tdierikx

The best adventures are had with Rotties, yes? They are gorgeous @grumpette... T.

Jodie is now with Stevie, Sam, Rocky, and Greg. She passed peacefully this morning with a tiny bit of help from her fave vet and in Katdogs' arms. It was her time... I will cherish all the memories I have of this awesome little black dog. She joined Katdogs' family with an unknown history, but fit in perfectly. I've been priviledged to have known her since she arrived nearly 16 years ago. I'll remember her complete obsession with tennis balls, and her insane athleticism when she jumped to catch them in the air, landed perfectly on all fours, and then came running back to give you the ball to throw again and again. She definitely picked her perfect family with a tennis coach and access to LOTS of tennis balls... lol! I'm gonna miss my little friend and the special cuddles only she knew how to give me... when I needed them and came to visit. Fly free with the angels JoJo... you were the very goodest girl... T.

@asal... any ideas? Huckleberry looks like he really wants to be a good boy... and is only young, so some training might sort out his barking issues... T.

I'm at a bit of a loss with this one... hence suggesting posting here for possible advice or ideas as to what may be going on. One would think that something like poison or a stroke would be showing escalating symptomology by now, so I'm leaning towards ruling those out... but I'm not a vet... Since both episodes have started out in the yard when she was on her own, maybe supervised toilet breaks are advisable for tonight at least... then see how she does overnight and if she's any more settled in the morning? If the Rescue Remedy is having a positive effect, I'd keep topping her up as necessary overnight to try and let her get some much needed rest/sleep. A good sleep might help a lot... If things get scary overnight, call me and I'll be there in a shot... anything at all for you and my little buddy JoJo... T.

I've always had multiple dogs... upwards of 3 is my general leaning... but I'm a crazy dog lady of the highest order... *grin* Be aware that they may all get on famously... or there may be problems. There is no magic "formula" to how things will pan out long term. My experience is that males can tend to be more submissive to the females, but obviously others have had different experiences. I do know that once 2 females decide that they don't like each other, it can escalate VERY quickly, and the best advice there is that they will need to be separated permanently once that scenario occurs - they will try to kill each other given the chance... In my last group of 4, I had some pretty strict management going on, as all were female, and all had issues with at least one of the others. I am now down to one dog, and am actually enjoying not having to manage issues... although I REALLY want another dog (or 3). Not gonna happen while this one is here though, as she hates all other dogs, and I'll be buggered if I'm going to have to manage issues again. T.

Most likely the latter, as evey inch of her was soaked through a few times. I will say that she recovered very quickly once the storm was over though, so usually by the time I got home it was all over and she was fine... just wet... T.

My Zeddy felt safe in the bathroom... but the door had to be closed for her to settle fully. Once the door was closed, she would just lie down in there and go to sleep. Pickles preferred to just lie near me and tremble until it was all over... if I was at home when a storm came. If I was out, when I came home she would be soaked through as though she had been out in the rain for some reason... ?? As for the mower, both wanted to attack it if it was on, so they were shut inside the house when I did any mowing. Luckily, Harper doesn't seem to be affected by thunderstorms or fireworks... but she wants to kill the mower, so gets shut inside when that is on. T.

Harper is 9 years old now, and being Dane cross, is a large breed dog. Evey indicator says that she should be showing signs of old age, such as arthritis, etc... but this is not the case. She still runs around like a 2 year old, and as stated before, hasn't had to see a vet for any health related issues for around 7-8 years... maybe I'm doing something right? As she was born to a dog that had ended up in the pound whilst pregnant, one can't necessarily say she would have gotten the very best care while in utero - until her mum came to our rescue shortly before whelping. I do know that once born, she and her siblings were given the very best care... but can post birth care negate possible in-utero neglect? Maybe she is just genetically blessed? All dogs (just as all humans) are different/unique, and as such should be cared for as individuals. What works well for one, may not work as well for the next... The pet care industry has exploded in recent years... and a lot of "advice" has been driven by profit making by the companies that stand to make the most of the boom... food for thought... T.

