Rappie

It is not a drug that I am familiar with using but it is used occasionally. In older dogs, urine leakage is often with incompetence of the urethral sphincter mechanism that would usually prevent urine from exiting the bladder. It occurs most often when asleep or at rest but can also cause dribbling while they are walking around. Urge incontinence or overactive bladder is not something commonly recognised without there being an underlying cause such as chronic cystitis, uroliths or a mass within the bladder. In a dog of this age, I would consider a urinalysis and perhaps general blood tests to look for underlying causes that may increase water intake (or at least measure the water intake) first. Making sure there is a late night pee break to prevent excess bladder filling may also help. There are medications to improve the urethral sphincter tone which may be more appropriate for you dog. Ditropan is something that would only be used when all other causes of incontinence have been ruled out (or there is a specific condition identified that would be reasonably associated with urge incontinence).

The posters above are correct. The Australian Veterinary Association represents the veterinary industry and veterinarians who are members. The Veterinary Surgeons / Practitioners Board for the state that you are in is the appropriate contact for making a complaint. They may not give you any information about whether you have grounds for a complaint - but will assess each complaint if it is submitted to them. The boards themselves are made up of both veterinarians and non-veterinarians / members of the public (including a legal representative).

Well on a serious note - signs of discomfort in the nether regions would include things like: - reluctance to posture to urinate, whether this be leg cocking or squatting - walking awkwardly (like they've been hit in the goolies, regardless of whether they actually have any goolies) - copious thick white, yellow or green discharge, or any blood tinged discharge - persistent licking at the penis / prepuce - pain on gentle palpation of the penis / prepuce (from externally) - pain or reluctance to allow the penis to be exteriorised and an angry, red, inflamed or ulcerated surface to the mucosa and sometimes persistent engorgement of the bulbourethral gland even when 'quiet' (ie. not excited at all).

Pretty sure there's a long and involved (and quite amusing) topic on this in the archives, lol.

There are several factors that will influence cost including the type of blood tests (full profile or in house pre-anaesthetic panel), fluids, cost of radiographs and the number of plates being taken, possibly specialist interpretation of the films as well. It sounds about right for a spinal series (the whole spine, not just 2 views), blood work, fluids, hospital and general anaesthetic on prices around our clinic (Western Sydney). The majority of x-rays I take are under a general anaesthetic, but not all of them. Some are under sedation, some are conscious - this decision depends on both the patient and the region being examined. I don't hold dogs for xrays, nor do I permit the support staff to manually restrain animals unless there is no other option. If the animal can't be adequately positioned with support equipment (tape, sandbags, lead sheets etc) or with sedation then it will get a general anaesthetic. IMHO, in many cases a light, short general anaesthetic is safer than a heavy sedation. Spinal radiographs are best done under anaesthetic because they require specific positioning, must be straight, need support in various areas and if there is a suspicion of a spinal injury then the risk of causing further injury with a dog getting startled and jumping off the table must be minimised.

It's most likely 'willy goo'.

I would generally retest a level like that before I got too excited about it. Small elevations could be due to sample artifacts rather than a systemic problem.

The injectable vaccination for canine cough requires two injections 4 weeks apart for the series to be complete, but this pup doesn't need another C3. There is an injectable vaccine that covers only parainfluenza and bordatella (it's either known as PP/BI or KC, as opposed to the C4 + BB) - you might just need to see if you vet has it or not.

How did he go?

This type of injury is quite common - I've accidently slapped my own dog in the face with a rope toy too If the pupil on that side is constricted and he is avoiding light then it means the eye is painful, as well as probably having sore tissue surrounding the eye. It's common for them to get a condition called uveitis from blunt trauma to the eye (among other things) and it is definitely something that warrants a vet visit - if not tonight then first thing in the morning. They can also end up with corneal ulcers from abrasion.

Arthrodesis has the highest rate of success for treatment of this injury, particularly in a case where chronicity is a factor, not to mention a large breed, active dog. There are other methods of treatment, however they have lower success rates. Whether they are appropriate will depend on the patient and the opinion of the treating veterinarian.

160bpm is acceptable for a pup that age. Until they are a bit older, a pups cardiac output is dependent on their heart rate so the rate is necessarily higher to maintain adequate blood circulation. The heart rate will remain high even when they are sleeping, as opposed to adult dogs / humans where it may be quite low at rest.

You're welcome :D Whilst I'm deadly serious about not giving you the answers, you are welcome to ask questions. It might be worth reading some of the threads about desexing costs if you can dig them up - there are some good (if not heated) discussions from people working in veterinary clinics about various levels of care and important surgical considerations. They won't be sufficient to use as reference material but should give you a starting point for further reading and making your own decisions and recommendations.

