tdierikx

The party is in it's infancy right now... but with the right people in place... I just made my first post in their Facebook group... and I think they are all loving me big time... lol! Someone even went so far as to call me "knowledgeable" and thinks I should be on the front line of communications... hehe! Seeing as my active animal caring job days may be severely numbered, I've been looking for something that I could sink my teeth into whilst still remaining connected to the animal industry in a meaningful way... fingers crossed they can live up to the expectation... T.

Found the Facebook group... have joined... now to wait and see if they are something I want to be a part of. I'm so sick of Emma Hurst and AJP sneaking bills through with little resistance until after the fact... grrr! There needs to be a dissenting voice of reason in such matters. T.

Well... it seems the new laws don't apply to the RSPCA... they just get to police it... grrr! They can still go on killing with impunity... *sigh* T.

Ummm... the "shelter" at Yagoona... T.

I wonder what Ms Hurst can do to sort out the kill rates at NSW's largest "rescue" shelter? T.

Hell yeah!!! Handsome boy! T.

The largest chain is the worst offender... I make sure to avoid them at all costs, as the upselling push really puts me off. As for costs... say your pet requires fluids as part of their treatment. The actual bag of said fluids costs a LOT less than you will be billed for it... but then factor in the time taken for the vet to diagnose the issue and order said fluids to be administered, the time taken for the vet nurses to catheterise your pet, set up the drip machine to deliver the fluids at the right flow rate, attach the line to the catheter, make sure your pet is comfortable and resting well to accept the fluids, and then checking all vital signs every 15 mins whilst the fluids are being administered, and changing up a new bag if required... quite a few costs involved to do a "simple" task really... *grin* T.

As someone who has actually seen the invoices with all the prices paid for stock in a vet clinic, I can say that markup on those prices still barely covered the running costs of said clinic. T.

I am certainly not a fan of the "upsell" prevalent in so many of the chain (we all know who they are) vet clinics... to the point that I refuse to take any of my animals to them if I can avoid it. I do know that even vet nurses are trained to do it as part of their courses... so assume that vet students are taught the same. I understand why the prices can be a bit steep in vet clinics... there are many overheads that need to be paid for that might not be obvious to the general public. Equipment that needs maintaining, rent, wages, stock maintenance, etc... none of it is cheap... Most clinics are happy enough to write a client a prescription for medications if asked... but may charge a small fee for it. Then you can try your luck getting the medications online at a slightly cheaper price. Note that some medications may require the pet to be regularly checked over by the vet to make sure the meds are doing their job properly, and that the pet doesn't need dosage changes, etc... T.

When I took Pickles to the emergency vet clinic nearest to my place in the first week of the last Sydney lockdown I had a less than great experience. She had eaten something that had ruptured something inside, and was vomiting up blood. I had already gently palpated her abdomen and could feel the obstruction that was causing the issue. She was a very sick girl, and I've seen enough of these things to know that even with surgery, her outcome was going to be poor. I was there to end her suffering pure and simple. What transpired was that Pickles was taken inside, and I was left outside in the carpark. The vet eventually called my mobile, and started trying to push for doing a myriad of tests, suggestions of surgery with a very low chance of success, etc. I was forced to basically plead with the vet to just cut to the chase and end Pickles' suffering... all while other people were milling about, listening to my end of the conversation, and giving me side-eye. An already traumatic situation was compounded by the complete lack of privacy, and the vet's insistence for wanting to try all sorts of things that weren't actually going to fix the problem at hand. I was firm but calm, and eventually was led to an isolated room to be with Pickles as she became an angel. Based on that one visit to that emergency vet clinic, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone... but at the time, I just handled the situation as calmly as possible, paid the bill, and left. I can see how people would become agitated and/or upset and angry in a situation like that... it was all I could do to stay calm myself... and I've been in that sort of situation more often than I care to count... working with animals does have it's downside... Oh... and the next day, I recieved a text message from the emergency clinic ostensibly "following up" on Pickles' "progress"... ummm... not very professional IMHO. As a complete contrast, I once had to take a young goat to the vet clinic near my work. The goat had a distended stomach (not bloat) and was in quite a bit of pain and distress. The vet did an ultrasound, took a sample of the fluid in the abdomen, did a thorough check all over the goat, and unfortunately it had to be euthanaised due to a ruptured bladder. Not only was the vet kind and caring with the goat, his bedside manner with it's human (me) was second to none. AND then he only charged a consultation fee for the visit. That clinic ended up getting all of our business, including weekly visits to my work to maintain all the animals' health and wellbeing... and we had over 200 animals at any given time. 3 guesses which vet clinic I ended up taking bunny to the other day... T. ETA: My neighbour came over yesterday to tell me they had received a lovely condolence card from the vet for the passing of their bunny...

