Katdogs

Wow, great responses, thanks! I was scared to try anything without checking, it's such a sensitive area for dogs. I've been adding Vit E Oil to Tommy's food sometimes, but it's a hard squeezy bottle so he only gets a few drops! He's been getting fish two or three times a week in his diet (tinned sardines, mackeral, tuna, salmon - whatever's on special and not too dolphin-unfriendly). I tried rubbing on the Vit E Oil last night and he licked it off pretty quickly. I think some of the cracks are quite deep and might sting a little. I'll try vaso tonight while he's sleeping with his head on my lap, I'll just keep massaging in while he puts up with it. Good luck Springergirl! ETA my stoopid work computer has only just let me see the photos of poor Cassie. Tommy's nose is nowhere near that bad thankfully, his nostrils are ok. Ouchy Cassie, that must really hurt!

Tommy's nose is very dry and cracked, with little pieces of dry skin and a couple of deep-ish fissures. He went straight from pound to vet, then when we picked him up from the vet after desexing he was very dry all over - dry flaky non-elastic skin, and cracked pads. After a few days of decent food and unlimited access to water, he got his 'drool' back, and his nose got a bit better, but now even three weeks later it's stopped getting better. I only have Stevie and Jodie to compare him with, and their noses are black and moist all the time. His is grey and dry over the top, even though his nostrils are now moist and dark. It's just one little thing that makes him look meaner than he his (he's a sook). Can I put something like paw-paw ointment on it, or should I just leave it as part of his special charm? Do show people have any tricks to help with this?

ooohhh scary stuff, especially after Stevie ripped off a claw down to the quick the other day. She probably spent the day wandering around on the dug-up muddy grass, when she wasn't licking the bleeding bit. Off to look at the websites a bit more!

Vet said it looked good (thanks T, beautiful bandaging) but was amazed we didn't see more blood around. I think Stevie had spent the day licking it, until we got home. The nail bed was still oozing some muck. Rebandaged now, on antibiotics just in case, and we're doing our best to keep it dry with a variety of socks and plastic bags. For some reason it's just the pink socks she likes to pull back off, the white and black socks stay on pretty well. Back to vet on Wednesday night for another look. It was explained to me that having a claw out is similar to having a tooth out - it gives a direct path into the blood and nerve system for any nasties in the soil. Yuck.

We just noticed Stevie has ripped out a claw on her back foot, it's still soggy and bleeding, so I'm very grateful for this thread! Will go get the salt water and betadine and a little sock (though the other dogs might disagree with it). She's miserable and doesn't want to put her foot on the ground, so if any sign of a problem in the morning I guess we go off to the vet.

We've been using Revolution flea/mite/heartworm treatment for our dogs for a couple of years with no problems except Stevie sees it coming and doesn't like it. Last night we also put it on Tommy our foster dog and about half an hour later he seemed to be panting quite a bit and had his tongue in a funny position - not hanging out like after exercise or when hot, just poking out. He seemed a bit sleepy/dopey. He was sitting on my lap and it was getting close to bed time, he was probably going to be dopey anyway and the other dogs were curled up asleep. After I shook him a bit to see if he was ok, he got down off the lounge and walked away a little bit groggy, but when I got the good-night biscuits he jumped around the same as the other dogs and was happy to eat his biscuit and have a drink of water, then went to bed no problems - and he was perfectly normal this morning. Tommy is about 28kg (should be a few kilos more), was desexed, vaccinated and wormed two weeks ago, and we don't know whether he might have had other flea treatment like Capstar, but it would have been two weeks ago too. He's officially a Lab X but we think there's a chance of Great Dane or maybe Greyhound in him. So I might have been imagining things, but has anyone else seen a reaction like this after applying Revolution?

No. His head is very labby, the rest of him is skeleton (not as bad as I saw on TV last night, but still very thin). He seems to be black all over except for a thin white stripe down his chest. Hopefully when he has a few more kilos of muscle and a shiny clean coat we might make a 'what breed is this' thread, but for now we'll just say Very Labby.

Yay Tommy! His cough wasn't too bad so they've done the deed to him today and he's come through it ok! I haven't spoken to the vet yet, just reception/nurse. His weight is 24.5 kg :D

New answer to this is Yes, unfortunately the slight cough he had once yesterday when he strained on his collar has now definitely turned into kennel cough (what a surprise ) so he's staying with the vet for a couple more days before the operation. At least it means a chance for a decent feed or two beforehand.

What do you mean by 'dietary supplement'? It seems to be on a lot of labels at the shop, ranging from simple vitamin powder to biolact type food. I've just thought, I might add some manuka honey to the mix? What do you think?

