tdierikx

A very merry Christmas to all my fellow DOLers... To those doing it tough... may your day be better than you hoped, and all my wishes for a better 2020 are with you... To those surrounded by good friends and family... may your food coma be the best ever... *grin* I'm off to work to be surrounded by a bunch of the coolest, friendliest, and lovey animals... I'll be getting lots of cuddles and kisses, and is where I prefer to be today... T.

It sounds like you have her treatment well in hand @Leon... and you got in really early, which is paramount to having a good outcome. I wouldn't solely rely on the SNAP test for a 100% guarantee that she has Parvo though... the margin for false positives is higher than claimed by the manufacturer in all honesty. The best indicator of what is going on is that she's still with us 4 days into treatment... a VERY promising sign that she's a little fighter and may well beat this hurdle. The treatment for suspected Parvo is to be put on fluids to support your pup while the bug is fought by the pup's own immune system. This will cause diarrhoea if she's not eating solids as yet, as she has nothing solid to turn into properly formed faeces in her tummy... so the diarrhoea might not be related to the bug. Mind you, Parvo diarrhoea has a VERY distinctive smell, which I have found to be probably the better indicator of that disease than even the antigen test. There are so many other bugs that a pup can get that mimic the symptoms of Parvo, that sometimes even very experienced vets can jump to the wrong conclusion... but fortunately, the treatment and supportive care is exactly the same regardless of which actual bug they may have, OK? Just one other question comes to mind here... was she also wormed at the same time as she had her vaccination? I have seen cases where pups have been very ill after having both on the same day - not common, but not rare either. I have raised well over 300 puppies myself (rescue litters), so have seen pretty much everything that can go wrong despite all the best intentions by breeders, owners, and vets. We are forgetting the most important thing here in all of this though... what is your little one's name? And do you have any photos of her that you can share with us, so we can fawn over her cuteness? I would say that as your pup fell ill within 24 hours of being picked up from the breeder, that you may well have a case for getting some form of compensation from the breeder to help with the bill for her treatment, but that probably will only be up to the price you paid for her. I don't know of many bugs that have a 24 hour gestation period... most will be from 48 hours up to around 2 weeks. There are a couple of strains of parvo that gestate in 48 hours, but your timeline indicates you hadn't had her in your care quite that long. Also, the vaccines used nowadays have a 3-5 day take-up time - but are tempered by whether the pup has residual immunities from their mother, which is why we follow 2 or 3 vaccination protocols... to cover for this anomaly. One last thing... if Parvo is the suspect in this case, then you will need to try to disinfect everything your pup has come into contact with - bedding, floors, clothes, etc. Ask the vet for some F10 disinfectant, and follow the instructions on the bottle to make up the correct strength to work on the virus pathogens. Leave the F10 on for at least 30 minutes at that strength... you don't have to wash it off if you don't need to, as it is safe for pets and humans anyways, OK? Parvo is a nasty bugger that is hard to get rid of in the environment, and has a long life... F10 is one of the few very effective disinfectants that will help reduce it's presence. T.

I fostered a stunning pair of Labradoodle/Lurcher crosses back in the day... errr! They were SO PRETTY! T.

I work as a vet nurse and use those antigen tests regularly, and I can confirm that recently vaccinated (and symptomless) pups can and do test positive for Parvo after vaccination with a modified live vaccine. Would you be able to just humour me and let me know how recently, before the Parvo test, your pup was vaccinated? And how is she doing with/after treatment? I am genuinely interested in the outcome for your little one @Leon... and hoping that she's pulled through OK... T.

Parvo tests can give a false positive if the pup has been vaccinated within the past week... and vaccinosis can display similar symptoms to parvo as well... When was your pup last vaccinated? T.

After all costs have been addressed (rent, utilities, salaries, medicines, consumables, etc), vet clinics don't really make a heck of a lot of profit... especially when compared with their human medicine counterparts - who are subsidised by Medicare, so they only appear "cheaper"... Vet science courses at Uni are also almost impossible to get into here... the list of prerequisites are ridiculous. It's MUCH easier to get into human medicine courses... T.

Vets are able to refuse to euthanaise healthy animals nowadays... and they do... We had a really nice finish to our day yesterday though... a little poodle having difficulty delivering her 3rd and final bub was delivered safely and we all got tiny puppy and sweet mumma cuddles. It's times like that which can really boost the morale... T.

