bridgie_cat

It depends on what is causing his skin issues a bit. But by the same token, even if it is not specifically food intolerance there is some evidence that low allergy diets will still help 30% of itchy skin dogs. In saying this - the skin support food is not hypoallergenic (allergy free/very low allergen) it is just lowER than normal ones and has the correct ballance of omega fatty acids which may help somewhat with skin issues.... Recently imported from WA (all aus owned and ingredients I believe) is a new brand called Natural Balance, which I think is quite nice as it is cheaper than the RC sensitive skin, and their Delicate range is both hypoallergenic AND has the correct balance of omega fatty acids - the 2 big things you are looking for in a skin diet. Skin is a combination effort and if your dermatologist says this is not important than it is up to you - but often doing multiple "supportive" type things will help skin even if they are not going to cure it on their own. Re taste - must say I have not found much that beats royal canin for palatability (according to my sample size of 2 shelties ) except perhaps black hawke ... but this is their normal range (lamb and rice) we have tried which I do not think has any of the "low allergen" or fatty acid things I look for in a skin diet....... Best of luck with it all!

Congrats Monteba!!!

it is not just ivermectin but related drugs. i have seen a few different lists put together but this one is categorised nicely... and does seem to include the important drugs.

shelties can be excellent for older people and great with kids IF they are raised with them. very gentle very easily trained. a small working dog that requires a bit less exercise than your kelpies and BCs if she likes the working dog temperament otherwise. can be fearful if they have nothing to do with kids until they are adults and if you are not careful about picking a pup with a stable temperament. my only issue with CKCS is that you need to be financially stable as heart disease is common and expensive to treat... otherwise lovely little dogs and probably perfect for what you have described.

CavNRot To my knowledge it is a simple surgery preference on a large scale. It is the method taught in Australia, and the US, to do the ovariohysterectomy so that is what the experienced surgeons know and teach and so on. I know a surgeon who has attempted the key hole surgery for ovarian remnants but this was a difficult procedure without the uterus still there as a guide... There are studies comparing the two methods... I will see if I can find one of them. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9404289 this one is a nice brief discussion on some of the considerations and concludes the ovariectomy would be your procedure of choice as it should be the less invasive surgery and the risks of having the uterus left in are minimal with no hormonal input from the ovaries. although they are essentially very similar (in benefits and risks) and issues mentioned around damaging ureters in OHE are really not a big consideration in a routine ovariohysterectomy... I do not know how someone would do this... it is my understanding that you would have a hard time finding a vet to do this procedure, and that being the case it would also be safer to have the more common procedure done at this stage unless they start training people in ovariectomies.

Just confirmed by ultrasound :D A litter of shelties on the 24th!!

if anything they go the other way? taking the ovaries out and leaving the uterus.... this is the procedure taught in european vet schools over the ovariohysterectomy - rather they do an ovariectomy via key hole surgery. The issue with having ovaries is that they provide the stimulus to the uterine wall which eventually tends to lead to cystic endometrial hyperplasia... which in turn tends to be the starting point for pyometra. Without the ovaries, the uterus does not do this. With ovaries, and with a stump of a uterus, you could still get a stump pyometra (I believe). This is the issue with having a bitch that has been speyed but has remnant ovarian tissue - they can get a stump pyometra. So you can see that the ovariectomy does not tend to leave you with bitches still getting pyometra, because there is no input... Plus your benefits for mammary tumours would be lost if the ovaries are still there.... certainly the issues with growth plates and increased risk of various other cancers would be there. I think many owners would also not choose to have a bitch still coming into season for all intents and purposes every 6 months.... and should those ovaries ever need to come out I would not want to be the vet fishing for them with no uterus as a guide certainly could be done but a much more difficult procedure.

is there something smaller you can give her every day for a chew? Healthy Mouth is a drinking water additive for reducing bacteria causing dental disease........... cannot say ive heard it used for this specific issue however :laugh:

