~Anne~

'Grains' does not equate to 'carbs'. Beans are also high in carbohydrates, as are potatoes. Fruit is also another source of high carbohydrates.

It works easier for cats due to the hairs on their tongue which face towards the throat. If you place a tab at the back of the tongue it is difficult for a cat to bring it forward in it's mouth in order to spit it back out.

I have an epileptic that requires 4 tablets per day..but I could just hand them to him and he would eat them. I give them Sentinel every month too and they all just eat them from my hands. Having said that though, you need to make it a neccessary but rewarding process. Use whatever you can to entice them to swallow the tablet, be it hidden in food or given down the throat and then reward and praise. Give them somenthing even better as a reward. Think of something that your dog will die for. To get past the 'I know what you're going to do' I would buy something that smells devine, like a bbq'd chook. Give him/her a little bit of skin and some meat. Hand him/her some a few times and let them eat it, but jsut a tiny amount each time. Then walk away for 5 minutes. Come back and repeat. Walk away, then come back and give some with the tablet in it. When they eat it reward, reward, reward. Go over and above telling them how fabulously wonderful they are. Remove the negative, make it a positive.

I have a Pug that eats largish river pebbles. He also used to rattle but luckily they all made their way back out. You could tap his belly and hear them clicking together in side! We had to block off his access to the pebbles. It was the only way to prevent a possible tragedy.

Just copy and paste the text as you have done and then highlight the text you want in the quote and click on the button above that is like a speech balloon (when you are in the screen of writing your post). Aletrnatively, actually type the word 'quote' (without the ' ' marks) inside two square brackets at the beginning of the text you want quoted and do the same at the end of the text you want quoted but add a back slash before the word quote when your doing the one after the text.

From everything I have read and seen, the current vaccines appear to cover the 3 known existing strains. This is the only relevant information I have dug up (apart from documentation from the drug companies that make the vaccines) in Australia. Please not that this is 3 years old however. Source: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au

A little more; Source: www.animalsheltering.org

From the American Veterinary Medical Association and dated September 2008;

Some time ago I read a discussion about the additional strains of parvo and they were being spoken of like they were newly discovered. When I researched it, I discovered they were already up to 5 years old in some countries. I did not find anything that unequivocally stated that the strains were in Australia or that there were no vaccines created for these mutated strains. If someone can prove otherwise I would be happy to learn a bit more about them.

From my knowledge all strains that we have here, or that have vaccines available, are covered by the extisting vaccinations.

I give fish only caps only every 2nd or 3rd day to my Pugs. The epi gets them daily though. I don't split the capsule either, I just drop it whole into their food.

I give mine Jalna natural low fat. I agree with what others have said, never feed falvoured yoghurts. They are filled with sugar and your dog doesn't need the sugar.

Does anyone give glucosamine or chondroitin??

Bones = clean teeth. If your dog has accumulated tartar then she may need to undergo a dentistry procedure and spend the day at the Vet's. If it is inly light, just give lots of large hard raw bones for her to chew on. With dieting, I drop the weight of my Pugs by increasing the vegetable portion of their meals and reducing the portion sizes. When they get to the desired weight I balance the meat and veges back to around 80% meat. Veges such as cabbage is very filling and is mainly water.

Perhaps create a separate thread requesting Vet recommendations?

If he is coughing then he is not in good health. The diet you are feeding him is best fed to a dog. Felines and canines had different dietary needs. A cat requires taurine and fish is the best source of this. I suggest you research feline dietry requirements a bit more and perhaps take your guy to the Vet to have his cough investigated.

I wash my dogs weekly. Always have, always probably will. I have never, ever, ever had a dog with dry flaky skin or any problems with coats. Every rescue that comes in is also washed weekly while they are with me. Again, never, ever, ever a problem. I am sure that harsh shampoos, dogs with sensitive skin, or different types of coat or dogs with poor coat condition, or poor health overall will see issues with frequent washing though. Use a good quality, gentle shampoo and rinse, rinse and rinse again and you'll be fine.

Chrissy, I am so sorry to read this. RIP little girl.

I agree. Having nursed many, many dogs through parvo when it first became prevelant in the 80's I can tell you it is an horrific, horrific disease.

*waves* Me too! No tme, I learnt my lesson with human babies! Give me an adult dog anyday (and an adult human )

On a side note - I am loving the fact we now have 2 Vets on board to pick the brains, experience and knowledge of!

Interceptor does not protect agains fleas, only heartworm and intestinal worms whereas Spectrum covers the lot. Interceptor would probably be more suitable for those who also need to guard against ticks or who prefer to use other flaa control methods or who need to kill existing fleas on the dog. Specturm doesn't kill the fleas, it effectively sterilises them so they can not re-produce. This method of preventtion is better used when fleas are under control and in minimal numbers.

But isn't that 'cause of the time zone difference?? Hell, I don't care what breed of pup it is... I just want to know where did she brung it? Topic title: We Brought A Puppy

There are many things that will cause your dog to have difficulty breathing when it comes to an elongated palate. It may be that her trachea has already suffered some secondary issues related to the constant pressure of forcing air through the respiratory system. A dogs throat will also swell in this state and make the problem worse. She may have everted laryngeal saccules which are also caused by the constant pressure of air being forced through the airways. Age is obviously another factor. The older she gets the worse the condition usually becomes. Having a respiratory infection would not have made things any easier either. Perhaps Charles can add more??

I would think that 1 in 5 is far too high to be contemplating breeding.