Mana

I second that. He is wonderful. Thanks baifra and Wolfsong - we'll see if we can get on his books!

Hi, We'll soon be moving from Canberra to Queanbeyan and I'd be grateful for any recommendations or general feedback on vets in Queanbeyan (for two 5yo labrador/rottie crosses). Forgive me if I'm duplicating another thread but my searches didn't turn up much. Happy for you to send a PM if you prefer. thanks in advance, M.

Hi Karma12 - I'm sorry to hear what you and Karma are going through at the moment. Our Rosie the Rotti had osteosarcoma - but the first we knew of it was when her thigh snapped up near her hip - so lumps or obvious pain or lameness are not necessarily good indicators. I hate to think how much pain she may have been in before we were aware of it. When the vet xrayed the break, the sarcoma was obvious - and the size of a tennis ball - but had not been apparent from the outside. He said that the cancer had probably already spread to her vital organs, in the end we put her down while she was still under the xray anaesthetic. As others have mentioned, amputation was raised, but our vet's view was that it may have given her another few weeks at the most. I'm not suggesting that this should be any sort of indication as to what you should do - just that circumstances vary immeasurably and no matter how much good, thoughtful, considered and sympathetic advice you get, you'll just have to pick the right time. I really hope things go as well as possible for you. Thinking of you and Karma, M

Just saw this had resurrected... :D The pee sample showed some inflammatory cells - she has had a bit of an infection, but the vet felt that the cause was physical, not infectious. There haven't been any more plate-sized puddles or sopping wet tails... not sure what the triggers are, but at the moment it's manageable without drugs. She may be wetting her bed in the crate a bit but I haven't been aware of it, and there's no smell and she doesn't seem bothered. If the dribbles get more frequent I'll try the hormone (stemerole or something?) that the vet suggested. Weird thing is, though we've had the dribbles in the new house, there have been no toilet training mistakes here (ie intentional peeing or pooing) which was still an ongoing-vigilance thing at the last house we lived.

And now for something completely different.... This is a hotspot that I clipped back as far as I could with scissors. The skin was all scabby, but not pussy and red like in the other pictures. It was pretty much gone after 4 days of Pyoderm cream - but Ruski was also on antibiotics for a contact allergy at the same time so that may have sped up the healing of the hotspots.

I have been told by my vet in the past that dogs' eyes are very close in pH etc to human eyes, and that human eye meds (at least the generic lubricating types) are generally fine for dogs. For this reason we have a bottle of contact lens saline for washing gummy dog eyes, and the vet recommended this.

Thank you so much for all the replies - it's really encouraging, whatever Gracie's issue turns out to be. She's pretty good at peeing on command (piddle piddle piddle pup!) but I will def try the dustpan trick! I was following her around with a shallow bowl... lots of splashwork! As soon as I've got the sample to the vet I can start her on a course of antibiotics just to rule out any infection, and then I guess we take it from there. I really can't imagine a dog in diapers though? Would certainly make it harder for her to pass as a savage guard dog when she fronts up at the front door with a pad on! :D

On the same day! Foolishly, I have them both... Grace is on the left. Six months wouldn't be regarded as "early" though would it? Their brother was done at 9 weeks, I'm not aware of any probs with him... though it's more common with girls isn't it?

Grace was desexed just on 6 months, as far as I can tell it was before her first season (I think this is even more likely given her development was delayed by parvo and septic arthritis at 8-10 weeks). I have heard that letting them have a season first can reduce vaginitis / incontinence risks later on? She's now just over 10 months, first leaked at 8-9 months. Rotti x lab. Her sister has no apparent problems.

Really?? Ooh I hope that applies to us! That would be a big relief!

I've been chasing Grace for a pee sample, and will drop it in to the vet on the weekend, but it seems likely that there's a physical cause for her leaking... Though I'm hoping it's just stress / UTI. It's intermittent, usually when she's asleep or relaxed, varying from a few drops to a whole piddle's worth. If she's aware of it she gets very distressed and tries to clean herself up. Do you have an incontinent dog? How do you manage him/her? (I am in a rental property, and if this gets worse Grace won't be able to spend as much time inside... :D )

Sounds like you had the shampoo, caslero. Did you know you can get it in a lotion now? Much more concentrated and you can leave it on.

It cleared up Ruski's hotspots in a day. I haven't treated them before so I don't know if that was fast, but it impressed me! It was from the vet's, and had only just become available in October. BTW I was told to keep it in the fridge.

Everything EW said... but re the eggs being fed whole - and I'm sure someone else will know the specifics that I don't remember off the top of my head, but my understanding is that it is necessary that the yolk and white are fed together because of a binding process that happens between the two... and stops overdose of a certain amino acid for young pups???? or something? I've read about it on this forum I'm sure - can anyone fill in the gaps? ;) ( ) And I'm glad to hear it Pixie! :D Does anyone else wonder though, with all this detail we go into with formulating dog's diets when we're feeding raw, whether it's all overkill? I'm careful with what I feed the dogs, and try not to let the vege pulp sit for too long, and I add Vital Greens powder etc etc etc... but I never add up all the food groups and amino acids and vitamins in my own diet, I just eat as wide a variety of food as possible, as unprocessed as possible... My dad ran a husky team in the antarctic and they lived and worked as healthily as all get out through the antarctic winter on hunks of seal blubber... not much more...

I wouldn't want you to be espinay! I value you both! No I haven't tried giving them frizzed carcasses, if they have it's only cos I haven't defrosted them enough.. I guess I imagined bones splintering more if they were frozen - that's silly, innit? Will give it a shot, thanks LP. (How's Kaleigh's barking when you leave going?) & O-Ren - I'm not espinay either :D but - I reckon fresh eggs is the best - try giving them whole, and if they don't figure it out at first, crack them... but a dog dealing with a whole egg has the potential to be one of the comedic masterpieces of this world! (and they will often happily eat the shell too - beaut minerals in there if they do manage to eat and digest it).