aliwake

Thanks ladies, I can't believe he's 2 either!! Here's the aftermath of present unwrapping tonight :)

Thanks Grumpette, we love him to bits :) He's a bit of a broken retriever though - he much prefers catching to fetching, but the ball certainly helped to get me some focus this morning - he usually avoids the camera like the plague! :laugh:

Wishing my gorgeous boy a very Happy 2nd Birthday today! Love you Nix x

I read the Pia policy recently, and it doesn't cover any dental, or any complications for parvo or any other common diseases, even if your dog is vaccinated. For that reason I'm sticking with Petplan. All the hollards policies only cover 80% of treatment costs, but Petplan cover everything bar the excess. The excess is charged for every unique claim. So if you see the vet 3 times for one condition you only pay the excess once (per policy year).

that's an awesome review Sheena! Not sure how I'd feel about finding ticks in my bed though - even if they were dead or dying!!

Oh, she was so lucky! definitely big props to those guys who jumped in to save her. absolute heroes!

I use an undercoat rake for the undercoat and a zoom groom for the top coat, for my lab. Works really well. I don't have any clipper suggestions though, sorry.

Aww, thanks cavNrott, lovely of you to be thinking about us. I think the formal name for button cell tumour is histiocytoma, so that might sound more familiar? she may have mentioned pred at some stage, but we talked about so many things! I think we sort of decided to take care of the most pressing things today, and we'll reassess when I go back. I will update you all again after we go back :)

I know the worry with pups is they can dehydrate really quickly, but if she still seems perky, then I guess It's not super urgent. However, 2 days of diarrhoea is a bit of a worry. My boy had Giardia at a similar age - it needed a high dose of drontal to treat. Some things just won't go away by themselves.

Thanks DDD. I'm somewhat relieved, but there's clearly a lot going on we need to deal with too, so it's a little daunting. We talked about so many things too, which is a relief, but I definitely have information overload. So glad I insisted on seeing this particular lady - we get on very well! I think I forgot to mention she did a swab/scraping of the lump to check for ringworm or similar, but it was clear. Good to have one thing ruled out at least. I'm not sure about being allergic to possum poo - he's eaten it from day one, but his allergies are definitely worse at the moment, so I suspect they're seasonal. He also sleeps inside at night, and when he gets mucky eyes from allergies they're often worst first thing in the morning, so I suspect dust and or humans are a better bet for allergies. She also said some dogs are allergic to cleaning products, so that's another 'inside' possibility too.

Well, just got back from the vet - was a nice long appt! She thinks the lump is most likely a button cell tumour (benign). She said they usually resolve by themselves after about 6 months, if he'll leave it alone for that long. She said it's too flat at the moment to do a fine needle aspiration, so she would likely have to do a wedge biopsy, in which case she'd probably just remove the whole lump. So, the plan at the moment is short term wait and see. If it's button cell it should plump up in the next week or so, in which case she'll be able to do fine needle aspiration without any trouble. If it is button cell and it drives him nuts it will probably need removing anyway. So basically, will just keep an eye on it, and go back in a week or two to re-assess. I made it clear I'd prefer to know what it is for sure, and she agreed. As well as that, she looked at some irritated spots on his tummy, which she says are secondary infections from his allergic scratching. So we have antibiotics for that (3/4 of a tablet dose no less! :laugh: ) Also have some ear stuff for his itchy ears (can't remember if it's antibiotic of steroid). We discussed allergy blood tests and elimination diets too. I don't think his allergies are severe compared to some I've read about here, but they are certainly impacting him negatively. She has given me a dosage of polaramine to try if I want, but she said only 30% of dogs respond to antihistamines. Also have to wash him twice a week in the near future. Lastly, he has PUT ON weight after me cutting back his food about 2 weeks ago - I can't believe it! I told her my theory that it's all the possum poo he eats that's making him fat, and she actually agreed! It makes sense cos he always looks great when we go away and he has no access to poo (despite all other food being the same). Not sure what I can do about that...

How can you tell he has the sads Steph?! :laugh: Seriously, he does have resting sad face anyway, but he has been a bit mopey. I managed to get an appt with the vet I prefer tomorrow morning. Thanks for looking guys.

Hi, Nix has had a lump just next to his nose for a couple of days. He doesn't like it being touched. He's been quite itchy lately, so my initial thought is an allergic reaction of some kind. I tried neocort on it last night with no noticeable change this morning. Any ideas? Would you wait a few days to see what happens or head to the vet asap? Lump is on the right side of these pics - hope you can see it ok.

I got mine today too Jemmy, but am saving it for his birthday in 2 weeks! I like to think of it as an anti-present, cos I'm pretty sure he won't appreciate having to wait for his food! :)

Ask yourself this, aliwake: Ever felt so miserable you want to scream your head off BUT that sweet dog that lives with you senses you are unhappy? They make an effort to make YOU feel better. With a companion, a true and loyal friend like that, lots of troubles can be conquered. I can say to you that all of the dogs I have had the honour of loving and being loved by, thought of me & doing their bit to make me happy. My Gabor Heart dog would not let paramedics past the door because he feared I was going to be in more danger. I managed to tell Gabor to obey a long forgetten set of commands. He knew his duty and he knew to trust me. When the human heart, and mind, is willing, adjustments can be made. I'll look for photos too where friends' dogs are already guarding the new humans without dramas or issues. Thanks VM, I don't really have doubts, but it is reassuring to hear from those with human babies! My husband said something the other day about loving our future human child more, and I disagreed! I adore Nix and can't imagine life without him. Plus I have no doubt he'll be an awesome big brother when the time comes :) I'm sure a lot of things will change between now and then, but I highly doubt I'll be loving Nixon any less.

Wow, how depressing. I sure hope some of you parents who are dog lovers will chime in with how wrong she is and reassure me!!

OMG MW you just had me laughing out loud! So funny!

There's one that comes to my dog park fairly regularly. If I see them again I'll ask where they got him from.

I got one too! Thanks for the heads up! We have a birthday coming up on a few weeks, so it will be perfect. Though I'm not sure Nix will think that waiting for treats is a good thing :laugh:

Happy Birthday gorgeous Odie!! Hope she has a wonderful day!

I have heard test is not 100%, friend got caught Wow, if this is right, perhaps it would be best practice to only breed when both parents are shown clear for EIC in future. Then hopefully worst case scenario would be one incorrect test and the pup being a carrier, but not having the disease.

Have you seen a vet about it yet? I assume she could be genetically tested to see if she has it, and if so, you'd have to question her supposed breeding? I too thought both parents would have to be a carrier... Bit hard to fake the mum though... Perhaps it's something else with similar symptoms?

Just had a quick google - it seems advantix is marketed as a flea and tick treatment, so maybe she has a source of re-infection around the house or something? Scalibor seems to be marketed as a flea and tick treatment in the US, but here they just mention paralysis tick - perhaps the same company also markets a flea treatments here :)

I've never had any flea problems, but I also use panoramis, so that's killing fleas too. Are you having issues?

I have one of those collapsible silicon ones, and it's great in theory, but if I leave it down for him to drink out of (if we're visiting friends or something), he usually ended up tipping all the water out then grabbing it and racing around in circles with it before settling down to chew enormous holes in it.... needless to say, it's no longer watertight.