cavNrott

Agreed. I would never allow one of my dogs go 24 hours without a meal let alone 48 hours. I don't see any good reason for allowing our dogs to go hungry and after 48 hours they would be very hungry indeed. Our dogs are domesticated animals, they're not wild animals that need to hunt for food whether or not they are working dogs. If my dogs look like they're carrying a bit too much weight I reduce the amount of food give at each meal and increase their exercise. They still get two meals a day. I wouldn't let them go hungry.

Thanks for the info Sail Away. I'm with BWM and I wasn't sure what there situation is with dogs with a chronic illness. I have a dog with congestive heart failure who needs regular check ups and is on expensive medication. From what you said he and his medication up to the annual limit will be covered.

Neither my Cavaliers or my Rottweilers have been interested in deer antlers either. They were a complete waste of money.

I hope the owner of the deceased dog was formally charged with animal cruelty and has to face court. What an agonising way for that poor dog to lose its life. If the SPCA is called out to rescue animals left in cars in hot weather, every owner who is guilty of being so neglectful should cop a hefty fine. A considerable fine or jail term if it's not paid by the due date would serve to jog the memory of any idiot enough to prevent them from doing it again.

I would not consider restricting a little toy size dog to just one meal a day. If you feed only once a day you may find the dog will frequently vomit bile due to having an empty stomach for so long. May I ask why you want to feed a tiny dog only once a day? My small breed dogs (Cavaliers) are fed a raw diet twice a day. I also fed my large breed dogs twice a day because I think 24 hours is too long between feeds.

I have laminate floating flooring in my house. My previous Rottweilers and current Cavaliers have all been inside dogs. There are no marks at all on the floors. It is slippery so I put attractive carpet rugs in the rooms where the dogs spend most of their time a runner carpet in the hallway to prevent the dogs from slipping.

This ^. I agree.

So you and your daughter had a nice holiday but now you have just $5000 left in your rainy day account. What will happen if your dog unexpectedly needs a $7000-$10,000 surgery for an accident or unexpected illness? Your vet might be willing to haggle over his fees to a limited extent but if your dog is seriously ill or needs major surgery the dog will probably need the services of a specialist vet who will not haggle with you over the cost of treating your dog. What then will happen to your dog? Will he/she be euthanized because you don't have funds available to treat him/her, having spent most of your rainy day account on your European holiday. I'll continue to pay for pet insurance for my dogs. They are more important to me than any holiday. It's about priorities. I won't gamble with my dogs lives or health. I would no sooner cancel their health insurance than I would cancel my house insurance or my private health insurance. It's not optional for me. I also have a dedicated Pet Fund bank account which I withdraw from only to pay my credit card bill for my pets treatment while I'm waiting for reimbursement from the pet insurance company. The usual vet costs are paid from my every day account. The Pet Fund is for expensive vet treatment only.

Give him a couple of biscuits last thing at night when you're about to go to bed. That usually fixes this problem.

This is not necessarily so. My Cavalier boy suffered a ruptured a disk at age 5 1/2yo. This resulted in surgery and imaging that racked up a bill in excess of $7,500. A couple of months later he contracted pneumonia. With the many visits to the vet specialist centre plus treatment and medication, there went another $4000. He is now 10 1/2yo and three months ago he went into Congestive Heart Failure. With imaging and medication plus vet visits it has currently cost approximately $2,500. The cost of his ongoing medication is approx. $300 per month. This dog had never suffered a sick day in his life before the ruptured disk at age 5 1/2yo. He is insured. I took out his policy when he was 4yo. My Cavalier girl has had no serious illnesses but has recently at age 9 1/2yo been diagnosed with heart murmur so at some point she will also suffer CHF and need imaging and expensive medication for the rest of her life. She has been insured since she was 5yo. My Rottweiler got osteosarcoma at 6yo. Her vet treatment, medication, oncology etc., cost in excess of $20,000 before she was PTS one year later. Unfortunately I cancelled her pet insurance policy when she was 3yo so the cost of her treatment was paid with my credit card, the balance of which I paid out each month but it depleted my savings. This is why I have kept my other dogs insured. I wouldn't gamble on serious or lifelong illnesses showing up in the first couple of years.

Are you rinsing properly? The rinsing part of bathing a dog takes at least twice as long as the washing part. After you have rinsed well, rinse thoroughly again. I think what you are seeing is scurf and it's probably due to not rinsing properly. When I send my dogs to the groomers I need to send a note to ask them to rinse the dogs thoroughly. If they're not rinsed well they will be scurfy. There is no scurf when they're rinsed properly.

