Tim'sMum

That's a good thing I suspect! Honestly....what is more cruel? Someone feeding their pet an unnatural diet, which would cause severe health problems....or....telling someone they are a fruitloop/nutjob for even contemplating it? Perhaps the latter option is more blunt....but then blunt is often the only way to get through to 'fruitloops'. Dogs don't/won't hunt huh? Tell that to the Blue Tongues that were in my backyard....now residing in lizard heaven due to my 'non-hunting' well fed dog. Kyliegirl....if you ever did decide to live on a diet of cabbage and fish, you are right that you might look OK....but you would probably have no friends! Phew!

Anyone that even contemplates it is a total fruitloop and IMO to do so borders on cruelty! :D Dogs are decended from carnivores who consumed a small amount of vegetable matter when eating a carcase (which does not make them an omnivore)......always have been carnivores, always will be, their bodies have been designed to eat meat as the majority of their diet and they have evolved this way over milleniums. You can't muck around with nature and expect it to work out well. Tell her to buy a pet rat!

BB.....try not to get yourself too upset about it all. You have hard enough heart ache lately. You went about it the right way...by buying a puppy from a registered breeder who was not a BYB, but sadly turns out to be a puppy mill. Just love your new little angel and I think there will be many of us who will be looking forward to updates and watching her grow. She is gorgeous!

What a cutie and good on your family for rescuing her. She may have a touch of Dingo in her but could just as easily be an ACD x Kelpie.....so that is what you should have her breed listed as on the microchip info. One hint to part Dingo is if there is a white tip on the end of the tail.

I would have thought that a swab (which this dog had) would have picked up Aspergillus.....it's shouldn't be hard to see fungal spores on a slide? So sorry for your friend.

A friend, who lives in a house built near the beach on very sandy soil had a continous problem with fleas on her long haired dog. She tried everything, spraying outside, bombing the house with flea bombs and found Advantix (not Advantage) was the only thing that worked. Permoxin, Advantage and Sentinel were all useless after a time.....even though Permoxin did work well initially for me. I suspect fleas build up resistance to products after a time. When I had the same problem I switched to Advantix as well and it worked (I had used Preventic collars on the dogs for ticks)...but you still need to treat the house, outside areas like lawns, under the house if it is raised, sheds and bedding. I also used Capstar as well.

Aspergilllus? I will look that up. I know he did have a CAT scan. I suspected it could be a grass seed PRS.....a Cat scan might not have picked that up. I gather he had a camera up his nose and he also had swabs done. Poor lady...she is a bit shattered still about finding him dead and it would be good to give her some closure.

I have just started a new job and one of the ladies I work with was telling me they lost their old (13yrs) Sydney Silky a few weeks ago. After spending around a $1,000 at the vet trying to find out what his problem was, with numerous tests, they were none the wiser and the poor little thing was found dead in the backyard after being let out to go to the loo. He had a constantly blocked nose, full of gunk, for about a year before he died and would sneeze gobs of it out....with swabs, scans, all sorts of tests done and no outcome? They didn't bother having an autopsy done but this lady is really frustrated that they could not solve the problem and I think it is preying on her mind. Out of interest....has anyone had a similiar problem with a dog and been given had a reason for it?

I can understand the cost aspect of surgery....all too well. I was just thinking that trying to fix a problem such as HD with alternative therapy might just leave a dog in pain unnecessesarily? I am all for some alternative therapies, if they work, and can keep a dog pain free and I have used a Chiropractor (a human one) with one of my dogs. I wasn't being critical of the OP, just asking why they hadn't taken the surgical option.

Sorry...I have to ask, but why 'without taking the surgery option'? Friends found that their Lab (byb pupp) was a totally different dog after having surgery. One hip was worse than the other but he is 8 yrs old and has had both hips done now. He loves his walks too and copes really well...and is no longer in pain. Rimadyl and Cartophren are both really helpful for joint problems but HD is a structural deformity of the joint. So why muck about with 'alternative' treatments when surgery can solve the problem?

