Sheridan

My wheaten's ears are plucked regularly. The only ear infection he's had since I've had him the vet put down to a groomer not drying his ears properly after the bath.

Hi Christine My sister is the irish terrier person in the family (I have a wheaten and a kerry). Welcome! Nice to see another IT person here. Please come and visit the terriers of Ireland thread. It's unusual to get an irish terrier allergic to something. They're such hardy dogs. Sorry to hear both Duke and Katie have some problems at the moment. I'd suggest a food trial for Duke, if it's food related, and if you haven't done one already. If Katie is allergic to other meat proteins, have you tried fish? Both my dogs mostly get tinned sardines. Not a protein source that some dog owners think of but they do very well on it and their kibble is fish as well (Eagle Pack Holistic Anchovy and Salmon). Also, can I suggest if you haven't done so already, contacting the Irish Terrier Club regarding both your irish terriers. You have two breeders in WA, Neridah Sharrett and Liz Walmsley (you likely got your ITs from one of them anyway ).

Yes, can't recall where you are, Tramissa. When the vet thought Grumps had cataracts, he immediately suggested an opthamologist so I'm surprised that the vets you saw didn't. If both are clouding, both need attention.

When I thought my boy had cataracts I booked him into see a veterinary opthamologist. The vet thought he had cataracts, the groomer thought he did, but the opthamologist cleared him completely and said it was simply ageing lenses. Your vet will probably just refer you to an opthamologist anyway. If it's come on suddenly, as you've indicated, get him checked for diabetes as this happened to my sister's dog and it turned out that the cataracts were caused by the diabetes and by underlying cushing's disease. Nothing could be done about the cataracts until the diabetes and cushings were brought under control. Your vet can do the testing for the diabetes and the cushing's. The opthamologist said that if they're in both eyes, most people will only get one eye done as it's around $1500 per eye for the operation.

Is that the Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance one? Likewise. I bought a whole box the other week. Will last 20 or so days for $25.60.

Thanks all. He's fine today, no cough, not down at all. He's just killed a soft toy so he's feeling much better.

Hmmm. well, he hasn't coughed for a few hours and is occasionally playing with his cuz ball. The test will be how interested he's going to be in my dinner.

What's the incubation period for KC? He hasn't been anywhere for the past week, though I was at a show yesterday and did meet various dogs. KC can be on clothes, I think? He seems to have stopped coughing now but still seems down. He's currently doing a polar bear rug impersonation.

One of my dogs is coughing, a sort of hollow breathing sound. He had a bone this afternoon. No cough. He had dinner. No cough. Then he came inside, checked out Min's bed and started this funny coughing sound. It's not constant but I don't know what it could be other than something he's breathed in that got caught in his throat. He had a drink, which didn't clear it. He doesn't seem to be in pain, a little uncomfortable maybe (i.e. he's down at my feet and not harassing me to play). Suggestions? Ideas? Just don't know what he could have swallowed.

Yes, that's what I thought too, Sheridan. If it's any help, my 13 year old wheaten is still pretty nutty.

Don't you have a lakeland? I always thought they tended to be a bit excitable and playful and nutty. Part of the charm. I'd think she'd settle down eventually with some strongly set boundaries rather than doing it with a change of diet.

It would depend on how much you're feeding. A 13 kg bag lasts us for months. Both the dogs get around 125 g for breakfast and then Miss Minnie gets 250 g for dinner.

Sounds great, Menacebear. The main thing is to keep that weight on and to keep him eating! Just ETA that on my dog's results the reference range was 0.06-0.16 mmol and his creatinine level was 0.61. The specialist in the disease he had said she'd never seen such bad bloodwork results.

Miss Minnie used to be on it and did very well. She turned up her nose at Orijen (a wise decision on her part in retrospect). I ran out and just fed her on the Eagle Pack holistic anchovy and she likes that, too, so now she's on that for brekkie and dinner.

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I'd call that very reasonable. You're getting an ultrasound, which costs a fair whack of money on its own, and three (not one but three) vaccinations? Don't have puppies then.

I have never once been in a vet surgery and seen this happen. Even though I've had to wait a fair bit, I've never seen any vet or staff mucking about. When my last dog was sick, he couldn't swallow the tablets so I took him into the surgery each day for an injection. They even came in on Sunday when they were closed so he could have his injection. I was never charged for the visit nor for the injections as I'd already paid for the tablets. My previous dog, when he was diagnosed with cancer, they gave us a sitting at a pet photographer so we could get some good photos of him. Perhaps you should change vets if you're that unhappy.

Would you be complaining if it was your animal that the vet was taking an extra amount of time to examine or urgently needed attending to in its hospital cage?? I get a little bored of people bagging out vets here for charges. If people think their vet overcharges or overservices then change vets. Edited to add not aimed at OP as I don't read her post that way! I think vet charges are quite reasonable.

It's quarantine to prevent something escaping into the outside world. If you have complaints about the inside set up from each other, can't help you with that but AQIS probably could.

No point as some ear cleaners can make things worse when it's at the head shaking, very sore stage. Vet job.

Because Australia has a fragile ecosystem and we've had enough problems with imported diseases and pests.

I'm using this for my flaky girl. It's very nice.

True, but I'd be interested to know what the other raised level was. Creatinine, for example, or UPC. ETA: Menacebear, I would be surprised if there was only one other raised level. Do you have a copy of the results?

Well, the size of a bag and how quickly a dog goes through it wouldn't be my first consideration. In fact, it wouldn't even be a consideration. The vet who does over the net consults is Dr Remillard at Pet Diets. She bases a diet around what the dog's test results say. My dog was pts three weeks after he was diagnosed. To my mind, urea of 9.8 is only slightly over the top of the reference range (as stated my dog's urea was 56.1). What were the other results, such as UPC?

It depends on the type of renal problem that he has as to which food is best as they do different things. The diet needs to be low in protein but what protein there is should be very high quality. The U would probably be Urea (called BUN - blood urea nitrogen in the US). Urea is a waste product normally removed by the kidneys – too high a level shows urea is being retained. The level it's at (the 8.9) depends on how it's measured. At IDEXX labs, urea is measured between 2.5-9.5. Anything above 9.5 is too high (my dog had 56.1 when first measured). Hills K/D is good as is the Royal Canin Renal. One to consider is the Hills Ultra Z/D, which hydrolises the protein so it's easier to retain. If you want a natural diet, do not not not! continue just to feed raw without consulting someone who knows what they're doing. Certainly, do not take the advice of people from DOL. A renal diet should be in consultation with a vet. There's a holistic vet in Sydney and there's one that I posted about in a previous recent renal diet thread who consults over the net and does a diet according to what the test results say.