tdierikx

Might be worth noting that this actually happens every year... snakes start to get out and about at this time of year, and the warmer weather will have them thirsty and looking for readily available water sources. The advice to keep your yards tidy and grass short is good... and I'd go one step further by setting drinking stations (for wildlife) at the far reaches of yards to keep the snakes as far away from the house and inhabitants as possible. They don't really want to be near us, but they need to find water when the usual drinking holes may have dried up in the heat. T.

The video that @Purdie posted makes some very good points about identifying dogs in order to impose restrictions on them. To date, this has been done here in Australia based on mostly physical characteristics - ie. pretty much any bull breed type dog with a red/pink nose will get identified as a "pitbull" or cross thereof. Not to mention that those doing the identifying are not always qualified sufficiently to do so. The problem faced by politicians is that the only thing they can do is make legislation - often as a kneejerk reaction to increased media reporting of a "problem". The media have a lot to answer for in this regard, as most incidents of dog on human attack are actually pretty rare, and also there is usually some trigger that leads to same - unfortunately reporting what led up to an attack is rarely reported, and some victims aren't willing to admit they may have done something that led to the dog(s) reacting badly. "Brain snaps" are even more rare in any breed - yes, they do very occasionally happen, but nowhere near as often as some (esp the media) will have you believe. Obviously banning and/or restricting certain breeds has not been an effective "solution" to the problem of dog-human attacks, as so many of the reports about such attacks invariably identify the attacking dog as being of some banned/restricted breed - bans and restrictions that have been in place for decades may I add... My personal feeling about certain dogs (of any breed) being more prone to dog-human aggression lies squarely on those who breed for a certain "market" - those people who want a dog because it "looks tough", with little regard for making sure that the animals produced are of sound temperament and safe to be out in the community. It's very rare to find that a dog that has attacked a human as having been bred by a reputable registered breeder... a statistic that is being conveniently overlooked as the media looks for the next "shocking" story to report and cause public outrage. There have been calls to ban Rottweilers more than once in the past, that hasn't eventuated yet, and the rate of Rotti attacks on humans over the years has statistically been very low (or non-existent). It also is interesting to note that Queensland are looking to ban a whole raft of dog breeds right now, and since the announcement of same, media reports of dog attacks nationwide has jumped dramatically. Coincidence? Maybe not. Obviously the solution to the problem of dog-human aggression is not as simple as just banning dogs that look to be a certain type... it's going to take a a much more multi-faceted approach to addressing what is required from the dog-owning public, so that every pet owner understands their obligations to the rest of society and to their pet. There also needs to be some effective solution to curtailing the indiscriminate breeding (which is NOT something reputable registered breeders are doing) of dogs willy-nilly in order to satisfy the market demand for pets. Pet ownership should not be seen as a "right", but as a "priviledge", and the onus should be squarely on pet owners to take responsibility for sourcing and raising socially acceptable animal citizens. T.

2 reports of Rottweiler attacks in less than a week... looks like there will be calls to ban them too soon... grrr! T.

I figured something triggered the dog somehow... T.

asal has a point... some sharpei's can be somewhat territorial and not overly friendly with visitors/strangers, and I'd always defer to the owner as to temperament regarding me wanting to approach one. The breed mix reported in the OP dog is not one I'd choose to create... too many factors in both breeds if not carefully managed that can lead to outcomes like that described in the article. One does wonder that if the dog had never shown any hint of what was to happen over the 8 years they family had owned it, that there might have been some triggering factor to cause this incident - be that underlying health issues in the dog, or some human induced factor that particular evening. As the dog has now been destroyed, no-one will ever know, and that just gives grist to the mill for those hell bent on banning certain breeds. I'd go so far as to suggest that a good 99% of dog attacks of this nature are not necessarily just a "brain snap" by the dog in question, but there will be some other factor that led up to the incident. Yes, "brain snaps" do occur, but they are not the norm, and are actually quite rare. The unsettling thing is that some in the media have been having a field day espousing their opinions about banning certain breeds - some, like Caleb Bond on Chris Kenny Tonight the other night calling for a whole list of breeds to be banned - incuding GSDs and Rottis - idiot!. Funnily enough, none seem to be calling for a ban on sharpeis, just the other breed in that dog's mix... and/or other breeds traditionally used for guard/protection work. When I had 5 rottweilers, I used to put them away when visitors came over... not because they were prone to wanting to hurt anyone, but more that some people don't appreciate multiple fully grown rottweilers trying to sit on their lap and trying to give them slobbery kisses. T.

I don't suppose we will ever know... T.

