Loving my Oldies

He is a dear little fellow, Shmoo, and I do hope he makes a quick recovery. Can't help you with any veterinary queries, just sending you all good vibes.

Is he playful usually? If so, when he is better, I'm sending you Mundy who spends half his day trying to make my dogs, any of them play with him. :p . I'm going to buy a long rope toy so I can play with him because with the ones I have at the moment, I have to bend down (oh my poor back) or sit on the floor and then I have six dogs all on top of me all aiming for my face .

So, tell Sweep that Mundy is waiting for a play date and that will perk him up.

I know its hard but I'd not be going.. it will stress him out when you leave.

I had a big howl at my vets not long ago when Darce had his back issues.. they understand

Yup I don't want to cause him any more stress or worry. I really just want him to get all the rest he can. My vet said he is happy and not upset. I've been there before and seen other peoples dogs crying and howling, but my boy is happy when he is around people, even if its not always me. I completely trust my vet too and the nurses are really lovely. Seeing him would only be for my benefit and thats just being selfish, besides, it will only make me more upset that I can't take him home!!

I think it depends on how long you can stay and what you can do. I remember when Flora was at the vets at Sydney University, I used to get a taxi over in the lunch break and take her on avery very slow walk carrying her drip.

I used to do the same when she was at my then vet and just lie on a blanket on the grass out in the sun.

[quote name='shmoo' post='3819507'

If he's not all that well, he'll just sleep shmoo. Hopefully he'll feel better in the morning.

thats what my OH said too. he does need some rest

If he has to stay longer than tomorrow, take something of yours, eg t-shirt, for him to snuggle into.

I've just seen this, Shmoo . Hope the little fighter continues to care and he is back with you very very soon.

Hugs and kisses to you all. I'm glad you are not alone.

It's a personal choice and should be respected accordingly.

Why? And what about the choice the dog would make?

For the same reason i couldn't convince you to buy a red car if you wanted a blue car.

I will reiterate one last time... we have not made ANY decisions thus far, so you can all rest easy tonight!

Ummmmm - don't think cars have feelings.

It's a personal choice and should be respected accordingly.

Why? And what about the choice the dog would make?

I totally agree with dogmad. Why get a dog at all if it is left outside ---- whatever the season. In fact, it makes me feel quite ill thinking of how lonely and miserable that little dog will be.

yes, but they were not originally bred to be kept indoors. later in there life yes no doubt about it. jsut not originally

Neither were humans. I don't think many of us would survive being left outside these days. What happened originally has really no relevance to today in terms of our ability or otherwise to live outside.

Thought so thanks Cynthia, knew i was not going mad, well not yet

I'm pretty sure I saw something about them in the latest Urban Animal - I think I still have it and I will take another look. Their article on treats and the processes some go through horrified me. I always look at where things are made now and buy only Australia and check the processes the food has been subjected to.

I found Urban Animal and the mention of sweet potato is: "And yes, there are even sweet potato treats that are vegetarian."

I have been googling without finding a supplier here, but in a forum someone asked how to make them. One response was to just slice the sweet potato and put it in the dehydrator. Now, not having a dehydrator ( ) I was wondering whether I could do them in the oven and at what temperature would they be dehydrating and not cooking ??

I really have to find some good, cheap, fat free, nutritious treats for the dogs that keep them busy

I would be careful with the wings due to the fat around them, the fat is right under the skin so to reduce the fat content, you need to skin whatever part you give her as opposed to chicken frames which are just that: the frames when all the meat has been taken off.

Re the frames and their size: what Greytdog and SecretKei have said.

How is she today? Hope she is better .

Thought so thanks Cynthia, knew i was not going mad, well not yet

I'm pretty sure I saw something about them in the latest Urban Animal - I think I still have it and I will take another look. Their article on treats and the processes some go through horrified me. I always look at where things are made now and buy only Australia and check the processes the food has been subjected to.

I didn't think of the hardness of knuckly bones being a danger to teeth. I can just see in mind's eye dogs munching and scraping and twisting the bone this way and that and having a great time.

Roo tails might be a way to go for mine if they are loo fat. (Pancreatitis in the dog family .)

Any sudden change in diet can cause diarrhoea. Maybe she had a bit too much? Lamb is very fatty.

A lot of people on DOL recommend giving the whole chicken frame to the dog. I can't help with the chicken necks vs lamb necks in terms of keeping teeth clean because my dogs won't eat chicken necks and lamb is too fatty for them.

Don't worry too much, but just keep an eye on her and if it continues, off to the vet.

i feed them to my dogs all the time, they perfer them now over real pigs ears. I will ask the sales rep again next time she is in what they are made from exactly (somthing makes me think sweet potato, but i will need to double check i could be thinking of somthing else) i do know they are 100% natural.