Pickles' dogmother used to be the CEO of the AVA... with a doctorate based on animal vaccines. She told me that the basic C3 vaccine will generally provide protection against Parvo, Distemper, and Canine Hepatis for around 7 years... longer if the dog in question is subjected to conditions where those diseases are in the environment - due to small attacks regularly by those diseases keeping the antibodies fighting them active, such as when I was continuously bringing home foster pups from pounds and other unknown backgrounds, my dogs were essentially being exposed regularly to all manner of things including the big 3 diseases, and that was actually a good thing for their immune systems. Funnily enough though, the Canine Cough addition vaccines (C4/5 extras that cover influenza and bordatella) only provide protection against those bugs for around 6 months... pretty much the same as how our annual human flu shots work. If your dog may be at risk of Canine Cough, then annual boosters are recommended. All of my dogs have generally only had their puppy vaccinations (C3 only) and their first adult booster shot... then nothing unless I had to board them somewhere. As for diet... over the years my various dogs have been fed various diets... from supermarket kibble/tinned, to high end premium kibble, and Harper is currently basically on raw chicken carcases or turkey necks. Very few of them have ever had any diet related issues regardless of what they were being fed... and none of them have ever been regular patients at any vet clinic. The last time my vet saw Harper for a medical problem was about 7-8 years ago when she was stung by a bee and turned out to be highly allergic... *sigh* Vets (and vet nurses) are educated to give advice about "complete and balanced" diets - essentially plugging the premium kibble options is part of their "job". Whether this is completely medically sound advice, or the premuim kibble manufacturers have a hand in forming general opinion is moot... technically, the general idea is to feed your dog whatever it is doing well on. Most dogs do well on the premium kibbles out there... but many also do just fine on kitchen scraps or supemarket pet food options. I won't poo-poo Reiki... I have actually used it to good effect on one of my own dogs. Also, some supplements containing strange ingredients can be beneficial for aging issues like arthritis and the like, so I won't poo-poo those either - especially when many studies have proven that some of them actually work, and have less side effects on the body than traditional medicines used for those problems. I would much rather feed an arthritic dog Antinol (or similar) than anti-inflammatory medications that can damage kidneys or liver if used long term. I will say that I am not your average pet owner... my vet actually said that I only come to him for a second opinion or medications... *grin* (pretty much sums it up though). I also have years of hands on experience with various animal species and their possible medical problems. I now have my Vet Nursing qualification, and am a qualified zookeeper also. I can be a vet's worst nightmare client... or an effective participant in diagnosis/treatment of any issue with an animal in my care... it's up to the vet which rendition of me they choose to deal with... *grin* T.

If the seroma is being caused by a reaction to the external stitches, then taking them out a little earlier than "normal" is probably the right move. That said, the only stitches that are being removed are the external ones... there are possibly up to 2 other layers of stitches internally that are holding the scary stuff in. If the vet feels that the healing process is going well externally, and thinks the stitches can come out early, then it may not be as big a worry as you are thinking. I had a dog who managed to get her external sutures out by herself after only 4 days - and she had had a rather complicated spey where she had almost died on the table - took her to the vet immediately, worried that she'd have to be restitched... but the vet found that her external wound had virtually healed already, and restitching wasn't necessary at all. 10-14 days is a guideline for wound healing time under stitches... not necessarily gospel. Each dog will heal differently... some faster, some not so much... T.

In my case, I have bodycam footage AND legal documents showing the lies told... by RSPCA inspectors AND their "expert witnesses"... around 700+pages of it... This... *sigh* T.

I have what can only be described as a form of PTSD after going through the case I did... and I wasn't the person they targetted... Any mention of RSPCA gets my blood pressure up, and I flash back to the hundreds of pages of "evidence" that was tendered that spelled out exactly what they did to the animals they seized, the lies their "expert" witnesses told in their statements that went completely against the actual evidence tendered, including their own bodycam footage. Friends know to never bring their name up in front of me, as I am prone to starting to rant and rail about how they operate. I recently went back to TAFE and completed my Cert 3 Animal Studies (we were in lockdown, and I figured why not do something constructive), and my teacher previously worked with RSPCA as a vet locum. I explained to her that I'd had very bad dealings with RSPCA, and that I may be triggered by any positive mention of "the good work they do"... and she was very careful about not triggering me by mentioning them. I have nothing but respect for all the volunteers who work really hard to make a difference to the lives of the animals in their care... and nothing but loathing for their inspectorate arm, legal team, and management who encourage prosecution over prevention. The case I was involved in has bodycam footage of the vet onsite NOT in favour of seizure of animals, but one of the inspectors was actively overriding the vet... and the 30 minute break in the footage noted as contacting RSPCA legal team for advice, then deciding to seize as many animals as they thought they could get away with after that call. Contacting the legal team in the middle of an "inspection" is NOT standard practice. I will note that RSPCA had tried to do over the person targetted in this case previously, and their case had failed around a month prior to the visit that resulted in seizure of a number of animals for spurious reasons. Even their own bodycam footage shows the complete opposite of the "conditions" of the animals as claimed in their "evidence" and court notice details. Of note is the number of animals that were seized under the auspice of needing URGENT veterinary care that never recieved ANY treatment for their supposed ailments... and the fact that NONE of the animals seized even saw a vet for treatment of any issue until at least 3 days after seizure - 3 days in the care of RSPCA at Yagoona where there are literally NO records of what happened to them during those 3 days, apart from a couple of blood tests and fecal tests that all came back as normal and parasite free the day after seizure. POCTAA clearly states that seizure of animals is only the very last resort, and only in cases where immediate vet attention cannot be facilitated by the owner of said animals. This was not how it worked in the case I was involved in... we had a vet available to come out on the spot, but were not allowed to call him while RSPCA were at the property... not to mention that said vet had made a visit to the property 2 days prior to RSPCA "visiting", and records of said visit were shown on the day. All animals' health records were kept up to date, and regular worming, vaccinations, and any other medical notes were updated daily and in full. I know this because I was the one who kept those records up to date. I knew the health status of EVERY animal on site. T.

