Flick_Mac

Don't supplement Calcium! Agree with Espinay - you need a good quality large breed puppy food or even an adult food... it's all to do with the calcium: phosphorous ratio - too much calcium actually makes the problem you've described.

Kongs and anything food related helps keep Banjo occupied for a little while too!

Same - but if she's really nuts I'd confine it to lead walking... trying to stay calm.

Hi all, I found a male entire Jack Russell (no chip) last night in a dog park in Toowong in Brisbane. I'm guessing someone put him there to keep him safe as he was wandering around. If anyone knows of someone who is missing him - please PM me. I have listed him with the pound and with the RSPCA and am going to put up fliers around the area I found him. Any other suggestions as how to find his family - I'm all ears!

Sorry Tralee but you really can't compare a science degree with a veterinary science degree. The degree at UQ, and all other Australian universities undergoes accreditation assessment regularly to ensure the degree is up to standard with regard to material taught, facilities and staff: student ratios. To say that UQ 'looks the real deal' is neither here nor there - graduates have the title of veterinarian and are able to diagnose, treat and do surgery on your animals. Someone who has done an animal science degree is qualified as a handler, technician or assistant at best. It's similar to comparing a doctor with an optometrist. Similar fields but worlds apart in what is actually done. ETA any lay person can give an injection (perhaps not legally) but there's more to giving vaccinations than jabbing them - you need to conduct a physical exam to ensure there's nothing underlying that would affect the animal if it was vaccinated, and lay people treating for diseases that they diagnose is equally as dangerous.

Looks bruised and/or maybe a bit of clipper rash - good idea to get it checked out.

The best thing to do is continue feeding what you are to see if the treatment for the flea allergy works - if it does, then you can be pretty sure she's flea allergic. If the treatment doesn't work (or doesn't 100% clear up just by controlling fleas) then you can try dietary changes. A dietary change might be the best thing to do ultimately - a raw diet or whatever, but try and change 1 thing at a time and wait for the results - with food changes it's 6-8 weeks as Mason_Gibbs said. By changing 1 thing at a time you can figure out what it is that's triggering the allergy. Rember too that it'll take a little while for that hair to grow back, so it might be flea allergy, but the hair regrowth might coincide with the change in diet - so will confuse the real cause of the allergy.

No corn cobs - they cause obstructions that are hard to see on X-ray...expensive Xmas surgery - no thanks!

Where in brissie are you Ness? Then we can tailor suggestions!

Bianca - I take your pic and raise you a and a

I'm thinking the same thing for my next car - My boys take up the back seat and I can fit most things in there but when going away for a few days or more there is SO MUCH STUFF! I'm thinking of going the trailer route - because I'll spend less on petrol when I'm not using it. Won't have to buy a whole new car, and will still be able to take the dogs for short trips to the park, beach etc without the trailer if I don't want the bother. Then when I'm going away for longer or on trips that need lots of gear I'll use the trailer!

Banjo is obsessed with the Cuz range too Gayle! We have about 8 different ones and it's all I buy him now! Except for this hippo I got recently that sounds sort of like a duck, he LOVES it!

All good - I just found it interesting because it's probably an almost comparable condition in GPs! It would have been an awfully stressful time though - I can definitely understand you being frustrated and angry!

Not to detract from your GSD Vehs, and you quite possibly should have been seen at the same time, but a guinea pig not eating for 2 days is pretty serious - they get ileus, gut stasis which can kill them. GDV is one of my biggest worries with my boy, Louie. He has a really deep chest, and I'm constantly on the lookout for any signs of bloat.

Thanks Donatella - your pup is pretty darn cute herself... haircut or not!

My current housemate is great with my boys... he loves them and lets them inside when I'm working long days (he's often home during the day) and will feed them for me and look after them at night. He's even semi-trained a couple of tricks which he's very proud of. He's currently puppy-sitting while I"m at a friends place overnight studying for exams. My other housemate wasn't keen on the dogs, but told me one day (about 3 months after moving in) "Flick, I want to hate your dogs but I don't" which I thought was a pretty good start! They still don't go into his room, and he's not as good as my other one but will still help me out if I need to.

Correct me if I"m wrong, but I don't think Jane is a VET behaviourist.

The way to confirm flea allergy is to get rid of the fleas and watch the allergy disappear. You might need something from the vet to soothe the initial lesions from the fleas but then a flea preventative that doesn't require the flea to bite e.g. Comfortis, Advantage, or Frontline etc are what you use. PS - I'm pretty sure it says on the box of Comfortis that it IS suitable for flea allergy dogs.

Sounds like Comfortis - I know lots of people who've had success with it including a flea-allergic dog living with an un-flea treated dog. He stayed flea-free despite living with a source or reinfection

I have a weimy who might be interested!

This is what I'm kind of getting at Gayle. I realise I'll have to do a lot of shutting up and letting it go as a young vet working for someone else, but I'm figuring if I can't discourage someone from breeding encouraging relevant health testing and doing the right thing by the pups and parents might make me more comfortable to be a part of the process. Thanks Woofen - I couldn't think of any other examples off the top of my head!

I see where you're coming from Shazza, and in an ideal world I would definitely support your ideals 100%. I guess going into the work force as a vet in just over 12 months I've started thinking that I'm going to have to see a lot of backyard breeding and am trying to get my head around what I think about it or how I can make it as responsible as possible. If I had my way every dog would be desexed unless you had a breeding permit for them or they were specifically required to stay entire e.g. show dogs. It's a matter of me compromising rather than saying screw it and just keeping quiet to any client that happens to want to breed so I can get my point across and not alienate them in the process. Hope that makes sense!

Shazzapug - pig dogs were just an example that sprang to mind. It could be any type of non-registered working dog. For me, I guess it's mainly the ethics I like about registered breeders - the fact that they're breeding for dogs with good health, good conformation, lifelong support and good temperaments and just happen to be registered (and the breeds I like are purebreds). If there was someone who was doing exactly what a registered breeder was doing but with 2 crossbred dog, for a purpose e.g. working farm dogs or pig dogs etc, would you have a problem with it? I think in general I think I'd be ok with it as long as it wasn't putting potentially difficult dogs into uneducated/unknowledgable homes.

Ok - i have no idea about whether there'd be a registry or whether they'd be keeping records... this is purely hypothetical remember! I guess when I was thinking of the pig dog example I was thinking more of breeding 2 good, working dogs together, so not neccessarily 'breeding true' as yet, but eventually I guess they would. Thanks for the opinions so far though - most of you are in line with what I've been thinking. As a future vet I guess it's something I'm going to have to deal with a lot (irresponsible breeding etc) and am thinking I might have to relax my hard line views on breeding a little bit if there's someone who really can't be talked out of it. How about another situation: if it was someone who really wanted to breed their dog and was willing to health test but was still just breeding for the hell of it? I think I'd be stuck in the middle - they're doing the right thing by breeding responsibly, but there's no 'purpose' to the reason behind the litter. I guess this is another situation where I, as a vet would have to compromise, but I'd be far less willing to be a part of it than the first scenario.

This is purely hypothetical... I'm just wondering what other like-minded peoples views would be! If someone had a breed of dog that wasn't registered purebred e.g. bull arabs or pigging dogs or something and was breeding them for a purpose (i.e. the development/betterment of the 'breed') AND was health testing them and otherwise acting as a registered breeder would you have a problem with this?