tdierikx

Ceramic is probably better than plastic... easier to keep clean and undamaged. T.

Are you feeding him from a metal bowl by any chance? Try switching to a ceramic bowl and see if that slows down the recurrence of the dermatitis... wash the bowl with soapy water after each use too... T.

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!!! T.

Distemper is alive and well in Australia... foxes and dingoes get it regularly enough to keep it circulating... T.

Back many years when I bred a pedigreed/registered litter, the going price per pup was around $400... we had 10 pups to rehome and didn't even break even on the cost of raising them to 10 weeks of age. Costs have risen exponentially since then, so I'd say prices have risen to match same. There is of course also the fact that during the pandemic, so many people decided that getting a dog was something they suddenly found they had the time to do... and some breeders of certain types of dogs saw that demand was high, and decided to price to the demand. There will always be some that will overprice because they know that the demand will allow for it... and others that will set a fairer price for their pups, but be fussier about who they will sell to. The choice is up to the buyer then... do they pay the inflated prices to have a new pup right now, or wait for a "better" breeder to have available pups at a fairer price but be subject to much more vetting before being allowed to purchase one? T.

I watched the 7:30 piece about this, and all I could think was that we keep enacting more and more laws, but we aren't doing anything to actually fund the proper enforcement of them. The agencies responsible for that enforcement have other agendas which conflict with the job they are tasked with, which doesn't help either. T.

For anyone interested... this is what I posted to the CAP group... "I am a qualified zookeeper and vet nurse. I would be interested in being an active part of any politcal movement that may be able to add a voice of reason against the AJP's anthropomorphic and vegan-oriented legislation efforts - especially in NSW (I live in Sydney). I am a strong proponent of animal welfare aims... where the goal is to make the partnership between humans and animals stronger and better for all involved. I am not vegan or even vegitarian, but support humane treatment of the animals we eat. I am not a huge fan of the RSPCA (understatement), and would like to see legislation introduced to add checks and balances where their investigations/prosecutions are concerned. AJP only seem to be making things easier for RSPCA to intimidate animal owners with impugnity - not to mention that higher financial penalties make RSPCA much more money when they receive a moeity of all fines imposed after a prosecution. I am not a huge fan of hunting animals for sport, but if done humanely, and the animal is used for food after the fact, I can live with that. I am dead against the use of 1080 baits and calicivirus drops using a version of the virus that domestic rabbits cannot be vaccinated against effectively. I'm also averse to myxomatosis drops. I have seen domestic rabbits suffer from both diseases, and they get it MUCH worse than their wild counterparts. I have seen the aftermath of 1080 on dingoes, and it makes your heart weep at the suffering it causes. I believe that many of our larger Australian zoos have leaned way too far towards placating the vegan brigade - too much space dedicated to "the message", and not enough space for the actual animals housed... Taronga zoo's tiger exhibits are a prime example - so much more space could have been given to the actual animal enclosures. As a zookeeper, and someone who has worked closely with all manner of animal species, I can say that the "hands off" approach that we have to follow is actually making safe handling of many of the smaller species more stressful and even dangerous - for both people AND the animals. Having to anaesthetise an animal for every little procedure is not the best way to go about things. I used to work for a large mobile petting zoo business in Sydney, and my job was to maintain the health and welfare of all of the animals we had. Keeping informed of ever-changing welfare standards was a big part of my job, as was working out how those standards related to POCTAA, and the Exhibted Animals Act... all of our animals were VERY well cared for, and only those that actually enjoyed the levels of human contact were used. Those that weren't so fussed were rehomed to pet homes - even the cows... So, in closing, I believe that I may have something to offer at grass roots level if needed..." Whatcha think? T.

Ooohhh... I must have made an impression with my post to the CAP group... I've just been contacted by the president of Animal Care Australia... lol! T.

At this point it's just a Facebook group page... hopefully there will be a formal website and more details soon... T.

The party is in it's infancy right now... but with the right people in place... I just made my first post in their Facebook group... and I think they are all loving me big time... lol! Someone even went so far as to call me "knowledgeable" and thinks I should be on the front line of communications... hehe! Seeing as my active animal caring job days may be severely numbered, I've been looking for something that I could sink my teeth into whilst still remaining connected to the animal industry in a meaningful way... fingers crossed they can live up to the expectation... T.

