Kajtek

Focus on me and my ability to read their "moods"

I think Holistic EP is grain free, but will double check. Experiences with Orijien... One dog was very happy on Orijien, but she never had any problems with her digestive system. The other got pancreatitis and our vet said that the food was too rich for her. We went back to HEP and all problems disappeared. Her bloodwork results are back to 100% I am not going to change their food in a hurry. They both do very well on HEP.

Yep, same here. Got a tick off my girl. She was a bit slower for 2 days, then back to her normal/happy self.

I'd feed the same ie papa's special rice & chicken & herbs + Holistic Eagle Pack kible + lean beef minced at home. I'd have 10 dogs rather than 2, so the cost of food would go up :rolleyes:

My girl's op was done by in Sydney by Dr Tony Black at the Vet Specialist Centre in North Ryde (www.vetspecialist.com.au). He specialises in this and hip replacement ops. Have a look at their website. You can also google/yahoo his name and you will see that he publishes and is well respected around the world. It's been a while now and she's had no problems at all.

I have solved those itchy problems with megaderm (omega 3 & 6 & other bits+pieces). I'd also recommend frequent tepid water rinses rather than shampoos. Good luck.

Thank you so much fellow DOLers. Your help is very much appreciated

Has anyone in Sydney heard of SASH (small animal specialist hospital) and in particular Andrew Marchevsky? Care to share experiences? Pretty please.

I have tried Orijen - the best food I've seen. Unfortunately, I had to go back to Holistic Eagle Pack. Orijen is too rich for my sensitive-stomach girl. She gets very constipated and uncomfortable.

I wish I wish it's true

We have 2 snoring maestros sleeping in our bedroom (3 including OH hehe). This is what we do: 1) OH uses silicone ear-plugs - he calls them multipurpose 2) Enjoy the 'music' - I cannot fall asleep if one of the girls is quiet (OH is another matter )

You will need to find 'the magic food' combination for your dog. My girl is on Holistic Eagle Pack for sensitive skin dry food(sardines & rice variety) + lean raw beef & I supplement with Megaderm. I do not give her any other supplements. Works wonders for us. Also, for an agry/infected patch of skin, Neotopic cream seems to work best. You can get from the vet. Good luck.

You may want to have a look at Megaderm (omega 3&6) and you can get it online eg vet-n-pet direct. We are renovating and one of my girls developed allergy to cement render dust. It really worked for her. Good luck.

Same Orijen problems here. The girls thrive beautifully on Holistic Eagle Pack. Naughty mumma introduced Orijen (slowly!). Madames absolutely loved it and poos were better. Unfortunately this changed once Orijen became 100% of biscuit component in their diet (they also have raw lean beef with every meal + weekly eggs and boiled veg) . Happiness at meal times was replaced by "I am on a dog-diet", "I don't like food" (read ANY food!), "I have a tummy ache and a headache, so leave me alone". They are back on Holistic Eagle Pack. Good mumma is enjoying the spoilt brats again. BTW, Madames are fed 3xday. Not more food, the same amount spread over 3 meals.

I think you may want to check him with the specialist. This sort of thing should not be happening. My girl had a cruciate ligament operation (with titanium implant) and she was walking fine on the first day we picked her up.

Have a look at http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...5&hl=bullet. Gold beads (permanent accupuncture) have fixed the problem for my sister's Rotti. She had problems in ALL her joints and her hips

Joint guard is fab! So, is acupuncture and gold bead procedure when surgery is not the best option for dog's health or bank balance constraints.

I sooooo hope it's not it! My friends little staffy girl suddenly became agressive/snappy. They had tests done and yes, it was brain tumour. Please have him checked for that.

It was about 5 years ago and it took some effort finding the vet who could do it in Sydney. Things may have changed. As far as I remember, the cost was ~$600 for the lot.

My sis dog had horrid problems from young age. She ended up having permanent acu-pressure implants (I think they are called 'gold bullets') at the age of 4. It worked wonders. This maybe worth investigating.

Same advice as Clyde. My Madame has had a op for torn ligament. The wizard surgeon told us to walk her very, very, ver slowly to encourage leg usage. Do this initially for 5 minutes. If she uses her leg correctly, increase walking to 20 mins over 2-3 weeks. We've had good results with this approach.

I have heard that the following works well for all skin problems: 3 drops of lavender oil + 3 drops of eucalyptus oil mixed in 500ml bottle of baby oil applied directly to the affected area. I have not tried this so cannot recommend it but might be worth giving it a go if you run out of other options. Anna

I cannot claim any expertise in these matters, but have done lots and lots of research before "condeming" my heart-dog to TTA. As I understand, there is absolutely nothing you can do if the ligament is completely torn. It must be fixed surgically. Sure, keeping your dog on the slim side is a great help - less load on their knees and hips. Unfortunately, this WILL NOT solve the problem. I recommend that you do a bit of net surfing on this subject and decide what to do next. Anna PS CavNrott many thanks for the well wishes. The Madame (my dog) and I are most grateful. I hope that with no expense spared, lots of love from her mum and papa, great vet surgeon, and lots of dilligence, Our Baby will be well. (As you can probably tell....middle aged couple with no kids. Except 2 of the 4 legged variety )

My girl is recoverving from the TTA operation (titanium plate insert). Day 7 and we are counting the days before stiches come out. We are then looking at 2 months of gentle on-lead exercises and 2 months of bringing her back to the 'normal speeding bullet'. If all goes well she'll be 100% (she is 3.5yo, so hopefully the op will make her life happier). We've had the surgery done by Dr Tony Black in Sydney and he is wonderful. He claims that the recovery rate and the lasting effect of TTA is 100% but...it's a long and expensive road (all up ~7K). Good luck Anna PS Apparently the ligaments just DON't fix themselves in dogs >10kgs.

One of my girls tore cranial cruciate ligament and has just had a TTA Transplant. The operation was done in Sydney by Dr Tony Black at the Vet Specialist Centre in North Ryde (www.vetspecialist.com.au). He was absolutely fantastic. He specialises in this and hip replacement operations. Have a look at their website. You can also google/yahoo his name and you will see that he publishes and is well respected around the world. Hip replacement surgery is NOT cheap (~5000 per hip). If you are looking at having both hips done, you will probably have to budget close to 14-15K all up (includes physio). The recovery period is very long and you will have to crate your dog for a long periods of time. There may be other options worth investigating. Injections of Pentosan Polysulphate (eg Cartophen/Zydax) can prevent further arthritic changes. This, combined with a daily dose of Joint Guard works wonders. Before you ask... 1) I am in no way related to/associated with Dr Black or the vet centre 2) I do not own any pharmaceutical/vet product company (unfortunately ) The above info is based on considerable research and my recent experiences. Good luck. Anna