It just seemed pretty strange that a practising vet couldn't stomach doing what amounts to a good 45-50% of their standard job function. Anything more complicated than a male neuter was off the table when she was on... and quite frankly, a vet nurse can actually perform a basic neuter if it comes down to it. Vet nurses already do all of the basic scale and polish dental jobs... the vet only steps in if a tooth needs removing. It's actually interesting to know exactly how much "vet" work the nurses perform on any given day... T.

I am a fully trained zookeeper and vet nurse - something that both local vets I called about the bunny knew - not that it took any of that training to know that bunny's front leg was badly broken, and that it was not a treatable problem. It was made perfectly clear that this was going to be a euthanaisia case, as bunny was suffering. As a vet nurse, I am trained to be able to gas down an animal and/or find a vein (and insert a catheter) for a vet if needed... which is not outside any scope of practice here. Basically, I could have done the procedure myself had I the access to the drug required for the job. When I was doing my vet nursing work placement, I saw the numbers of people with pocket pets (rabbits and guinea pigs) rise even over the 2 years I was in training. It seems ridiculous that some vets are choosing to stick to the "safe" bread and butter fare of dogs and cats only - desexing and dentals make up at least 90% of what happens in a suburban vet clinic nowadays... *sigh*... I even came across one locum vet we had that refused to do speys, as she wasn't "comfortable" doing them... WTF?? All that said... I still stick to my previous statement that a good vet is worth their weight in platinum. Their job is not an easy one, yet they still turn up day after day trying to do their very best for each and every animal (and owner) that comes through their doors. T.

I must say that I was surprised and very disapointed to find that virtually no local vet clinic wanted to see my neighbour's bunny the other week when it broke it's leg and needed to be given it's wings. My own treating vet refused to see it, even thopugh he knows that my diagnoses of such things are pretty darned spot on... and the clinic I did my vet nursing work placement (where this same bunny had been desexed a year ago no less) was the same... refused to even look at the bunny. Seriously, I had to drive clear across Sydney to the only vet I knew for sure would see the bunny... a 35km and hour's drive away. How freaking difficult is it to gas down a bunny and do the right thing to stop it's suffering? Last time I looked, the jugular is in pretty much the same place in a bunny as in a dog or cat if one needs to find a good sized vein in a hurry... even I can find that one... you don't need to be experienced in pocket pets to euthanaise one. T.

Exactly! I seemed to be the one they all wanted to hug and cry on... maybe I just gave off the vibe that I understand exactly how they are feeling, and that gives them some comfort? Dealing with emergencies, surgeries, cranky or rude clients, etc... definitely easier to deal with emotionally than the losses. It's because in all the other scenarios, you can actually DO something to try to make things better... but death is so final and so upsetting for all involved. T.