I don't know if a vet said that or not but I know your neighbour who said it to you should have kept his mouth shut. His comments were unkind and uncalled for. Tactless much! I very much doubt my vet would say that to any dog owner who was consulting with him but he would discuss and perhaps advise having the dog PTS if he thought it was the kindest thing for the dog.

I'm so sorry to hear about Rocky. I hope you were given very strong pain relief medication for Rocky by the vet you saw just before Christmas in case Rocky deteriorated quickly and in view of the fact that you don't have ready access to a vet. Dose him up to keep him pain free and he will probably be alright for the two days before the Island vet can come to your home and put him to sleep. What is most important is that he is kept pain free, even if the pain medication keeps him drowsy and he is mostly sleeping. I understand that the complicated travel would be very difficult for you and not in Rocky's best interests. I think you made the right decision in not going with Chemo. His cancer is very well established and chemo probably would not have helped him at all. I have nursed a dog with cancer palliatively but we had ready access to the vet and the oncologist. I hope the next 48 hours for Rocky will be pain free. My thoughts are with you. edited because I left out a word.

Yes, you can get caught unawares by pet and health insurance companies but it's all written in their PDS. You really must read the boring, wordy, fine print in their Product Disclosure Statement thoroughly and carefully. If there's something you don't understand then put it out there and ask. Someone on here will probably be able to answer your question. It would be reasonable to suggest calling the pet insurance company for an explanation but chances are with most of them if you call three times with the same question you'll get three different answers. Private health insurance customer service staff are better educated about what is covered under their policies. If they don't know they will find out while you are on the phone with them. You got caught by your private health extras policy Sheena because you didn't first read what is covered and under what circumstances. I'm with BUPA and their extras policies are clearly described so you know what to expect. Of course a pre existing condition will probably not be covered. In the case of private health insurance there will be a waiting period before their is cover. Also if your dentist charges way in excess of the standard fees, as mine does, insurance will only cover what they consider to be the standard fee. For pet insurance a pre existing problem probably won't be covered at all. Their PDS will explain this. It also contains a list of exclusions. I agree with Steve that Bow Wow Meow, after a rocky start, are now quite pleasant and easy to deal with. I've been with them for a number of years and they were dreadful at the start with staff who had no clue and would tell you anything just to get you off the phone. They now have knowledgeable staff and claims are usually settled promptly. I put in a claim for my dog recently and they reimbursed my bank account within 5 days of receipt of my claim. Of course Bow Wow Meow pet Insurance premiums are increasing significantly each year as are all the other pet insurance companies. Private health insurance is the same with annual increases in their premiums.

If I were to rely on an emergency fund I would have $10,000 in that fund before buying a dog or cancelling an existing pet insurance policy. With the cost of surgery now $10,000 is not a lot of money to have in reserve. Then if you do need to draw say, $7000-8000 from the emergency fund what would happen if your dog dog had another illness or accident before you managed to rebuild the emergency fund? My pet insurance was $360 per year when I first took it out 5 1/2 years ago. It is now $1,400 per year. I expect another massive increase when the policy next falls due.

This one is also underwritten by Hollards.

I worry if either of my dogs are off colour or refuse a meal. It's off to the vet for us.

It would be best if you take your dog to the vet tomorrow and have this checked out.

awww, bless that little dog. What a beautiful story, thank you for posting about it.

I thought SASH would do myelograms. Most Specialist Vet Centres should have the equipment to do them. Excellent news to hear your girl is improving and I hope she keeps improving until she's back to her normal self.

One of my dogs always has a dry nose, I've been using Papaw ointment too but it's not helping the situation. I have cold pressed coconut oil here so I'll give that a try. Thanks for the tip Sheena.

A myelogram will show a lot more detail than xrays do.

A myelogram is less expensive than an MRI and it should clearly show the problem area. When my Cavalier ruptured a disk we could immediately see what the problem was on a myelogram. They're still expensive but not nearly as costly as an MRI.

DDD. I think BRB means be right back. I hope you can get the little man to eat something tonight. I saw you said he is now 5kg. What is his usual weight?

Same with me DDD. My dogs are getting on in age for their breed now and one is in congestive heart failure for which he is medicated. At my age I won't take on another dog when they pass on, presuming I outlive them. I can't imagine what it would be like to live without a dog in my home. It's scary prospect.