mita

This is very like what the vet told me today when our adult Tibbie girl was desexed. We were also cautioned not to let her go up & down stairs while the stiches were in.....& no jumping down terraces in the garden. Also we have to keep an eye that she doesn't chew the stitches.

I had a Sheltie boy who'd get severe attacks of pancreatitis. I'd thought that good raw steak with the fat cut off.....& raw bones.....wouldn't hurt. But if he ate either, it would result in an attack. A uni vet pointed out to me that there's a lot of fat in meat & in bones....even when it looks as lean as possible, on the outside. She said to show this was so....to boil a piece o the leanest raw meat & also separately boil a lean raw bone. And watch while all the fat, which had not been visible, came to the surface. For both. So I was unable to feed Danny raw meat or bones....however lean they appeared to be. I found TuckerTime excellent.

Good for you for posting about what groomers.....despite doing a thoroughly professional job...have to often put up with. I'd always thought that people who took their dogs for professional grooming, would all be thoroughly responsible & caring of their dogs. So it was a real eye-opener to me when I first read a thread on DOL where a groomer set out all the horrors she sees in a lot more than a few dogs brought into her. The stunning thing is how lacking in insight such owners seem to be.....blaming the groomer for things that they, themselves, have neglected. On a positive note. After worrying & worrying about the pro's & con's of getting our Tibbie girls clipped for the Qld summer....I'll never forget what they looked like after they pranced out of an excellent groomer's work-room. Absolutely fabulous & gorgeous! And the groomer must have handled them wonderfully. From then on, they loved going to her....& would throw themselves into her arms. They voted with their 4 paws!

I'm so sorry, Greytmate. What a lovely girl & cared for so well that she was nearly 16 yrs old. Bronwyn will always be in your mind & forever in your heart.

I'd tend to check this with the vet.

PM, please pass on my best wishes to the little dog's owners that all goes well. I understand that the present vet only thinks that it could be an allergic reaction to the internal sutures. But it was diagnosed with certainty with my Tibbie girl. I'd never known such a thing could be possible. But the vet who diagnosed it, didn't have any trouble in doing so. He told me that another different kind of internal suture material can be used.....which is less likely to trigger allergy in dogs vulnerable to it happening. I mentally filed away that bit of information away for when I had to have another female dog desexed. If the present vet can now only suggest PTS, it puts the case in the serious & unusual category. I head off to the U of Q clinic when something like that comes up with any of our pets.

I would get pointy ended ones too, you will need them if your dog gets a matt. I agree with you. I have both in my 'grooming kit' for the Tibbies. The round-ended, curved blades scissors plus the pointy ones (I actually use a pair or embroidery scissors).

I have to trim under the Tibetan Spaniels's feet. I use scissors that not only have rounded ends but which also have a curve in the blade. It's the kind of scissors you buy at baby shops....because they are so safe to use.....& the curved blade means you're not cutting with sharp, straight scissor tips. The last pair I bought were actually in a pet supplies store. But, as I said, they can be bought at stores that sell supplies for babies.

My Gracie, a tibbie, had no history of allergies until she was desexed. The wound looked a bit inflamed & I even thought it might be getting infected. But I got a second opinion from a vet who'd worked at the uni & it turned out to be that she was allergic to the internal sutures. As this is an unusual situation.....I'd urge the owners to take her to the University of Qld Small Animals Clinic. And indicate strongly that the problem only started following her desexing operation. The Unversity of Qld Small Animals Clinic is in the grounds of the University at St Lucia. Phone no is 3365 2110

My Gracie (a Tibbie) seemed the same to me after her desexing. She didn't have a drama-queen temperament & had had some litters of puppies when with her breeder. So I took her distress seriously. I phoned the vet & said she needed some kind of pain relief. They very reluctantly said OK, to come over & get some tablets. I was not impressed & took Gracie immediately to another highly recommended vet.....who agreed she needed pain relief & gave her an injection. In the next days, I noticed an inflamed 'bubbling' in the wound....& took her to this second vet again. He rightly diagnosed that she was having an allergic reaction to the internal sutures. So she needed treatment for that. He said that if the reaction didn't respond, he might have to operate to remove those internal sutures. Fortunately the treatment worked. If I have a female dog being desexed again, I will ask about pain relief before she has the operation, so there'll be no more of the distress I saw in Gracie. I'm also now aware that a dog with a tendency to allergy, can have a reaction to the internal sutures.

