~Anne~

I'm fine but my husband tends to feed our pugs a tad too much. It isn't their eyes that do it to him, it's his. He can't accept that the small amount in their bowl is enough to sustain them, particularly Olivia. Her waist has thickened somewhat since he has been in charge of feeding them. Boof is good though but then he is twice the size of Olivia and my husband tends to feed them both the same amount.

The road to change at Blacktown was, in my opinion, handled appallingly. Initially it seemed the requests were falling on deaf ears. However it changed over a period of time. Those agitating for change would have succeeded in a much shorter time frame had they not decided that an aggressive and nasty campaign should be waged. The Council and it's representatives, including pound staff, were often abused and held to ransom in a variety of ways.

I would think the fee is to deter surrenders and the secondary factor maybe to recover costs. Veterinary fees are only a minor portion of running a pound. There is also the cost of the buildings to house them, food to feed them, administration costs, utilities and other costs. I think the decision to increase the fees is very shortsighted however. People will instead dump their dogs in the community and over load other resources that will in the long run, cost the Council more to deal with. That's assuming its a council or local government facility. If it is run by a Council I would consider writing an email to the GM and copied to the Mayor and Councillors. Ensure the email is written clearly and objectively and not overly emotional.

Done. :)

Denise, you looked fabulous! I was sitting with my MIL and she was soooo excited to see you on tv. Well done Paws. . :)

This is brilliant! :laugh:

I am so sorry Nina. RIP Ari. Cyber hugs.

Being a sun seeker with Olivia by his side.

My Boofy boy.

Thanks everyone, I'm ecstatic.

It's all good. I only have the preliminary report from my husband but the lesion is still measuring 3.5cm and hasn't grown. It appears more granulated(?) but the initial assessment is to leave it be and monitor only. :cheer: :cheer:

Thanks. Fingers crossed. His appointment isn't until 2pm.

Oh wow. How much did they cost Mim?

Boof undergoes his third ultrasound tomorrow afternoon. Good health vibes accepted gratefully.

There would be no point in opening up a dog to do a needle aspirate of a lump on the spleen. An aspirate biopsy is superficial and not trustworthy because the sample size is so small anyway. I guess in your case due to the unusualness of the cancer and the fact they only did a needle aspirate they misdiagnosed. Now I'm worried about Boof's recent diagnoses of lipoma. They did 2 aspirations to make sure and both came up as fatty tissue only.

Desexing only changes mating related behaviours. It doesn't alter energy levels, temperament or anything else.

Bella had a lump on her head (6 months after her haemangiosarcoma diagnosis). The oncologist took a biopsy and told me it was nothing to worry about. I had my vet remove it anyway and it turns out it was a tumour, the first sign we had that her cancer had spread. So, I hate to differ, but a biopsy is not 100% definite. The only way to know, is to remove the lump, and in ninahartland's dog's case the spleen. Huh? Sure, remove the lump and or the spleen but you still have to have it biopsied to know if it benign or malignant. You can't tell by looking at it or through X-rays or ultrasounds. I assume, in your case, the lump was removed and biopsied again? Was it related to the haemangiosarcoma? How was this determined? My understanding is that haemangiosarcoma could only metastasise to the heart, liver and brain and internally. Also, I was told that this cancer originates in bone marrow, not the spleen so the fact that the spleen was removed doesn't bear a lot of relevance to preventing its spread if it is malignant. I simply stops the potential death from a rupture of the tumour on the spleen. I am far from being an expert though so anyone with questions should consult their vet. In my boy's case his 'lumps' that have been removed from various parts of his body are mast cell tumours. The lesions on his spleen could be related to the MCT or it may be completely separate and be a haemangiosarcoma. It may be benign but given more than half are malignant it's a touchy situation. If it is related to the MCT we have a slightly longer life expectancy and little chance of a rupture.

Wonderful news!

Boof goes for his 3rd ultrasound on Thursday. We should know then if he will undergo the removal of his spleen. Has your boy had an ultrasound Nina? How was it diagnosed? Ignore that, I just re-read your initial post. As xyz said, the only way to know of it is malignant is to to a biopsy I am told. We are also in a state of query as to what Boof's lesions are.

Congrats Andrea and dad. Welcome to the world Tyrone!

The poor little guy. I hope he begins to improve for you.

I understand exactly where pugdaddy is coming from. In fact I have deleted almost every single link to rescue I had on my FB and I refuse all new requests to follow rescues groups. I follow a select few that I believe are great rescues that are sending the right messages to the public. There are many doing this that aren't obviously on my FB links so please don't think I am saying there are only a couple. The hero worshipping, the crazy people involved - FB has given the nutters an opportunity to bask in godlike nutcase status.

I'm confused moosmum. I never mentioned 'pedigree' and I consider pedigree to be the written or known family tree of a dog. Apart from working registries, ANKC, and a few others, there is no such history kept of other dogs. A cross breed dog does not come with any known ancestral history. There is much value in an ancestral history. The attitude is that pure bred dogs are pure and that there is a written record of their lineage. Sorry, but the point, specifically your point, is lost on me. Haredon and Wreckit, yes of course there are some that are doing it well and perhaps I generalised too broadly. We all know that this is not the majority however. I also understand that they are volunteers but being a volunteer doesn't mean lacking skills. It just means you do it without pay. I don't necessarily mean it as a criticism, simply a fact. We can't expect breeders to be doing the right thing and educated if there is no-one educating them. The most logical educator, in my view, would be the breed clubs. These clubs need support from the state associations and the state associations need support from the ANKC. The ANKC does not have this aspartame of their core business or as part of their purpose at all. They should though!

What about all those dogs who like to drink from toilet bowls. :laugh:

Tbh, I think people see the word marketing and think sales. Selling is sales. Marketing and sales are to sell. Marketing and promotion is to alter perceptions. Not sell. Instead of the word marketing, lets use the word promotion. Perhaps that will help those reading get a better idea. Moosmum, I agree about the need for an increase or sustaining quality of breeders. This should be done by state breed clubs but I rarely see an active club in this regard. In fact, most are disappointingly low on informative and educated materials and resources and their committees are largely unskilled. Pick up a newsletter from most clubs and you'll see they're killing trees for no purpose. Their websites are just as appalling. The focus is too social and informal.