Sheridan

Oh yes, he gets a two minute massage of the cleaner and a two minute massage of the antibiotic drops. He makes this hilarious satisfied moaning sound when I'm doing the massage, tail wagging all the time.

How is he today, Tilly?

I noticed a little blood this morning when I cleaned his ears. So hopefully, the vet will sort that out. Other than shaking his head to get the fluid out it doesn't seem to be bothering him.

At least he's still taking things seriously, Tilly. When my last dog was pts, he barked ferociously at the vet when she arrived at the house. If the time comes, he'll let you know when he's ready.

That's fab, Dru and Ari. It's what the groomer that we used to have did. I do most of everything in grooming but I never did ears or feet for my dogs because they're wriggle pots!

Heart breaking for you. :D What breed was he? Are you a Soft Coated Wheaten person or is my memory completely crap?? Yeah, that's right, Poodlefan. He was my heart dog. I now have his older half-brother who is still going strong at 11 thankfully. There's a genetic research fund and some hopeful news out of the UK about an early warning test. It might well have an environmental trigger but we just don't know.

Aw, Tilly, I'm sorry to hear that. I did think of urinary tract cancer which would make it hard for him to wee. Does he need to be sedated for an ultrasound?

If you think his kidneys are failing (having gone through this with one of my dogs), you're best to get the blood tests done right away. Dogs that have failing kidneys generally vomit and have diarhoera, are lethargic and drink a lot more. If he's still eating, that's good, and it may just be that he's becoming incontinent. Take him to the vet because either way, it's best to check.

Well, a traumatic experience this morning. Put in the ear cleaner. Big yelp and a snarl and an aim for my hand. Right, expected, so on went the muzzle. After that he calmed down and let me wipe the ear and then put in the medicated goop but he's all sulky and 'Cuddle me, Mummy!' now. Poor babykins ... He got an extra large bit of Ziwipeak (and this time the tablet went down!).

One of the things the vet told me was that the reason to feed less of the premium foods was because there tends to be more oil than in the regular commercial stuff. When my dog was on Supercoat he did big grey poos. Not that poo is in any way attractive but grey, aaack!

The little ratbag! I previously reported that His Lordship gobbled down his cortizone tablet with a piece of Ziwipeak. I just found the tablet outside! Ratbag!

My previous dog was on a mostly BARF diet but died at age five of a kidney disease. Perhaps the kibble killed him. What was your vet's opinion? The US specialist thinks it's genetic. The advice given is that unless the dog has a food intolerance there is no need to put it on any type of hypoallergenic diet.

I think so, Wylie. Perhaps I can get it online somewhere.

The groomer should have been pulling out all the hair....... Admittedly, I didn't point out the ears and didn't tell them to do that. He was there for a bath but the vet thinks they didn't dry the ears properly. I used to use this great powder stuff to pull out ear hairs but haven't seen it for ages. Can't remember what it's called.

Well, we toddled off to the vet this morning. The vet's concern was that there might be a grass seed in there as he's seen quite a few recently. He pulled a pile of gunk and hair out (no grass seed) and has given me some antibiotic ear drops and wants me to wash the ear out each day, plus a cortizone tablet for three days. We have to go back on Thursday so he can make sure the ear is getting better. Cortizone tablt wrapped in a Ziwipeak treat all gobbled down.

Dru, I'm think of finding another place ...

My previous dog was on a mostly BARF diet but died at age five of a kidney disease. Perhaps the kibble killed him.

No Malaseb, no syringe. He's shaking his head a lot now so I've dislodged something. ETA: he's not upset or in pain, it seems. And there's still enough in there to swab.

I was giving my dog an ear rub and realised his ear was full of dirt, mixed with wax. It wasn't like this before I took him to the groomers last week for a bath (surely they'd have said something if it was?) nor was it like this yesterday. He's not had ear infections before, as far as I know (I adopted him at 10 and a half last June) and this does not seem at all infected. Doesn't smell, it's just gunky. I've tried to clean out as much as I can without hurting him but I'm a bit wary of going further in case it is infected. He's only been shaking his head since I started cleaning it. At first I thought it was a lump coming out of his ear but nope, just dirt mixed with wax. I have Ilium Oticlean as an ear cleaner which has been good so far but again, I'm a bit wary of using it in case his ear drum is hurt. Vet visit tomorrow, I think. Any suggestions in the meantime?

It's actually both, Erny. He can't digest the bones and he's not allowed to have beef, lamb or chicken. I tried him on a pig's trotter today. We'll see how he goes. Probably too salty and greasy but worth a shot.

Oh, that looks good. A lot of us have food intolerant dogs. How ironic however, it says Product of Australia on the bottom of the webpage but it's not available here. I imagine if it becomes available here we'll be paying more than US. This bit made me smile: "Addiction is made in New Zealand and Australia where the lush forests, clean lakes and stringent agricultural and manufacturing standards ensure the highest quality food made in a pristine environment." Where are these lush forests and pristine lakes?

I don't have any problems getting turkey, only turkey necks. I get mince turkey from the supermarket.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I suspect turkey frames will be as hard to get as turkey necks, although I did find an organic supplier in NSW and intend on giving them a ring to see if they'll do an order. Thus far it's just a bit of gingevitis rather than anything worse and obviously I want to head it off before it gets worse! The vet took a look at his teeth and they're in very good shape for an 11 year old. NaturallyWild, the vet and I decided on no beef, chicken or lamb due to possible IBD. Testing a food intolerance by changing his protein source was better than a biopsy, although I'd have had to head down this road if he hadn't tolerated the turkey.

I thought about greenies but it takes him 10 minutes to demolish the top of a nylabone and I'm afraid he'd just gulp it down in chunks and not digest it.

hi sheridan my older dog 3yrs somtimes vomits up yellow bile , is this because he's hungry and nothing in his tummy ? Might well be! Check with the vet but generally I've found that yellow bile means 'Feed that dog!' Someone else might have a better idea, though.