There are some that are made of sweet potatoe but I haven't found them yet. My dogs love the vegetarian ones, but they don't last long. I used them as a treat, really, not something they can chew on for ages unfortunately.

I've been trying to find something they can chew on and enjoy. See my thread on Rawhide Chews:

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=169505

Thank, I have found a great dog food place that does roo tails

I don't know that roo tails will last long with Dante and they can be expensive. I bought some Kangaroo Jerky (the meat which is cut in strips and dried) yesterday - it was quite expensive and even with my little dogs, it didn't last long.

Will get some knuckles as well, is this what I ask for??

Yes. Ask the butcher to show them to you and they look like the classic cartoon bone with a big knob on either end and the straight bit in the middle. I'll see if I can find a picture.

Bone.jpg.doc

Hi Pandii, saw your name and thought I'd pop in to see what you were chatting about. I suggest you go to the butcher and get some large knuckle bones. If they have some meat left on them all the better. They are big enough that Dante can't scoff them all at once and she will have the most wonderful time knawing on them.

Let's know how you go.

I'm going to check with my vet, but in the meantime, thought I'd ask here. On the packaging of dried kangaroo tail it stated something along the lines of lots of meat and marrow. As the marrow in other bones is a no no for my little dog with pancreatitis, would it be the same with kangaroo - seeing that kangaroo meat is supposed to be low fat?

sheeps ears?

I spent ages in Pet Barn this afternoon, nearly at all the bits and pieces of the poor animals. I bought some kangaroo jerky and some beef ears.

There was pandemonium when I started to hand them out - they just had so much fun and little foster dog Mundy didn't know (in the great Irish saying) whether to sh*t or go blind,

I don't like to feed my dogs rawhide chews .... they are full of cr*p

That's why I'm asking if anyone knows where they aren't pumped full of cr*p . If they were just scraped and dried rawhide, they'd probably be great .... but the smell would probably be enough to make us leave home

If you want lean stuff, how about raw roo tails?

I'm looking for something to keep them going for a long time. The chews (bad as they are) keep them going for days. However, I am off to Pet Barn today so I will have a look at them and see how long they keep the dogs going. Thanks.

I also want product made in Australia. O/seas product is becoming too be a risk.

You do not want to feed piggy ears to a dog with pancreatitis as they have a very very high fat content - if it isn't 100% fat then it is almost!

For pancreatitis you have to stick to a set low residue low fat diet so all of the fatty chews are definitely out!!

Thanks, I know that 150% and I am certainly not talking about pigs ears or snouts or anything like that - and which is why I can't even give her bones. Rawhide chews have the fatty underneath skin residue scraped off. Rawhide chews actually come from the leather industry.

Because I have one dog who has had quite a serious bout of pancreatitis, I have been advised by vets never to give her raw bones, which means the others miss out too.

They all like rawhide chews and I have always had these on hand. However, having read in the latest Urban Animal the process the hides are put through I am somewhat horrified at the amount of chemicals, bleach etc that is used.

Is there anywhere I can get chews which are not put through this process?

My dogs are all small (6.5kg and less).

Thanks.

Poor At, poor you. This used to happen with Nammu (long since gone to god), but he was a little Maltese so I didn't exactly have to tie him down . First time it happened, I rang the vet in huge panic, but after that first time, I managed not to panic. I would just keep an eye on him in case it was taking too long - not good to let it get too dry . His penis would gradually go back into the sheath.

Thanks for the linky reminder, Miss Squish.... just read it all over again.

Lovely lovely lovely lovely !!!

"Marnie and Me" Hmmmm, sounds like good title for a book . . . . . . . .

Hopefully the itchies will clear up very quickly. Please keep us up to date.

Best of luck with it all.

Tinkerbell2009a, your little dog is obviously very much loved and she sure has you wrapped around her little paws :D . Shih Tzus have lots of personality and she certainly seems to follow that. It certainly seems that your get at great deal of enjoyment from her and it is great that you are concerned to do the right thing by her.

What breed is your other dog?

Don't stress too much over the food, but it is important you get her onto good quality food and there is lots of information in those other threads to help you. If you are interested to get her onto raw food, just try mixing the raw with the cooked in an ever increasing ratio, eg start off with approx 1/3rd raw and 2/3rd cooked and just keep on adjusting once she seems happy with that mixture.

Does your vet stock BARF or Tucker Time? These are prepared foods and very good quality, difference being that BARK is raw and Tucker Time is cooked. You could get Tucker Time to use as treats.

It is not necessary to leave food down for the dogs. Dogs aren't grazers, they eat meals very quickly and are looking around for more. Give them their food, twice a day and that's it.

Use good quality foods (eg chicken, cheese) in tiny little bits as rewards.