PuddleDuck

Try the Petcare 2000 stores, they aren't on the beaches but well worth the trip out there usually. I think the closest is Castle Hill?

My friend has one of these pure bread protekshun bears dogs and its not very brave Can you guarantee the one I buy for mum will eat scare off anyone that comes into the yard with the exception of the grandkids who like to play out there unsupervised?

Allow 3-6 weeks to see a difference. I'm sure I read somewhere that skin cells take about 3 weeks to cycle, so you need to allow time for that to happen as well as for the food to start to make a difference. My guys scratch for no particular reason occasionally and I find that as soon as I wash them with Aloveen, its goes away. Plus it smells great! :D

I just saw this on The Australian - shocked beyond words Poor puppies. Why would the owner sign the note!? Call the damn police! Its all very odd

ebay! I get most of my "over the counter" stuff (flea, tick, heartworm and sasha's) for the dogs and cat....and lizard....and turtle.... on there and there are really good prices! I've actually been able to pick up a lot of stuff on there cheaper than I can ordering through a friend that is able to purchase stuff for me at wholesale prices

After my SILs dog had an $8k vet bill we took out insurance on our dogs - its less than 90c a day for the both of them through BowWowMeow. I feel like I have more peace of mind knowing that if something was to happen to them I wouldn't have to sell everything we own (which I would do!) to make sure they are OK. I think it has an $8k per year per dog cap with a $500 excess, I went for a higher excess to bring the monthly cost down, which helps I know that the cap may not cover a whole bill if something bad happened, but I think it is enough to stop myself from questioning treatment vs income in most cases

Hey Kelly, so sorry to hear about Chloe. Hopefully they can shed some light on her fluctuations, and things will start looking up. Thinking of you, hugs

I sometimes wonder if it would be better for vets to choose to specialise in large/small animals as they go through. There is a lot to learn to cover them both, and perhaps the option of a slightly longer degree could be available if you do want to cover both?? The average city vet doesn't really see that many cows Even if you could be a small animal vet, or an all animal vet. I wont hesitate to pay more if I am worried about knowledge. We paid extra to take our turtle to a turtle vet, not to mention taking 1/2 day off work because they dont do late and weekend consults. But when I did, I was very grateful because the medication a vet I used to know used is actually fatal to turtles. She always referred to herself as an exotic "specialist" too. When I told another very well educated and up to date vet about it, they had no idea and said that medication is what they had been taught was a great broad-spectrum antibiotic for exotics (including the poor turtys!) I've worked in several clinics when I was vet nursing. Absolutely there are some vets that shouldn't be in practice. But the majority are just people who work their a$$ off to get where they are and accept a life of work hours that would scare most of us off, for very little money, because they love it. I found that you really have to be a top line amazing vet nurse who is still working to further their education to get to work with vets like that. I guess it's like Doctors isn't it. Some attend conferences, stay up to date, push themselves to do whatever they can for their patients. We have one lovely doctor who gives us his home number to call if we are worried. Others give you the script and have you out the door in 5 minutes. I suppose, at the end of the day, its about education. Is it that the average vet doesn't really have a lot to do with breeders and so chooses not to keep as up to date in reproduction fields? I know in the US a lot of money from the Kennel Clubs is invested into research. I'm not familiar with it here, but perhaps that is the place to start....offering sponsorships or other opportunities to vets who are willing to put the extra effort into our preferred fields. I hope that makes sense, I'm feeling very "friday afternoon" Oh - and I paid $17 a minute for my renal specialist, and he does very little that I see...but then, my kidneys still work!!!

I haven't read it, but would be interested to. Whilst I probably wont agree with all of it, I think it highlights to people that there are so many things adding to global warming - its not just the big things people usually think of like cars, industry etc, but that everything right down to a Chihuahua leaves a carbon footprint (or pawprint!)

I think Beagle X Corgi, we used to have a beagle cross cattle dog that had the exact same colouring.

Off the floor in an airtight container. Container is kept in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Lasts ages

Yep, I knew it. Went and bought some form of macro lens today...ended up going to HN due to them having a interest free deal on and us needing some other stuff there! OH is now a DOLer, "photogger" (thats what I always call him ) so I expect he'll be hanging around in this section soon enough. Thanks again for your help!

Thanks guys! I suspect it wont be too long before we add another lens to our family

Hey Guys, OH who is the photogger in the family wants to get a macro lens for his camera, its a canon EOS Digital SLR. Any suggestions on where to buy? I'm happy to order it from overseas if it saves us money, or buy second hand! Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!!!

Hey Guys, We ended up going - it was quite good! Some lovely photos there. In saying that, you do have to pay entry (not sure if it was different last year but this year you have to pay a "top up" on top of the normal entry fee), it was a bit over $30 for both of us and I'm a student so its a discounted entry for me! We didn't end up doing much in the "workshop", just looking, because it was so crowded there. Stunning photography. Regardless of the controversy, I loved the winning pic. Really makes you realise though that some people probably spend days/weeks waiting for that perfect shot!

Sorry Luffy!

I second that, Rentachook are brilliant, we had some join our extended family and now we are all a bit chook mad, as soon as we have a house rather than a unit we'll be renting some feathered gardeners

Dyzney, Fifi, people like you restore faith in humanity. Such generosity....amazing! Just a thought, could a heavy flea burden be causing anaemia in this pup??? Obviously there are some other things at play as well, but that could explain the lethargy, etc.

;) Fantastic news! That must be such a relief, so glad to hear it!

Hey Guys Are there instructions on here for making your own signature? There are so many pages I dont know where to look. I'd love one of our family, happy to have a go myself but no idea how to get started! Thanks!

Hey All, Apologies if this has already been posted, there was an ad in New Scientist this week about the "wildlife photographer of the year" exhibit which opened Christmas Eve at the Australian Museum in Sydney. I'm not sure how long it goes for or anything but looks really good! They also apparently have a "my camera studio" there, where you can take your own camera and learn some tips and tricks too. We'll be going, but not sure when. Thought some others in here might be interested as well. Merry Christmas all!

OH and I are bored and full of turkey so decided to "torture" our lizard....methinks he doesn't like playing santa if the scratch on my hand is any indication!

Oh no, what a horrible thing to happen at christmas. We'll be thinking of you, and keeping fingers, toes and paws crossed.

Hey Kelly, I haven't been following Chloe's story from the start but am certainly keeping my fingers crossed for no more "buts" in future. She sounds like a special girl, with a special owner

Devitts at Narrabeen on the Northern Beaches is a big meat wholesaler that sells direct to the public. I'm not sure exactly what range they would stock - I can't feed bones to my guys so tend not to get them too much stuff there, but they are really well priced and helpful, so might be worth calling them. We buy all our meat there and its the best quality.