The University of Qld wants feedback, for research, from cat or dog owners whose pet has diabetes & are treating them. There's an online survey to fill in on this page. http://www.uq.edu.au/ccah/index.html?page=...4&pid=33408 Please pass on this info to anyone else you know whose dog or cat has diabetes.

Caro, thank you for that reply. You've supported something that I've noticed. Angel has never lacked confidence....she has heaps of it. Which is why she's always done such a good job with 'small dog' testing the greyhounds, doesn't matter how big they are. That remained the same even after her grieving problem for Gracie came on. She still did the greyhound testing confidently....& was great with the male Border Collie the other day. Her problem seems more like obsessiveness. For a couple of months after Gracie died, she'd lie & watch at doorways and gates, expecting Gracie to come back in. In the vet's examination room, she'd lie watching the door, expecting Gracie to come in, too. Then she changed her focus to me.....that I should be within sight all the time. So it's obesessiveness. Maybe Clomicalm is not the medication for her. I found this listing of meds for behaviour problems. Anti-depressants are mentioned. I wonder if they might more fit the problem my little dog has. She grieved terribly for Gracie. http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings...4&O=Generic

Thanks for the replies, folks. This problem is puzzling me. I've had a dog with separation anxiety before & this seems different. This little dog seems more obsessive than anxious. She never has....& still doesn't...seem to have an anxious bone in her body. Totally confident in all situations....like when meeting big dogs. She does small dog testing for the Greyhound Adoption Program. Not a twinge of worry even when she met Wally who was as big as a Mac truck. Since this problem has come on, she remains totally unfazed by everything else.....except when she can't keep me in sight. Few days ago, she was totally confident when a DOLer called in with 2 gorgeous Border Collies. As usual, she sorted things for getting on with the male BC....when many small dogs would go into a screaming fit. But thanks to your advice, I'll keep on keeping on. I wonder, tho', if there are differenct medications for obsessiveness than there are for anxiety? Maybe I should ask the vet that?

We will get another dog....but the behaviourist vet wants reduce the obsessiveness first. Because it doesn't matter if another dog is with her....she still howls. Yes, retraining is going along with the Clomicalm. All the things required for separation anxiety. The vet said the Clomicalm hoses down the anxiety so that the retraining is more like to 'take'. Well, the Clomicalm might as well be sugar pills so far.....& the retraining has modified the behaviour a tiny bit, but it's still a problem. If I'm not home, there's still howling & pacing. The strange thing is that everyone else I know whos dog's been on Clomicalm has taken the dog off it, because it became so heavily sedated. With Angel, it's like water off a duck's back.

My tiny, 5 kg tibetan spaniel was put on Clomicalm about 3 weeks back. Since her tibbie 'sister' died last September, Angel has never bounced back to normal. At first, she lay watching doors & gates waiting for her 'sister' to return. Then she transferred that continual watching onto me. When I went out, she would howl like a banshee. Not even being in the company of other people would stop it.....she'd howl & pace. The vet behaviourist tried all sorts of things.....including that pheronome diffuser thingy. Nothing's worked.....including all the behaviour mod thingies for separation anxiety. The vet said she's different in that this is an intense obsessiveness. No....getting another dog is not the answer, the vet wants to reduce the obsessiveness first. So she went on Clomicalm, nearly 3 weeks ago. Two 5 mg tablets a day. Everyone I know whose dog has been on Clomicalm, said it zapped them out. Really sedated them. Well, Angel might as well be eating sugar pills. If you met her, there's no sign of any sedation. And the howling behaviour has modified a little bit.....but not much. Does Clomicalm take longer than 3 weeks to really kick in? Or do they make dogs very tough in Tibet & the Clomicalm just bounces off this little dog?

