morgan

There are boarding kennels and training clubs that accept titre tests instead of C5s - you just have to be diligent searching for them.

What is it with the vet mentality of "while he's here we'll vaccinate him, doesn't matter if it's early" or "I know it's a month early, but he's going into boarding kennels today so we'll just do him now for extra protection". Are they that afraid that they'll miss out on a 'sale' or are they hoping for reactions so they can make even more money? That poor puppy, what a horrible way to die. Pixie_meg, glad to hear he's up and at 'em again, you should consider asking for an exemption from C5s on medical grounds from the vet for puppy school etc and I would be making an adverse reaction report directly to the vaccine manufacturer as you just know that the vet won't! This is how the manufacturers fudge their figures, no-one ever reports the reactions! Did your BIL's vet report the reactions? Bet he didn't. SBT - wei's and C5s just don't mix do they! I know of one who was done a month early because he was being boarded for a week starting the next day - the kennel operator was aghast and made them sign a release form or else take him home and miss their holiday. Dog developed full blown kennel cough within a week of getting home, then pneumonia, struggled at the vet's for a week before dying. Then the vet and the owner blamed the kennels. This dog had almost died at 16 weeks of age due to some immunity anomaly and they had spent a fortune saving him, then pumped him with C5s every year after that, despite reactions

It is softer in the morning because the pup is resting quietly during the night and the fluid starts to be reabsorbed. The moment he starts running around and dropping down the body pumps more fluid back in to protect the joint and it becomes hard again. He will have to be supervised to stop him lying on hard surfaces and made to lie down only on bedding or lawn (provided the ground isn't too hard). Some greyhound vets that have plenty of expertise with hygromas have their own concoctions to inject into the hygroma to reduce the inflammation, but ordinary vets usually want to drain them, which simply doesn't work. Of course incompetent morons of vets insist that they aren't hygromas at all and are actually advanced elbow dysplasia

Don't bash yourself up - any vet that gives a C5 to an 11 week old pup should be strung up IMNSHO. Add to that the fact that he doesn't appear to realise that elbow hygromas are caused by tired puppies/dogs dropping down quickly on hard surfaces. The leaked fluid protects the joint against any further trauma and will be totally reabsorbed by the body as long as the pup is prevented from continuing the practice for a while. Under no circumstances let a vet drain it as it will only make the problem worse and could cause infection. Any homeopath will be able to sell you some Thuja to treat the vaccinosis, this was used by my vet for many years for this problem. Some vitamin C won't hurt either. As this vet obviously has no clue whatsoever about sighthounds under no circumstances let him do xrays. He probably doesn't know that a general anaesthetic can be lethal for sighthounds if the wrong one is used, many have been killed by incompetent vets that don't know of the anaesthetic issues, especially in pups. If the vet nurse didn't know how to spell the breed it would be fairly safe to say that he has little to no experience with it and shouldn't be allowed to inflict any further damage on the poor baby.

Yep, got one of those, was so thin i had her checked out by the vet. Hundreds of dollars in blood tests later we came to the conclusion that she is just meant to be a skinny dog - everything just goes straight through her and doesn't stick to the ribs, and she eats a lot of food twice daily.

Many vets are religious about annual vaccinations - it is their bread and butter and the way they have been taught. Pharmaceutical companies provide a huge amount of funding for research grants etc and universities generally tend to work with them to keep these funds. I also know quite a few vets that laugh at the annual booster propaganda and cheerfully admit in private that once a dog has had it's puppy shots and the first annual booster it doesn't need vaccinating again. The operative word here is "private" - they don't usually broadcast this info far and wide. Many health professionals also fervently believe the vaccination doctrines - I was called a murderess by a nurse for refusing to let my baby son have a DPT shot - it can be a very emotive subject for some health providers, whether for dogs or people.

There is no earthly reason for vaccinating an older dog unless absolutely required for boarding, importing, exporting, obedience or agility. And the sooner the rules change for these to allow titre tests the better off a whole lot of dogs will be. I would be so worried about epilepsy, Cushings, Addison's or any other of the myriad health issues that are more frequent within 3 months of a booster shot than any other time of the year. Vaccinations are linked to auto-immune problems in both dogs and people, too many nasty chemicals and heavy metals in vaccines for some brains to be able to handle.