@Loving my Oldies... even when one of my dogs almost died during her spey surgery - not through any fault of the vet doing the procedure may I add - and then the naughty beast chewed her stitches out 4 days post surgery... there was never any thought from me that anyone at your brother's clinic had done anything wrong. Their standard of care was excellent at all times. Your brother was also most understanding when I had one of my pet rats in for a consult, and the receptionist insisted the cage be set on the floor while we waited... then the clinic cat decided to check out my rat, and the rat savaged the cat, who then proceeded to tear up the hall and out the back area bleeding all over the place from the nasty bite on it's nose. He made the receptionist clean up the mess because she had refused to let me put the rat cage up off the floor... apparently she was a bit funny about seeing rats... errr! When I was doing my student placement for Vet Nursing, I actually found that the hardest clients to have to deal with were the ones in the grip of grief at the passing of their furry companions. In many cases, the clinic staff had gotten to know the old and ailing pets, and we had feelings for them too... but one isn't supposed to show that to clients... we are supposed to console them while our own hearts may be breaking as well. It's soul destroying to have a giant bear of a man hanging onto you sobbing his heart out at the loss of his old mate... and that can happen more than once in any given day. Cranky clients are just the tip of the iceberg... T.

Some years before I met you @Loving my Oldies, I had the honour of your brother treating my pets. He was my beloved heart dog Woosie's first doctor, and he was so lovely that she never lost her love of going to the vet for anything she needed... she knew he was good people, and loved him very much. Your brother treated my first 4 dogs, and a few of my pet rats to boot. Your brother happily gave me advice when one of my dogs decided to have a difficult whelping on Christmas Day... when he was the poor sod on call that day... and he was ready to drop everything and come help if needed. Good vets are very special people... T.

The best adventures are had with Rotties, yes? They are gorgeous @grumpette... T.

Jodie is now with Stevie, Sam, Rocky, and Greg. She passed peacefully this morning with a tiny bit of help from her fave vet and in Katdogs' arms. It was her time... I will cherish all the memories I have of this awesome little black dog. She joined Katdogs' family with an unknown history, but fit in perfectly. I've been priviledged to have known her since she arrived nearly 16 years ago. I'll remember her complete obsession with tennis balls, and her insane athleticism when she jumped to catch them in the air, landed perfectly on all fours, and then came running back to give you the ball to throw again and again. She definitely picked her perfect family with a tennis coach and access to LOTS of tennis balls... lol! I'm gonna miss my little friend and the special cuddles only she knew how to give me... when I needed them and came to visit. Fly free with the angels JoJo... you were the very goodest girl... T.

@asal... any ideas? Huckleberry looks like he really wants to be a good boy... and is only young, so some training might sort out his barking issues... T.

I'm at a bit of a loss with this one... hence suggesting posting here for possible advice or ideas as to what may be going on. One would think that something like poison or a stroke would be showing escalating symptomology by now, so I'm leaning towards ruling those out... but I'm not a vet... Since both episodes have started out in the yard when she was on her own, maybe supervised toilet breaks are advisable for tonight at least... then see how she does overnight and if she's any more settled in the morning? If the Rescue Remedy is having a positive effect, I'd keep topping her up as necessary overnight to try and let her get some much needed rest/sleep. A good sleep might help a lot... If things get scary overnight, call me and I'll be there in a shot... anything at all for you and my little buddy JoJo... T.

I've always had multiple dogs... upwards of 3 is my general leaning... but I'm a crazy dog lady of the highest order... *grin* Be aware that they may all get on famously... or there may be problems. There is no magic "formula" to how things will pan out long term. My experience is that males can tend to be more submissive to the females, but obviously others have had different experiences. I do know that once 2 females decide that they don't like each other, it can escalate VERY quickly, and the best advice there is that they will need to be separated permanently once that scenario occurs - they will try to kill each other given the chance... In my last group of 4, I had some pretty strict management going on, as all were female, and all had issues with at least one of the others. I am now down to one dog, and am actually enjoying not having to manage issues... although I REALLY want another dog (or 3). Not gonna happen while this one is here though, as she hates all other dogs, and I'll be buggered if I'm going to have to manage issues again. T.

Most likely the latter, as evey inch of her was soaked through a few times. I will say that she recovered very quickly once the storm was over though, so usually by the time I got home it was all over and she was fine... just wet... T.

