~Anne~

I was at the vet this morning and I overheard them talking about a new once a month pill for fleas. Its called Comfortis, a chewable meat flavored tablet that starts killing fleas within half an hour and a 100% kill in 4 hours. $13 a pill!Has anyone used it yet? If you do a search on the word 'comfortis' in this health section, you'll see that it is mentioned in quite a few threads and that there are quite a few people using it, it would seem.

Water and vinegar is only going to make your house smell like a salad dressing. It certainly won't kill fleas. You need to treat the environment and the dog at the same time, repeatedly. Speak to your local Vet about which flea treatments he recommends. Vacuum all floor areas and carpets and dump the bag as far away as possible or spray it thoroughly with an insecticide before putting it in the bin. Throw out (using the same treatment as above) all dog bedding OR wash it all in a flea rinse like Malawash. Wash the dog in a flea rinse like Malawash. Apply the flea treatment to the dog that the Vet recommended for you. Place flea bombs in your house and in areas such as garages or where the dog goes. Take your dog for walk while they are doing their thing. REPEAT the washing of bedding in Malawash weekly for another 4 times. REPEAT the vaccuming daily. REPEAT the flea bombs in 28 days. REPEAT the flea product recommended by the Vet at the intervals he says or as it says on the packet. REPEAT the capstar once, 7 days after the first dose. REPEAT washing the dog in Malawash in 28 days time. Then REPEAT the bombs, bedding washes and malawash at the beginning of the warmer months next Spring/Summer as there will likely still be dormant eggs ready to hatch when the weather warms up again.

If you don't... I'm coming for you.....

Hard to believe, but I have a Pug who would rather chew my arm off then let me take his bone. I was horrified when it first happened. I can take any toy or any other food away from him and he doesn't flinch (although he does give me those big sad eyes as if to say "but why?" ) but I can not take a bone from him. He has no aggression otherwise, not with pain, with new dogs, with anything. For a while I didn't give bones but then I decided that for health reasons, they needed to have them so now I crate him and leave him for a few hours. When he has had his fun with his bone he will signal in various ways and I let him out of the crate and throw the bone.

No ringworms don't come and go. It is anyone's guess what the spots are as we are only looking at pics and descriptions over the net. They could even be allergy related. Vets are always the best port of call.

I'd love to see regualr updates if you feel inclined emmaz and Aidan (or whoever you choose to help you). I am really interested in what becomes of her with her irrational fears.

Can I be perdantic and ask for the correct spelling of Shar Pei, not Sharpei :) Some great people listed, looks like it will be a great get together Will do. I hope you're coming????

I'd love to see mine too if that's at all possible. You can give them to me when we meet up on the Friday perhaps?? Congrats to all the nominees. As I am putting the program together, can everyone check the spelling of their names and let me know if any need correction. PM me corrections rather than clogging this thread.

Looks like ringworm to me. If it is, keep in mind that these are tranferrable to humans and other animals also.

Good job MDBA. You are clearly leading the way and we like it.

The NSW Department of Local Government (DLG), who overseas local Gov pounds in NSW, collects stats annually from all of the council impound facilities. These stats will be available from them directly I would think. There is als a group that collates the info from the DLG.... I think their name is the Pet Advisory Group or similar. Google it.

Look for a red tube, it is sold literally everywhere. oops, just saw your post above. Happy to see you found it. :D

Are they 100% positive there isn't a bladder infection? Where is the blood coming from if there isn't? It all sounds so bizarre. She shows all the symptoms of a dog with a bladder infection such as high alkaline urine (re - formation of crystals) and squatting and straining and frequently urinating and yet they so there isn't any infection? If there isn't any infection, then there must be something else and yet scans show no growths or anything out of the ordinary. One Vet says the breathing needs to be done, the other says it is fine and yet one of them feels it is so bad they won't put her under a GA for an MRI. I would get a second opinion for sure. There is too much conflicting advice being given by the specialist and the normal Vet. Did the specialist also do a urine analysis or only the normal Vet? Edited to add - Yes, I give all of them bones, but not as food. They are given bones once a week or two to maintain gum and teeth health. They are given large shank bones that they can't swallow. I have had many problems with rescues and with my epileptic boy choking so we removed bones from the diet except for thos given to gnaw on for dental health.

