fifi

na, na, nanana....I KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON"T KNOW !! And I havn't told a soul....But can be bought at a price... fifi

It varies from vet to vet, make sure you get a vet who is familiar with PSS testing. But I'd reckon on between $60-$100 dollars, maybe more depending on the path charges. fifi

good general link: http://www.cornovi-iw.co.uk/liverhuntpage.htm fifi

DAisy, pup is fasted overnight, taken into vet first thing in the morning, blood is collected, then puppy is given a small meal or glucose drink & blood collected again. Blood gets sent off for path, and a printout is available with a couple of days. fifi

Panda, I usually give a de-gas tablet if I think the situation might be very mild, and monitor by the minute & off to the vet straight away if symptoms are worsening. In the case you describe, I would have been off to the vet, it sounds more like a digestive upset or bowel discomfort than bloat though. I guess the main thing is never leave things to see how it goes, its better to have a wasted trip to the vet, than a dead dog. Also, if in doubt, contain the dog in a crate to monitor them while you are phoning the vet, running in panic for the seven hours you mention, is too long to allow a dog to be scared, sick or suffering. fifi

Ours are all separated when eating, saves stress, saves any possible friction. even though our guys get along (well nearly all of them!) I prefer to have them eat apart, they are just to damn big to pull apart if it went pear shaped. We do expect good pack behavior, but not every dog seems to have the ability to learn from / listen to an alpha dog/bitch, and keep themselves out of trouble!! lucky you where able to save the pup. I almost lost one of my girls in a small squabble, one bit into the other, missing the carotid artery by mm!!! fifi

:p glad to hear the gas 'escaped', bloat is something we don't wait around to see, even if we only have a trip to the vet with a farty dog! it can go pear shaped very quickly and go on to GDV (torsion) in the deep chested dogs. (in fact, its one of the rare times one cheers when in the car and the dog let one go!!) we always have 'De-Gas' tablets on hand, available from any supermarket or pharmacy, and if we think one of ours looks a bit 'sus' we give two to three capsules. We have had two bloat & survive, one torsioned and had surgery to rotate the stomach back into place & had the gastroplexy - the belt loop version done. Navarre bloated three weeks ago, and we were lucky the vet was able to intubate & release the gas, but he had to be anaethatised, as the tube wouldn't progress. Other wolfie folk have lost dogs very, very quickly so glad you've had a good outcome ruger. Keep an eye on him though, you may need to feed smaller meals and break them into morning & night. fifi

VET...NOW, right now, don't delay. fifi

What a long and loved life he had, its the kind of life that one would wish for every dog. may the longtime sun shine upon you Diesel. such a happy and handsome fella'. I'm sure he's watching over his human family. :D :cool: hugs to your family fifi, danny & hounds xxx

run to the bridge Pippin, I get the feeling Pippin will be your baby's little guardian from afar, the beautiful way he stayed close to him to the end. beautiful photo's, sitting here for you loss, but also for the happiness you gave a little old furry. hugs to you all. fifi

so sorry to read about Tia, seventeen great years, what a wonderful testimony to a life well lived and well loved..... may the longtime sun shine upon you Tia.. Hugs to you GDG, seems so many of us have lost a loved furkid this month :D all our love, fifi, danny & hounds xxxxxx

I know there is a lot of research being done, I"m sure some dobe folk could advise you. But I just wanted to send you our hugs on your sudden & tragic loss, it just leaves you so empty and shattered. all our loving thoughts from here, fifi, danny & hounds

my friend uses it on her coated breed, not all the time, but for six week periods with the girls if they've dropped coat after a season. Not when they are pregnant though. She finds it wonderful, and makes a REAL difference. She used it on two young dogs who had been under nourished in their home, and after bringing them to her place, she put in some intense time for them to recover on quality food and the Biolac coat improver, they went from scraggy skeletons to blooming coats and shining with health. They have even made up the lost ground in their growth & development now. But as Aziah said, there are no short cuts, it needs to be consistently given in the right amounts, and teamed with high quality food too. It's too concentrated my wolfies, although I have used it on some really desperate rescues in conjuction with nutrigel and a high calorie diet, with great success. fifi

Oh Sas, I'm so sorry to hear about Turbo. You worked so damn hard with and for him, some of the big guys just never recover from their previous baggage, I have been in your shoes - but I let one go on for too long and nearly cost me loved ones - both skin & fur. Thank goodness you made that difficult decision in a timely way. I come from a great dane breeder / rescue household, and while I love the breed, they are so sensitive and one in three my mother used to rescue, would never fully recover from their early life, some of them escalating in the way you describe with Turbo. Just when you think you are making ground, they would take another backwards step. As someone said to me in my 'Sox' thread, Turbo will take good memories of you with him. you gave him the extra life & love he would never have had. good on you for making a difference Sas, and for having the courage to make the most difficult decision in Turbo's interest. hugs from here fifi & hounds xxx

