karly101

Sounds a bit like the symptoms we saw in our older dog... we just supported him as best we could - we had to cover some windows as he started to get agitated and barking at his reflection, keeping all his food/water in same spot, at night he wandered then would sleep all day. We didn't have this available back then but there is the Hills b/d which might be worth a try... its not expensive and since not a medication it won't have other side effects... http://www.hillspet.com/precise-nutrition-...rain-aging.html I think talking to your vet may give some other ideas as well...

Temporarily or small amounts are ok.. as a long term diet its not a great idea as dogs and cats have different nutritional needs. There are theories that too high protein levels may be implicated in renal failure in cats and am not sure if this would also be an issue if dogs were fed cats food long term.

I suggest she applies to clinics here and posts a 'looking for' add as well... http://www.kookaburravets.com/Australia/IndexOz.htm What other experience does she have? Retail is looked upon quite favorably as veterinary nursing is very much about delivering good customer service. Getting some volunteer work at Animal Aid/RSPCA/ might help her. And yes with above.. does she know what the pay is? It's very low.. and unfortunately the reason it is hard to get work as a trainee is that there is not much difference in pay rates between a qaulified and unqaulified nurse so its not so attractive to employers to employ a trainee.

Sashas blend has become way to expensive after take over... also had a few people say their dogs wouldn't touch the food once it was on it as well...and we had a lot of people complaining that it didn't work for them which is interesting. Hills J/d is another option.. at my work we've had a lot of good feedback on it and it works out cheaper than the powders + food for large dogs... Joint guard seems to also have a lot of positive feedback ...

Glad he's doing well Everythings Shiny- I/d is fine for puppies temporarily ... I wasn't mentioning it as a long term thing but as a just in a case of needing a bland diet (vomiting/diarrhea) ...I think it is better for puppies than just chicken and rice. And yes raw is digestible but I would worry if pups immune system is not good + all the environmental changes that they may be susceptible to bacteria that a healthy puppy wouldn't have issues with...

I wouldn't add raw until this puppy is very settled in as if in a poor condition the raw might just be enough to tip the poor little guy over.. raw isn't normally a problem for healthy puppies but from your description your puppy will probably need a bit of TLC to get to that stage. A good dry puppy food (maybe not the really rich formulas) and yes you can soak it in a little bit of milk initially (lactose free milk is fine it doesn't have to be puppy milk). If the stomach isn't handling that I would see the vet for canned I/d (or royal canin equivalent) ... normally cooked chicken and rice is sufficient but in a growing pup I think the I/d is a little better.

I'd probably titre test and decide ....if you wish too (and if your dog goes to kennels/obediance clubs) the kennel cough needs to be done yearly. And yes using an annually booster every 3 years is off label ... which is fine if you are aware of it - ie. just say the dog did come down with parvo then you wouldn't be able to have much recourse with the manufacturer as you are using the vaccine 'offlabel' but yes there's plenty of evidence the vaccine lasts much longer than a year. There are also the labelled 3 yearly vaccines (which are apparently not the same in component than the annual labelled ones). It's confusing.. I hope that made it less confusing

Drontal chews are fine to split...it is written on the packet that you can split them to make the dosage correct. It does work out much cheaper! In fact.. I think someone on here said inteceptor/sentinel can't be split but that just doesn't sound right to me that the active ingredient wouldn't be spread all around in the chew...

You could also try buying a large size comfortis and splitting the chews into smaller doses but it does depend on what the weights are on how easy it is to do it!... I wouldn't waste money on frontline...... advocate/advantage or revolution are better products and yes do be very careful you read the strength AND amount otherwise its very easy to overdose, especially if you have a smaller dog which will only have a very small amount. I know this information is all available on a pdf file on Revolutions website. These products do have a wider safety margin fortunately as manufacturers do test overdoses.

If you are using Comfortis then the Sentinel will be overkill as comfortis last for a month and kills fleas in about 30 minutes according to manufacturers website.. you can switch to the Interceptor and save a bit of money

Its all council dependent! But you'll find most its on lead at all times except in a designated off lead area....

From what I understand .. yes a high protein diet would not be great for her ..... perhaps if you read labels carefully a senior one may be more suitable for her as they are generally reduced protein... Would you consider one of the prescription diets (Hills l/d or k/d or Royal Canin - am not familiar with their range of low protein diets)...my friend put one of her dogs onto the k/d and he has been doing very well on it.

Probably not a bad idea to focus on another job and perhaps volunteer on the side just to give you an idea whether its the right industry for you... To do vet nursing at tafe in VIC you do need 15 hours of paid work a week.. plus the course fees so yes its a big commitment if you are not sure thats what you actually want to do! And to give you some ideas on pay scales... I earn more at Safeway than I do as my job as a vet nurse (in training but even once qualified I won't earn as much as I do at Safeway on weekends).. the award rate for working with animals is pretty bad but I do enjoy the job.