Found the Facebook group... have joined... now to wait and see if they are something I want to be a part of. I'm so sick of Emma Hurst and AJP sneaking bills through with little resistance until after the fact... grrr! There needs to be a dissenting voice of reason in such matters. T.

Well... it seems the new laws don't apply to the RSPCA... they just get to police it... grrr! They can still go on killing with impunity... *sigh* T.

Ummm... the "shelter" at Yagoona... T.

I wonder what Ms Hurst can do to sort out the kill rates at NSW's largest "rescue" shelter? T.

Hell yeah!!! Handsome boy! T.

The largest chain is the worst offender... I make sure to avoid them at all costs, as the upselling push really puts me off. As for costs... say your pet requires fluids as part of their treatment. The actual bag of said fluids costs a LOT less than you will be billed for it... but then factor in the time taken for the vet to diagnose the issue and order said fluids to be administered, the time taken for the vet nurses to catheterise your pet, set up the drip machine to deliver the fluids at the right flow rate, attach the line to the catheter, make sure your pet is comfortable and resting well to accept the fluids, and then checking all vital signs every 15 mins whilst the fluids are being administered, and changing up a new bag if required... quite a few costs involved to do a "simple" task really... *grin* T.

As someone who has actually seen the invoices with all the prices paid for stock in a vet clinic, I can say that markup on those prices still barely covered the running costs of said clinic. T.

I am certainly not a fan of the "upsell" prevalent in so many of the chain (we all know who they are) vet clinics... to the point that I refuse to take any of my animals to them if I can avoid it. I do know that even vet nurses are trained to do it as part of their courses... so assume that vet students are taught the same. I understand why the prices can be a bit steep in vet clinics... there are many overheads that need to be paid for that might not be obvious to the general public. Equipment that needs maintaining, rent, wages, stock maintenance, etc... none of it is cheap... Most clinics are happy enough to write a client a prescription for medications if asked... but may charge a small fee for it. Then you can try your luck getting the medications online at a slightly cheaper price. Note that some medications may require the pet to be regularly checked over by the vet to make sure the meds are doing their job properly, and that the pet doesn't need dosage changes, etc... T.

When I took Pickles to the emergency vet clinic nearest to my place in the first week of the last Sydney lockdown I had a less than great experience. She had eaten something that had ruptured something inside, and was vomiting up blood. I had already gently palpated her abdomen and could feel the obstruction that was causing the issue. She was a very sick girl, and I've seen enough of these things to know that even with surgery, her outcome was going to be poor. I was there to end her suffering pure and simple. What transpired was that Pickles was taken inside, and I was left outside in the carpark. The vet eventually called my mobile, and started trying to push for doing a myriad of tests, suggestions of surgery with a very low chance of success, etc. I was forced to basically plead with the vet to just cut to the chase and end Pickles' suffering... all while other people were milling about, listening to my end of the conversation, and giving me side-eye. An already traumatic situation was compounded by the complete lack of privacy, and the vet's insistence for wanting to try all sorts of things that weren't actually going to fix the problem at hand. I was firm but calm, and eventually was led to an isolated room to be with Pickles as she became an angel. Based on that one visit to that emergency vet clinic, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone... but at the time, I just handled the situation as calmly as possible, paid the bill, and left. I can see how people would become agitated and/or upset and angry in a situation like that... it was all I could do to stay calm myself... and I've been in that sort of situation more often than I care to count... working with animals does have it's downside... Oh... and the next day, I recieved a text message from the emergency clinic ostensibly "following up" on Pickles' "progress"... ummm... not very professional IMHO. As a complete contrast, I once had to take a young goat to the vet clinic near my work. The goat had a distended stomach (not bloat) and was in quite a bit of pain and distress. The vet did an ultrasound, took a sample of the fluid in the abdomen, did a thorough check all over the goat, and unfortunately it had to be euthanaised due to a ruptured bladder. Not only was the vet kind and caring with the goat, his bedside manner with it's human (me) was second to none. AND then he only charged a consultation fee for the visit. That clinic ended up getting all of our business, including weekly visits to my work to maintain all the animals' health and wellbeing... and we had over 200 animals at any given time. 3 guesses which vet clinic I ended up taking bunny to the other day... T. ETA: My neighbour came over yesterday to tell me they had received a lovely condolence card from the vet for the passing of their bunny...