Yep I remember the thread, it was very interesting. I'll look out for it, sounds like it would be healthy for me and OH as well as the dogs.

What yoghurt do you use? I mainly give our dogs whatever we haven't eaten ourselves from the fridge - they don't care what it is! Is there anything in particular you recommend for this situation?

Oooh yes I had forgotten treats and training! Thanks, I can sneak some extra calories onto him that way without the other dogs seeing him getting extra meals too often. I won't feed them near each other until I get to know him better, but they'll be able to see each other and my LabX counts every pea or kibble that moves out of my kitchen! Yeah, after two years of keeping weight off Stevie, this is an interesting challenge! I was worried he might be too light for desexing, but the vet nurse said they've seen much worse. They'll have a good look at him before operating. They're very experienced at poundies :D He's not a dominant boy from what I can see, and didn't go around marking everything in sight, and all the bitches in our street are desexed, so if he needs to wait a week or two before desexing we can handle that if we have to, though of course we don't know his escape abilities. Trisven thanks, I'll keep in touch about my skinny boy and compare him with your skinny girl! It's still weirding me out how much this boy could be Stevie's brother, and Twiggy could be Jodie's sister!

This poor boy is coming to us for fostering. He's being vetted thoroughly before desexing, but in the meantime I'm planning ahead - I've only ever dealt with keeping weight off a dog, not putting it on! Pound's guess is that he's about two years old. He's got dry scruffy skin and a dry(?) nose. No obvious flea problem, and his pen at the pound was clean and he'd eaten his breakfast, then travelled for about an hour without stomach upset. To an amateur like me he seems to have clear eyes, ears, bum and teeth, he was a bit dirty to touch but smelt OK (except for one HORRIFIC fart, but then he's been eating pound food for 8 days!). He's got a bit of skin off one leg and it's a bit difficult to judge his gait because he was just so excited to be out of the pen, but he seemed to move freely and without any pain. Certainly the tail-wagging muscle is in full health! He can do 'sit' and 'drop' beautifully, and is very polite but interested in everything going on around him. Anyway, do I need to do special feeding to 'fatten him up' or do I just stick to the healthy diet that works for my dog and let him gain wait slowly? He'll be getting a combination of Royal Canin lab, chicken necks/frames, roo mince, mixed veggies/fruit, sardines and eggs about twice a week, BARF pattie every couple of days (depending on finances!), and yoghurt every few days. Also Joint Guard and Dr Bruce's Health Booster vitamin/mineral mix. Should I add some fattier mince such as the 'pet mince' sold at the chook shop? I don't want to leave him with bigger bones for now. Any other suggestions welcome! I think we're going to call him 'Tommy' - it seems a nice friendly name for a nice friendly dog. Suggestions welcome for this too! Here's his handsome face (but he's a bit camera shy): He's got a reasonably good-quality collar and a bit of training, so may have been in good nick when he ended up on the streets (not microchipped unfortunately). How long would it have taken for him to drop to this condition? And how long to be back to a shiny healthy looking boy?

Lovely greyhound at our local park is losing fur down her flanks and I said I'd ask the DOL gurus about whether this can be reversed. The owners are going to contact their adoption group to see if they have any ideas as well. She's probably just lounging around too much but down both back legs her skin is showing a bit of a nude look. There's no sign of any irritation, and it's been a gradual process. I'm sorry but I've forgotten how old she is, they've had her a couple of years and she had a few races before that. Is this normal for thin-furred dogs? (Mine are a lot fluffier). Is there something that can be added to her diet?

Thanks, heaps of good replies here! Stevie's a LabXGoldie, about 35kg, just over two years old. She's not completely blocked up, just has to work hard at the poo business, a lot harder than I'd want to myself (eewww). I was trusting that the Barf pattie each day would be enough organs/offal, mainly because I've tried giving the dogs organs before and they didn't seem too impressed (the only time Stevie rejected food completely was kidney), and also because I'm not confident with quantities etc. Also I hate the feel and smell of liver/kidney/etc! We've been avoiding cereals because Stevie was having lots of ear infection problems and they seem to have cleared up since starting the Barf/bones/vegies diet. I didn't think of heart, that might be ok. I'll try increasing the vegie (and exercise) quota and and get some roo mince - the pet food place we get the turkey necks and Barf patties has roo mince, should this be ok? Jodie's a KelpieX?? about 15kg, she eats almost the same amount as Stevie and doesn't put on weight, but poor Stevie gains fat on one cheezel :rolleyes:

So whole drumsticks and wings are ok? I thought there were too many sharp bits, but probably misunderstood. I'll try to get some meatier bits. Stevie tends to bolt things down really fast without chewing properly LABX!!! so I have to be careful what she gets, the lamb bones seem to stay whole on their way through her and come out the other end. Perhaps I spend too much time studying my dogs' poo? But I have to pick it up every day, I can't help but notice!

