karly101

Where I work a consult fee is per animal though we do have breeders consults which are cheaper. Regular clients may also only get charged 1 consult and quite often are not charged for revisits. Consult time is meant to be per 15 minutes but often goes longer than that and is not charged.

It all depends on the practice, but I've found most do charge 2 consults which is only fair as they do take longer and they are examining 2 animals.

I've only seen them in dogs with very thick under coats, so I would imagine very regular grooming and removing that undercoat would greatly help. Some people say that diet helps but hasn't seemed to make any difference in the dogs I've known.

Welcome back and may you achieve many other victories to come on the road to recovery ....

I'm fairly new to DOL but was reading your thread and whilst your story of waking up to a house on fire and the tragic loss was the stuff of nightmares, what you have achieved and reading your posts has been truly inspirational.

Yes you can use it.. seems to have gone a bit out of vogue to use it in first aid! You are only meant to use it for minor wounds, and apply pressure when using it for 5 minutes which will most likely stop the bleeding anyway!

I've only seen the intranasal done a couple of times .. and it looks really unpleasant and not something I'd want to do with my pup. That said.. theory based... its a lot better than the injectable one.

You may also find even in places that are following 3 year (I'm talking about the 3 year vacc as unfortunately vets are in a tricky situation using a 'yearly' vacc every 3 years) are still recommending annual vaccination as the kennel cough component of the vaccination does need to be done yearly, for those that do put their animals in a kennel or attend training places they do need an up to date C5 vacc.

The fact is there have been major issues with the drug & your vet would be fully aware if they keep themselves current with products they sell/administer

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I'm anti the injection, but I have to say, I don't believe there is any scientific evidence showing major issues with the injection in Australia. Our reps visit us every 6 weeks, my boss goes to listen to specialists talk almost every fortnight, we get the AVA newsletters, The Veterinarian magazine and not yet has there been information given to us about 'major issues'.

I've never seen a reaction to SR-12 and in our last clinic almost all our clients received it at the time of vaccination. I don't think it's fair to say a vet musn't keep up to date with the latest information because they haven't seen or heard of reactions proven to be from the drug.

If you can provide links or references though, and not just of people claiming to have reactions, then I'm more than happy to be proven wrong

I can also say.. not that we do a huge number of SR-12 injections but.. for the dogs we do them on... the majority we only see once a year for a vacc, many are now getting on a bit in age as well (as all our younger patients are recommended to use the monthlys purely from a cost perspective). Have never seen a reaction or had an owner ring upset that their dog was showing anything different/acting different after one.

Another example.... I was driving Turbo (german shepherd) to the local dog park.. I was 5 minutes away from home (on the same street!!) ...I was travelling 60 but slowing down towards a bend.... suddenly a guy coming from opposite direction swung in front of me on the wrong side of the road and most likely doing more than 60... we both slammed on the brakes, he spun round and ended up about 2 cm away from my car!

Turbo was harnessed in a static seat belt (I drive an old car) he was thrown slightly forward but harness did its job and stopped him hitting my back seat. IF he wasn't harnessed he would have hit me, most likely been injured, probably would have injured me and distracted me so much that I probably would have completely lost control of the car and impact would have occurred. Since that incident one of my friends sewed me a custom harness made out of seatbelt material with less slack in it (with how it buckles in) so he won't be thrown forward at all.

They are called ACCIDENTS for a reason...you hope and think it won't happen to you, but there are a lot of idiots out there. My other more serious accident (fortunately without dog) involved an unlicensed, unregistered driver who was driving at night without headlights! Sometimes you are in wrong place at the wrong time.

Check out Interceptor/Sentinel... both are cheaper options than Proheart,

Where I work the vet even recommends these over the injection, only clients who cannot remember at all get the yearly. We tell most people to put reminders into their mobile phones as makes it nice and easy to remember

If you want a really cheap vet during school term (too late now) TAFE in Box Hill is unbeatable for vaccinations and desexing, qualified vets and trainee nurses and you will actually get a proper check up for your pets. Lort Smith is also ok but can be a bit of wait to get in and depends on the vet on how much of a check up your pet will get. Otherwise ring around and get some prices of a vet local to you.

I have to admit to not using a seatbelt/harness.

My dog is car phobic and will only lie on the floor in the foot well, or in the back in the hatch.

She never moves from where she lies- she is too nervous.

I'm very confident that she is safely wedged in.

Consider watching some videos of what happens to occupants in a car accident, from what you've written you haven't been in a bad one. Your head smashes into the glass, your arms get thrown around and there's nothing you can do to stop it, cars also can roll and flip in an accident - she won't stay where she is either in the footwell or the hatch she will be thrown around ... violently.

You may also be surprised once you harness and buckle her in, all the dogs I've had are 100% more comfortable and better behaved in the car when they are securely placed in a harness/crate and restrained. After being in an accident myself and not even a high speed impact ... has changed how I looked at dogs in cars (no dog in mine at the time but most of the car windows smashed and an unrestrained dog would have been very badly injured) .