And therein lies the rub... they start off by serving people with multiple charges, smear that person's name in the media from the first court mention, delay proceedings as long as possible in order to run up that person's legal costs and costs associated with holding/"treating" the animal(s), then at the crucial point before actually going to trial, will offer to drop all bar one charge if the person pleads guilty to that charge... effectively giving RSPCA a "win". And to rub salt into the wound, the media is then advised of that "win", further smearing the person's name... while the person is gagged by the court from saying anything negative in public about RSPCA and their tactics used to secure that "win". The case I was involved in defending started off with 13 "charges"; was delayed numerous times to rack up maximum legal costs (total approx 200,000 before it even looked like going to actual trial; estimated costs to proceed through said trial was around 2 million all up; offer came to drop 12 charges if plaintiff was amenable to pleading guilty to one charge, and all legal costs (bar the fine allocated for that one charge) would stop. Is it any wonder that people take the plea as offered? Who has a spare 2 million to fight trumped up charges with no chance of ever recouping those monies even after a successful outcome in that person's case? In our case, the fine received by RSPCA (they have a legal moeity on fines, so receive said monies) didn't even cover the costs they were claiming for "treatment" and holding of the animals they seized, let alone their own legal costs... so effectively, the "win" wasn't really cost effective with regards to outlay vs return. But they did get to smear the plaintiff one more time in the media announcing said "win", and thus cementing their "good name" and fooling the donation giving public into thinking they are doing a great job bringing animal "abusers" to "justice"... The system is badly broken when organisations like the RSPCA can rort it to maximum effect. T.

When a large animal "charity" organisation spends more annually on touting for donations (around 5-6 million) than they spend on their actual animal care costs (around 3 million), methinks there may be a "problem". In NSW there are approximately 500 paid staff... and approximately 5000 volunteer staff. The inspectorate section (paid staff) cost around 3 million-ish last financial year... and brought in around 137,000 (ish) in fines from "successful" prosecutions... not a reasonable return for the "investment, ya think?? No mention about how much the actual legals cost there either... RSPCA NSW had incoming funds of around 34.3 million last financial year... around 1/10th of that was actually spent on animals in their "care"... and more than 7 million was spent on "administration"... The cat rehoming stats are better than usual at 7450 rehomed out of 13,400 taken in (still 5950 euthanaised), but dog figures were pretty horrendous at only 2205 rehomed out of 6900 taken in (4795 euthanaised) - one would think that an extremely large and well funded "rescue" would have much better stats than that... I think that rather than handling actual prosecutions, RSPCA should build their cases and pass them to the DPP for prosecution (which is how AWL handles their cases) - at least that would mean that only worthy cases with actual credible evidence would make it through the system... instead of RSPCA bully tactics forcing the accused to plead to lesser charges (and recorded as a "win" by RSPCA), rather than going bankrupt due to the exhorbitant cost of legals to fight them all the way though the system. Those who do manage to fight them all the way and win never see a penny of awarded costs, and then need to get on the court/legal roundabout again to try to get them to pay... rarely with any success... they just don't pay, and it seems not even the courts can make them... T.

7 months = approx 215 days 42000 / 215 = approx 195 per day That is only marginally less per day than you'd pay for a full hospitalisation stay at a vet clinic... In NSW, RSPCA daily "boarding" costs for seized animals is around 42 per day, and I'd assume similar for QLD in cases where kenneling only was the case for the vast majority of the animal's incarceration. One can only imagine what other things were being done to the dog to end up with a 42000 bill for costs... As for the Audit report... pity the same hasn't been done for NSW RSPCA... as I reckon exactly the same negative findings would be the result. T.