My Zeddy felt safe in the bathroom... but the door had to be closed for her to settle fully. Once the door was closed, she would just lie down in there and go to sleep. Pickles preferred to just lie near me and tremble until it was all over... if I was at home when a storm came. If I was out, when I came home she would be soaked through as though she had been out in the rain for some reason... ?? As for the mower, both wanted to attack it if it was on, so they were shut inside the house when I did any mowing. Luckily, Harper doesn't seem to be affected by thunderstorms or fireworks... but she wants to kill the mower, so gets shut inside when that is on. T.

Harper is 9 years old now, and being Dane cross, is a large breed dog. Evey indicator says that she should be showing signs of old age, such as arthritis, etc... but this is not the case. She still runs around like a 2 year old, and as stated before, hasn't had to see a vet for any health related issues for around 7-8 years... maybe I'm doing something right? As she was born to a dog that had ended up in the pound whilst pregnant, one can't necessarily say she would have gotten the very best care while in utero - until her mum came to our rescue shortly before whelping. I do know that once born, she and her siblings were given the very best care... but can post birth care negate possible in-utero neglect? Maybe she is just genetically blessed? All dogs (just as all humans) are different/unique, and as such should be cared for as individuals. What works well for one, may not work as well for the next... The pet care industry has exploded in recent years... and a lot of "advice" has been driven by profit making by the companies that stand to make the most of the boom... food for thought... T.

Pickles' dogmother used to be the CEO of the AVA... with a doctorate based on animal vaccines. She told me that the basic C3 vaccine will generally provide protection against Parvo, Distemper, and Canine Hepatis for around 7 years... longer if the dog in question is subjected to conditions where those diseases are in the environment - due to small attacks regularly by those diseases keeping the antibodies fighting them active, such as when I was continuously bringing home foster pups from pounds and other unknown backgrounds, my dogs were essentially being exposed regularly to all manner of things including the big 3 diseases, and that was actually a good thing for their immune systems. Funnily enough though, the Canine Cough addition vaccines (C4/5 extras that cover influenza and bordatella) only provide protection against those bugs for around 6 months... pretty much the same as how our annual human flu shots work. If your dog may be at risk of Canine Cough, then annual boosters are recommended. All of my dogs have generally only had their puppy vaccinations (C3 only) and their first adult booster shot... then nothing unless I had to board them somewhere. As for diet... over the years my various dogs have been fed various diets... from supermarket kibble/tinned, to high end premium kibble, and Harper is currently basically on raw chicken carcases or turkey necks. Very few of them have ever had any diet related issues regardless of what they were being fed... and none of them have ever been regular patients at any vet clinic. The last time my vet saw Harper for a medical problem was about 7-8 years ago when she was stung by a bee and turned out to be highly allergic... *sigh* Vets (and vet nurses) are educated to give advice about "complete and balanced" diets - essentially plugging the premium kibble options is part of their "job". Whether this is completely medically sound advice, or the premuim kibble manufacturers have a hand in forming general opinion is moot... technically, the general idea is to feed your dog whatever it is doing well on. Most dogs do well on the premium kibbles out there... but many also do just fine on kitchen scraps or supemarket pet food options. I won't poo-poo Reiki... I have actually used it to good effect on one of my own dogs. Also, some supplements containing strange ingredients can be beneficial for aging issues like arthritis and the like, so I won't poo-poo those either - especially when many studies have proven that some of them actually work, and have less side effects on the body than traditional medicines used for those problems. I would much rather feed an arthritic dog Antinol (or similar) than anti-inflammatory medications that can damage kidneys or liver if used long term. I will say that I am not your average pet owner... my vet actually said that I only come to him for a second opinion or medications... *grin* (pretty much sums it up though). I also have years of hands on experience with various animal species and their possible medical problems. I now have my Vet Nursing qualification, and am a qualified zookeeper also. I can be a vet's worst nightmare client... or an effective participant in diagnosis/treatment of any issue with an animal in my care... it's up to the vet which rendition of me they choose to deal with... *grin* T.