I don't think people realize the force involved in accidents, you're not going to be able to hold onto anything - the dog is going to go flying out the window and if they are in the backseat they may also severely injure you. Also, if you are involved in any sort of accident and the dog is not restrained you are most likely going to find your insurance is not going to cover you as the dog will be deemed a distraction.

A girl at my tafe (vet nurse) had her labrador in the passenger seat, restrained by leash tied onto a seat belt, whilst she was turning a corner he jumped out of the window and was dragged along the road for a few seconds as the seatbelt didn't lock but kept going! Fortunately, he wasn't too badly injured apart from painful gravel burn on his toes....she was glad that he hadn't done it whilst she was on the fwy a few minutes earlier.

I think a good fitting harness is probably the safest option in an accident, I like the ruff ride ones as they are accident tested. Someone from our car club told us about their sons severe car accident (he unfortunately didn't survive) the dogs were in a crate which was secured in the back, the force of the accident ripped the crate open and the dogs were both found on the road.

Hi karli 101,

You said that your sister bought the dog so it could sleep on her bed at night.

Maybe it won't bark if you allow it on your bed at night? But you probably don't want the dog on your bed.

It could be the reason for the barking however.

luvsablue

I thought maybe that might be the issue so from the second night I did allow him in my room (as he is usually sleeping on my bed from 10pm at night) but he refused to settle and kept barking either on the bed or at the door. Last night I allowed him on my bed till the point he started barking (from 3am last night) where I removed him into my sisters room again. Tonight I will give him a really long walk before bed (he had an hour one this morning as well) and hopefully we can both get some sleep tonight!

I've spoken to my sister and suggested the crate idea so we are going to start that when she gets home. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions so far.

Sounds like one of those stories...someone buys a cute fluffy puppy .... then treats it as a toy and not a DOG with needs.Result - a poor dog who is frustrated and who develops all sorts of bad habits because it has nothing else to occupy its mind.

This is the exact problem, I tried to convince her not to get a dog at the time but she went out and did it anyway. All she wants a dog for is to sleep on her bed at night...now she's going away for work and says no places allow dogs so I am stuck minding him.

Hadn't thought about crate training him, will definitely up the walks and training as well - he does have a huge amount of energy! Will check out the DVD is there anywhere to buy in Australia?

I am in Camberwell, my friend trains in Knox so am thinking of joining the obedience club there and getting some sort of formal training, I'm open to other training suggestions though! He has been a challenge because he's been allowed to be so naughty!

If anyone could give me some suggestions I'd very appreciative as I'm now on night 4 of no sleep!

I'm currently minding my sisters 3 year old shih tzu X whilst she is in Sydney, luckily she is only away for another week - but as of next year I'll be minding him for the whole year! We both live together, and normally he does bark quite a bit at passing pedestrians, traffic etc. At night he would perhaps bark once at a possum etc. Now whilst she's been away, he's been barking for the entire night!

Some background on him, my sister hasn't done any training with him (I've only recently moved back home) so he doesn't have recall, basic commands (I am slowly trying to train these things with him and have started with getting him to 'sit' and 'stay' whilst waiting for his dinner at night....been slow progress though!). Recall has been tricky as he has got away with not responding for so long. She also normally doesn't walk him, lately he's been getting at least 30 minute walk once a day.

I've tried ignoring him (but neighbours have already mentioned he has been loud..), putting him outside (worsens), and locking him in my sisters room (he still barks but its double brick so he's a lot more muffled and is furtherest room away from neighbours)!

Any suggestions on what I should be doing when he barks? Is a bark e collar a good option?

I don't think the bed is related to him being a little off.. am surprised they vaccinated if he wasn't his normal self.

Always had the shepherd on the bed, he is very well behaved and with a command at any time during the night (ie. when he's taking up too much space or has been lying on my feet and I no longer have any feeling in them) and he simply hops off the bed. On hot nights he prefers to sleep on the floor.

Yup it's all about getting out there and showing them off! People have become used to oodles....we have some gorgeous purebred dogs coming into my work (vet) other clients always comment on them. Its a good opportunity to educate and at the moment am giving them the hand outs for Dogs Vic big day out....

The only unfortunate thing is the come to us after they got the puppy so its hard to educate them on making the right choice...

How often were you applying the drops? You really do need to clean the ears out as well and often and then apply the dermotic after an hour, yes it will hurt her (poor darling nothing worse than sore ears!) but there will be improvements. If you are really having trouble the vet can help you do a cleaning by putting some local anesthetic on the ear and give them a good flush out to make it easier for you at home.

Ok, I just stopped because I thought i might have been doing more damage to the ears if it was hurting that much.

You could also ask your vet for some cortavance spray - it really really help with the itchyness and bring her some relief. It is a bit on the expensive side but one bottle will last you a long time.

Thanks ill look into it. So just spray it into her ear or onto the body? Would Dakartin spray from the chemist be similar?

Also another question, my other dog licks her ears i assume to clean them, should i let him do this or will this just make her ears more wet and infected?

Cortavance is a steroid spray, I don't believe there is a similar human product available, you would have to ask your vet for alternatives that are safe, I'm not even sure if the spray is right for her but may be something to help with the itchyness. So sounds like you really need a second opinion and to get on to cleaning the ears once a day and applying the dermotic twice a day.