It just seemed pretty strange that a practising vet couldn't stomach doing what amounts to a good 45-50% of their standard job function. Anything more complicated than a male neuter was off the table when she was on... and quite frankly, a vet nurse can actually perform a basic neuter if it comes down to it. Vet nurses already do all of the basic scale and polish dental jobs... the vet only steps in if a tooth needs removing. It's actually interesting to know exactly how much "vet" work the nurses perform on any given day... T.

I am a fully trained zookeeper and vet nurse - something that both local vets I called about the bunny knew - not that it took any of that training to know that bunny's front leg was badly broken, and that it was not a treatable problem. It was made perfectly clear that this was going to be a euthanaisia case, as bunny was suffering. As a vet nurse, I am trained to be able to gas down an animal and/or find a vein (and insert a catheter) for a vet if needed... which is not outside any scope of practice here. Basically, I could have done the procedure myself had I the access to the drug required for the job. When I was doing my vet nursing work placement, I saw the numbers of people with pocket pets (rabbits and guinea pigs) rise even over the 2 years I was in training. It seems ridiculous that some vets are choosing to stick to the "safe" bread and butter fare of dogs and cats only - desexing and dentals make up at least 90% of what happens in a suburban vet clinic nowadays... *sigh*... I even came across one locum vet we had that refused to do speys, as she wasn't "comfortable" doing them... WTF?? All that said... I still stick to my previous statement that a good vet is worth their weight in platinum. Their job is not an easy one, yet they still turn up day after day trying to do their very best for each and every animal (and owner) that comes through their doors. T.

I must say that I was surprised and very disapointed to find that virtually no local vet clinic wanted to see my neighbour's bunny the other week when it broke it's leg and needed to be given it's wings. My own treating vet refused to see it, even thopugh he knows that my diagnoses of such things are pretty darned spot on... and the clinic I did my vet nursing work placement (where this same bunny had been desexed a year ago no less) was the same... refused to even look at the bunny. Seriously, I had to drive clear across Sydney to the only vet I knew for sure would see the bunny... a 35km and hour's drive away. How freaking difficult is it to gas down a bunny and do the right thing to stop it's suffering? Last time I looked, the jugular is in pretty much the same place in a bunny as in a dog or cat if one needs to find a good sized vein in a hurry... even I can find that one... you don't need to be experienced in pocket pets to euthanaise one. T.

Exactly! I seemed to be the one they all wanted to hug and cry on... maybe I just gave off the vibe that I understand exactly how they are feeling, and that gives them some comfort? Dealing with emergencies, surgeries, cranky or rude clients, etc... definitely easier to deal with emotionally than the losses. It's because in all the other scenarios, you can actually DO something to try to make things better... but death is so final and so upsetting for all involved. T.

@Loving my Oldies... even when one of my dogs almost died during her spey surgery - not through any fault of the vet doing the procedure may I add - and then the naughty beast chewed her stitches out 4 days post surgery... there was never any thought from me that anyone at your brother's clinic had done anything wrong. Their standard of care was excellent at all times. Your brother was also most understanding when I had one of my pet rats in for a consult, and the receptionist insisted the cage be set on the floor while we waited... then the clinic cat decided to check out my rat, and the rat savaged the cat, who then proceeded to tear up the hall and out the back area bleeding all over the place from the nasty bite on it's nose. He made the receptionist clean up the mess because she had refused to let me put the rat cage up off the floor... apparently she was a bit funny about seeing rats... errr! When I was doing my student placement for Vet Nursing, I actually found that the hardest clients to have to deal with were the ones in the grip of grief at the passing of their furry companions. In many cases, the clinic staff had gotten to know the old and ailing pets, and we had feelings for them too... but one isn't supposed to show that to clients... we are supposed to console them while our own hearts may be breaking as well. It's soul destroying to have a giant bear of a man hanging onto you sobbing his heart out at the loss of his old mate... and that can happen more than once in any given day. Cranky clients are just the tip of the iceberg... T.

Some years before I met you @Loving my Oldies, I had the honour of your brother treating my pets. He was my beloved heart dog Woosie's first doctor, and he was so lovely that she never lost her love of going to the vet for anything she needed... she knew he was good people, and loved him very much. Your brother treated my first 4 dogs, and a few of my pet rats to boot. Your brother happily gave me advice when one of my dogs decided to have a difficult whelping on Christmas Day... when he was the poor sod on call that day... and he was ready to drop everything and come help if needed. Good vets are very special people... T.