There is a specific test for pancreatitis in dogs... it's called cPLI... it tests lipase and amylase levels (certain types of fats in the blood). Generally, if your dog had pancreatitis (acute, suddne onset)), then he'd be in a world of pain and you'd know it. If he has chronic pancreatitis (longterm type), then there is a possibility he may have just gotten used to certain levels of uncomfortability over time, which could make picking it up harder on first sight. Similarly to liver issues, you'd want to keep the levels of fat in his diet as low as possible if he had chronic pancreatitis, as fat can set it off and he would not be a happy boy. I've had pancreatitis (acute) myself... and I certainly would not wish it on any animal. T.

When I had a deaf foster puppy, I was always forgetting he was deaf, and would call him... lol! When he was asleep and I needed him awake, I would tap on my wooden floor softly so he could feel the vibration, and it didn't startle him. My friend's oldest dog has lost most of her hearing now, so we clap, tap the floor, or use deeper speaking tones to alert her that her attention is required... she can feel the vibrations of those and responds well so far. Other old dogs I've had to move from one place to the other responded well to me hitting my thigh rhythmically so they could follow the vibration... I have no real experience with dementia as an added complication though. T.

Ditto here... knuckling usually indicates that a message is not getting through from foot/leg to brain, or vise versa... so either a brain issue, or a spinal cord issue. The head tilt points me to the brain rather than the spine though... and ear issues have been ruled out. T.

It definitely sounds like something neurological is going on... tumour, stroke?? Unfortunately, the MRI may be your only poroper diagnostic to get to the bottom of what is happening, and will provide more options than you currently have right now. T.

After reading both of your latest posts (Zagan's and Chewie's), if you are in or near Sydney and ever need to board Chewie somewhere that understands GSDs, and are proficient in handling ones that aren't overly accommodating of new people... try Austral Boarding... https://australboarding.com.au/ They run security dogs as well as the boarding kennels, and the owner's son is amazing with the "scarier" temperamented big dogs. There is never use of force or dominance... the dogs just seem to love him straight away. Keep up the good work with Chewie... he sounds like a lovely dog under the bluster. T.

Chapi looks like a lovely little dog... and you obviously love him very much... but he is also a quite senior little man who appears to be not very well at all. The blood test results as given here definitely show some issues with his liver and pancreas, and his white blood cell counts are not the best - mostly indicative of an infection or lymph node issue. The photos are definitely alarming, and indicate that he has a number of tumerous growths that could be making things a bit difficult for him with regard to eating, and maybe also eventually swallowing and breathing properly. Unfortunately at Chapi's advanced age, surgical options to remove the tumours may be more life threatening than the palliative care the vets seem to have been engaging in for him. I think that Chapi may be in his final months, and that you might have to prepare yourselves for the fact that he may need to leave you and become an angel soon. Love him and let him live out his remaining time as comfortably as possible... he will let you know when he wants you to help him go to heaven with dignity and respect. I'm sorry that I cannot be more positive, but I think you already know that the best you can do for Chapi is make him comfortable at this point. Please give him some cuddles from me... T.

I have proof of lying and distortion of facts, but as I wasn't the target of the case in question, and that person was so traumatised by it all, I can't put forward that evidence to any group willing to take on the juggernaut... *sigh* I have around 1000 pages of bullshit "evidence", backed up by 5 hours of their own bodycam footage that contradicts their evidentiary statements, expert witness statements that blatantly lie, etc... ... and that is only ONE case... T.

Most people who have had dealings with them have been badly traumatised by it... and know full well what could happen if they were targetted again in retaliation for badmouthing them in any public way.... T.

The article notes that we humans have caused the problem by clearing the natural habitat and making the area more suited to the Noisy Miners... it also provides some advice on planting shrubs and the like to provide better shelter etc for the smaller bird species. It all just seems that once we humans create an imbalance with the natural order of things, our first thoughts of "fixing the problem" are to kill things off... T.

I'm sorry to say that my advice would be to give Rebel his wings... he is in pain, and he's aggressive. He most likely will not change his behaviours, and he will eventually kill Sam, or injure him so badly you will have to have Sam put down. It sounds like no-one has had the guts to call it like it is with this boy... he is not a happy dog by any stretch of the imagination. He is in pain, and most likely has some anxiety issues as well. Just because he has a pulse and can be a "nice" dog sometimes does not mitigate the fact that he is a ticking time bomb... a very strong time bomb with teeth... His reactions to strangers (of the human kind) is also a real problem. If he decided to take umbrage with a child, you could be in all manner of trouble with the authorities. Please be a really good mate to Rebel and allow him to sleep the long sleep... I really think he deserves that respect, as it's not exactly his "fault" the way he is, but it is cruel to continue on trying to "fix" him. Sam also needs to feel safe in his own home, yes? T.