One thing to realise with Epilepsy is that mostly it is 'ideopathic'.........which means there is no known cause. With a dog who has an unknown history, it may be related to past trauma to the head? Once the Vet has cleared any known causes of seizure such as diabetes, kidney problems etc, and seizures continue, then it is ideopathic and all you can do is try to control it with medication. Many dogs (and people) are well controlled on medication. It must be given (usually twice a day) at the same time to be most effective. My neighbours Cav has full generalised seizures every few weeks and is 100% fine the rest of the time. I reallly think it is worse for those watching. A partial or 'absence' type of seizure, as you described, can be scary for you but will not be too traumatic for the dog....it will just leave them a bit tired and disorientated.

Tiffany......I think she adopted an adult Staffy from Mina and Anthony and is just promoting them by adding their website as her sig. Still...I can't imagine they would be all that thrilled by it, considering the tone of the posts. :rolleyes:

Has she changed her name to 'Pedantic Stafford Owner' perhaps?

Oh my you are not concerned that there may be substances contaminating the meat? :rolleyes: :p I suspect there would be lots of 'additives' in P Platers. Funny how Aussie Stafford hasn't been on DOL for a few days? :p

Too true Ravyk....but I suspect Aussie Stafford seemed to think that they are the one with the wealth of knowledge to impart and we, as in older DOLers, know diddlysquat. Big mistake for a 'noobie'! But great comedic relief in the responses, I have to say.

I'd avoid the red heads. They would most likely cause indigestion.

I can just imagine sidling up to a recently done poo, big wooden pepper grinder in hand...*hehehehe* Imagine what people would think if they saw!!!!!!!! :rolleyes: Just put a white serviette over your arm as you do it, just like in a posh restaurant! Peachy....yes, I had heard about chilli flakes and thought it much too harsh on a pup. Just a cheapy container of powdered pepper will do.

Yep - oxalic acid. I wont feed it to my lot. I have a serious question. I give my girl silverbeet as part of her vegie slops. Is this not recommended? If not whats a good green leafy alternative? Crap just kept reading, I also give her tomato in her slops. I think I'm trying to poison her! Laeral....silverbeet = spinach. Fine in moderation, not just every meal. Dogs don't need LOTS of leafy greens. Other green veges are fine as well. Mine get whatever I cook at night with their dinner next day. I don't think you have be too anal about veges either....if they miss out sometimes it's no big deal. They are carnivores. Now we know that the wicked old witch in Hansel and Gretel didn't want to eat them herself! She was obviously feeding her dogs a BARF diet and wanted to chop the kids up for her dogs! :rolleyes:

It seems that his/her 'beef' is bones? Now that makes sense...doesn't it?

Yep - oxalic acid. I wont feed it to my lot. Me neither, as Danni will 'clear a room' with certain veges. It's like a rugby scrum with everyone trying to get through the door at the same time and her sitting there looking innocent..."Who? Me?"

Why do they do it? Because they can! Who knows why pups do this but it's not pleasant....doo poo breath! Ewww! I solved the problem quickly with my Kelpie. You have to get to a poo quickly...then cover it in ground pepper. The pepper won't harm them but they will certainly avoid eating a pepper covered poo again.

Yes i read someone they do but first they have to buy all of the arborist gear to climb up the trees. They also have to buy a food processor to puree the mangoes too! If I fed my Staffy spinach every day, she wouldn't need walking.....as she would be a jet propelled farting machine. Just take out the front, let her go and she would speed round the block in no time, without her feet touching the ground. The only thing that may slow her down would be when she turns around to look at her bum, to see where that funny noise is coming from. Plus all the iron in spinach = possible kidney stones!

Yes bones are included in barf diet, i just prefer not to give my dogs hard beef bones as they can cause teeth damage, bowel blockage etc... Must be a lot of wolves and wild dogs wandering around out there with bleeding gums and blocked bowels? Perhaps they eat mangoes to help them digest the bones better? Oh dear!

Today's effort......but I can't guarantee a photo every day as my camera is dodgy and only works sporadically. ;) My bulb...Tigrida - 'Jockey's Cap'.

I'm so sorry, I must have missed this down the track and had no idea this had happened. I'm so sorry Horus that you had such a tough decision. Poor Ellie, now hopefully well recovered and poor Cleo. She had it tough then found a wonderful life with you. I can't think of a harder thing to do than what you did.....but it was the right decision. I don't come to this forum often....as it breaks my heart. RIP Cleo.