Golden Rules

Yes I was thinking a Toller also. You have to meet Paddy one day RV, he is a lean working line Golden, very much like his father Rebas. He is wasted on me as he would be fantastic at Agility etc.

What a stressful start to the year! Those sick dogs couldn't get a better nurse I reckon, they are very lucky! Sending you good luck and stress-free vibes Monah!

I just did a quick search for Petfood 24/7 and there were quite a few threads that came up

The cotton wadding is great Rainy! That is all I ever have in my quilts now, natural fibres are so much better comfort wise and are also more fire retardent! :D Can't wait to see the finished product, you are so good to be putting it all together! Well done!!!!

boxagirl, I needed the xrays from my vet to take to the acupuncture vet, my usual vet just let me borrow them for the appointment and then I took them back, they were fine about it. Ptolomy put me onto a lovely acupuncture vet, she works wonders, to the point I haven't needed to take my old dog back to her for over 18 months now! :D

17 years is a great innings. Hugs for tomorrow Gayle

One place NOT to buy from is Pet SuperSavers in Qld. If you google them, you end up with all sorts of bad reports.

If it were me, I would walk them but not necessarily take them to a specific dog area.

That is fantastic!!! Well done to the anonymous Doler, and Thank you!

GR for 2 nights after I made the appt. with Laura he slept like a baby in the bedroom. Last night he was up to his nightly nonsense again I guess I am going to be calling Laura back again next week. Maybe I need a course on Bodytalk - alright Mirawee, thank you for giving the word that refused to come into my head yesterday I did find it very interesting that she had conversations with Zedley that were actually quite true, and not what I had told her. Fascinating! Keep us updated!

Yes, I think it has become more common practice to insure your dog, and hence an increase in claims mean an increase in premiums.

Will probably be worth you shopping around... I rang PIA (current insurer) the other day, have only had the policy for 1 year and it has gone up to $354 for annual coverage on the Major Medical Plan with $500 excess ($15,000 in bills will be covered for the year) Shopped around and Medibank Private have a plan - Silver Paw Cover - which is around $250 for annual coverage, with $12,000 in bills covered and again $500 excess. I have one dog with PIA and one with Medibank Private It's weird the way they are all underwritten by the same insurer yet the premiums and service vary so greatly!

Mine was also under a $1 so Petplan seems to not increase premiums that much, I claimed $5000 last year for allergies PetPlan are the most expensive in premiums to start with so you'd hope their premiums didn't go up by too much! Really? I did not think they were pricey compared to the others when i looked? I think i chose the higher premium as i have a lower excess i think, plus they were willing to review an exsisting condition aftef 12 months They are indeed the most expensive! I got quotes for both my dogs recently and they were on average $5 per month more expensive than the 4 other popular insurers I got quotes from. That's $60 odd a year .... and the cover was the same as everything else I was getting a quote for.

Mine was also under a $1 so Petplan seems to not increase premiums that much, I claimed $5000 last year for allergies PetPlan are the most expensive in premiums to start with so you'd hope their premiums didn't go up by too much!

Thanks for the responses everyone! It's good to know it's normal and he isn't 'predisposed' to bloat or anything!

Another hotspot! Has he had more of his injections recently and reacted to them again?

However, you do realise that if you had stuck with RSPCA and he needed further surgery, they would cover it. Medibank won't cover anything related as it is a pre-existing condition. It's so hard with insurance because it is always a gamble. He's had both cruciates done and has been in excellent health for the last 2 years. He doesn't get to jump around any more like he used to so we greatly lessen the likelihood of him doing a cruciate again ..... I'm OK with that!! At his age (over 8 years old now) he is more likely to have a medical issue than an accident and I fully expect his premium to jump next year - but why would you not want to save over $200 in a year in the meantime It's a balanced risk I have taken and an informed one

I was with RSPCA pet insurance until last week - the premium for my older dog rose by more than $200. Yes I have made claims (for cruciates, so expensive) however these claims are now finalised and I was no longer claiming anything. Anyway, I shopped around and went with Medibank Private who have given me a premium more than $200 less than RSPCA. So yes, it does pay to shop around. Just wait ........

That's good to know because this young fella is only 5 months old and he gets them a few times a week which I thought was kinda frequent!

So what is Zedly up to these days Loraine? Is he still getting wound up in the middle of the night? The tapping works well on humans so I am interested to know how well it works on animals!

No I doubt it, my old boy was old when I got him and he was the one who refused to walk past the cat in the hallway because the cat would swipe him. That was the first dog that cat had ever lived with so I knew the swipe of the paw was her getting in first through fear, even though the dog never once showed any interest in the cat!

It sounds like your cat may be trying to instigate play by the swiping of the paws when on the table perhaps? In that instance, I would have uttered a guttural growl ('uh uh' is what I use) to the cat to let it know I was watching and to be warned I wouldn't tolerate much more than that. If your dog is showing no real interest in the cat and the cat swipes because the dog gets too close, then the dog should learn not to get so close and that a wider berth is required! To let your dog know that the cat is higher up the pecking order, I feed my cats before the dogs, and I feed them on the Laundry bench where the dog food is plated up. I let the cats sleep on the bed but the dogs sleep on the floor. I also pick the cats up and cuddle them in front of the dogs, and make a big fuss of them in front of the dogs, then the dogs get a fuss made of them last. Just stuff like that ..... seems to work here

I have a young dog that gets hiccups very regularly - often nowhere near feeding time so I don't put it down to eating his food too quickly (which he sometimes does). I know it's an irritation of his diaphragm but I do wonder what triggers the hiccups. But I have not seen any of my other dogs have hiccups ever. Does anyone else have a dog that frequently gets hiccups? Is it something a dog would grow out of as it gets older?

Actually, I think you are discounting the probability that the owner of the two dogs in question would think more seriously about containing his dogs in future. That does make a difference and it would make another attack less likely (from the owner's dogs). I do get what you are saying, and I agree killing the dogs is not going to solve everything else, but in this instance it would stop those dogs from having the opportunity of escaping and killing again. That is Danielle's point I believe.

He's lovely bedazzled! 5am mornings in summer are good! 5am in winter is a different story!