mita

Yes, I mentioned you because you paved the way for what's now being called shelter vet medicine. And some of the times, you had dogs which were in extremely sore state. I posted at the time that you should be writing a manual on the nursing that attempted to save such dogs. For example, I recall your words & initial photos about Shelby. I recall how you posted your thoughts that it was her eyes & how she looked at you which were the only reasons that prompted you to take her in a parlous state. There was also the little dog, which eventually was adopted to someone in Tasmania. That dog made it to health after much effort & expertise. I agree with you that a vet examination may indicate that May might be best released from this life. But I have no problem that any merciful PTS would be done by some folk who have chosen vet advice first & then possibly a less impersonal & even marginally more comfortable last times. You made your choices. These folk are making their choices....which includes vet supervision re options. Also anyone wishing to contribute make their choice freely, based on information to hand. There's an element of risk in all actions. Always is & always has been, in every extreme case that's come up on DOL & in any call for contributions.

Yep, powerlegs, I have contact details for chinaplate. 'Tar.

That bad. Let's all think of May tonight and send her cyber wishes ..... and all the others out there in similar plights. I understand how May had to be pulled from the pound first, in order to get a vet examination of her condition. Until then, it wasn't clear just what her problems were. I can see why she was thought to be preggers, just going by sight. It's given her a chance to see if she can be treated....and to be in compassionate hands, if not. I remember how Cordelia used to give some sorely -gone dogs a chance, every now & again. They were great learning experiences to read about the nursing required. And holding breath whether a particular dog would make it or not. I believe this is now part of a subject called Shelter Medicine....the U of Q has included it in their vet course. I'll send something down to DABS (is that Chinaplate?) towards May's vet examination/care. Thinking of her tonight....& as Cynthia said, of others in a similar plight. Gentle hugs for May.

Yes, they sure are. And, scientifically speaking, always were. I admire tremendously all the people who've hung in there for Tango.

With respect, in the case of our dog, it was the vet's fault. I suggested a possible less invasive diagnosis.....which would not have required surgery. It wasn't checked out, subjecting the dog to an operation she didn't have to have...along with the consequences. I also pointed out before the surgery that she had a strong tendency to skin allergy. So they knew she was hyper-allergenic. That would have the cue to take special care in any shaving/application of anti-bacterial material. Her skin was appallingly inflamed straight after the operation & she was sent home in the late afternoon, following the surgery.....to scream in agony throughout the night. There was no attempt by that vet to keep her in hospital in order to treat aggressively what were serious chemical 'burns'. Nor did they show any concern about those visible signs. She had to be taken eventually to another vet....who was equally appalled by the condition she'd been sent home in. And the original vet hospital must have been aware of fault.....because they neatly excised any mention of her anal gland 'surgery' & serious skin consequences from their records. But this thread belongs to the OP. Who is trying to make things as comfortable as possible for the BC boy. It is useful for people to know, tho', that there can be serious consequences for skin, following operating procedures. And immediate best- practice treatment should be started by the treating vet. Clients should not have to watch their dogs in untreated agony.....& then have to seek out another vet.

We had exactly the same experience with our tibbie girl when she had an exploratory procedure under general anaesthetic, to check her anal glands for cancer. The specialist vet asked me before the operation, did she have any other conditions. I said she had a strong tendency to skin allergy. After the operation, all around her rear end was exactly the same as your boy's. I can only think that the hair was shaved right down to the skin & then copiously swabbed with anti-bacterial stuff. And the combination had appalling consequences for her skin. In fact, it looked exactly like serious burns. She screamed in agony. Vet gave us neotopic....but she still screamed in agony. Finally, like you, we got to another vet who gave anti-inflammatories, anti-biotics & something for the pain. Also neotopic-H cream. It was a horrible experience for that little dog....the severe pain & distress went on for days. Took a couple of weeks to get close to being normal. I couldn't even say that it had been an necessary operation. The specialist vets said there could be cancer...yet the only evidence was her glands were blocked. I asked could it simply be impacted anal glands. Well, she had the op....with the results showing no cancer....but the anal gland was impacted. Like I'd suggested. We were extremely annoyed.....having paid around $800 for an operation which had not even been needed, but resulted in agony for our little one, as a consequence. Interestingly, when the vet who finally gave emergency aid for her, phoned that vet hospital for specific info.....they had no mention of the anal gland surgery, nor of the serious skin consequences on their records. Frankly, I think they were worried they'd get sued.

