook of veterinary nursing - our tafe recommended textbook.

I'm so sorry... I don't believe poisoning would have produced the symptoms you described. Perhaps he was just unlucky to get a very severe infection or one that was resistant to the antibiotics? Perhaps it caused some stress on the heart in which case there probably wouldn't have been any signs on autopsy. It is always difficult when it is rapid, unexpected and unexplained and I hope that you find some comfort in the fact that you did take him to the vet as soon as you knew something was up and they did all that they could in the situation. Sometimes you can do all the tests, do all the normal treatments and just never find what the issue is.

Pumped full of sulphur dioxide and preservatives....not sure if it would affect behavior but definitely something you don't want to feed on a day to day basis imo.

There was a UK series on ABC recently on that very subject - it showed a range of animal production systems with the volunteers following the animals from birth, they then took part in slaughtering and then eating the animals if they wished too. They compared the free range versus factory methods and it was very enlightening. Kill It, Cook It, Eat It: Fast Food The problem was also highlighting that this is our demand for cheap meat that was the cause of a lot of what I would consider poor animal welfare.

Can you get roo meat? That is a very lean meat and generally cheaper priced. Some dogs don't do well on it though. I think a frame + pet mince will be way too fatty for your dogs if you are struggling with their weight as all the pet minces I've seen are very fatty and the frames we get in at work are covered in fat as well. It's much better if you can control what goes in... your whippet may do fine on the pet mince but I don't think your other dogs will. Our local Safeway/Woolworths also stocks turkey drums etc which would also be good and there's a lot of meat on them. Also if you check their reduced pile you can often get large portions of meat for roasts that you can chop up yourself for a very good price and generally there's heaps of meat on them and not much fat. I also get meats for casseroles etc as they are nice and tough and require chewing :) They also sell 'lamb offcuts' that actually have heaps of meat on them and bone.

I'm happy with the black hawk it just my dogs seem to be packing on the weight even when feed very little, execpt Missy the whippet she is great weight wise. Rascal my chihuahua is on hills science prescription w/d and still he isn't lossing much weight, His been on this food for a month and half hos weight was 4.9kgs now it is 4.3kgs. My guys absolutely love raw food, I also can't believe how much my dogs are pooing I keep saying there got 12 bottoms lol. 4.9 to 4.3 is quite a good weight loss.... but is he getting anything at all extra to the dry food (by you or other family members) usually that is the cause of slow weight loss on the w/d. Raw is more expensive and time consuming and you need to do a bit of research to ensure you are providing them with all their needs. IMO mincing the meat is not going to be the best form as there is no work involved for the animal to eat it, I would mince your veggies but provide the meat on the bone or in chunks. For me since I don't have the time and only 1 dog to feed I do buy the BARF patties for an occasional meal but mainly choose to feed raw meaty bones + dry food, egg or sardines and I find this more cost effective for me as well and since I have little freezer space I can't really store large amounts of home made food. If you have a good butcher, some time + space then over the long term raw would be cheaper.

I'd highly recommend a dermatologist.. skin is such a tricky issue you generally spend more at your regular vet without any resolution. Even the specialist is having difficulties resolving my pups itchy skin but I'm glad I went there as the knowledge they have on it is fantastic.

Thanks for sharing, what a great bunch of dogs :)

Is the shampoo fully rinsed out? That can often cause itchyness ...what sort of flea treatment are you using? I would try the tea idea and a very good brush and see if that makes any difference, if not then its worthwhile to see a vet to do some skin scrapings. If she's not going red then I'm not sure an allergy test will give you any response.

If she is limping then she does have pain... if she didn't have pain she'd be walking normally... strict rest (on leash walking/crate if you have one is great) is always recommended to allow for healing. I seek vet advice if rest makes no difference in 24 hours as then they can advise on if x ray or pain relief may be needed after examining. I think releasing the dog to the ball is a good idea as that would stop the sudden movements/twisting which tends to cause injuries. A lot of dogs don't know when to stop with balls...as for time limit it really depends on the dogs breed/age/fitness.

depends on the breed of dog, growth plates aren't closed in my dogs at 9 months. Desexing a dog does not make it gain weight usually. What happens is the desexing coinsides with maturity and people forget to stop feeding their adult dog like a puppy. The papers I've read on desexing have indicated that removing the hormones can lower the metabolic rate. Sydney University vet even recommends dropping food intake by 10% post suture removal. I know the paper I read on cats indicated their rate can drop by 30%. But yes it also does coincide with maturation in which case food intake should be lowered anyway. It all depends on the owner though... coming from a shelter background they'll desex at very immature age and have been doing so for some time and there are many people I know who I would not trust with an entire dog/cat! If you are responsible enough to contain the dog there are definitely benefits to keeping entire for longer and the health benefits of desexing males I think are not so many as females.

The growth plates close at 9 months and I've spoken to a few vets who don't think there is any benefit to waiting longer to desex than that. Mine is 10 months and I would get him done now but waiting as he is having skin issues. I haven't noticed any behavioral changes in the past with our dogs but I'm sure there are dogs with testosterone issues in which case it does help. The only thing is it does make them gain weight so adjustment in feeding quantity after being desexed is a good idea.

What a shame I was hoping one of the ideas mentioned here worked At the moment he is on an elimination diet of pork and potato (only been on it for a week) so perhaps it is linked to insufficiency but seems like it has appeared very quickly.. Will mention it to his dermatologist and see what they say..

Bumping up an old topic but I noticed today that my dog has furry paw pads on just the front feet (he's got allergies as well, interesting) ... Did anyone have success with treatment? Malaseb or betadiene?

I'm sewing machine challenged so I found this product at my local pet shop Molly Mutt Seems like a great idea to me... Large duvet is $35 and you stuff it yourself - you can use old clothes or blankets or my friend had old foam from a couch so I've got that in mine and now Scouts bed is comfier than mine :D

Why are you even feeding mince? If they have weight issues you are just wasting your money and its not even beneficial for them. You can see all the chunks of fat and there's no effort required to chew it. Buy some raw meaty bones at least you can see whats in it, get some with the least fat content and its fresher than what the butcher chucks in the mincer for pets.

You are probably quite safe in the clinic, the floors are washed multiple times per day ...I'd be more worried about the carpark/grass around clinic.

I spoke to an owner of one regularly as he was a client of ours, lovely dog absolutely fantastic with other dogs, well trained etc. But the owner put a lot of work into him and told me that you had to be a very very firm owner otherwise he'd push any boundaries he could! LOTS of hair to brush and around the house! I never saw the protective side ...wouldn't want to get on their bad side though! This one was fantastic you could do anything to him.

there is no need to do kennel cough unless you are going to be boarding the dog. Many obedience clubs also require it, I prefer to do it myself as I'd rather they have some protection from it. I've had vaccinated dogs get canine cough but it tends not to be as severe as I have seen it in unvaccinated dogs. That is just what works for me though, I've never had a dog that has had a bad vaccine reaction. I don't use the Virbac vaccinations though as I know a few vets who don't like them.

He really does need a repeat to be protected for the canine cough component but that should be enough for the C3. Another option is to try a different brand of vaccine.

You shouldn't need to change antiseptics.. betadine is a very good one.

If its smelly it's probably an ear infection....because of the lack of air flow it's a good idea to regularly clean her ears and check them too. Revolution should cover ear mites but it won't stop yeast and bacteria from taking advantage!