SoL

Well, no change in symptoms this morning - except that he can now blink his eyes properly instead of the third eyelid coming across, but he still has the wide open eyes. Hopefully that's a good sign! He isn't getting worse, so I'm also taking that as a good sign. See, this is the puzzling thing: he still wolfs down his food, is drinking well and wants to try and play (so we have to let him out to keep his spirit up but it only lasts about 2 mins before the other pups rumble him) but his ears are still drawn up and his body is still stiff. I have gone over and over him and there are no puncture wounds. There are quite a few scrapes on him whcih I would guess he earned through rumbling or going under the house (naughty boy) so it is entirely possible that the bacteria has gotten through there. Toxoplasmosis has already been considered at the same time as neosporosis. Still waiting on path results. And yes, sorry, it was Metrogyl, not Microgyl!

Well, no news The path company didn't pick up the blood till late today and we haven't yet got the results The vet has put him on yet another different type of a/b - Microgyl, which treats anaerobic infections, more specifically bowel infections and parasitic infections, also treats tetanus. She hasn't seen a case of tetanus before, the senior vet is on vacation, but she has asked around and read from textbooks, one being from the '60s which says that a mild case of tetanus is possible, presenting (logically) milder symptoms, which you could possibly say that Davey has. Hopefully we're on teh right track now. HOpefully we'll have answers tomorrow morning. If not, I'm looking for another vet Keep you posted.

Sorry guys, should have made it clearer - he IS as stiff as a board, very rigid like a statue BUT he can still move - ie not completely paralysed, but when you pick him up it's like you're picking up a robot or a stuffed toy or something - his legs don't relax at all. KJ they will be doing the neospora titer (I thought it was spelt titre ?? dunno) today, hopefully we will have some sort of answer. As far as I know the other cases were fine after the right a/bs (the one he's on now). He gets raw beef/roo mix every night - should that make a difference?

The drug is called Antirobe, which I believe is Clindamycin (??). It's a broad spectrum a/b covering neospora. He hasn't been tested for it but the vet said that 2 cases (both Staffords) came in a couple of weeks ago so we're treating to be safe. He's still happy in himself and still loves to go outside with the pack for little spurts, but he has trouble with stairs now. He is still eating very well and drinking and toileting. I spose it's now a case of wait and see what the path results are.

KJ he's being treated for neosporosis right at the moment. I'm taking him in, no question about that! Keep you posted.

Thanks guys. I think the vet ruled out tetanus due to lack of temp, lungs clear and eyes being fine in teh bright lights etc but I've a feeling we'll be there taking blood tomorrow so will ask for them to test for tetanus - a very scary but informative article to read, thanks persephone. He's been checked for ticks, his diet is pretty much the same ever since he was weaned so I would be surprised if it was allergy (although that thought had crossed my mind as well). I'll keep you posted. Fingers crossed for the little guy.

Alright, long story so bear with me. LIttle Davey-Boy is 16wks. 2.5 weeks ago he started getting gunky eyes so I got the vet to check him out and he said it was seasonal conjunctivitis. Treated with Chlorozone. No help, got worse with green discharge. Took him back, said it was a type of chlamydia. Treated with Doxycycline and Opticlox. No good, got heaps worse. Third eyelid inflamed and sticking to eyeballs rendering him partially blind, he's drawn his ears right up to the top of his head so his eyes are open and he is as stiff as a board - neck, legs, back are quite rigid, even when lying down. Took him to emergency and they kept him in overnight and said no improvement but no worse (thinking it could be a neospora kind of case), course of new antibiotics (Antirobe) and anti-inflams for muscles, back on Chlorozone. We're all stumped. He's tested clear for all the Stafford nasties - the only thing I haven't done yet is PHPV but they've checked his eyes under anasthetic and said no scratches, ulcers, spots etc. All vitals are good and normal. If he's not improving by tomorrow I'm taking him in for bloods. Any ideas? Has anybody else had anything similar? I'm really worried about him so anything light would be pretty good at this point. Em

Ah yes, good old "No-nail tremors". Highly debilitating disease that one. Also affects Staffordshire Bull Terriers who start to cry and shake uncontrollably at the mere sight of the nail clippers. And THAT my dear is the reason why a Dremel is used - although I still get the older dogs fighting to get away from the stupid orange buzzing thing! Aziah I can't believe yours broke. :D Your dogs must have real heavy duty nails. Mine's lasted about a year now. Admittedly I'd probably buy one from Bunnings next time - a bit more heavy duty, but it does the job for now.

I use what is sold as a pumpkin cutting/styling tool (go figure!) but is essentially a cordless Dremel. I find it sucks the juice so invest in some good rechargeable batteries. I love the cordless as I don't have powerpoints everywhere and it has been especially useful in the puppy pen. Just remember to go slow, use positive praise until doggy gets used to it, use the sandpaper head, not the grinding stone and try not to file your fingers in the process (it hurts!). I wouldn't go back to clippers at all

He's 8 wks old - give him a chance (I'd also get him off your bed too!). If you persevere, he will learn.

Can I ask if there's a free version of Photoshop? I'd like to get into photography but I've only got an old (but good quality) manual camera.

Personally I'd say vet in either case!

Sway, how many prefixes have been entered now?

