koolietas

I tried my sheltie on barf for about 18 months. I had no complaints with it other than he developed dermatitis on his feet and jawline as well as a few ear infections so after further research, I ditched the fruit, veg & supplements and now feed based on a prey model diet. I've been feeding this way for over a year now and no sign of any dermatitis or ear problems. Best thing I ever did for my boy...

How are you finding the Cosequin for your cat and do you buy it on line? She's only been on the Cosequin for a couple of weeks and is having the Cartophen injections as well - so it's early days yet, but I've definitely seen an improvement in her (whether its the Cartrophen or the Cosequin or combination of both I'm not sure). I buy the Cosequin at the vet - they are the dog capsules, and my cat gets half a capsule a day. You can buy the cat capsules online overseas (I haven't found any sources that sell the cat capsules in Aus).

I am in Hobart, Tasmania so there is one main vet who advertises that they do it. Sue Peden at NHVH has treated several of my dogs/cats with acupuncture (for different reasons) over the years. We had great success with my 4 1/2 year old sheltie who developed arthritis by treating with accupuncture and weight loss. Unfortunately Sue is on long service leave at the moment (I don't think she's back at work until end April) but there is another vet at Sandy Bay (Sandy Bay Holistic Veterinary Centre) that specialises in alternative treatments as well as acupuncture. I cannot personally comment as I have not taken my animals there, but have heard excellent reports. I have a 15 1/2 yo cat at the moment undergoing treatment for arthritis. We're half way through the cartrophen course, and when Sue returns will be organising acupuncture for her. I tried Joint Guard for 6 weeks, but did not see much benefit...so have started her on Cosequin. There are lots of alternative treatments for dogs (not so much for cats unfortunately) - so it might be trial and error with supplements for a while to see which one is the most effective for your pooch.

I buy salmon heads, salmon pieces or whole rainbow trouts when I can get them. I usually feed raw fish once a week. Don't worry about the bones...fish bones are generally very soft and pliable...if your dog is a raw bone eater, then they'll have no problems eating whole fish (bones and all). If I could get hold of mackerel or whiting (fresh not canned) I would buy those too. Generally, any fish is fine, but those higher in Omega 3's are the best.

I do Erny. I haven't seen any around our courtyard (which is where my boy sleeps during the day when I'm at work) since I put the baits up a few weeks ago. I have a couple of the dome shaped traps plus a couple of the fly bait traps and use the wasp liquid bait attractant (pink coloured - sorry, can't remember the brand name) not the powdered stuff as I've found that doesn't work very well. I'm totally paranoid about it - so from my research it seems that sweet food/drinks, meat and dog poop will attract wasps which is why it is so important to keep an eye on your dog when eating (especially with meat/bones), don't leave any food/bones around, and pick up poops asap. The wasp numbers are often determined by the winter weather conditions (if there aren't enough frosts to kill the nests, then there's more numbers around the following summer).

The past two summers have been bad in my area for european wasps. My boy is fed outside (raw meat & bones) so I either feed him after sunset or watch like a hawk as he's eating (and if need be, stand their with a broom just in case any wasps are buzzing around as he's eating). I have also set some wasp attractant traps around the yard (away from the dog area) - they work brilliantly.

Koolie Shetland Sheepdog - 4yo Parvo >1:80 Distemper >1:20 Not re-vacc this year! Yippee!!!

My vet is in Hobart...they do very few titre tests, so they had to get the Vetpath brochure out (prices as at 01.07.08) to see how much to charge me. I saw it with my own eyes - so it's definitely correct...although there may be a newer price list - but I can't imagine that it would have increased that much since then. I don't understand why some vets would deliberately overcharge? They get $20 for 'handling' the blood work plus a consult ($52 in my case). I wouldn't have thought that was much less than taking your dog in for a vacc? In some cases, if the titre results determine that they need re-vacc, then they'll end up with more dosh in their pockets anyway...

From some of the threads I have read on this topic, there seems to be a huge variance between vets as to the charges associated with titre testing. I had my boy tested over the weekend - and I can confirm that the Vetpath charge for Parvo & Distemper is $59.40. My vet charged $20.50 for a pathology handling fee as well. Just something to bear in mind in case your vet charges a lot more than that...

Skin/fur etc will help clean the front teeth...which is why carcasses are ideal to feed.

Yep - she said that they've only done a couple before (and looked up the price by checking another dog's history). Oh well, I don't mind if it costs more than that anyway - I'd much rather get the levels checked before re-vaccinating.

