Kirra_Bomber_Zeus

Max looks so sweet! I think my cats are more 'tolerant' of our new pup because he's a baby - but that may just be the 'what the hell is that?' look instead Awww, Im sure the Raggies will come back to being around you all the time - they probably just need a little bit of time to get used to the new 'arrangements' in the house Im loving that they 'howl' for you to go to bed though - I havent met any Raggies before, they sound like they have good personalities. We have one Bengal cat and she is rather different too!

I've basically done the 'free for all' approach each time with mine too. My new puppy keeps attempting to get the cats to play with him (play bowing and occasionally barking to get their attention) but gives up after a few tries when they stalk off in a huff One of our cats is a 'no-go' zone with all of our dogs (she makes that rule not us!) and they know that she will never be interested in playing with them in any way. I watched on the first day as the new pup approached her and one of my other dogs bolted around and stood infront of the pup - kind of body blocking him and edging him away - it was really quite funny, I could just imagine her saying "no no no, you dont want to do that!!" I do know how you feel though, our oldest cat was with us before we had any dogs and she used to follow me everywhere too. She was very unimpressed when we got our first dog but she did get over it and I made sure I still made time to sit her on my lap and pay attention to her too One of my dogs with a kitten we had: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34919246@N08/...57613065294121/

We have a dog with severe allergy problems. If the scratching continues and you do suspect it is due to an allergy it would be a good idea to get your dog allergy tested. Our girl was prescribed Prednisone tablets and was severely allergic to them too - also, they really just 'cover up' the problem - they dont do anything to get to the bottom of it. When we had our girl allergy tested we found out she was allergic to a whole heap of things, including dandelions, moths, cockaroaches, flies, mosquitoes, a few different types of grass, melaleuca plus beef, corn and other food items! (food issues were discovered through an elimination diet) Because we found out what she was actually allergic to, we have been able to remove those things that we can remove and control the balance with diet and antihistamines. We (and our dog) suffered for years before we had her tested, I just wish I had of done it earlier

I guess thats why when I saw an article in the Sunday Times last week about Staffies being the most popular dog in WA I silently cringed inside. The article also mentioned that they were a great dog for 'anybody'. When a breed becomes that popular of course the attack 'statistics' will go up - more of the breed around, more people having a general idea of what a 'Staffy' might look like and, since I firmly believe this is not a breed for 'everybody' - (ie, not for people who want a dog they can stick in the backyard, ignore and feed once a day) more untrained, frustrated dogs

Hello Its been a few years since I have posted to these forums but I too have a new pup - so I thought I would join in again Glad your older dog seems to be doing a bit better with the pup now - I understand your pain! When we first got our second pup (6 years ago) our 5 year old dog was completely depressed and afraid of her - I ended up getting quite upset because I thought they would never get along and we'd made a huge mistake. I kept trying to praise him for being near her etc but he just ran and hid right down the back of the garden everytime he saw her! After a couple of weeks I came out one morning and they were happily sleeping on the same bed. :cool: He just needed time to get used to the idea. Now we have another new pup, our older dog is now 11 and our other dog is 6. Our older dog is acting exactly the same this time. Our 6 year old was a bit standoffish and 'stiff' around him for the first few days but by this morning they were starting to play together. Ive kept our pup inside in a play pen and the older dogs outside while Im at work - just until I am 100% sure that they are all cool together

and I think what your dog is saying is true! There is nothing like the real thing - in my opinion, health wise too. The suggestions to look up BARF diets are good suggestions. Oh and yes, BARF is definately a suitable diet for an Amstaff. Also, the only reason I could think of that people have said dont give beef is that is can be quite common for some dogs to be allergic to it (like mine is) but if your dog doesnt seem to have any allergies, then beef should be fine. Jen

Exactly. and of course, if goverment authorities admitted that autism was caused by vaccines - imagine the legal battles they would have - so of course, the information just gets shoved out of the way in the hope that no-one asks too many questions. It really annoys me that in most cases no owner is given any information whatsoever on possible vaccine reactions beforehand so they can make an informed decision. Also, that there are many vets who will vaccinate sick dogs - even though the manufacturers label warns against this!! Of course, it always makes it hard for people to make an informed decision when the statistics are skewed and the "vaccinate your dog or they will surely die" is shoved down everyone's throat. :D Sad thing is - most owners think they are doing the best they can do for their dog by vaccinating them every year (because the vet says so) :D And as for the research funding being provided by the same pharmaceutical companies - have you ever heard of a bigger conflict of interest in your life?! Jen

OMG Pampa! I just read this thread today Tons of positive vibes coming out your way. I do hope you baby is ok :rolleyes: Please let us all know how she goes Jen PS - thanks for the info on the rat bait - I had no idea either!