You should see and HEAR Stafford pups playing - now that really does sound like they're killing each other (I've got a pen full of 6wk old pups who do the same thing). Mum and dad used to have heartattacks every time Sunny took on Chester but now they're used to the noise! If you're really worried and they really don't let up, then instigate a bit of time out and I mean truly separated until both are calmed down. Just keep an eye out to make sure there's no heckles, no standing over, no 'glare' and obviously no blood. Usually we can tell when one of our girls means business just by their stare and the way they hold themselves. As soon as we see that look we get out there and separate. Funnily enough, the only time the boys have had that stare is when we're playing tug of war with them.

I've just started making the Easi-Yo yogurt because we're going through at least a kilo every day. I've only made the Natural so far and you can taste the difference - it's a lot tangier than the commercial natural yogurt, it takes some getting used to! The dogs still love it though. Now if I can just stretch out the dogs' yogurt long enough to make the kids their strawberry one

Thanks Sway for including us . I also believe that Titlestaff is now Spartanic, just fyi .

I think it's more that the lactose is already broken down by the cultures (ie bacteria) in the yoghurt, making it possible for the dogs (and us) to digest.

Yep, balance the ABs with a good cultured yoghurt. It's actually an idea to make yoghurt a common part of their diet, they love it! There could be many factors affecting him at the moment and a vet should always be your first option, but in the meantime make sure you keep fluids up to him and maybe look at getting him back onto hydrolites if you're concerned. How much bone/chicken mince do you feed him, if any? High calcium content can also produce white poos.

Shit! Get him tested for epilepsy and also L2 (unless that's already clear by parentage) just to be on the safe side - L2 is not expensive anymore. Maybe just reiterate that guessing isn't going to work on this - offer to buy him back (nominal cost) so that you can run the tests yourself. Good luck and I'm sorry it's happened.

I know, the poor kid He's running around today, which is always a good sign and there has been some cowpats down the back yard and since we don't have a cow, I can only think that the laxatives are working! I shall grate up some raw carrot tonight and add that to his dinner, along with anything else I can find. Actually, I might start all of them on it now. I always thought that veggies don't get digested or are they added for roughage only? The news about his prostate has made me think about his brother as well, who is also undesexed. Think I might get him checked out too.

That's exactly right. My vet showed me the x-ray and OMG the blockage was huge! So, he's been cleaned out, had an enema, injectible laxatives, I've given him 3 laxatives and I daren't let him through the door the poor bugger! Hopefully that will shift the rest and get things going again. He's back to the vets on Saturday to make sure we're on teh right track. The vet's also said that his prostate is enlarged, benign but enlarged, which doesn't help bowel movement matters. He said that it will only get bigger if we don't do anything about it and the only real thing to do is to give him the chop. Of course we run the risk of cancer the longer we leave him undesexed. I think his stud career is over anyways so I'm thinking of getting him desexed and if it means he lives longer then there's no choice really is there?! I mean, he can be a pain in the arse, but he's MY pain in teh arse and I couldn't be without him. He's just turned 7 - are there any detrimental effects of having an older dog desexed? Re bones, I usually give chicken frames, I thought they were pretty soft? I'm not into marrow bones as I'm paranoid they'll splinter but I do give briskets when I can find them. He loves sardines and I try and give them some as a treat (will have to make that more often!). I will admit to no veggies though, unless it's scraps from a plate! Raw or cooked?

Well, I've spoken to the vet. He can see a large blockage in his large intestine which he thinks is a mass of powdered bone (can't be sure until he gets to it). He says that it's far enough back to be able to reach it via the anus and then send him home with laxatives and enemas to shift the rest (great fun!). So hopefully he won't need surgery and I get my boy back tonight

Thanks guys. He's usually fed once a day at 6.30pm, this has been the case ever since puppyhood. His vomit contains undigested food, always. The dry food we feed is roo-based primarily, with corn and chicken as the 2nd and 3rd ingredients. The vet tonight said that he could feel a lump in his bowel region, the causes could be a foreign body that Chess may have swallowed, twisted bowel or possibly a tumour (though he said he doubted the last was the case). My boy's been kept overnight for the very first time in his life to have x-rays and possible surgery tomorrow, I won't know more until the vet rings me. I'm really trying to stay positive on this one. I'll let you know as soon as I do. Em

On and off for a couple of weeks. It's taken this long to try all combinations of food we could think of - we originally fed dry with a vit supplement powder, so teh first thing we did was stop the powder. He was fine for a day or so then vomited again. Then we tried a different dry. Then we tried raw chicken or beef mince with the dry and then raw with rice, then cooked chicken with rice. We've been progressively getting blander and blander and he'll be fine the next day or so but nothing has worked completely! The last couple of days hes gotten worse and is vomiting every morning no matter what. Any food we give him is something that he's had before with no ill effects. I must admit I'm stumped. Edited to specify it was sporadic in the beginning and has just gotten worse over the last day or so - that wasn't quite clear before!

Hi guys Just wondering if I could tap into the experiences here on DOL. My main boy Chester is vomiting food in the morning, it's gotten worse and he's now vomiting every morning without fail. There's undigested food in there but it wouldn't be the whole meal from the night before. We've tried all sorts of food but it's made no difference. He was quite bad this morning and apparently is really laid low today. Has anybody else experienced vomiting like clockwork? Taking him to the vets tonight, fingers crossed he's ok.