I'm really puzzled about my tiny 6 kg tibbie....& a senior, too, at 13 yrs. After a week of Clomicalm, she's bouncing down the garden like a small pony. Not the slightest sign of being spaced out. She's on two 5 mg a day. I've been told that tibetan spaniels are hardy little dogs. But this is ridiculous!!!!

Me, neither CBL. I only found out when I was sticking to keeping fat low in our Sheltie's diet....but was still giving him bones (with no meat on). And couldn't figure why his pancreatitis was still being triggered. Then a uni vet looked at his food list....& went OOWA at the bones. When I said, it's OK, I take all the meat & fat off....she said....go boil those bones & see what rises to the surface in heaps. Yep, fat!

Thanks for that tip about naturapetics, casowner. I'll track it down on the Net. Interesting that it comes from Qld. I'm really surprised about my tiny tibbie girl & the Clomicalm. So many people have told me that the med has really zapped & sedated their dogs. But not this girl!

Our Sheltie used to get pancreatitis which was triggered by eating anything fatty. A uni vet included bones in the list of forbidden foods. All bones....even if there was scarcely a scrap of meat on them. The vet said that bones are high in fat. She said, to prove it.....boil bones, any bones... & watch all the fat rise to the surface. You'll see that, too, when you're making stock for soups by boiling bones. All the fat that comes out of the bones has to be skimmed off. This could mean that your dog can't take a big whack of fat in his diet, when he eats bones. Maybe talk to your vet about it. For teeth cleaning for our Sheltie, I relied on low-fat kibble, cleaning his teeth with a brush & doggie tooth paste..& the vet would sometimes scrape off any bit of plaque that was forming (didn't need an anaesthetic).

Well, the vet's put my tibbie girl on Clomicalm for the high anxiety when left alone. She lost her tibbie 'sister' last September & has grieved terribly since. The vet first tried the Dog Appeasing Pheromone....which you plug into a power-point. Made no difference at all. Another vet told me he finds it works better for cats rather than dogs. So....now it's Clomicalm for my girl. I was expecting her to be zapped out. But she's not. They must make dogs tough in Tibet! The vet expects she'll be on them for a month or so. There's also behaviour mod being put in place.

Yay, Laffi. Will you keep us up to date on anything you find out?

For any question about something uncommon, I always ask the University of Qld Vet Clinic 3365 2110. There was a past thread about a titer test. It stuck in my mind because I'd not heard of it before. http://www.dolforums.com.au/lofiversion/in...hp/t127033.html

The vet recommended Interceptor for my senior tibbie girl. Prevents heartworm & controls roundworm, whipworm, hookworm & tapeworm. Once a month, beef flavoured tablets. I don't know how Interceptor goes with sensitivity factor you mentioned.

Thanks, laffi. That was the thread I was talking about & was too lazy to go look for myself.

Yes, I'm in a north-western suburb of Brisbane & make sure my dogs have Advantix. It's usually advised that you don't rely 100% on chemical tick control.....but do a visual search of your dog, as well. It helps to know, too, what are the signs of tick toxicity to look out for. I'd always thought it was just paralysis in the legs. But one Tibbie we know, kept throwing up.....& the owners thought it might be somthing he'd eaten & decided to take him to the vet in a day or two if it didn't clear up. Too late, it turned out to be from a paralysis tick & the vet couldn't save him. Also a friend's cat started making strange strangled noises. Rushed it to the vet. Also turned out to be from a paralysis tick. There are also ways you can organise your own garden to reduce tick risk. In fact, there's just been a thread in theOff Topic section of DOL, talking about how you do this.