Pugmum

Every dog we have had tends to chew their feet and scratch their legs etc. I have changed diets (we feed nutro kibble, raw meat, veggies, sardines etc but no dairy) and it still gets so bad you think they are going to chew their feet off. I have been dipping thier feet in calendula tea and rubbing it on legs - its not helping either. So the solution seems to be to get rid of the lawn - its really more a mish mash of grasses and mown weeds anyway. But what to replace it with ? has anyone had any success at this? thanks

Hi DR, Bison is a beautiful boy and I wish you both the very best. Any illness of a pet leaves you feeling very vulnerable, but the word cancer hits you like a brick to the head. It looks as though Bison is responding very well to treatment though so hpefully his prognosis is now on the most positive side I dont know much about Chemotherapy treatments apart from those that my girl had for bladder cancer. The instructions from her specialist stressed taking her temp twice a day for a week after each treatment, then going for a white cell count - depending on that result we may have continued (if her white cell count was very low she was still prone to infections). A spike of more than 1 degree meant a trip back to the specialist. If you dont need to have a white cell count, maybe the temp thing is not needed - but it certainly wont hurt to know how he is travelling. With regards to the diet, again only from my experience, I was told to be very carefull about the amount of antioxidant I gave my girl while she was having the Chemo - spcialist told me it would actually work to negate the treatment I fed only cooked food, meat, steamed vitamised veg, quark (a form of cottage cheese) with fesh ground flax seeds etc. The reason for the cooked food was becase raw food had more bacteria - fine for healthy dogs, not those with a compromised immune system from the chemo. My girls cancer was very aggressive, but with a good diet etc she was in good conditon till the end. best wishes and a hug for Bison.

Hi, I was able to buy Essiac tea from health food stores - most should stock it.

Thanks, Yes, one of the dogs really only needs a trim to stop knots under his ears etc the other has a slightly wavy coat and as she is very small it gets knots and burs very easily as it does not clear the ground in many places, the wavyness makes it difficult to get a good look with scissors. she's also tad overweight so the idea is to also keep her cool in summer.

Hi, My daughter has two long haired Chihuahuas and is looking into finding a place to teach her to groom them. I'd like to get her some good equipment, but have no idea what would be best to get - does anyone have a recommendation ? thanks

Hi, In case you are still after a quantity for the pysillium husk, I was told by the specialist my dog was seeing that she could have up to 1 tablespoon with her meal - she was 10 kg. We also use it to control anal problems with my daughters Chi and we sprinkle about half a teaspoon on her food - she is 3 kg. Hers is less per kg of dog as she is a couch potato and therfore eats less

This happens to our 2 yo Frenchie girl (Donna) quite often. The skin at the side of the eye (second eyelid ?) protrudes into the visable area of they eye - just does not retract like it should. It was not red, just sort of the inside of they eyelid colour. It can happen on either eye for her. First time we freaked....waited for the vets to open, ready to pounce on them as our dark doggy looked quite odd :-) But while waiting for the vet my OH massaged the corner of the eye a bit and it just went away again. Now whenever it happens, quite often after a nap, we jut massage/rub it back. Its just a case of rubbing from the edge of it nearest the centre of the eye back towards the nose. In Donnas case it can happen every day or not at all for weeks. The vet says to just go with it as it is and that it only become a problem it it stays out for more than a day or two and gets red and round(thick) and wont go back with our normal method. We have only had Donna for 6 months and it has not gotten any worse in that time.

Merry Christmas Jodie and Ollie !! Its great to hear Ollie is doing well, best wishes for 2011

This is a strange argument I guess - there is no guarantee of a health issue free dog any nmore than a health issue free person. I agree that you can minimise the risk of joint problems etc by selective breeding but you still only minimise the risk - you cant eliminate it as far as I know. My two pugs, both pedigree, both from very good breeders, were so different. The one with the best 'lines' actually had more health issues. She also had a sensitive tummy so we had to be careful what we fed her. I can guarantee she had top quality food and a balanced healthy diet. She died of cancer this year. Both knees needed surgery, and had she not died she would have needed some work on her breathing. I love pugs, I love their personality and am confident with the temperamnet of them - but I'd never say I could be certain of their health or any dogs regardless of their breeding. One day I'll probably meet the pug that also that makes me question my confidence in temperament - after all they are individuals not clones.

My 10 kg girl was able to have up to a tablespoon with each meal (ate twice a day). I mix it in with some plain yogurt and she loved it.

I was quoted about $2k for a scan to check for a brain tumour in my girl - that was the vets estimate. by the time we got to the specialist centre for the appt, nearly 3 weeks later, I think they said it would be about $1200 - $1500. Apparetnly they are sedated quite a long time for this procedure. We didn't go ahead with the scan because she was diagnosed with a bigger problem and all concern about a 'possible' brain tumour was secondary so I did not get an actual cost. I know how you feel, but take a deep breath, and dont worry about a tumour until you need to - you may never need to. best wishes to you and your boy....

Thank you BellaDonna. It had only been there from sometime after we went to bed last night, and its gone again now. At least we now know, should it happen again , if it lasts longer than 24 hours to take her for treatment. We were ready to rush her in this morning as we tend to be worry warts. thanks again...

Thank you ellz, so it might come back or it might not. We'll have to keep en eye on it (yes, pun intended ) and hope that it does not re-occur. Poor thing, looked a bit lop sided this morning.

I recently (a week ago ) got an 18 mth old french bulldog to keep my elderly pug company. This morning the frenchie (Donna) had what I thought might be the beginning of a cherry eye, I've only sort of seen one before on a friends dog and it had long hair so was hard to see it properly. Donna's was not red, but as she in dark faced it was very noticable that there was extra light coloured flesh on the nose side of one eye. She is not bothered by it, but it made her dark face look strange. We decided which one of us would stay home and take her to the vet - OH won. But when I got to work he sent me a picture and showed that it had now totally gone away again I'm thrilled that it has gone again, but anyone have any ideas what it might have been ? Does cherry eye come and go ? thank you

My girl (pug) had both her knees done a few years ago. She had luxating platellas, and the worst one was done first and the second one was done about 10 months later. Her recovery was amazing. The hardest part was trying to keep her quiet for 4 - 6 weeks. A couple of days after surgery she was wanting to run around and would jump up and down on the spot if she was contained in a small space to try keep her still. I carried her a LOT to stop her running - got the best arm muscles I've ever had I had two dogs, so when I went to work, the other dog would go to my folks place, so that the the girl with the surgery had no reason to run around and play. It kept her quiet. She was also contained in places where she could not jump on furniture etc. We did this until the 6 week mark had passed. The thing she seemed to have the most trouble with was getting comfortable to sleep the first few nights - she just coouldn't find a comfy position. I ended up giving her a bed pillow and letting the leg with the surgery 'hang' off it onto the floor stretched towards her head. She'd sleep really well this way but then after she had gotten up for whatever reason, would not know how toget back into that position, so I'd place her again. that was only for a few days. The surgery went so well, I still skoff at footballters having months off for knee reconstructions - if the local vet did it, they be back playing footy again in a fortnight Good luck with the surgery.