tdierikx

Please give little Max a hug from all his DOL aunties and uncles @shirra... let's hope his issues have either abated, or been treated... T.

I went with the search for enlarged adrenal glands @yellowgirl... and anaemia... Addisons can have the anaemia, while Cushings doesn't tend to. Addisons is also more likely to be diagnosed in older dogs, and Cushings more in younger dogs. Both are the main diseases that result in enlarged adrenals. The "patchy" liver is a worry though... and could be the cause of the anaemia if the "patches" are nasty things. Fingers crossed it's something relatively easily treatable, and Madeline is with us for a long time yet... Please give the sweet old thing a soft cuddle and kiss from me... and tell her to stop worrying her mumma... T.

I have owned 2 male Rotti's over the years - both were intact. 1 started pushing boundaries at puberty (around 18 months old), and only required some refresher obedience training to come back into line. The other boy was such a softie all his life... never pushed any boundaries at all. I have also worked with guard trained adult rottweilers of spurious breeding (for size rather than temperament), and 99% of those were just big softies wanting cuddles and attention when not working. They were all intact also. As your boy has been neutered, he is less likely to exhibit hormone driven behavioural changes, but normal adolescent boundary pushing may occur. As long as those instances are acted upon so he knows what behaviour is acceptable and what isn't, then really I wouldn't be concerned about what other people's perceptions are of "breed characteristics" based on alarmist internet postings by the sadly uninformed. Good socialisation and obedience training is key to reducing behavioural issues in any/all breeds of dog... and it looks like you are well on that road already. Don't pay any attention to the alarmists, really, they don't know what they are talking about, OK? Love and enjoy your boy, and he'll be a great canine citizen. T.

Has the vet tested for Addison's Disease? The symptoms appear to match unfortunately... T.

@asal - that is why I'm specifying the IDEXX SNAP Giardia test for the OP's dog - it tests for the enzymes released in a giardia infestation rather than the actual cysts. A standard faecal float looks for the presence of cysts in the stool sample via a microscope, but as giardia only releases cysts into the stool sporadically, the standard float test may produce a false negative for giardia. The standard float will show the presence of coccidia oocysts, which most dogs will have some of, but unless the oocyst numbers are extremely high in concentration, coccidiosis will be asymptomatic and not an issue. It is important to note that different magnifications are required to see coccidia oocytes or giardia cysts through the microscope. The IDEXX SNAP Giardia test is designed to detect enzymes released continuously by a giardia infection, hence being a much more accurate indicator of said infection. This test is 99% accurate in returning a correct diagnosis of giardia. Alternately, if giardia is even suspected, a course of Metronidazole (Flagyl), or Fenbendazole (Panacur) should be administered to treat it effectively. Neither would be detrimental to the dog even if administered prophylactically (just in case), so maybe if the dog is still symptomatic over a week after being treated for coccidia, the OP could ask for the giardia treatment drugs to cover all bases here. The OP doesn't specify how long after going to the vet their dog started showing signs of illness - the gestation period for giardia in dogs is usually 5 to 12 days (humans is 1 to 14 days), and the life cycle of canine coccidia is anywhere from 1 to 28 days once ingested. Giardia is mostly transmitted from infected water, and coccidia is contracted from ingesting infected faecal matter. The hygeine standards of a normal vet clinic should mitigate the contraction of coccidia whilst in care, unless someone has been very lax in cleaning the cage used for a dog's daytime stay for dental surgery. As stated in a previous post, a communal waterbowl would definitely be a possible infection route for giarda if not cleaned and refilled with fresh clean water regularly. It is important to note that some species of giardia and coccidia can be transmissable to humans also, so I hope the vet explained that to the OP when they took their dog home. Usually the 2 species of giardia found in dogs are not those that can infect humans. The form of coccidia that can affect humans is cryptosporidium, so if the vet suspected the dog had coccidiosis, then they should have advised the owner to practice very good hygeine when dealing with the dog while symptomatic (ie. has diarrhoea), especially if there are children that could be exposed to it. @shirra - please let us know of any progress with your daughter's little man... what is his name by the way? T.