Thanks, good ideas. I had a feeling there was too much bone but most meat is either very expensive or seems high in fat. What's chicken quarters? Do you mean a whole chicken cut into quarters, including wings, drumsticks, breast etc?

Stevie has very dry crumbly poo. Sometimes she struggles a bit, seems to strain for ages to poo. Apart from liquid parafin for the short term, what should I be adding to her diet longer-term to balance this? She usually has a barf pattie in the morning, then chicken necks in the evening. This is varied with sardines, tuna, turkey neck, chicken frame, yoghurt quite often, whole egg, 'dog soup' (which is every veggie mashed together, plus garlic and a bit of cod liver oil), and whatever scraps and offcuts she can beg while I'm cooking or eating. She's just about right weight, maybe needs to lose half a kilo but I'd rather do that with increased exercise than cut back her food any more. And she also eats LOTS of green grass from the backyard, and any cat poo she can find, and is on Joint Guard. Jodie has the same diet and doesn't seem to struggle as much. Any ideas?

We just had KC. It started out like the dogs were choking on something in their throat, or trying to vomit something up, rather than sneezing, and every so often they'd bring up some white/clear phlegm. We used Benadryl and Manuka Honey until Stevie started to get snotty nosed after about a week of coughing, then went to antibiotics. I know the dog that originally infected our girls was down at the Leichhardt canal park almost every day he was sick, the owner had no idea he should quarantine, and so hundreds of dogs there would have been exposed (very social dog and owner).

Both my dogs had C5 vaccination (needle) early last year, they both got KC just before Christmas from a visitor dog. I know that visitor dog's owner walked him around Leichhardt, Cafe Bones, and on a bus trip to Canberra and back, walking around the city (the labbie boy has a certificate for trainee assistance dog). The guy just gave the dog extra cough medicine for the bus trip so he wouldn't disturb the other passengers. He says he didn't know he should have kept the dog quarantined. Hundreds of dogs will have been exposed, this guy and his dog are very friendly! Our vet said it was just a matter of chance, which strain of KC affected the dogs. ETA I was told (by Vet and DOLers) to keep the girls quarantined until 7-10 days after last cough.

I've noticed Stevie seems to be shedding an extra load of under-coat fur in the last couple of days, since we've had these few hot days in Sydney. I put a rubber glove on one hand and rub it through her while brushing with a rubber-backed human brush with the other hand, it seems to pull out a lot. One warning though, I did this on the cat and heaps of fur came out, but she struggled a lot. When I rubbed my own skin with the rubber glove, it got so hot it was burning! It might work ok on Stevie's big bum, rubbing over a wider area with lots of fur. Not so good on little critters!

If you look further on the links on dogfood.com.au you'll notice they are linked to well-known kennels that supply LOTS AND LOTS of puppies. See thread in General about Choc Labrador pups. Many DOLers don't buy food from petshops that sell puppies, I'm applying similar principles to this mob.

Don't worry I wasn't going to give human type drugs (at least not without vet advice), just wondered if there was something doggy that I could give in the meantime. We're trying to rest her a bit, but she's 2 years old and has a kelpie and a kitten for company, so even if she's in pain it's hard to convince her not to be an idiot and jump around. I don't even know if she's in much pain, it's just she's walking a bit wonky on her front legs and taking a bit longer to drop or sit up, so maybe it will clear up in another day or so. If she's not perfect by Saturday morning, we'll go to the vet. I'd really love to be able to get in touch with Stevie's 'breeder' to check on health/history of the parents - I know her name and address from a piece of paper that came with Stevie, but don't know if it was a one-off oops litter, or a serious BYB, or what, and she's not in the phone book.

That was going to be my next question - how do I keep her busy without being too active? Lots of training I guess - heel, stay. I think we'll have to go back to the park tonight for Jodie to play ball, we can't have a bored kelpie, but I'll keep Stevie on lead. I might let her travel in the front of the car rather than jumping up into the wagon, and definitely drive rather than walk the 20min to get there. We've increased exercise in the last couple of weeks in order to get some weight off Stevie for the good of her joints (and it's working, she's down a couple of kilos), but maybe it's been too much. It's such a fine line between exercise and over-exercise for this girl. We've cut back her food too, she's only been eating as much as the kelpie for a few weeks but the weight was coming off so slowly, exercise seemed the best way.