No idea about calendula, but have had great results with Canesten Once Daily cream from the chemist... and it renders the lesions non-contagious within 48 hours of application. F10 shampoo is also good at rendering the lesions non-contagious in the same sort of timeframe, but needs a contact time of at least 10 mins before rinsing off to be truly effective. T.

I've met a few too many "emotional support" dogs that are even more messed up than their owners, which is a shame really, as a sound animal used for that purpose is a literal lifesaver. Sometimes I wonder if some of them have been socialised properly before being "accredited" by whoever does that service. As for having to deal with nasty dog farts and slobber on a long flight... I'd say they have a case for some sort of proper compensation. T.

I have a litter of rescue pups here that I have been crate training one by one so that I know they should settle for their new owners once they leave me. They are also contained in a playpen either in the house (at night), or in my yard (during the day) when I can't supervise play/exploring. Each evening, I will take one pup from the playpen, and put them in a cage crate set up in the same room for a while - extending the time each session up to overnight by themselves. They can see me and the other pups, but essentially are on their own with a beddie and a couple of toys. Generally they have played with the toys for a short while, checked out the dimensions of their crate, had a little whinge/whimper, then settled down and just gone to sleep. I let them sleep for a little while, then go and open the crate... they will then either just stay there and sleep more, or slowly decide to come out, and then I'll pop them back in the playpen with their siblings, where they settle down and sleep again. During the day, I will have a couple of supervised free running sessions in the yard to let them really run about and stretch their legs, explore the yard and have individual cuddle sessions with me if they came asking. The free running sessions last from 15-45 mins depending on my time constraints. In the evening when we are all inside, each pup gets a good 30-45 mins of couch cuddles, where they get to settle on the couch with me watching TV, and just have them being nice and quiet on my lap or beside me. This trains them for quiet time before bed time, so they aren't hyped up and cause issues when it's time to sleep. The first pup has gone to his new home now, and reports are that he easily settled into his night crate in their bedroom and slept quietly all night... no whinging or getting upset at all. They also have a couple of playpens set up for when he's not supervised, one inside, and one in the yard, and he has settled straight into the daily routine beautifully. He is 10 weeks old. T.

I'm with asal and Dogsfevr... at 6 weeks it would be near on impossible to either diagnose a luxating patella in a puppy, let alone grade it. Just out of curiosity, is the vet involved going to be the one who performs the surgery, or is he advising a specialist orthopedic vet to do it? My first suggestion would be getting the pup to a specialist in orthopedics for a second opinion on this diagnosis. I would be extremely leery of any vet who thinks they can diagnose such an issue in a 6 week old pup, let alone one that advocates surgery for that issue before the pup has reached full maturation of the joint.. As stated by asal, patellar luxation is not necessarily a surgical case, as some dogs have perfected their own means of rectifying it as it happens, and are not in any level of actual pain when that happens. Any orthopedic surgery also has it's own risks and long term effects, such as earlier onset of arthritis... the trick is to understand what the trade-offs are for the dog's long term health and wellbeing, and whether we will be causing more of the latter in order to "fix" the former. I have a litter of small breed rescue pups here. They are 10 weeks old and all have quite loose joints, but that is perfectly normal for their developmental stage for their breed type. I remember watching them as tiny slugs just learning to get their legs under themselves to learn to walk, and was amazed at exactly how loose all the joints were and the strange angles they could get into. All 4 pups are now running and playing perfectly normally and developing well, albeit their joints are still a bit loose, as is perfectly normal for their developmental stage. I'd be interested to know what breed your pup is too... T.

How often is she being fed? If you are feeding her once a day, and that is in the evening, then maybe her drinking is related to eating what you are feeding her? I'm assuming you are feeding the kibble SPD food... If the above is the case, then maybe try 2 smaller meals a day, say morning and evening, or maybe a mix of kibble and tinned (or roll) SPD might take the edge off her thirst after eating. Kibble can be a bit salty/dry, so many dogs drink a lot more if on a kibble-only diet. T.

Here's a quote from one of the submissions to the vet shortage inquiry... "Vets are experts at euthanasia. And suicide." I'll just let that sink in... T.

If the same dog had been visiting the centre for at least 6 years without incident, one would wonder what was different about this particular day/encounter that triggered it to bite. I'm thinking that the whole story may never be truly known, and we all know how much the media love to beat up any dog bite incidents to immediately blame the dog... not to mention that all kids' mothers will say that their darling child would always behave appropriately around animals (which isn't always the case, as we all know). I'm certainly not trying to minimise the gravity of this incident, just that there may be factors around why that will never be reported. I hope the little boy eventually understands that this was a fairly rare thing to happen, and he keeps loving animals of all kinds, albeit with a little caution when he doesn't know the animal very well. T.