it is my understanding that this link between CCL rupture is #1 associated with early desexing and #2 thought to be caused by the changed angles of the joint when the long bones grow slightly longer with growth plates that close later due to the lack of sex hormones. I assume this is speculation re cause and effect as with many conclusions drawn from such studies, but in any case the ones I have read have been focusing on time of desexing in relation to joint issues. this does not take into account cancer risk, which I have also read may be increased for some cancers (osteosarc comes to mind, but this was particularly for females and related to "oestrogen exposure time" again in relation to early vs late desexing) in the desexed dog, but decreased risk for others. Males do not have the same issue with mammary tumours which is the big deal for females although they do often get prostatic hyperplasia +/- testicular tumours etc when the testicles are left and thus continuing to influence the prostate. Prostate cancer is far less common in dogs than humans but even hyperplasia or inflammation/infection of the prostate can cause significant discomfort and issues deficating in older dogs and these tend to really only occur in entire older males. it is a balancing act in my opinion and in circles where dogs are most likely kept 100% under control and in a secure yard (as is likely to be the case with DOL members who clearly are very interested in their pets and their wellbeing to be spending the time to research and chat about it) I do not think the accidental matings thing is such an issue but rather the decision should come down to these health considerations. personally I would be looking at desexing a dog after the 13month growth plate closure as a minimum age... but would probably still be looking to desex before they get much older than this for the above reasons.

no, different thing from a swimmer looks like foetal hydrops to me? eta - same as "walrus pup" have not seen it in puppies but have seen a similar presentation in cattle.... assume the same could happen in dogs.

As the title says I am trying to work out how much yard to level out or potentially even to enclose for all season training that I don't have to pack up and mow around :laugh: What are people's thoughts on a minimum size to be worthwhile? I am not intending to set up a whole course but a few sequences and space for contacts would be nice... I suppose a half course perhaps would be ideal? And keeping in mind that I cannot have them jumping towards walls/fencing as this will limit speed in training.... Would welcome any thoughts or guestimates on this - personal experience with your own yards or indoor arena's would be excellent too! Bridget

I have one girl with sensitive skin so did my research and on some recommendations got the 3 best skin support foods for her to try and based on our very scientific tasting trials in the kitchen :laugh: best game ever btw :laugh: the tastiest was Royal Canin derm support followed by hills science diet sensitive skin and last was eukanuba sensitive skin food. If not for the sensitive skin issues however I would be continuing on black hawke lamb dry as this is one dry food all my dogs have been truly excited about (would happily use this as treats for training where they are usually a little bit pickier) Suppose we mostly base our choices on what the dogs like to eat (from a selection of foods I feel are a decent brand with good ingredients etc)

Thanks Crisovar - good to know.

The event you are waiting for is the closure of the growth plates in the bones. Different bones close at different times but on average most will be closed by 14 months. The thought behind early desexing being an issue (at least with the growth thing) is that sex hormones act to close these plates, so in their absence the bones continue growing for longer and this effect is more pronounced in the long bones, causing a very slight change in limb proportions and joint angles. The statistic that is most relevant to an active medium sized dog is the increased rate of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs that are desexed early (and early tends to mean as a young puppy rather than just the usual 6months in these studies and that will certainly give you the most pronounced effect on growth plates, but it is likely that there is still some effect in the later months while a little bit of growing is still being done). The benefits of desexing are partly behavioural if your dog is a bit full on/self important etc - and a lot of this benefit is lost if you wait until behaviours are set. The main benefit in my mind however is that many entire male dogs eventually end up with prostate disease (generally benign hyperplasia - but this can still cause problems as the prostate becomes very large and can make urination difficult or deficating painful and increase the risk of infection) you can also get prostate cancers and testicular cancers. The rates of all this are much reduced in desexed dogs as you do not get the stimulation of hormones that causes the prostate to enlarge. I would be inclined to wait until 14months and then desex soon after that if it was my dog for the above reasons. I hope this is helpful - there are other things that people look at with early desexing pros and cons and I have found a nice paper on the topic that I would be happy to share (pm me with your email addy anyone that would like it)

I have not heard of treating ears with diluted malaseb..... Not as an ear cleaner. Yes to treat yeast but not in this location? Generally it is either an approved ear medication for infection or epiotic or otoflush etc for cleaning (ph balanced cleaners for using in the ear canal)... +/- a systemic medication for inflammation and infection if it is bad enough. I would be hesitant to put things in ears that are not specifically for ears, especially as an ongoing medication, as the canal can be quite sensitive and more importantly if you damage the ear drum it can be a much more serious issue. Others may have experience with prescribed malaseb for an ear infection? I certainly have not heard of this but do know that it is excellent for yeast infections on skin, and certainly yeast is a common issue in the ear. Sorry I cannot be more helpful just my 2c re being careful with using medicated things like this in locations other than they are intended... perhaps it is fine but I would be inclined to check before continuing.