Hmmm... adult dogs (at 4, the dog is an adult) are not usually overly symptomatic for coccidia, as their immune systems are usually robust enough to control the build up of such gut fauna. Also, it's hard to believe that a communal water bowl would be the source of a coccidial infection... more likely to be Giardia - very similar symptoms actually, but requires a totally different drug to treat it effectively. ie: Toltrazuril is used for coccidiosis, and Metronidazole or Fenbendazole for giardia. Coccidia is transferred by ingestion of infected faecal matter, giardia is mostly transferred often from infected water sources. The drugs for one disease will not effectively treat the other. There are specific types of faecal floats that can be performed to get a more accurate diagnosis of giardia - ask your vet for a Giardia ELISA test (IDEXX SNAP Giardia will be 99% accurate in diagnosis), as opposed to a basic faecal float which can give a lot of false negatives as the cysts are only shed sporadically. The IDEXX SNAP Giardia test looks for giarda specific enzymes which will always be present in an infected dog's stool. Left untreated - or not properly diagnosed - a parasitic infestation like giardia can possibly have an effect on cognitive function... but most tests regarding that link have been human based, so may or may not be relevant to dogs. I hope your little dog gets well soon! T.

Having difficulty seeing how a dog can contract coccidia in a vet clinic... hygiene standards would have to be VERY low for that to occur! Are they 100% certain that the dog had coccidia only, and not any other issues? Never heard of coccidia affecting the brain or nervous system like that in an adult dog... I'd be taking the dog to a vet immediately... not waiting to see if things get better on their own. A full checkup including bloods and another faecal float to make sure the coccidia has been effectively treated. T.

The Animal Welfare League have exactly the same powers as the RSPCA when it comes to enforcing POCTAA... but they don't seem to seize as many animals or take people to court with the same veracity. Maybe they are more focused on educating to help people comply with the regulation, rather than prosecuting for profit? When you consider that someone pleading guilty to 1 count of aggravated cruelty can score the RSPCA up to $20k in fines, and the fact that attempting to fight a number of charges will cost someone in excess of $100-200k in legal fees alone... can you see the efficacy of laying multiple charges, whether they can be proved or not, then offering to drop a number of those charges if a plea is made to at least 1? Easy money IMHO... T.

Many crossbreeds are bred nowadays for the money factor... give the cross a "breed" name like Cavachon or Cavapoo or similar, and charge exhorbitant sums for them... *sigh* Unless all breeding animals used are fully tested for issues they could pass on to their offspring, it's really a lottery in what will happen with the offspring... and sometimes, like asal pointed out, some issues are not that easy to weed out of a particular pure breed, let alone when crossing them with other breeds that may or may not help or hinder that process. T.

My friend's 2 dogs are on Ivory Coat... no issues, and she's been feeding it for a few years. T.

Not good... but we don't know exactly what she may have said to the vet about the ear infection. Could be that as a breeder, she might have had medications to use already at home, and he thought she would at least start the treatment? @anon2345 - what is the actual nature of the heart defect? Is it a faulty valve, a hole in the heart, or an irregular muscle function? T.

Are you saying that the fit to fly vet checkup was dated within 3 days of when you received the pup @anon2345? T.

I read it as the OP's vet has been sent the pup's records from the previous vet... and the OP has been given that info by their own vet from those records... perfectly normal and legal process. There is a small chance that the ear infection may have precipitated the heart murmur... certain infections can be a causal link. If that is the case, then maybe you could have a case for more refund of vet related expenses when/if you lodge a claim against the breeder. Basically, if the fact that the ear infection was left untreated by the breeder, and it has caused the heart problem, then the breeder may be liable for all costs related to treatment of the resulting defect. @anon2345 - has the ear infection been cleared up fully yet? Have you had follow up ultrasound or other imaging to find out if the murmur is definitely a defect in the heart, or is your vet only going by the ECG results that don't actually show same visually? Visual imaging will give you a much better idea of the severity (or not) of any defect of the heart. Certain heart murmurs found in young pups have been known to resolve on their own, so unless there is a physical defect causing the problem, I'd be loathe to jump to conclusions as to genetic or congenital causes without visual imaging to prove such physical defects exist. T.