The "this happens sometimes" brush off is the same reaction I got when my Staffy had her vaccine reaction (2nd puppy shot - will never ever be vaccinated again as will any of my other dogs) It is disgusting. Too many vets either wont admit it was a reaction or even if they admit "maybe" it was - wont report it. This is why these incorrect "one in 0.1% figures come from - more like 0.1% of vets actually report anything so the statistics are totally wrong) With regard to "is it only the C5 vaccination" questions - it can happen with any of the different vaccinations but the ingredients for kennel cough are one of the ones that cause a reaction the most (so so sad as kennel cough is not a life threatening disease and in my opinion should not be vaccinated against) Doberkids, please watch your dog - often the swelling after a vaccine reaction is not the end of it. What happened to your dog is exactly what happened to mine - and we have now been battling severe allergies to almost all drugs and a whole heap of other things for 3 years :rolleyes: Isnt it interesting that vaccine reactions are so "rare" yet almost everyone I know (and it would seem many people on this forum) have either had it happen to them or someone they know hmmmmmm Jen PS Doberkids, I would definately suggest you take your dog to a homeopathic vet - conventional drugs can not fix a vaccine reaction

Maggie sounds like she was a beautiful girl. Hugs to Henry Sounds and looks just like my cousins dogs KenDOL - they are Bull Mastiff x Bull Arabs. Jen

So sorry to hear about your loss Do you know what breed(s) Maggie was? She is the spitting image of one of my cousins dogs in that photo RIP Maggie Jen

I thought about pet insurance when we got Kirra - but did some research and decided against it. In all the policies I researched there were so many exclusions (based on pre-existing conditions, 'breed specific' likely conditions etc) Basically, I figured that it would be good in case of an accident, but not much else. Also, now I couldnt get it anyway as I dont vaccinate my dogs. Must say I found it very interesting that all the policies I researched wouldnt cover you if you didnt vaccinate every year (even if the claim was not related to disease) BUT also wouldnt cover you for any injury / illness caused by a vaccine reaction! I put money away each week for Kirra - there has been several times we have had to add substantial amounts to this little kitty and we have spent thousands - but none of the things we have had to pay for would have been covered under insurance. Jen

She sure was Corine ;) Luckily sometimes I just get a feeling about whats wrong - kind of hard to explain but I just 'knew' they had to check her mouth otherwise its likely it would never have been found . I couldnt quite get it when I was at the emergency clinic but I knew it sure wasnt what they were saying! Luckily for me my new vet listens to me when I have a 'feeling' about what's wrong Jen

:rolleyes: my thoughts are with you Crysti Lei - so sorry for the loss of your friend :D Jen

Carlee - I know how you feel about having a partner who is a little reluctant to spend money on vet bills if they dont have too. My husband used to be the same (and before anyone flames me - it never prevented me from taking Kirra to the vet and we have spent about $10,000.00 in vet bills on Kirra in her 3 years so far ;) ) I know that my husband used to just have a bit of a panic when it was a large unexpected amount (and hey, he has this panic when he needs medical treatment himself!) so we ended up putting money away each week in a seperate account for when unexpected vet bills came up. It always makes it much easier when the time comes. And I know that some people simply dont have the money - and thats a terrible position to be in when your dog needs help :D But really, its a very good idea to put the money away each week - I have had to hand over $800.00 unexpectedly and just "find" the money for Kirra - sometimes its not easy but its part of owning a dog I know it is worrying to think that someone might be reluctant to get their dog medical attention when its required but I'm sure Carlee will have her partner trained to expect unexpected vet bills in no time Sometimes when you first get a dog it can still be a bit of a shock when the first 'major' bill comes in!! (Luckily it seems Carlee's situation is far from a guy I met a few weeks ago who told me that when they got their dog a year ago he told his wife straight that it had a $200.00 limit at the vet, then it would be put down. Apparantly the dog had $30 left to go. I wanted to smack his face.) Anyway, back to the illness you had with your dog..... Thought Id tell you my story of when I had something very similar happen to my Staffy about a year ago. She came inside and her back legs were literally just collapsing and she couldnt walk. We dont have paralysis ticks in WA so all I could think of was some type of poisoning. We rushed her to the emergency vet who couldnt figure out what was wrong (extremely frustrating situation - kept trying to tell me that she must have hurt her back but by this stage I could see one of her front legs starting to curl up and I knew they were wrong) Ended up giving her pain killers and sending us home :rolleyes: Anyway, the next day I took her back to my own vet when I noticed she couldnt hold food in her mouth. They kept telling me the same as the emergeny vet - I ended up screaming the place down and demanding they look in her mouth because food kept falling out. They pulled out a huge European Wasp sting. My poor baby almost died because the poison keeps attacking the central nervous system the whole time the sting is embedded. ;) Jen