Yes, I agree, 9 years of age is a little abnormal for epilepsy, although not entirely out of the question. Is it coincidence though? Here you have a dog that presents with symptoms that appear to be unrelated...but sets of symptoms do not appear to be normal either. I must also say that I can't understand why your Vet said they wouldn't do a CT without fixing the breathing first??? I have had many Pugs operated (due to running a Pug Rescue) who also had issues with breathing. Where possible, we did as much as we could under each GA, but many times we had to schedule separate ops. I can understand that there are greater risks involved in administering a GA to a brachy breed, and particularly a dog that suffers from brachycephalic airway obstruction and I would think that your Vet has weighed up pros and cons so maybe I am speaking out of turn. Has she been scheduled for the bracchy op though? Have you considered getting a second opinion on both issues?

I can also offer an ear and advice for the seizures. Monte, the gorgeous boy in the pic under my name, is an epilpetic and was diagnosed over 5 years ago. He has clusters of seizures. With Olivia's culture, they took the sample from her bladder while she was under having her elongated palate resected at the same time. We thought we'd kill 2 birds with one stone. So far so good with her. No sign of infection and we still encourage her to keep drinking as much as we can to keep the bladder flushed.

Can they have an infection with out blood though? I am angling toward it still being a bladder infection. I'll try to explain where I am heading. I have a rescue Pug that came in (and stayed ) that had a horrible history with bladder infections and struvites. She had two operations to remove stones within 18 months. Before she was operated on the second time, she was leaking puss it was so bad. After the first, she was given the usual antibiotics but the owners did not have her on a prescription diet. The stones returned, she was left for some time befroe being taken to the Vet, and the stone this time was as big as a small mandarin! She was surrendered by the owners. She was placed on antibiotics, and as she was out in a regional area, I had a carer pick her up approx 4 days after the operation. The Vet had only given her a 14 day course of anitbiotics and she had already been on them for a week. Her baldder was weak and she was a little incontinent and we expected this to improve. Within a day or so of ceasing the antibiotics, she started to leak urine more and started to wet the crate at night. She went back to the Vets and was put on another 14 day course of antibiotic. A few days later she was transferred to me. Within a week of her finishing her antibiotic with me, she again began to toilet often, small amounts and inside. This time she was taken to my Vet and he did a urine culture to determine what the bug was so that the antibiotics she would be put on would be the appropriate and best for that bug. She was also put on long term antibiotics this time. Her course was an 8 week course. That course finished mid November and we haven't had an issue since. She is still on CD and I will keep her o it for life to make doubly sure. What I learned was: There are two trains of thought when it comes to stones and bladder infections. One is that the urine is alkaline which assist the bacteria to develop for the infection and causes the stones and the alkilinity is caused through diet or something. The other line of thinking is that the infection causes the urine to become alkaline which causes the stones. We decided to follow the second line and to get the infeciton totally cleared, which it was plainly evident, that a simple 14 day course of antibiotics was not going to achieve and never had, hence why the poor girl had to have 2 major operations to remove stones. Most people I have learnt, follow the first and that is - et the diet correct and the infections will cease as will the stones. The first indication each time of any issues or continuing issues was her urination habits. If she had an infection, there is a chance it is still there. I am probably 100% wrong but who knows?

Did they do a urine culture to rule out infection after she finished the anitbiotics but still continued with symptoms?

Many are too badly traumatized in these places to come good though. Sometimes, the better option is to euth and use the available resources for animals that can be helped and saved. It is awful to think that it happens, but it is life. Not every dog can be saved sadly.

Was 'Timmy' Ripley's mums dog? Ripley??? I know that Ripley was saying her mum had adopted a little Cav from an RSPCA puppy farm raid that was going to be shown on TV.

Yes, that's been done and the issue taken care of to my knowledge.

They put her under an anaesthetic even though they suspected parvo? I would have been waiting until her illness diagnosed and she was well on the raod to recovery before I did anything. However, we really have no idea how the deicsion was made. We are only just speculating.

Wow, such a contraversial topic for a new member. You're game... or incognito. I would think the rescue weighedup pros and cons and did what they felt was best in the situation. What is it that concerns you? The fact the dog may have undergone a GA unneccessarily or something else?

My heart dog is Monte. He is one that I really connect with...most of this I feel is because I have had to care for him so much more than a normal dog though.

Not undeservedly, trust me. "This person" seems to move from forum to forum with incredible stories. If you notice, they answer what you want them to answer. I don't actually trust that they are anything they say they are and I am concerned that they are trying to rort people in someway, or they need serious help. I am just not sure which. Either way, people here are taking the time to answer and give information and they are being deceived. I doubt this person has ever even wanted a dog. When I first came across them, they wanted a Chihuahua... then a Sharpei...then a Greyhound and so it goes on. They are fooling you and taking you for a sucker, like they have many, many others.

You've been with him since you were 12? :D Wow, how does that fit in with your bedridden lifestyle?? I mean, those tumours and things, the amount of time you've spent in hospital.