JulesP

I have my own list of what I consider to be ethical and what I expect from a breeder. I don't expect my list to be the same as other people's list.

Assuming she is normal cavvy size around 4 egg whites. The suggested veggies are carrots, sweet potato, potato and green beans. You are supposed to add fish oil, vitamins and eggshells to this!! I was told not to try a homemade diet as Amber was having fits so I would say your dog is the same.

No chicken necks. Maybe one a week. With the eggs it is just the whites that you can feed. Diet is super important.

I can't find on the DPI site were it says you have to have kennels? All I can find is how the kennels are supposed to be built, size etc.

Were does it say that you have to have a DA?

I got up early so I could get the dog walk done before it got too hot. We are all inside enjoying the aircon! One of the cheeky critters barked to come in a couple of hours ago. They have heaps of shade outside too.

Her piggy behavior may be why the pre bile reading is high. Apparently even the smell of food can get the bile going! A biopsy would show HMD but not a shunt. The specialist thinks Amber had HMD which is what caused the shunts. We didn't do a biopsy because the treatment wouldn't have changed. Dogs with shunts and HMD usually need a fair bit of drug support so if you got improvements with just diet change and supplements I would hope your pup has something less sinister. Sometimes dogs do just have weird readings, one of my dogs had a really low white blood count, she died of old age at 15yo.

Have the vets said what they think is wrong with her? I *think* they are treating her for something like hepatitis. You really need to get her on the special food as feeding a normal diet means that liver has to work harder. No worming or other chemicals either at the moment. You can feed a homemade diet of egg whites and veggies but unless you have chickens that is going to get expensive.

Amber's bile readings were heaps higher than that: 187 pre 215 post. Is she a normal size? That is usually a good indication of a shunt. Amber is tiny. I would be tempted to wait 6 weeks and re-do the tests. Perhaps feed milk thistle and SAMe during that time to help out the liver and reduce load by feeding Hills L/D. Amber looked like I was trying to kill her at meal times btw. She would pick up one piece of kibble and then spit it out. Some food she was ok with so I just thought she was fussy So the fact your dog is eating happily is a good sign in terms of shunts.

It is more the name being read out at trials that I don't want. You know what my issue is with the breeder.

Thanks for that. Spotted Devil Let me now if you do your class! We getting our GSP puppy on Monday so she would still fit in. Mm maybe I go to the vet to puppy class ( with the last puppy it was very crowded in a little place ) I found a private Lady she was excellent but she stopt doing it . The pre-puppy class at Croydon only has a very short break over Xmas as lots of people get puppies, so give them a call. They are still training at the moment. Apart from Croydon you have Knox and Berwick obedience clubs. There are some private clubs around Ringwood too.

Interested in this too as I don't want the breeder of my dogs getting any glory if I ever compete again.

I'm really sorry Hugs. RIP Toby

I haven't had any trouble getting the tinned L/D. Amber is on the K/D kibble and I reckon she is doing better on it than the L/D, less fluid buildup.

Thanks for the reply. I have not spoken with the specialist yet, we have an appointment later this week but in the meanwhile we're going to see another vet who seems to be a little more helpful. If you don't mind my asking, what breed is your dog, and what kind of shunt was it? The vet I've been speaking to mentioned that it was strange that nothing was picked up in the first ultrasound because small dogs usually have extrahepatic shunts which are outside of the liver and should have been picked up by the ultrasound. Interhepatic shunts, as I understand, are much harder to see & diagnose My dog is a border collie. She has multiple extrahepatic shunts. My normal vet could not see the shunts when he did his ultrasound. My specialist said that in a lot of cases they don't pick up the shunt via the ultrasound. It was by far the cheapest option which is one reason we went with it. Plus the others involved generals and my dog was pretty sick and that was a risk.

My dog was just under 1yo when she was diagnosed with a shunt. Woofs boy was about 10 months I think. The high ALT plus bile would suggest that something was going on. Apart from my girl being a fussy eater she really didn't have any obvious symptoms, no vomiting etc, until she got really sick. When I went to the specialist and was told my options for investigating what was wrong they told me that a ultrasound may not pick up what was wrong. Luckily it did as I was a bit baffled what option to pick next. What does your specialist want to do?

Yeah it does make me wonder Jules ! Altho Joey hasn't got any issues.. atm anyway, but who knows if he had a blood test also, would something show up? Ive always given them food from the vets or good quality food from the supermarket... Most of their treats are supposed to be Australia products, but who knows if they are and whats in them exactly ????? I have no idea what the others are feeing their dogs.. I just heard about a few recently.. It will be interesting to see the blood test results in 6 weeks time ! Might not be food though. Could be a chemical spayed on grass etc Could be a plant.

Yeah i think so, but i have heard of a few dogs locally here where we live that have just been diagnosed also, and they dogs heaps younger than Renae Liver problems can be caused by toxins. Is there anything locally that might expose the dogs to toxins? To have a bunch of dogs all having this problem locally is a bit of a worry. Amber is the only dog with bad liver issues at the 2 vet places I've been to with her. Certainly the only one with shunts.

It pretty much is my only choice if I want my dog alive There is a RC hepatic food which is better than the Hills version but it isn't available in Australia.

Thank goodness! I thought my Dally was the only dog who loves Sorbolene :laugh: He just stands there looking sad now - I'm such a meanie! Amber has taken a liking to OFF inspect repellant lick, lick lick

My Hills dry (L/D) has been out of stock for a month or so now. Not very good. By the time you put postage on the prices offered by the online places it is the same as the vets.

I got my run from this mob. They were very reasonably priced at the time - http://www.mountainvalefencing.com.au/a/Fencing/Animal_Enclosures

Erny might go that far.

The law states quite clearly that you need to have control of your dog. If you can't recall it then you clearly don't have control. Knox has got really good dog laws imo. Heaps more off lead places than Yarra Ranges. And nice to see rangers actually out enforcing them. I love my park. It isn't fenced. That seems to stop any out of control dogs.

A little liver was the first thing that alerted the vets to what was wrong with Amber. They were actually looking at her heart and noticed her liver was little. The specialist then found the shunts with their better equipment. I was given a life span of less than 3 years from when she was diagnosed But she isn't looking like kicking the bucket any time soon! The only real 'issue' I have is that she is pretty thin but the hair hides that and she is tiny compared to a normal border collie. It is also tricky if you need to treat them for other conditions as most things are processed through the liver and you need to avoid straining the liver. Generals can be very dangerous for them. Worming, vaccinations etc needs to be kept to a minimum. Diet is very important and needs to be a very easily digested protein. Meat protein is too hard for the liver to process. Toxins then build up in the brain which is what causes the rocking/staring into space etc. At its worst this can cause seizures & comas. You then need antibiotics to help clear the toxins. Lactulose is a medicine for constipation that also helps keep things moving through the dog. You actually want soft poos as you want the food etc moving quicker. Then there are the herbals things that can help. And pro/prebiotics. If Toby only has one shunt you can look at an operation.