Just out of interest...my vet quoted $50 for both parvo & distemper testing (plus postage costs to send to Vetpath in Perth)...does that seem a little too cheap? (not that I'm complaining lol)

Thanks for replying Loraine. My vet is a homeopathic vet - so I'm pretty sure she will agree to do it. Just not sure if they have many requests in Tas for this yet...as the last time I asked (a couple of years ago) they didn't know much about it!

Hi guys, Does anyone know of any vets in Tas that do titre testing? I'm actually going to my vet tonight with one of the cats, so I will ask them about it then...but Is it possible for them to take the bloodwork and then send onto a lab? Is that how it works? I'm assuming very few vets would actually be able to do the testing themselves... (sorry - really don't have much of an idea). Appreciate any responses!

Some dogs will vomit if they've eaten food that is too cold. On a hot day (coz we have so many of those in Tassie lol) I only semi-thaw food for my boy - hasn't bothered him. Might depend on whether they are gulpers or chewers too...

Definitely! My boy gets raw salmon once a fortnight - either heads or pieces...and he loves it!

Sending healing wishes to your baby

I feed based on prey model and am more than happy with feeding 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% offal most weeks (remember, balance over time). As for saying if dogs are happy with what they're eating, well, I'm sure my dog would be happy eating chocolate...does that make it right then Nekhbet? Most people throw the 'dogs are wolves' scenario in as dogs do share almost 100% the same dna, and they have the same digestive tract etc. so why wouldn't dogs eat similarly to wolves? Please don't compare Barf & Prey Model...they are two different ways of feeding.

As a general rule of thumb - most people start with 2% of the dog's bodyweight - but this is adjustable depending on the dog's condition. Dogs are carnivores and as such have no nutritional requirements for either dairy or vegetation. Dogs are opportunistic scavengers and will eat these foods - but that doesn't mean that they need to. It is a personal decision whether to feed these foods - but there is no nutritional requirement to do so. Prey model feeders base the diet on 80% muscle meat, 10% bones & 10% offal as this is what a wolf would eat in their natural environment.

Thanks for posting IR

To be honest westielover, I never once thought that the colour of the treats I fed ever looked bright orange - so I'm not sure which one's you are referring to??? The treats I fed smelled delicious too - literally just like roast chicken. I am particularly fussy when feeding anything to my boy...when I used to feed Barf, I only bought organic fruit & veg. I've never once given him treats with any colours/additives/preservatives and I don't feed cheese/hotdogs/processed deli meats due to the salt content. It is not always easy (for me anyway) to buy treats online - and there's few stores in Tas that sell acceptable treats. So the convenience of buying these treats at the supermarket was great. I've never once fed my dog a schamckos or rawhide. I don't see how you can say that a dried chicken breast treat isn't healthy...I suppose if these treats are determined to have been the cause of these illnesses then we've been unlucky and have learnt a lesson not to buy treats that have been manufactured in China. You'd probably be surprised to learn how much of the food that we buy (frozen veg, canned veg, prawns etc.) are imported from China and the like.

I've been feeding that brand for a couple of years now with no ill effects for my boy. Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to stop feeding any treats that come from China...all Aussie from now on! Just means I'll be doing more shopping online as Tas doesn't seem to stock a lot of natural treats...

Yeah - they're probably not the cheapest treat to use - but you can cut them into small pieces and they don't need to chew. The Evo food...I get from a local Pet Goods Direct store. They are treat sized biscuits (not small pieces like kibble) but they break easily into small pieces, and I can just put a few in my pocket and break them whilst we're walking. No grains. They are the only place that I know of in the state that sell Evo.

I prefer to steer away from cheese and any of the processed foods like ham, sausages & hotdogs (too high in both fat & sodium). As I only do one class a week, I buy lamb/chicken/pork stir fry strips from the supermarket and steam them. I then cut them into small pieces. Any other treats during the week are healthy treats with no added colours, preservatives, additives etc. Things such as: best mates, supa naturals range (chicken sticks & chicken strips) dried duck pieces, dried liver treats, evo treats, dried fish etc.

I feed a mix of the following meats but around 80% meat, 10% bone & 10% offal: lamb/wallaby/pig/chicken hearts roo tails roo meat salmon (pieces or heads) trout (whole) chicken (whole not frames) chicken giblets rabbit (whole) lamb necks lamb shanks lamb leg roast pork ribs (with additional pork meat - as ribs too boney on their own) lamb liver/kidneys chicken liver raw eggs salmon oil capsules I have found all of these products readily accessible. I buy in bulk when they are on sale - so my average cost per day to feed is around $2.00 (but usually around $1 - $1.50). Feed around 2-3% of body weight daily. So my boy who is 18kgs usually gets around 400gms per day.