Yes probably best to not let your other dog lick her ears as that will keep them warm and moist ...

How often were you applying the drops? You really do need to clean the ears out as well and often and then apply the dermotic after an hour, yes it will hurt her (poor darling nothing worse than sore ears!) but there will be improvements. If you are really having trouble the vet can help you do a cleaning by putting some local anesthetic on the ear and give them a good flush out to make it easier for you at home.

You could also ask your vet for some cortavance spray - it really really help with the itchyness and bring her some relief. It is a bit on the expensive side but one bottle will last you a long time.

Frontline and Advantix are from different companies and also have different active ingredients...I am not so familiar with Advantix as we don't stock it at my work... we have had a few complaints about the Frontline not working but its hard to comment on how valid they are as usually the product is not being used correctly (ie. applying it to dogs but not treating the cat).

You can also get away with only giving the Interceptor once every 6 weeks as if you read the product insert it does provide protection against heartworm longer than 30 days.

Karly, is your personal opinion or from what you have learnt from customer feedback, which product do you think is best. My mum only has one dog, and none of the topical drops kept the fleas off her Maltese. She now has her on Comfortis and her little girl barely has a problem with them now. Which is another reason why I'm hesitant to change, but I'm willing to try.

It really depends on your area.. I think perhaps if the Frontline is actually not working its probably because it has been overused in the area that I work, we haven't had any complaints with Advantage (which would be comparable to Advantix). I would probably give the Advantix a go as costwise I think it works out better than the Frontline anyway. For where I live, Sentinel is more than adequate to keep fleas at bay.

If I had kids I would probably stick to a regular worming schedule... just because they do tend to be playing in the backyard with the dog and a little less mindful than adults about washing hands etc I would rather know that worms are not going to be an issue.

Frontline and Advantix are from different companies and also have different active ingredients...I am not so familiar with Advantix as we don't stock it at my work... we have had a few complaints about the Frontline not working but its hard to comment on how valid they are as usually the product is not being used correctly (ie. applying it to dogs but not treating the cat).

You can also get away with only giving the Interceptor once every 6 weeks as if you read the product insert it does provide protection against heartworm longer than 30 days.

What about interceptor and Frontline/Advantix?

Comfortis is a good product but yes no use if your dog cannot handle it, Sentinel is good too but not as good for fleas. I'm not to fond of the annual heartworm unless you are likely to forget to use the monthly preventatives.

This stuff is good, won't harm dogs, cats, fauna, birds, earthworms (or children). It is also GOOD for the garden as it contains Iron Chelate

Milticrop Multiguard Slug and Snail Killer

No it's not safe -

"This case series of five dogs describes the effects of ingesting large amounts of an iron EDTA snail-bait product. In all cases signs of toxicity occurred between 6 and 24 h after ingestion and included abdominal pain and haemorrhagic gastroenteritis. Two of the dogs had pretreatment serum iron levels measured and in both cases the levels were above normal limits. All of the dogs were treated with iron chelation therapy and supportive care including intravenous fluids, analgesics, gastric protectants and antibiotics"

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111...0451.x/abstract

I think perhaps the owner was feeling guilty ...looks like the pup got hold of the whole box... poor little pup...

Support for older people who would like to keep their much loved companion - feeding/grooming/walking could all be done through a volunteer based program.

A program that encourages people to pick the right breed for them- free seminars/computer programs (already exist), all needs to be marketed better and BEFORE people get their dog! At the vet clinic time and time again we see people who have picked the wrong breed, it would be great if they came in and asked us for advice before they got the puppy. The kennel councils should be doing this, promoting purebreds and helping people choose the right breed. Shelters also need to improve their adoption services as well with informing people what the different breeds are like and making sure that the breed choice is correct.

Support for people who are having financial issues in regards to vet bills, we have had a few clients who have had to give up animals or euthanase simply because they can't afford to treat, Lort Smith used to provide this support but no longer, they also require a large sum of deposit money. For people who are really experiencing sudden (and generally it is short term) financial issues there should be better support so they don't have to give up their pet as well.

But from being at RSPCA the most common reasons for surrendering were -

'Go a new pet, old one does not like' - dumping the older animal for newer one

'Moving to rental'

'No time'

'Moving'

'Allergies'

I'm not sure how to overcome those issues.

Definitely vet...could be an ear infection, could be a foreign body, leave it longer and you may end up with an aural hemotoma... needs a vet to have a good look with an otoscope.

After volunteering there... I am still happy to give them my time in caring for the kitties there ..... but never money... it was grossly mismanaged and too top heavy. It was also very dog centric and it was often unfair that they got far more resources and in some cases, things that weren't really necessary. It was also frustrating that there was poor staff training (particularly on disease control) and they blamed the volunteers for spreading cat flu when most often I saw the volunteers following protocol and paid staff members not... frustrating!

Smaller organisations seem to get far more done on much smaller budgets. I'd donate to smaller rescue organisations as long as they meet my criteria (desexing rescues etc).