SchnauzerMax

Us too!

It was major abdominal surgery. He had to have a pre-operation drug regime over 2 days immediately before the operation because it was an adrenalin-producing tumour. He had a couple of weeks of antibiotics and tapering off pain medication afterwards. As I remember it, he spent a few days in the vet hospital, mainly because he got so excited when he saw us that we were afraid he would tear his stitches and do himself an injury. His symptoms ceased the moment the surgery was done and once he was home, everything was pretty much ok. Lui suffered from attacks of pancreatitis but this seems to have been caused by long-term use of anti-inflammatories for arthritis (at different times we used rimadyl or previcoxx or another one that I can't remember the name of ). As soon as we would stop giving him the drug, he would get better. We ended up alternating the anti-inflams with opiate pain meds, one day on anti-inflams, next day on opiates etc. Not being able to tolerate long-term use of anti-inflams is common in older dogs (and people too!!). Anti-inflammatories are good for short-term use but as we get older, our livers don't process them well and constant daily doses can cause problems. It's just something to be aware of in older dogs as pain relief options are limited if they can't tolerate them.

My standard schnauzer Lui had this. His symptoms started after he turned 12. We were able to test to discover what type of tumour it was and that it was located in only one of the glands which meant that it could be removed and the other gland would take over the function entirely. The tumour was adrenalin producing which meant that we needed an anaesthetics specialist as well as the surgeon to undertake the surgery. This is because that sort of tumour spikes adrenalin randomly and that can cause high blood pressure and stroke. Apart from that, the surgery is still major surgery. Lui recovered well and lived until he was 16 without problems.

Blood test for hormone levels?

Is Don. Is quite comfortable thank you very much!

Even if you fill out 2 claim forms, it should all be the one 'accident' so only one lot of excess.

Max is tiny for a miniature schnauzer and wears PJs. Even with fleecy blankets and a nice gas heater in the evening before bed time, he still gets cold and PJ's were the only thing that helped him. I think it is a small dog thing - the smaller the dog, the harder it is to keep warm. Our standard schnauzer Remy has no problems keeping warm.

It couldn't be anal glands could it?

Just guessing (with the help of dr google) Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma ?

Tramadol can have some nasty side effects in some dogs. It can cause disorientation which makes the dog more anxious as well as wobbly. The dosage does seem high. I would check with the vet.

GOT Game Of Thrones EFS

When a dog (or a person for that matter) is gradually declining and you see them all the time, you don't realise how bad it is. Someone who hasn't seen Kiska for a while would be shocked and that shock might reset your husband's idea of what is acceptable. Do you have a friend who can visit and comment loudly how awful she looks and must be feeling in front of your husband?

Feather's symptoms sound like adrenal gland problems which are more common in older dogs. This sort of thing usually comes with increased thirst and peeing. If it is, you'll need an ultrasound of the abdomen because the blood tests won't show anything wrong. Fingers crossed that whatever it is, is easily fixed!

Box of staples!

You need to read the fine print because routine procedures like vaccinations or dental might not be covered. Medibank has the option of covering some of that but it is for a fixed amount and very specific items. If I remember correctly, PetPlan doesn't cover routine stuff at all (?) The other trap is things like cruciate surgery where the first one is covered but if the other leg goes, it is not...

Sorry to hijack the thread! I am also wanting to try Turmeric with my 10 yr old boy. So it has to have at least 5% curcumin? What does this do? Also it is better to be organic? And it comes in a powder that I should be able to get at a health food store? Thanks very much everyone :) I believe curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric.

Yes. We went to Medibank from Petplan for Remy. It was a form the vet filled in to declare that they had examined Remy and that there were no existing problems cruciate / joint wise.

Has he been to the vet? Maybe an antihistamine or cortisone injection will help. It will have to be more than one injection. It's in the blood and designed to last for a month. The allergic reaction will continue until the body can break it down.

We have her evil twin at our local vet. An absolutely awful human being. I ring ahead to make sure she is not working when I need to bring one of my two in.

Before you pay annually do you see any changes to the policy ? Yes. I got last time, updated terms and conditions along with the tax invoice and cover letter. That was from both Medibank and Petplan (I had one dog with each). The only problem was the Petplan one included a tax invoice for someone else and their dog! The cover letter was to me but the rest of the package was for a 5 or 6 year old labrador living near Melbourne Airport. I live in inner city Sydney... This was in the middle of their big meltdown.

I pay annually. There is no direct debit arrangement. The insurance company can't take money out without me manually authorizing it. Also, the annual amount is large enough that they must send me a tax invoice for payment.

KDF I'm sorry your whippet is going through this. My experience of spindle cell sarcoma is that you need really huge margins to have a good chance of success and yes even with no signs of infiltrates, there is a good chance of it recurring in the chest / lungs.

Go to the end of that blog entry and look at the picture of the "hotspot"

So sorry.

Make sure you bring the treats that you'd prefer he eat and ask them (your friends or random strangers) to make him do a trick for a treat. Emphasise the working for a reward and talk about how bad yummy things like bacon are for dogs. You know, pancreatitis, diarrhea, vomiting etc etc. My stock phrase used to be "please don't give him that, it will give him the runs!"