A couple of things: The reason it is recommended before the first season is because with each season your risk of mammary tumours increases. This is just one type of tumour your dog can get but it is a particularly common one. The biggest increase is with the first season (from memory about 25% increased risk), then you get a bit more of an increase with the next couple... interestingly if you leave them for 3 seasons after that point there is not a big change in their risks of mammary tumours compared to dogs desexed later in life. But that only considers one health issue. Of course accidental pregnancy and pyo are always a risk even if you wait until 2 or 3yrs and you will not get much more benefit as far as mammary tumours are concerned. Re growth - it does not stunt growth. Infact, it is quite the opposite. As sex hormones are required to CLOSE growth plates (well defined area at each end of a bone where the majority of growth occurs and stops when the eventually "close"), this happens at a very slightly slower rate if you desex prior to their closure (around 11-13months) - and you may get slightly more growth in long bones (which have later closing plates than shorter bones). It is considered more often in the US where very sport focused people will often wait until 13months to ensure they are not affecting the growth plates and causing very subtle changes in a dog that will be jumping and running a lot in its life. You can desex when you want to but the recommendation of 6 months is based on the mammary tumour statistics and to avoid accidental pregnancies. Pyo is always a risk if there is a uterus there but certainly is more likely in older intact females. With my dogs I am inclined to wait for the 13month point to allow normal growth plate closure.

Peter Bennet at Sydney Uni is very good, very down to earth and backed up by excellent surgeons. I am sure there are others too.

really that cheap for storage? i had quoted from noahs crossing $130/yr just for storage. I am sure this would be different if it were in a package with collection also...

It doesn't seem worth starting a new topic but if anyone can answer this related questin that would be lovely - does the stud owner fill in paper work for each litter or do they sign over the aliquot and you then Owen x number of litter attempts from this dog and thus the stud dog side of litter reg is already taken care of?

I see - sorry, difference in nomenclature here. The group I have been organising with calls a vial one unit in the canister and you can fit multiple breeding units in either straws or pellets in the vial. I have now spoken to the person and it seems they can put pellets from different freezing dates into the same vial also as long as it is collected in the 30day window following the blood tests. The additional cost would the be the collection fee and obviously additional stud fee (whatever that may be) Re the different systems this place uses the Camelot method and they are freezing in pellets. I have not heard of freezing in vials... But I am still getting my head around the technicalities so that is certainly not to say that it is not a third option or another way of wording something. As a side note for others looking at this game, there is a significant reduction in transport cost for the second vial sent (separate case for a different stud dog) thus if there were two dogs I wanted to bring out this would be by far the most economical choice. Thank you very much for the advice on this it has given me a good idea of the various points to consider and different approaches that could be taken in this setting which is just what I needed. Bridget

This is the information I received from the export company who does the collection and also packaging for export and their method is the two collections 1hr apart because that allows them to be pooled and frozen together to go in the same vial and this produces the 2-4 breeding units on average. I asked about doing another collection at a later date and their response was that this would be fine and could go on the same paperwork but would need to be specified as a different date collected and would go in a separate vial I think? Or something along those lines, it sounded as though it would add significantly to the transport cost but I think I need to have that point clarified so will ask again for that to be explained. They said essentially there was no limit to the pellets one could fit in a vial within reason but that it needs to be a unit frozen at the same time. I suppose this could allow for chilling and recollecting several days apart... Despite the loss of quality you would have that would be outweighed by the extra collected I would think. Definitely would need to clarify with them. Also the dog I am looking at is quite a few hours from the collection clinic I am looking at using so one visit is my best bet... Re the multiple litters I was trying to ask if you pay for the collection a set cost, pay per litter actually produced or pay for the potential number of litters you could produce (the possibility of multiple litters - sorry that was not well worded) - where I feel if it was a normal stud service it would be multiple serves for the fee of a litter but obviously the value lies in the number of litters produced so it makes sense that in using the semen for ai that the fee would be more if one serve gave you multiple breeding units...

As the title says... What stud fee would one expect to pay when importing seamen? My understanding is often two collections are pooled and frozen at the same time (collected 1hr apart) and this gives usually 2-4 breeding units... But obv that is how many shots you have and not how many litters you have. Do you pay a higher fee for possible multi litters? Thanks Bridget

I'm sure this must have been covered somewhere but I cannot find it -- what groups are counted in the term "applicable organisation"

thanks for the advice guys! I have sent a message to the moorholme park guy so hopefully he will give me some specifics and will look into the 10day thing if they are going to bring that in - organising all the right paperwork and vaccines shouldnt be an issue as im looking to do a placement at the vet school here :)

is there any benefit to travelling on the same flight as them, as far as ticketing (like for domestic flights i have always booked Toby as baggage - $85 instead of $400)