Koza

Found a lump on Solly's underside:( Been to vet yesterday, his initial suggestion was histiocytoma, so we'll put a hydrocortizone cream on it for 2 weeks and see if it gets better. If not, he'll cut it out obviously... Thankfully, there's a lot of spare skin around. This thing is itchy, too! Looked like a large insect bite initially, but its clear now its different. Solly is in good mood so far. He's only 4 yo.

We did take time to sit with her, twice there were school holidays, so my daughter spent time at home.. and twice I took some time. She used to stay outside during the day, but now she's a lounge dog and stays inside, to prevent her from crazy play with our other dog. She looks after the house:)

Hi jans, my dog (though bigger, dalmatian type) had CLR on both knees. After initial small trauma she had fairly long decline, for about a year, and when we found out its CLR and operated, there was about 50% damage. She had 3 operations, since her body rejected the atrificial ligament twice. We had the "older" type operation, when the bones are basically drilled and tied together. There are dosens of different procedures for this op, it all depends on what your vet is confident with... So she spent about 6 months "in bed" ;). Streight after that the second ligament ruptured completely, we had an op fast, but it didnt work well for about a year! She kept limping and hopping. Finally suddenly one beatutiful morning Stella was OK. Sometimes after too much play she is a bit sore, and she restricts movement a bit, so we keep a pack of Carprophen at home. She is on glucozamine, too. But generally now, after 2.5 years, Stella can run, jump (we restrict jumping, but she tries) and play to her heart content. She will be 6 next week. This operation (by a non-specialist vet) cost us about 1300. I must mention, of course, that our vet did the second op on the first leg for 50% and third op for free, which was very nice.

As a chemist I think this argument about pH 6 or 7.5 is crap... as Anthony mentioned, water will wash it all off. If the dogs skin is dry, the shampoo shouldn't be too harsh. I wash both guys in "non-soap" hand wash from pharmacy, its very mild and leaves some coating on hands. Works OK, especially with sardines :rolleyes:

Can I ask for a small advise here about nails? What do you grind them with? I bought a file in Bunnnigs, but it 's sort of very slow to do much... our nails are seriously long, the quick itself. The dog used to wear them off on concrete pretty well, but as she waks less now, the quick grows and grows. I thought the best option would be grinding every week a bit, to get the tip of quick to die off, but havent succeeded in that at all!

Stella had the first leg done 1.5 years ago and the second almost a year ago. The first one is fine, but she still limps on the second one when walks (though she can trot and canter). She is more sore after excersise, so we restrict her to ordinary walks. I recon its pretty ordinary for dogs to hop on 3 when galloping. I wouldn't let it to gallop for long times, rather ask to trot on a lead. If you think its really sore, you might give her a course of Carprofen... thats what we did a few times.

My understanding is that this insurance is some financial product, it's sold under a few names, and so RSPCA is only an agent. They would get a small % of the profit. I'm not 100% sure though

Could you fit a nappy? Or the absorbent changing square nappy.

Oh, hope you have a good recovery! She should be OK for 5 hrs... my Stella lives inside now, and holds on between 8 and 5-30. Not sure its very good for kidneys, though, but she's free wo pee on the floor if she needs.. A crate is very good. Without crate they tend to move too much and attempt to jump etc. I bought an excellent one on e-bay, it was delivered next day. If you are in Brissie, you could borrow it... We just had an op on the second leg. Funny enough, Stella knows well already what it all means, and she was happy and generally OK straight after op, just hopping on 3 and not putting herself through pain. We remind her to lay down now and then, and she knows ...

There was a looong discussion on Innotek fences on DOL some time ago, you might still find it in archives. We used it a lot, with both dogs, and it was a great help and salvation. Whether it will work, depends on the dog, but generally the idea is not silly. We taught Solly not to sleep on the outdoor table by putting the wire on it - one week was enough (but he knew what beeping means). The fence is humane, I think - first of all, you teach dog to backup when it hears the beeping. Secondly, the jolt is not strong at all. You have to teach dog over about 2 weeks. Its not cheap, though.

dalmatian x labrador, 34 kg, 4 yo - 3 cups of "Bonnie adult complete" ridgeback x golden, 2yo, 45 kg - 3.5-4 cups of the same plus a bit or sardines, eggs, bones

Hi everyone!!! Kelly, we are so glad for you! Stella is fine, we had a really long walk yesterday, all over Karawatha forest, maybe good 7 km, and she didn't even limp after that. Solly went swimming, but Stella was smartrer, she waited for him to bring the stick back, and then wrestled it over

We have seen vet last time about a month ago. She said to resume basically a normal life. We don't let Stella to jump high, but we even tried agility last Saturday, she was fine with low barriers. The implant is there, the knee is stable, so we (and vet) guess, she may be a bit uncomfortable while standing, or she may be used to standing like that. There doesn't seem to be pain or arthritis, no inflammaton or any reaction when we move the knee. So we just leave it as is. She has been on the beach, and she runs every day our usual 2 km walk, I think its' pretty good for an injured knee. We'll try to go on with agility, and she is definetely good for obedience

And another one we used to visit - a bit far, but the main vet very devoted person. can't remember his name... something polish. In Redbank Plains, Moreton Bay surgery.

We go to Park Ridge. Quite happy so far. Usual prices, very good attention, discuss everything. After Stella's operation on knee didn't work, they did the second one for 1/4 price and the 3-rd for free, though it wasn't their fault (the implant was rejected).