I've seen this with our niece who has a young dog with diabetes. She was appalled at first at the idea of giving injections. But when it was demonstrated to her, by the vet, she realised it was nothing like she'd imagined. So quick & easy, and the dog doesn't even seem to notice. After doing it herself for a few times, she now has no worries at all.

This is very similar to the food routine I used with a Sheltie boy who had pancreatitis tendency, nearly all his life. Right into old age, 15 years. I found, from hard experience, how easily the pancreatitis could be triggered off. Once he was given a bone to chew....that led to a week in hospital at U of Q vet clinic. The vet told me that bones of all kinds, no matter how lean they are, can be' triggers'. She said to see why....just boil the leanest of bones & watch all the fat come to the top. So no bones of any kind for him....chicken or otherwise. Another mistake I made early on, was to think that a little bit of the leanest meat wouldn't hurt him. It did.....another few days in hospital. So when I got onto a 'safe' food routine like TD's described, I stuck to it.

Yes, that advice is given to women who have to take supplements for osteoporosis. Women are human not canine though. Fair comment, Chocolate.

Yes, that advice is given to women who have to take supplements for osteoporosis.

The only current relevant law I can find, sets out the dog breeds that are banned in the UK (& being imported). The usual 4, including Pitbull. (Also mentions 'type'). BUT an amendment allowed that people currently owning the dogs could get the OK, thro' the courts, to have their dog exempted if the court believed it posed no threat to public safety. And the owner met certain conditions. http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/do...dogsleaflet.pdf I can't find any independent reference to this new 'piece of law' that mentions sizes, weights & colours. Nor who are the 'legislators' putting it up. Would like to read that draft.

Is there somewhere that this 'new bill' can be looked at? This 'piece of law'. Obviously, it's not passed yet. It must exist in a draft form somewhere. Dogs carrying liver, black, white or brindle markings??? Fits the tiny tibbie next door who has unusual colours thro' her coat.

Your Peke may be a bit older than 13 yrs. There's a condition that can affect older dogs. Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. One of the number of possible symptoms that starts creeping up, is barking for no reason at night. It's like how signs of dementia start creeping up in some ageing humans. Talk to your vet about this possibility. Also one of the DOLers, dogmad, has a fund of knowledge about older dogs. Here's an article about the condition. You'll see it mentions barking at night for no reason. http://www.cpvh.com/Articles/4.html

Very true, tybrax. Dogs & their owners have paid a terrible price. Let's hope the future will be saner & brighter for dogs.

I'd add: Human bites transfer more bacteria than dog bites. So if there's a human on one side about to bite you....& a dog on the other. Pick the dog. Higher chance of infection from the human. But, then, an easy way to fix this problem, would be to ban all humans. Who wants to go first? Source: Management of Bite Injuries. authors from Prince Charles Hospital & Royal Brisbane Hospital. 2006

I think the OP passed on the story to make a fair point that there are people who think that dogs are born fluent 'understanders' of the English language. Especially of the magic words...sit, drop, come, stay etc. I agree with Erny that this case has a positive. The owner made a phone call about the issue. So you can move to the next step. Ask such an owner, 'Can you fly a plane?' Usual answer would be 'No.' 'If you thought it important to fly a plane, what would you do?' Usual reply, 'Go get taught.' Ditto for dogs. ' You think it's important for your dog to sit, drop etc. What would you do? ' Then you'll get an answer where you can take it from there...how dogs can be taught basic obedience.

One of the experienced breeders recommended Purina Dental Chews for my 14 yr old Tibbie girl. She'd had troubles getting thro' chicken necks or chicken wings, as she had in the past. I get them in Coles.