Pretty sure I didn't really fully grasp the idea (or at least think it was a good one) until after I graduated :rofl: Principles, schminciples :laugh:

I have been a nurse mentor for our junior nurses for the last few years. These questions are all familiar, and although they seem tedious they are really just encouraging you to think and work through the questions step by step using the elusive concept of 'first principles'. As far as things to think about for the questions you have listed... 1. Pyometra is a particular condition. What is the name of the surgical procedure that is actually performed? I have searchedo for the procedure name and 'canine' using Google books and found a step by step outline of the procedure. You should be able to find the necessary instruments through this. What is different between a routine 'spey' and a 'pyo' (which is rarely routine!!)?. -What is it about these differences that might change which instruments you need? 2. What are the clinical signs of pyometra? How might these clinical signs influence pre-operative factors for a patient that undergoes anaesthesia? What are some of the characteristics of the drugs used for 'routine' premedication? Are there some characteristics that might not be desirable in a patient with pyometra? Are there specific aspects of pyometra that means the requirements would be different for a spey? 3. What is the normal length of stay for a spey? Go back to the clinical signs and metabolic changes - what might you want to see change before you discharge a patient? 4. If this is anything like other questions I have, I'd suggest you start at the beginning - from the time the dog is admitted to hospital. What do you need to do to prepare for surgery (including patient preparation). What might you need to do during surgery? What will you need to do afterwards? You're welcome to PM me if you like. It's highly unlikely that I'll give you the answers you need (because I'm not that nice ) but I'm happy to offer some assistance if you need it.

It depends on what tests are going to be done. For a faecal float performed in house (very common) then any clean container will be fine. You can get a sterile container from the vet for other tests like culture etc but a faecal flotation is usually the first step. The risk of getting significant bacterial contamination from not having a sterile container is small, considering that it is poo!

It's been about 10 months since I lost my little one, Dusk. I often wake up thinking that she's in our bed, but it's really just our other little dog. He never used to sleep in our bed and now he does. I don't 'see' her around, but I did have an unusual and vivid dream about her on Wednesday night. Though most of me is content to believe in coincidence, I can't help but think it was some kind of sign I started the day feeling really out of sorts, I'm not a very spiritual person but there's moment I'm content to believe in 'something'. We were some where 'happy', sunny rolling hills and a little farm house and she was frolicking the grass with our other two dogs (our first dog, and a little geriatric fellow I adopted from a client). It came time to go home and we all started walking down the driveway and she was hanging back. She was still all smiley so we kept walking. I turned around then and couldn't see her at first, but then saw her trotting back down the drive away from us. I saw something shiny and silver on the ground and bent over to pick it up (it's taken me ages to work out what it was, but I think it was the little cast of her paw I had made before she was cremated). Now I'm fully aware that dog don't talk and this may not make sense but she told me that she couldn't come with us because her soul couldn't leave, but since we could see her she knew we still had her in our heart. It basically ended with a strange combination of sadness and happiness, knowing that even though she's gone, she's ok. I think the thing that really messed with me was that on Thursday afternoon, I was faced with 3 'souls' that needed me to help them. I had an old Rottie that was quite aggressive but after taking the time to sedate him and look over him I found a very large, horrible tumour and he was euthanased. Then I had an elderly cat that had been missing for weeks and come home in a very sorry state. I don't know how she had hung on but she had something horrible happening in her mouth and she was also euthanased (there wasn't anything else to do). Then we had a young dog hit by a car. We started emergency treatment in an attempt to stabilise him but his injuries were too severe and he passed away I haven't had a day like that for many months

No they are 2 different formulas-we have a dog that can only have the response FP (fish and potato based) which you get through your vet :) I have only had experience with the prescription lines and mainly Royal Canin and Hills - but while searching for an ingredients list there were several sites that indicated that the Response FP had been renamed / replaced by the Custom Care line. I've seen the Response FP around when we've ordered it in - so nice to know it's still an existing line.

See if you can return it - you should be able to if you bought it from a vet clinic and it's nearly full.

The Response FP yes - seems the new formula is rice, sorghum and barley.

The Eukanuba Response FP formula (which I think is now Euk Custom Care Sensitive Skin & Coat) is another option. It's mainly fish but the overall fat content is reasonably high.

I can't help - except to wish you luck. We haven't been able to stock the dry Sensitivity Control for months since they announced that they were going to stop making it. Is avoiding the animal fat an issue of food allergy or due to the fat content in general? The Sensitivity Control formula also has animal fat on the ingredients list.

How long is each episode? Does it only happen once, or is it something that occurs intermittently over a coupe of days. I have seen some dogs with anxiety that will actively lick things, but it is much more deliberate that what your dog is doing in the video. I would consider, perhaps, an issue with the oral or pharyngeal cavity. In cases I have seen that have presented in a similar fashion, they have required an oral examination under general anaesthesia to be able to find the source of the problem (causes have been things like swallowed sewing thread, tonsilitis, severe ulcerative pharyngitis, dental associated gingivitis, small bone fragments lodged between teeth etc). This might be something to consider. Nausea can certainly cause licking, but it is more typically a 'lip smacking' type action.

Good news!

I have been using a drug called gabapentin more frequently for this kind of pain. It doesn't work that well alone but it does seem to work nicely with tramadol. I'm yet to use Onsior a lot, but I frequently use carprofen because it has a flexible dose range and can be given twice daily if required. I take it xrays have been done to reach a diagnosis of spondylosis? It is important to rule out other painful conditions as well (including intervertebral disc disease and osteoarthritis in any joint) as often the spondylosis deformans lesions can be quite significant on xray but may not be the only cause of pain.