Bubbly

This was posted over in general, but I've seen it before and it is a really great presentation put together by a vet. It really helped me understand immunity better when I started getting interested in it. http://www.newvaccinationprotocols.com/Cur...ology%20101.htm

Why would you not use Murdoch if you are a student there? Riverstar lives down your way so her recommendations would be close to you. I won't be using Murdoch for a couple of reasons. It's quite expensive is the first and foremost. The prices there are pretty high because the hospital runs in the red. The number of cases that never pay up are astounding - the clinic is basically subsidized by the school. I won't get a student discount until I'm in fourth year and honestly, paying international fees, I just cannot see going there just because I'm a student. I'd also rather look around for something a little more personal; I like seeing the same GP when I go to the dr. I'd like to see the same vet when my pets go in for their annuals. For emergencies and complicated surgeries Murdoch is fantastic just not my cup of tea for routine care. The real reason I'm asking online is I haven't had the best luck just calling around. Like a lot of people on the titer test threads I really am not getting the answers I'm looking for or even common courtesy at some of the places I've called. Which is really really disappointing. I don't like being made to feel as if I'm an idiot and possibly harming my pets because I want to compare prices, not give certain vaccines (Like leukemia to my indoor only negative cat), and titer test. Thanks for the replies!

Thanks for the reccs so far. I'm in Hammy Hill but I'm willing to drive if I find a great vet a little farther away.

Hi everyone! You'd think being a vet student I'd be able to find a local vet I want to take my pets to.... but I'm having trouble. Does anyone know a great vet in Perth? I'm looking for one SOR (preferably) that will titer test and is reasonably priced. Any suggestions?? Oh and one that runs a puppy class is a major bonus. Thanks!

Where can you find Diatomacious earth???? Thanks!

Thats very interesting to me. The Vet I saw had no preference for z/d vs. FP (thats is another hydrolosate food, right?). I just kept on typing z/d because it is what we carried in my old clinic, so I remember the name better. The presenter was positive that the gene stays active for 9-12 months. I suppose that going onto any of the hydrolosate foods would not allow the body to form any new allergies.... since everything is so small the body can't even recognize it...

Hi everyone, I haven't read all of the posts in this thread, just skimmed it, but I feel I need to pass on some information about food allergies in dogs. I went to continuing education seminar on food allergies about a year and a half ago given by the top veterinary food allergist in the US. He was the person who came up with the idea of novel protein diets and basically discoved food allergies in dogs (can't for the life of my remember his name at the moment right now though...) In dogs food allergies are due to a specific gene being turned on. If a dog carries this gene it may never turn on in its life time, or could turn on any time. However, if I remember correctly, it usually becomes active between 2-4 yrs of age. When this gene is turned on the dogs body starts developing allergies to the proteins (both plant and animal), and other things in food that it encounters. The dog will continue to create new allergies for 9-12 months. Then the gene turns off. This explains a lot of things. No food is hypoallergenic in general. Only food that a particular dog has never encountered while in this 9-12 month phase is hypoallergenic to that particular dog. This is why lamb and rice diets were touted in the states as hypoallergenic, it wasn't that lamb and rice are "better" foods, just that neither lamb nor rice had previously been used in dog foods in the US before. It also explains my a food may seem to alleviate symptoms in the beginning, but then the allergies come back. If you feed a novel food to a dog that still has the gene turned on the dog can become allergic to the new food. It also explains why dogs who have struggled for years with allergies are suddenly new dogs with no allergies when switched to a raw diet. Cooking does change the structure of proteins, so if the dog never saw the proteins in raw meat in that 9-12 month span raw is novel. Another important point I took from this seminar was that up to 25% of dogs will continue to react to z/d (or the royal cannin equivalent) even though the proteins are digested so small that the dog's body is incapable of recognizing them. That is how z/d works, everything in the food is pre-digested into such a small state the cells and enzymes in a dog's body cannot recognize it as foreign. The 25% of dogs that still react are most likely reacting to something from the process of making the food. And none of the dog food companies will let go of that info, as it is proprietary information. However, there is hope, those dogs that are still reacting to the other stuff from processing can be feed a hypoallergenic diet, it just has to be home made. So the veterinary allergist's recommendations were that: First and most importantly you must rule out everything else for itchiness. Second as maybe more importantly DO NOT switch foods for 1 year (from the onset of symptoms) with a dog you think is food allergic, you are only giving him MORE allergies. The other point he made with this is that if you do not wait one year then it is impossible to see if season changes bring variation. If season changes do bring variation then you also have to look into environmental allergies. After one year, do a really really thorough diet history of the dog and find one meat and one carb source the dog has never seen. Feed that diet for 90 days, or feed z/d for 90 days. No other food can pas through the dogs system, no treats, no heartgaurd chews, no human food. If after 90 days you see no improvement and you have been strict, with no mistakes, you have to start cooking for your dog with the novel foods to rule out allergies due to processing methods. He actually recommends going right to the home cooking. After that you will find out where you stand. If your dog is better than he can eat the novel protein and carb you have chosen. Some people then try to find other things they can add in, others just stick to what works. He does NOT recommend a raw diet, but did not elaborate on why. What I think: I'm going for a prey model raw diet with my pup (who I CANNOT wait for). I know they are better for dogs because they are species appropriate. I've done a lot of research and I am completely convinced. I think that the better nutrition our pets have the less likely it is for nasty immune problems to crop up, like allergy genes turning on. I think we should limit vaccine on our pets. This is a whole nother topic, but suffice it to say that I think over vaccinating can trigger a lot of things, including immune problems, like allergy genes turning on. If I were to have a raw fed, vaccine limited dog start acting like they may have food allergies... well I'd probably stick them on either a 2 ingredient kibble for one year and wait it out, or z/d for one year and wait it out, and then go back to raw, avoiding the foods feed in that one year. Sorry for the long post.... I just felt compelled to share the info....

Thanks for starting this thread. I don't have my pup yet.... very impatiently waiting I am going to be feeding a prey model raw diet. The only issue I have yet to resolve is cost. Perhaps this topic could also be a venue for sharing suppliers and even forming bulk buying co-opps? I know that in the US many major cities have a bulk buying group or two and it can really help save on cost and allow people to offer more variety.