Don't know that that is the case. Had one litter with knuckling over issues, fed on meat + RC adult food (the junior varieties have higher protein levels) which normalised in 10 days after being switched over to what I consider hugely inferior dry food based mainly on grain. I would have thought that the RC food was derived from much better sources. The pups stayed fine on any food with low protein levels regardless of sources. Subsequent litter was raised on a dry food with 22% protein levels and raw meat with absolutely no knuckling over, to the amazement of another breeder who had always found this to be a problem in the breed. The raw meat was the same as the one fed to the first litter. When the RC Babydog came out it was supposed to have lower protein levels to address these issues and I had an 8 week old pup with deformed front legs as a result. Put him onto dolomite and low protein dry and he was perfect within days. Would never have fed Bonnie Puppy ordinarily, but the low protein kept his legs normal and none of the others developed the problem. The higher protein levels must have affected the calcium balance for the dolomite to have helped so quickly. (It was started a couple of days before the change in diet) I have found no difference in fear/aggression issues between dogs fed on 32% protein and 18% protein dry food..

Revolution does everything except tapeworm, but if your dog has no fleas it shouldn't have tapeworms anyway. It even does ear mites. With the flea problems so many people have been having this summer some have had to use Advantage a couple of weeks after the Revolution just to keep on top of the pests. Dusting diatomaceous earth wherever the dogs lie around will help control fleas in the environment, or spraying a neem oil solution on the dogs, bedding and ground. This will increase the amount of time between applications, as the heartworm component in these treatments lasts for 6 weeks - the manufacturers just say to apply monthly because they thought that the public would find it easier to remember. Of course it couldn't possibly be anything to do with selling so much more

Very interesting. I knew about the link to increased prostate cancer but not bladder cancer. Here's the scientific link to the study mentioned - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17516571

Sure hope he doesn't have any more, it does tend to knock them around. Found a direct link to the study i mentioned http://www.bogartsdaddy.com/bouvier/health...concerns-uk.htm It was on this very useful page of info links from a whippet website http://www.awhippetslife.com/pages/resources-amp-links.php

My old vet of many years always used to use homeopathic Thuja for vaccine reactions. I can't remember which strength it was, probably best to ask a homeopath to provide the right one if you can't find a vet that uses it.

The Canine Health Concern in the UK checked did an epidemiological study on almost 4,000 dogs and found that almost three quarters of epileptic episodes first occurred within 3 months of a booster shot, regardless of breed. How long ago was he vaccinated out of curiosity? I do know of a whippet x border collie whose vet suspected the booster as causing epilepsy - vet banned the dog from ever having another booster.

Why do these threads always argue about 2 choices, desex or not desex? Personally I advise my puppy buyers to never desex, I firmly believe that dogs need their hormones for a variety of reasons and the risk of spay incontinence for bitches is unacceptable. There is a third option, one which makes litters and pyo impossible (well, you can still get stump pyo, but this can occur on desexed bitches as well) - surgical sterilisation. Hysterectomies and vasectomies are available, preserve hormones and prevent puppies and pyo in bitches. Yes desexing is easier for the average public, but informed owners that can adequately train and care for their dogs should be given the choice of this option. Let's face it, the vets actually charge more for these ops, so you'd think they would be cheerfully offering it! And as for livestock, females are never done, so comparing health risks is simply not possible. Steers are usually eaten fairly young so who would know if they had health issues? Geldings are generally much more active than dogs and are usually eating their natural food, unlike dogs. Big difference, simply no comparison.

Fingers crossed for you! I have had two dogs with successful GDV surgery, assisted with the first one because it was 4am and no vet nurse was available. It is not a simple surgery, but I was better off being there and helping than sitting outside panicking. Recovery was very slow for the older girl, not so bad for the younger one - my vet recommended charcoal tablets daily for life afterwards to help prevent any gas buildup. Good nursing is essential, as they are very sore and sorry for themselves afterwards. Can you get hold of any homeopathic Arnica to give orally for the week or so after the op to help minimise bruising and soreness? Both of mine went on to live perfectly normal lives afterwards.