It's so very sad that the rates are measurable in ANY profession really... What I can say is that depression is avery real side effect of working in the veterinary field (nurses included). Most enter the profession to do their very best to preserve life and the quality of same... but the reality is that ending life is a much larger part of the job than anyone will really let on, and this is not exactly something that one shrugs off as "just part of the job", each life is as precious to us as it is to the family it belongs to... it can be soul destroying at times... T.

Sounds dodgy to me... can't drive due to surgery, but can go on holidays? Wants pup gone before it is 8 weeks old. Has no-one available to look after dogs while on holiday. Changing all transport/delivery arrangements at the last moment AND then telling you that you are going to lose whatever deposit you've put down already. Dodgy AF IMHO. Personally, I say maybe you need to cut your losses here and find a pup elsewhere... T.

Those eyes... they both adore you by the looks of things... smart doggies! How old is Don now? He's still a very handsome boy, even with the grey... I think it looks distinguished, not old... *grin* T.

Is your submission up there yet @asal? T.

Looks like a lot of the outstanding submissions have now been uploaded to the website... https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/listofcommittees/Pages/committee-details.aspx?pk=263#tab-submissions Mine's there now... phew! T.

OMG!! A baby Weim... squeeeee! Welcome to DOL Otto... you handsome boy you! T.

I find that it's a "do as we say, not as we do" attitude LG... there is no accountability, so why do they have to change? Any charity that spends more of their money/resources to try to raise more money, rather than on what their core business is, is just shonky imho... T.

I thought that in order to seize or destroy stock farmed herds, that a Stock Welfare Panel should be convened well in advance of such seizure or destroying... https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/animals-and-livestock/animal-welfare/inspections-and-enforcement - see the Stock Welfare sections T.

My Lab loved getting brushed or run through with the shedding/undercoat rake, but she hated the furminator for some reason... none of my dogs liked it particularly much, and a wriggling dog is not fun to brush... T.

" An RSPCA NSW spokesman said it was possible the animal had been in a condition which made it cruel to keep it alive and it was euthanised before being delivered to Burns Pet Foods. " Considering that already dead animals are not normally transported to an abbatoir for processing, I call bullshit... Think about it... non-refrigerated truck doing multiple deliveries of animals to various places (the invoice shown has more than 1 horse being transported to more than 1 destination). The carcass would be in a state of decomposition that would make it unusable for processing for any form of consumption. The use of the term "euthanised" is also interesting... it brings to mind the humane method of injecting an overdose of anaesthetic to bring about swift and painless death... however, that method would deem a carcass unfit for processing for any form of consumption due to the chemicals used to kill it. I know for a fact that there are companies that specialise in the removal and proper disposal of deceased stock animals under the Waste Management (EPA) laws in NSW, and they certainly don't deliver those animals to an abbatoir. T.

I'm tipping this was changed because inspectors can't enter your dwelling unless they have a warrant and police to serve it... they CAN enter any other building on your property however... Education costs money, and doesn't get the same level of media attention as a "successful" prosecution of some poor sap... T.

The Act allows for inspectors to give directions to rectify a situation rather than proceeding straight to siezure and prosecution if they "reasonably suspect" that an offence is being or is about to be committed with regards to animals in a person's care... AWL seem to manage this part of the job more effectively than RSPCA... T.

NSW state govt has already paid for new kennel blocks for the Yagoona shelter... and for the shmick all mod-cons vet clinic... and just been given another 12,000,000 this year for some other upgrade to the place... oh and a nice long extension of the dirt cheap lease of the land it all sits on (which apparently will save RSPCA approx 12 million more over the time period, due to how cheap the rent for said land is). T.

Hailey is exquisite! Love love love lean fit Rotti bods! T.

RSPCA NSW spent 5 million plus on fundraising last year... and raised 13 million plus from it... that's an 8 million "profit". They report that around 4 million was spent on animals... you do the maths... Of 15,637 cases investigated by 32 inspectors, only 77 prosecutions came about, and fines revenue was 102,110... apparently inspectorate animal care cost 1,120,166 (an estimate according to their own annual report) They hold 110,000,000 (roughly) of non-cash assets... T.

Me too... scary, isn't it? They've made some very pertinent points and steered clear of the crazy rhetoric they are usually known for... T.

Just got email confirmation that my submission has been received... woohoo! T.

Thanks LG... you da best! T.