Also jobs with animals are not everywhere.. you may have to travel to get your foot in the door in the beginning. Perhaps ask any vet clinics, dog groomers near you if they accept any volunteers. Once there you can sign up to TAFE courses to give you some background to the practical side of things. Also... the wage for most of these jobs isn't great.. so probably check them out before you commit yourself to any courses.

Not having a go but... Why do people assume the dog has no pain when its limping? If there was no pain then they'd be walking normally... I'd get the vet to check out for peace of mind... going to a herding clinic after a trauma and you risk aggravating the injury and possibly permanent damage.

There aren't really set times it all depends on the individual ... generally break from food then just slowly introduce some very well cooked chicken and rice (canned food is probably too rich) ... small portions and see how she goes... if still going then definitely vet tomorrow.

The problem with greenies is gone..some girls from my tafe course soaked some in water and they completely dissolved in a few hours.... but thats interesting that they are made in china now I was just looking at purchasing some to give them a go! I feed the Hills T/d as a dental treat at the moment... or raw bones.. and have just started brushing my dogs teeth as well-if your dog tolerates that is a good way to keep teeth healthy and allows you to check up on them often as well..the vets sell a really nice thick flavoured doggie toothpaste (sorry can't remember the name) the ones I've tried from the petshops are too runny to get the job done well

Have tried it a couple of times but it usually results in dogs vomiting.. I use Ecopet rolls instead.

Only suggested seizure because of the screaming (my friends iggy used to do it when she fitted) and the uncontrolled pooping. But yes usually they are out of sorts after a seizure. Does Boomer normally go out travelling with you? Perhaps that did stress him out...I guess insect bite is fairly unlikely in the car?

Usually the news is quite slow to catch up on those kind of things so it could be an older outbreak... we had a few parvo cases over summer but they've dried up now I guess with the cold! For peace of mind.. it may be worth titre testing your dogs.

Possibly a seizure?

A shelter is NOT a nice place for dogs.. it's no surprise he was not his normal self. And no why keep a dog who is aggressive who has been surrendered (there's no second chance, surrendering means signing the dog over) for more than 24hours ...in their eyes its unsafe for staff - and when there are so many more 'adoptable' dogs that they could accept and fill up that pen. Its a hard reality. The should have rehomed him privately, surrendering to a shelter which does PTS and is brimming with dogs means you have to accept that its most likely the dog will be put to sleep. Perhaps part of the problem is RSPCA does promote a very fluffy image.. they should show the public more the reality of shelters - who can't handle the influx of animals from people who change their mind, can't be bothered, or who do have a change of circumstances.

I found this to be the case, I was feeding 5 cups of optimum or supercoat and struggling to keep condition on my german shepherd. He now gets 2 cups of Hills... costwise it works out much cheaper I think like $15 a week versus $10. Its very much on the individual dog though, I didn't have a high opinion of Hills but its working really well for him. The supermarket brands seem to go straight through him.

Not all vaccinations are the same.. there are different strains of parvo (CPV2a and CPV2b and another one not in australia yet as far as known CPV2c). Vaccination makers are not all the same as to what variant is included. AND even with vaccination there's still a chance the dog may contract parvo. From my experience from outbreaks near my workplace, we have not had any fully vaccinated dogs (as in following all the boosters and a year 1 of age vaccination - which I believe is the recommendation) contract parvo. We have seen cases in puppies not fully vaccinated and in older dogs who did not get vaccinations after the puppy series. I think the safest approach is titre testing and vaccinating as needed after the (roughly) 1 year of age vaccination. In my area this is a big cost issue though- it is cheaper to vaccinate (and sometimes we can barely get some clients to do that, even the basic puppy vaccinations) and titre testing is an option as well. Unfortunately, until manufacturers are on board vets are in a sticky situation, if they say a yearly vaccination is good for 3+ years and the dog does end up contracting a disease then they are in trouble as they didn't follow label recommendations.

I'm very sorry for your loss... Tragically it is an important reminder for everyone who is giving medications to monitor their pets very closely, sadly drug reactions do happen and its impossible to create a 100% safe drug. We haven't seen negative effects of Rimadyl at our practice (we are using Previcox more now) .. but we always warn owners to watch their pet, monitor poops and report any abnormalities straight away. Sometimes though reactions can happen fast and there's not much you can do. Remember even with humans similar cases occur as we are talking about biological systems and they are unique. I'm glad it was reported as I think many of these things aren't which makes it hard for changes to happen.