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.

have been using the Cobber Working Dog for a few weeks now - everyone's coat has improved and so has weight and muscling. They are actually holding weight better and have better coat than when on the Royal Canin. I'm sure the formula for the latter has changed as they used to do really well on RC up until about a year or so ago. Tried the Bonnie and Coprice and lack of palatability and too much poo were no-nos. Great Barko and Uncle Albers weren't good enough in the weight department and the flatulence was impressive! Am very happy with the Cobber :rolleyes:

Both Uncle Albers and Great Barko come in small sample bags of a few hundred grams each, I have gotten them from my local produce store when they were doing a promotion. Try ringing Laucke Mills in SA and see if they will send you some, if your dogs like it maybe someone will share a bag with you? The Uncle Albers has higher protein and fat levels than the GB.

I think the green froth was just from eating grass which she may have done as she was feeling so ill. I always have Ledum in the cupboard, have done so for over 20 years, as living on a farm there are always puncture wounds and snakes to worry about. I have always used it rather than getting tetanus shots for us, dogs and horses, but I have never lived in a tick area before, so this is all new to me. I gave her the Ledum the moment I got her into the kitchen, before anything else, as the gait was unsteady and she wobbled when I touched her. She had the MMS when I discovered the high temp and was a lot better in half an hour. It was another 15 or 20 minutes before I found the tick, so I gave her another dose of Ledum as I found it and another dose before I went to bed (at about 2am as I was sitting watching her for ages) I'd say the improvement of symptoms was about 75% before I even found the tick. I can't say that it was all due to the Ledum, as MMS works to destroy toxins in the system as well - it has been used for snakebite successfully. Any homeopath in the yellow pages will sell you a bottle of Ledum and tell you how to use it properly, but the MMS can mostly only be bought over the net. There are some shops selling it, but most people have never heard of it.

Yes, I have heard of very small ticks killing small dogs and pups, which is why I was so surprised when the vet said it was impossible. My girl was definitely unsteady, couldn't keep her head or ears up and was shuffling instead of her usual busy trot. Her breathing was normal but she didn't make a sound so I couldn't assess whether her voice had changed. Looked like early stages of tick poisoning to me. The Ledum I gave her is a remedy specifically used to treat puncture wounds, prevent tetanus and treat snake and tick bites, and along with another remedy I use a lot managed to have her trotting and ears up in about 40 minutes, temp down in 30 minutes, perfectly normal within 2 hours and absolutely fine today. I kept her crated last night and have kept her quiet today, but she is still perfectly ok. Both remedies are things that can be kept in the kitchen for ages and used as soon as there is a problem, even if it is just used on the way to the vet it could help.

The only other way is to use a filter that can remove chlorine. Evaporation removes some, but not all. well, not before it goes green anyway

Thanks for that, the tick was dark bluish grey, but definitely less than 1.5mm. I hadn't thought the temp was related, as the only dog I've ever seen before with one had no temp, and he couldn't even sit up until after we unknowingly knocked the tick off (the vet found the attachment site after 2 days of looking). After treating my girl I googled tick poisoning and found several references to increased temperature, so I went back and kept searching until I found it, a good half hour after her temp dropped and she was much brighter and standing and walking normally with ears erect. The two treatments I used have anecdotally reversed symptoms in hours, never days, hence the confusion.

Have only ever dealt with cattle ticks, so no personal experience with paralysis ticks - how long do they need to be on before making a 10kg dog sick? The tick I pulled off last night was only a fraction over 1mm long and my vet said that that is not big enough to have made my girl sick. As the poor girl was very slightly wobbly, ears down instead of erect, greenish froth on her mouth and a temp of 39.3 and getting flatter by the minute I thought tick and found one in her ear, but the vet said that was just a coincidence Did the vet say that because I completely turned her symptoms around before I even found the tick and she didn't believe that I could reverse the symptoms so quickly or was it just a coincidence? The treatment I used had the bitch completely back to normal in less than 2 hours, so now I'm confused. I don't want to say that alternative methods fixed tick poisoning if it was nothing of the kind. But if they did it would be very handy info for anyone in a tick area - and only a few cents worth of treatment. I allowed 30 minutes for the stuff to work and she would have been straight to the vets if it hadn't.

Hmm, would be very, very careful about that second one... Show people have the one before the RAAF base and have been in the business for decades, very professional and very good with the dogs - Belmont Kennels.

i'm a being dumb cause i don't get it...... OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where people get strange compulsions - washing hands, checking light switches, organising things by colour, alphabet etc. My little compulsion is a mild one about types and colours of pegs hanging out the washing, but I can so understand needing to reorganise the letters of OCD according to the alphabet Thought it was clever at the time....

I do know of kennels that accept C3s, but they are not in Sydney. Others that have C5s on their websites will accept C3s in certain situations, like this dog, where the vet believes that another C5 would kill him. Their vet will happily do the titre testing if we can find somewhere that will accept it. Seems crazy to me - having seen KC epidemics where the C5 dogs mostly caught it while barely any C3 dogs did, despite being in adjoining kennels :D