Thanks for all your good wishes guys, as Mjosa said - its so hard to reconcile losing a young dog suddenly. Rexy, I'm so sorry for your tragic loss too, Sox would have been two in May. Doesn't the home seem suddenly so very empty when a fur kid passes away? even if like us, there are other fur kids, each one brings their own energy and personality to your home. We keep expecting her to be waiting with her big hairy hugs. fifi

two weeks ago, our beautiful 20month old afghan girl passed away, it was a massive shock that we have not yet come to terms with. She was taken to the vet on Friday morning with suspected pyro, vet said we caught it in the very early stage, she was speyed, op went well & she stayed the night at the vets and we brought her home Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, she became distressed and died suddenly An autopsy revealed a congenital heart defect, nothing would have saved her. both AV valves and the right side of her heart where malformed. She had never had a sick day and could run all day with no effect, vet feels that perhaps the infection finished her heart. no other dog in her lines has ever had this. The worlds naughtiest puppy, became the sweetest dog one could wish for, no morning could start without a huge hug from Sox. No dog could start the day without having their ears and mouth washed by her ! All the wolfies miss her terribly, and I have never seen Danny cry before that terrible day. We have planted a beautiful liquid amber over her, its already turning red & gold with autumn. we'll see you at the bridge our sweet girl with all our tears and love fifi, danny & all the hounds here is a pic of our golden girl at six months.

;) Hey Jodie, there is a heap on your plate at the moment, and I think you are a very strong and practical gal. Talk to your vet about the panting, he may need a review of his medication. I didn't mean to make you cry :D but thank you for letting us know how things are going. I hope you can find a cool mat for Ollie, the bloody heat always makes things worse - hoping for a cool change down your way. big kisses to Ollie fifi & hounds

:D beautiful portrait of Olly. you've covered every medical base, now its a case of loving every day with him. make sure you have a doggy friend to talk to, because grieving often starts with diagnosis or bad prognosis, and you are already starting to grieve inside for the changes in your boy, and a parting that you know will come one day. Don't let it build up Jodie, 'cause it will make it harder for you to enjoy Ollie now. sorry to be so up front, and I guess it depends on how you deal best with your feelings. But we are here for ya. fifi

sighthounds, with wolfhounds in particular, are VERY succeptible to adverse reactions from NSAIDS. every wolfhound I know of who has been prescribed metacam - has had reactions, ranging from mild diahreah, to pheunmonia & death. Along with anaesthetics, the NSAIDS are one of the issues we highlight in our puppy booklet, as needing very careful administration in wolfies. Most wolfies clubs around the world have a database of adverse reactions to the NSAIDS by our breed. fifi edited for spelling, still wrong, brain meltdown!

I'm in the same boat as Tramissa, trying to type through tears. Crysty, that was a beautiful memorial for a cherished girl. I'm sure her last years erased her bad start to life. many hugs from fifi & hounds xxxxxx

Aphra, I tried all the herbal remedies, but this year is just a scratch fest, and I agree - grass & heat! I also bought several tubes of Neocort cream, for the very worst areas under the elbows and around the ears & face. good luck with your boofas, its very distressing to watch them so miserable, and it uses so many calories and energy to scratch constantly, that some dogs lose lots of condition. fifi

Right now, I'm using it in the hydrobath, for the boys, every two - three weeks. I bathed them today, and all is STILL and QUIET, not the sounds of bang, bang,bang on the back verandah.....as they scratch themselves silly !!! We feed a semi-barf style diet, they get sardines once or more per week ect, we have only had this extreme problem for two summers - and of course we have northern hemisphere dogs! bog-Irish anyway! I have to admit that my skin is the same with the heat, excema, dermatitis and psorasis have all flared up (probably stress, but the heat knocks me around) fifi

two of my wolfie boys and our male pharoah hound, were so bad this month, despite everthing I tried, we ended up at the vets for depredil injections to break the itch cycle. I think its a combination here of the heat, paspalam, kikiyu grass....and who know's what The injections allowed us to get on top of the itch, and along with malaseb, we are hanging in there! we've never had the itchies as bad as last year and this year's summers. strangely though, its only the boys here fifi

the wool mixes have quite a lot of detergents in them, which can cause flaky skin. I use the itchy skin shampoo from Plush Puppy, and when severe itchies occur, I will use malaseb for one or two washes over the summer. a good tea tree shampoo, or pine tarsol shampoo or solution, from the chemist - is brilliant. fifi

what a handsome and loving face. The look of love and loyalty in his eyes, just melted me. Such a difficult decision to make, but bravely done by your mum, I'm sure Britt is enjoying the happiness of freedom without old age and illness. hugs from here, fifi