Yep... a very high proportion of those overseas students are leaving Australia shortly after gaining their degree... they are under no obligation to stay here and practice at all. Then add that to the fact that overseas student places in the vet courses outnumbers places for Australian (read subsidised) students, AND the fact that overseas students paying full fees are not subject to the rigorous entry level requirements that Australian students have to go through... well, can you see a problem here? Here's an interesting aside... speaking to a 2nd year vet science student (Syd Uni) recently who wasn't even aware that there was an inquiry into the vet shortage issues - even though their University sent their own delegation to appear at said inquiry. The universities appearing at the hearings were pretty much avoiding the issues of post graduated vets, essentially saying that they needed more funding from government, but also being a little vague as to what that extra funding would be spent on... For anyone interested, the transcripts from the hearings are now available for viewing... https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2964#tab-hearingsandtranscripts Note Emma and Abigail kept asking about "Veticare", and there was quite a bit of discussion about how a system similar to Medicare won't work, but some good suggestions about a telehealth model that may go some way to resolving some of the burdens faced by vets and pet owners. AWL's mobile clinic was also a great incentive, but the problems they have been facing need to be addressed to make the model a viable prospect long term. It was disappointing that the government had withdrawn the promised funding for the Byron Bay Wildlife clinic/hospital, which is a wonderful asset for sick and injured wildlife, and quite frankly we need more of those types of facilities, not less... One submission really stood out for me - that of Dr Jocelyn Birch Baker - she was also a witness at the hearings on day 1 - some really awesome solutions to some of the issues vets are facing on a daily basis that she has put into action at her own clinic(s) and are working very well... https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/submissions/79975/0061 Dr Jocelyn Birch Baker.pdf It will be interesting to see the final report from the inquiry... hopefully the Chair will have some level of control about keeping to the facts and not let Emma run roughshod over what information is included or discarded like she did in the puppy farming inquiry last term of office... grrr! The next big inquiry to watch out for is the one into NSW pounds... that committee is chaired by Emma and deputy chair is Abigail Boyd, both whom have some fairly strong AR agendas, so I'm not holding much hope for any real common sense results to come from that... but miracles can happen... fingers crossed. Les see what the composition of the witness list is for those hearings... I'm tipping it's going to be overloaded with AR leaning groups screaming doom and gloom and calling for all breeders to be banned, etc... An interesting note re the pounds inquiry... submission entry closed on 18 August, yet none have been published on the inquiry webpages to date. Normally submissions are published either as they come in and are vetted, or within a couple of days of the closing date... we are now 2 weeks post that date, and nothing published yet... which is highly anomalous. T.

So much discussed at yesterday's hearings, and this waffle is the only take-away the media gets? Sentient are an Animal Rights organisation set on restricting animal ownership, and certainly don't speak for the vet industry in any way, shape, or form. "Key concerns included a lack of work life balance, pay concerns and the increased pressure from 3 million ‘pandemic pets’ due to Covid." And they also missed the overriding largest issue faced by vets (and all vet clinic staff actually) - which is unrealistic expectations from clients, and the high incidence of abuse (both verbal AND physical) when clients are faced with the actual costs of those expectations. This was closely followed by the fact that graduating vets have not been taught the realities of working in the industry, such as the long hours, low pay, and the human to human communication skills required - after all, you are primarily dealing with humans who own the animals you see/treat. Graduating vets are also not inclined to work in mixed practice (small AND large animals), preferring to stay in urban areas and where the client base is more predictable and the pay a bit better than rural/regional practice. Another issue that was raised is that vet nurses are facing very similar issues as vets, and are leaving the profession in large numbers too. If they think vets get paid crap, vet nurses are paid even less - effectively not receiving a living wage even if they secure permanent full-time work. Hospitality staff waiting tables or making coffees get paid a better hourly rate than vet nurses (and in some cases even more than vets)... just let that sink in for a while... the person making the pretty pattern in the crema of your coffee gets paid better than the vet nurse who is in charge of monitoring your pet's anaesthesia and vital signs during surgery... With regard to the abuse issue, that has been a growing problem in society overall. People in customer facing jobs have been subject to increasing levels of abuse over the past few years, often bearing the brunt of people's ire for any number of things beyond their control. This attitude needs to stop, and we all need to treat each other with the level of respect we expect for ourselves... it's not really all that hard, honest! The vet shortage inquiry hearings continue today from 9:30am for anyone interested - today's witnesses are from organisations representing vet nurses and vet education facilities (universities) - might be interesting to get their take on why the graduates they train aren't the least bit prepared for the realities of life as a vet. T.