You may have a case for the untreated ear infection costs... as that has vet records from breeder's vet with the diagnosis prior to the pup going to you. The heart condition may be harder if there is no mention of it when the breeder's vet did their checkup prior to the pup coming to you. Heart murmurs in pups can sometimes crop up and/or resolve on their own, but it can be hard to state categorically that they are genetic or congenital in nature, especially if prior vet checks haven't noted the issue - and he did pick up the ear infection at that checkup, so it wasn't totally half-arsed... a heart murmur is pretty obvious when heard through a stethoscope, even a low grade one. T.

I fostered this beautiful baby back in 2016... and she found the BEST ever forever home to boot! I still get updates regularly from her family... T.

Could have also been a reaction from the combination of any of the above... what was the antibiotic you were given? T.

We both know that "special" dogs are the best, yes? T.

"Disability? What disability?" - such a love of life he has... my eyes are leaking happy water... T.

Both pet and human medical insurance is a joke really... high premiums, and very little coverage overall. T.

For sure Snook... but we seem to only hear about those cases... and that leads some people to draw conclusions about medications that may not be supported by the actual data. I'm with you in that I only treat my own dogs if I see evidence of internal or external parasites. Not being in a high risk area, I don't see the point of doing them every month or so. T.

As with human vaccinations and medications, there may be adverse side effects in any individual human/animal. We hear about those mostly because human nature is to point out the bad, and not so much noise when everything is hunky dory. I'd be taking any outright claims of how "dangerous" any medication/vaccination is with a grain of salt, as the percentages of adverse effects versus no issues whatsoever may be a lot lower than claimed. T.

I had been going to a local vet clinic for years and was a loyal customer, and the vets that worked there even became my friends... until the owner of th practice sold to Greencross. Almost immediately, the vets were forced to upsell everything they could - and they were KPI driven to do so. The better vets left for other jobs elsewhere, and I found another great local vet clinic that now gets all my pet business... I don't like the Greencross upsell mentality, and their prices are shockingly high for any service whatsoever. The practice I do work placement at just had a Greencross open 300m down the road in the Petbarn... they are always empty, and we haven't lost any business whatsoever. It's just as convenient for people to drive the extra 300m up the road to us (who they know and trust) than to use the Greencross in the Petbarn. T.

A step in the right direction... yay! T.

RSPCA Yagoona (Sydney) definitely appears to run as a profit making business... but has charity status, so lots of tax breaks and government grants are an added bonus. As to how they determine which animals to put down - they use a "temperament test" that was developed to identify issues that may need to be worked on to make an animal rehomable, but not many actually get the time spent on those issues - most animals that "fail" the test are put down instead. I have a copy of the test, and can tell you that not many animals in a strange and stressful shelter environment surrounded by strangers will pass it... Most of the smaller RSPCA branches have good people doing good work... RSPCA Yagoona is massive, but has a pretty poor track record IMHO when it comes to allocation of resources for the betterment of outcomes for the animals in their care. T.

RSPCA in Sydney (Yagoona) is a shelter... which means they can only take in surrenders from the general public. They are not a pound that has to hold animals for specific periods of time so owners can reclaim them. That means that they can euthanaise animals from any point after the owner surrenders them. The figures for RSPCA NSW include the smaller branches in other areas of the state - some of which are pounds (and thus will have reclaim rates). I'd love to see the euthanaisia rates for the Yagoona shelter alone... I'm tipping that it will be much higher than the overall average for the rest of the shelters/pounds they run statewide, regardless of the vast sums of money the government has given them to upgrade it. T.