Staff'n'Toller

ABC radio (BBC health show) had a segment on it just the other day. You might want to see if you can podcast it. It was about a snow leopard but they talked a lot about results in dogs.

I would always call first if going to a vet in an emergency to let them know you are coming. This lets them prepare for you and be ready to see you right away, and rearrange any procedures or consults. Even more important if the emergency is after hours at an emergency clinic. This is what I have always been told to do. True, and maybe it is because my knowledge of snake bites is zilch, but I would be in the car calling the Vet while on the way to them. You have worked in several Vet Clinics but you know nothing about snakes..??

Wonder if the 'Tuffy Collar' on this page is what you are after?

Twice last year we were given false name, address, phone numbers and the owners did not drive so no license to check. You may as well take $200 of your hard earned and blow it into the breeze. ;)

To go off topic, my boss runs a virtually pro-bono dog health program in the NT. When I say virtually pro-bono he is paid for his services, but they usually cover charter flights, accom, food (@ 3 x the cost of Melbourne prices) and other essentials. Very early on in the program back in Melbourne he had me total up the cost of literally every consumable, per needle, per swab, per ml of disinfectant, every single thing that is used up per trip (he is a stickler for keeping records ;) ). On the non-funny side once I had split it all down and added it back up I nearly cried, I had no idea how much it cost and I couldn't even tell him face to face I had to hand him the spreadsheet. Five years later he still runs this program, he's so emotionally attached there is no way out. Our last vial of Tiger/Brown combined has gone out of date and is still in the fridge along with the new one I ordered because doG forbid you gave a dog out of date anti-venene and it died- you'd be strung up before the Veterinary Board. We will eventually have to throw it, along with the Snake Bite Venom Detection Kits that are also stupidly expensive when they go out of date. ;) But it all has to be there and within date just in case.

It has been this way for a while now re: deposit or payment of the first nights' treatment of snake bite. It would never have come about it people respected the service and everyone paid their bills, we could still invoice and wait - if everyone was honest. The simple fact is that people are not honest anymore, and morality seems to have flown out the window. It's ok that the Vet Clinic wears the cost as long as it's not 'them' who are wearing the cost. Something happens when an animal dies, this forum is filled with people who have a deep attachment with their pet but where the attachment is not as strong, and the owner is fueled by guilt of what they have not done with/for the pet in the past, they say go ahead with treatment in the heat of the moment not thinking about how the heck they are going to pay. Then despite thousands in treatment and intensive care, the dog passes away, now there is no dog, and for some reason the feeling of responsibility to pay goes out the window. I have ashes here in the cupboard of owners who were frightfully upset and were told the cost of cremation, we have long paid the hundreds of dollars for these pets to be cremated and their owners will never collect their pets - you call and call and send letters - they don't ask for a payment plan @ $10 a week or anything, they just don't answer messages and they never come.... We don't run on bequests here, we are not a registered charity, we are a small clinic we can't just absorb costs....wtf do you do?? ;)

Brown rice is ok if you feel like you must feed some carbs but generally adult dogs get enough carbs via their dry food if it constitutes 50% or more of the diet. We've seen quite a few dogs with upset tummies on oats- gives them a stomach ache!

Can't wait to see their first trial video soon!

Yes the other dog is a male as well, pretty sure he is an Amstaff, they are both desexed. Just a quick question for those who have responded and don't agree with the behaviourist's advice, why is this? Genuine question, I have no idea about dog training or psychology or anything... It's old-ish advice that we used to give, now we know that dominance hierarchy is quite fluid between dogs and in different situations. Sometimes doing all the feeding and attention first of the 'top' dog can exacerbate the situation and cause more grief. It will also not fix aggression because the actual precursors need to be identified i.e. why the dogs are fighting and who is instigating it, often the one you think it is - actually isn't - it takes two to tango! There are just plain dominant dogs out there but they are quite rare and first and foremost dogs fight over resources, due to maturity or as some people have already mentioned due to same sex issues.

When you say shave off, what do you guys mean exactly?

Most Vets are happy to fix it surgically as it's fairly straightforward. If you want a specialist then: Animal Eye Care All Animal Eye Services If you are in the country, the first link have Vets who do regular travelling clinic to selected areas. Cheers, Mel.

I think sometimes people phone with a price in their head and hope you will say "oh ok, 20 bucks it is then." We get it sometimes at my work too, I think they just like to test the waters, when they buy products in some places they get discounts so they assume they can barter everywhere.

Might be best to call one of the well established Vets in your area. I have some here but no dose rates, it's different according to weight, age and type of dog.

Love my Roselines. Have some shear magics at work and they are sharp but hinge is crap. You can tell the quality difference.

Sorry you had an uninformative Vet LM. Local hurts more than the staples generally, so if the dog's brave enough we just do the staples very quickly. Otherwise you have an upset dog who's had a bunch of needlesticks into the wound to get a good anaesthetic and then they won't let you near the leg to stitch it up. For stitching we GA, no ifs, buts or maybes. Possibly they could have a deep sedation but for a 'gaping' wound it takes quite a few stitches and often a 2 layer closure.

That's quite a normal protocol for an AEC really. Since it's $150 to walk in the door at most of our AEC's in Melbourne, lots of people have put off going to the Vet b/c they didn't have the money in the first place and then it gets to 'emergency' level and they find themselves at an after hours. Obviously yours was an accident and not something you waited to get treatment for of course, but these days owners are given options + pricing and they elect what they want to do vs. what they can afford to do. In the case of non-life threatening superficial injuries it's quite ok that the dog gets pain relief and anti-biotic cover and presents to their regular Vet the next day.

Female Viz?

The Sasha's blend smells like dried fish, because it is. The majority of dogs like it, some won't. It comes in flavoured treats as well that I have never heard any dog refuse. Your other option for an unflavoured powder is Joint Guard.

Often it's very early pregnancy and nothing much is visible. It's a bit hard but I wouldn't call that part of it the most difficult, if the puppies or kittens aren't wanted and if they are not going to well-vetted homes then it's often better that way- definitely for kittens!! I can't stand people who think it's ok to let their cat have more female kittens outdoors that eventually go semi feral and continue to breed. :D

What do you do in that situation, staff? In my example the vet refused and they went on to have a long happy life together. We've only had it once since I've been in this position (7yrs) where we amputated the dogs leg and placed it in a new home. The guy had willingly surrendered the dog though on the understanding that we had ownership. He called back about an hour later and tried to sell us the dog's kennel for 50 bucks. - I kid you not!! On the odd occasion people have chosen to PTS rather than do a big surgery and sometimes that's hard but their dog, their decision.

We've had the same sort of thing albeit the owner returning some time later. I'm sure at RSPCA they see it all the time. Unfortunately those dogs in general tend to be outside dogs with little environmental enrichment +/- fence jumpers, so, quite often with a history or escaping behaviours any attachment bond the owner once had with the dog is broken.

Euthanasia seems to go in runs and we might have one every day for a week. Some days I've done multiples and we feel like we just want to close up and go home. It's particularly hard for my boss who's known clients for ~30 years and they go to pieces. Not sure how he holds it together.

Lots of people think dogs shouldn't be allowed on beaches full stop.

Have you watched that dvd yet??

You may find your oldie is better suited to one kennel, and the others in a different one. You could also look at putting Jessie in a home with a K9 nanny and the others in a kennel. Just be sure when looking around that they only take one dog at a time. Some around our area have a habit of boarding too many dogs in their home at once. We have a client though in Doncaster who has one older small breed dog and only takes one booking at a time. She is good.