Our farm dog hated peas, so we'd hide a single pea in his dinner - a mix of leftovers and kibble - that he'd wolf down in seconds... except for one solitary shiny clean pea left in the bottom of his bowl... lol! When I was a student vet nurse, the head nurse told me to go give a cat a pill, so I went to the cat, opened it's mouth, inserted the pill down the back, then closed it's mouth and blew gently in it's nose to make it swallow... job done, no mess, no fuss! Then the head nurse said that pilling the cat was a test, to see how I'd handle a cat that apparently was a bastard to pill... I offered to teach her my method, but she declined and just said that I was now the designated cat piller person... grrr! T.

Link to Easy Thumbnails software... it's free, and I highly recommend it too. https://www.fookes.com/easy-thumbnails T.

Did the lump get to that size over time, or has it come up more suddenly? I would be having the vet actually look at it and feel it to make sure that it's just an inflammatory reaction, and not something more sinister like an abscess that may require some intervention to stop it getting worse. Better safe than sorry is the general rule here... T.

My eyes are leaking... in a good way... Thank you @sandgrubber T.

The clinic I worked at didn't add the antibiotic shot after surgery as a line item, as it was included in the surgery cost... as was the long acting pain relief shot all animals also get. When I was with the rescue I fostered lots of pups for, I was never given antibiotics for any of the pups after desexing surgery, and they all healed just fine with no complications. There is usually no real need to give a week's worth of antibiotics after any surgery, unless it is a particularly long and tricky one where the inside of the animal is exposed to the air for an extended period of time. T.

They possibly gave her a long acting antibiotic injection at the end of surgery before she woke up (the clinic I was at did it with every surgery), and if her surgery was the first of the day, then she would have recovered from the anaesthetic earlier, and been ready to go home earlier. Some dogs recover really quickly from the anaesthetics, so why keep them sitting in a cage at the clinic when they could be home in a familiar environment? T.

Low dose hormones? For thyroid maybe? Or for her incontinence? If the hormones are for her thyroid, maybe they are no longer at the right dose, and need upping a little? Hyper behaviour could be a symptom of thyroid issues. In what way was she "sick for a week"? And I'd be looking for reasons for a sudden development of a cough, such as possible heart disease... I'd be booking a visit with my vet asap, and getting a full blood panel done, including thyroid markers, and a good listen to her chest for any heart or lung irregularities. Depending on the blood results and/or any anomalies with heart or lungs, I would follow vet advice for any future tests that may need to be done to get to the bottom of the sudden onset of her strange symptoms. T.

Considering that the bill she got passed last year requiring all pounds to offer animals to rescue has actually made pounds leery of destroying any animal for fear of repercussions, and has ended up with most rescues being offered animals that need extensive rehabilitation before they can be rehomed, some of the problems many pounds face right now are of her actual making... grrr! "We're talking about happy, healthy, reliable animals that are being euthanased," she said. - I call bulldust... generally those being euthanaised are not exactly great pet prospects, but as the legislation only stipulates that physical health as the benchmark for keeping them alive, mental issues in these animals are sadly overlooked as a perfectly legitimate reason for ending suffering. Note that the only organisations quoted (or giving comment) in this piece are AJP and Animal Liberation... one sided much? RSPCA obviously didn't want to comment, nor did any other overseeing government body (or they weren't given enough time to make a response). Another interesting note about this article is that it doesn't give any link to the inquiry itself... so for those interested in making any submissions, here it is... https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2970 Don't hold your breath for a common sense approach to this inquiry though, as Emma is chairing it, and her pet Greens member Abigail Boyd) is also on the committee. Between them, it's gonna be quite loaded with an animal rights agenda of limiting pet ownership. Be prepared for the witness list giving in-person testimony to be heavily populated by animal rights groups and those sympathetic to the "cause", and the final report to be loaded with excerpts of their testimony in order to push the AJP/Greens agenda. All that said, I fully support any positive and common sense change that makes life for not only the animals, but the humans involved in their care also, better. T.

As a vet nurse, I can't help but to clarify that on animals, it's called a necropsy... just my inner word nazi kicking in, and no offense meant to anyone. A basic necropsy performed by a vet is not an expensive or complicated process, but if tissue samples and fluids are sent off for examination by a pathologist, that will increase the cost exponentially. A couple of times when I was in my last job, we had a goat or lamb suddenly pass, and our local vet actually did necropsies on them for free - he figured that learning what had happened and then formulating preventative measures to ensure no repeat incidents was the best course of action. The one time we formally requested a necropsy, I think the cost was around $40... no pathology sent off. T.

Two happy and healthy doglets... stunning! I can't help noticing that while Hailey looks always "switched on" and really alert, Apollo has a much softer facial expression... is he really just a big goofball? T.