Hi Ive only just seen this thread Did you hear from the vet this afternoon? How is the pup tonight? This must be terribly worrying for you Jen

Thanks LB

coolibahkoolies, I can imagine how you must be feeling. YES, I would ask your vet to get in another brand. I would tell them that you have had bad experiences with this brand and there is no way that you will use it again. Any decent vet would understand after what you have been through - if not - find another one. I would rather inconvenience the vet (sorry to the vets out there :p ) than risk another episode such as you have had. Although, if it was me (and before anyone jumps on me, Im stating what I would do after the research I have done) I would just be doing a non Fort Dodge C3 vacc at 12 weeks and thats it. End of story. It has been so long since I have vaxed now - I cant remember :D what age is the second vacc at? Jen

No tea tree Jen, other wise you wont be able to come near Asher ever again :D Dan Oh no! We're a sorry bunch arent we Thanks for the tip LB - do you think I could fool the dust mites and get away with just eucupatalus oil? :p I couldnt live without seeing Asher again Jen

HA! That is just NOT funny - I hate house cleaning and Kirra is allergic to dust mites! Waahahahahahaha!!!! Jen

Hi Homer's Mummy Sigh - yes, we have been going down the allergy path for 3 years now My Staffy Kirra started her allergies after she had a reaction to one of her puppy vaccinations (the last vaccination she every had). When we first took her to the vet because she was scratching her fur off they put her on Prednisole (Cortisone/ Steroid). It took me several weeks to convince the vet that she was violently allergic to the cortisones - she almost died before I spat the dummy and wouldnt give them to her anymore!! So, after this her immune system and its response to almost any chemical was shot to bits. Since she now reacts badly to almost any chemical or medication (including anisthetic), beef, corn, dandelions, some grass, cereals, dust mites, bees and wasps and organisms in the soil (say if she digs in the garden) - I have not had her tested yet (as she needs to go under anisthetic for it and she almost died last time ) so these are just the things I have worked out for myself!! She has gotten much better in the last 3 years after I took her to a homeopathic vet here who gave me some remedies but she's still not 100% Right now Im trying to get brave enough to take her to get tested so I can at least try and avoid some of the other things she is allergic to! It is such a hard path and Im sorry you have to go through it I wouldnt dare count the money we have spent on Kirra - but I would do anything to stop her allergies Please let us know how you go and ask for any information you need - there are many people here in the same boat as you! Jen

I agree that the risk of actual death immediately from a reaction may be small - but I guess the point I was trying to make is that there are many dogs "reacting". As many vets wont admit that a problem is a reaction to a vaccine then we will never know the real figures of how many dogs do die anyway (whether that may be immediately or from health complications from the reaction much later on). Death is the worst case scenario, but other effects from a reaction can be life altering for the pup too Yep, Kirras reaction was from a Fort Dodge product too - wouldnt touch them with a ten foot pole! However, since then she has reacted to many other products such as heartworm, flea treatments and many many medications - my new vet even admits there is a 90% chance that this is because the vaccine reaction she had when she was a pup all but destroyed her immune response to chemicals. As I have said before - I guess those that have had experience with a dog dying from a disease and those that have had experience with vaccine reactions will always have differing opinions on which one is the lesser evil! Jen

I find it very interesting that if vaccination reactions are "so rare" that there are at least 8 people in this thread alone who's dogs have had a reaction to their vaccination! (a couple of them havent actually said so here but I know them and know that it has happened) Jen

That was exactly what I was just about to post Pup's Mum Jen

Sadly Tia - thats right and sadly its also right about animals. Especially when so many cases of reactions go unreported - because either the owner doesnt know it was a reaction, the vet tells them it wasnt a reaction, or (as in my case) the vet tells the owner it is "normal" and "happens all the time, nothing to worry about". Well, Id have to say Im still worried dealing with allergies and health complications 3 years on. Doesnt seem to be a "one in a million" thing to me - I know several people in Australia who's dogs have had severe reactions. I would definately be checking whether the vet reported this to Fort Dodge. Im guessing that they didnt because they wont admit the death was caused by the vaccines. And this is why the "statistics" are so unreliable. Jen