Lady nearby lost her pure-bred Staffy (with papers), Zorro. She phoned all the Pounds & reported it. Thinking, thank goodness she could tell them, 'pure-bred Staffy' . So ID'ing his breed would be easy peasy. She kept phoning every day....& the Pounds kept replying....'No purebred Staffy has come in.' Then one day, one of the Pounds phoned her & said, 'A purebred Staffy has come in.' She drove like a maniac up to this Pound. Was led to the dog's cage....& it was clearly a Staffy X. Disappointed, she trudged out & passed cages with dogs in them...where she came face to face with....her Staffy, Zorro. Turns out he'd been there from the 1st day she phoned. But he'd been ID'd by the Pound, 'Staffy X'. So the cross had been labelled purebred.....& the purebred labelled cross.

Grandma dogs are the best. And this Grandma was the best of the best. I bet there was a loud 'oof' at the gate of Doggie Heaven, when she arrived. My heart goes out to you & your family, Trish. You'll miss her so much....especially those 'oofs'.

Some good points there, fuzzy. You're right that all the variables which really count re dog bites & attacks, don't get reported in the media. And I'd be hoping the authorities would be lifting their game with collecting more relevant info (apart from breed 'guesses) That's a good point, too, about including something at school for children to learn how to behave around dogs. There's various programs about pets, currently going into schools, from various organisations. Here's hoping they're spreading the word. The big problem, tho', is that the most vulnerable groups for dog bites & dog attacks are the babies/toddlers/ children under 5 yrs (& boys a bit older). And they're not at school yet. So a great deal rests on parents being aware & knowledgeable. One of the best set of tips for parents is on this website. I'd wish the info could be given out to parents of young children. http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogT...ildproofing.php

Fleas can't breathe underwater. :rolleyes: Notice how I began by describing this as a 'preventative remedy'? The man's point was that the bathing in salt water left some kind or residue which deterred fleas between swims. This was the only means he used for bathing the dogs. If the fleas drown before the owner knows they are there, is it preventative or treatment? I'd imagine he'd not have been going over his dogs with a flea comb every day. Salt is a well known home remedy for killing fleas btw. Apparently salting carpets, then vacumming can be quite effective in getting rid of them. Perhaps on the skin it works the same way. The man bathed his dogs via regular swims in salt water....because he said it worked efficiently as flea prevention. The residue left by the salt, in his experience, acted as a deterrent. So there were no fleas to drown. That was his point. His lived near a beach where he exercised his dogs daily, which included a swim. He said he did not dry or rinse off the dogs after the swim....leaving residue on skin & hair. He had commercial preventative flea products in his own store.....but said he did not use them, because he'd found the swims worked efficiently. Yes, salt on a carpet is a good for getting rid of fleas.

Fleas can't breathe underwater. :rolleyes: Notice how I began by describing this as a 'preventative remedy'? The man's point was that the bathing in salt water left some kind or residue which deterred fleas between swims. This was the only means he used for bathing the dogs.

A preventative remedy I'd like to try, but can't because we don't live close to the beach. A man who owned a produce store which sold all the regular flea treatments, once told me he'd never used any of them on his own 2 blue heelers. And they never had a flea. He swore by regular swims in the salt water at the beach near his home. He reckoned salt water did the trick.

A police motocyclist I know, once had to turn up in casualty at the hospital, uniform ripped to shreds & himself cut and bleeding. He'd picked up a koala he saw in the middle of the road....& carried it to safety. While the koala did him over big time. So I'm waiting to see a koala appear on one of these lists. But maybe, it's already on it....because someone's called it a 'Staffy'. :rolleyes:

Right on. The Council collects the statistics by asking for a dog to be described as Primary Breed.....&, for mixed breeds, Secondary Breed, too. But when that info is pulled off the Council's data base, it's by Primary Breed only. Which gathers together in one big 'lump'... all the dogs where 'Staffy' was put as the Primary Breed: .Staffies who were papered purebreds .'Staffies' who came from other sources which described them as 'Staffies', so the owners call them that .'Staffies' that someone thought was a good label for them....some hardly resembling a Staffy. .'Staffies' where the owner knew it was a mixed-breed & put in a Secondary Breed, too. Also Staffies are one of the most popular breeds here....& any nuggety, block-headed, medium dog can get called a Staffy. So it's anybody's guess just how many of these dogs warrant the breed label. .