tdierikx

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.

If one google maps the Yagoona site, and looks at satellite view, you can see all of the new kennel blocks and huge vet clinic/office building that have already been built - with almost half of the latest grant value. I'd love to know what else they can rebuild there that will cost $12 million. One thing that you'll also see is that none of the exercise yards/areas have been upgraded, but still, those won't come anywhere near that figure to sort out. Let's not forget that the extended lease agreement and cheap rental rate equates to a saving of around $7 million over those 20 years too. T.

A drop of peppermint oil on the collar or harness can help with car sickness... worth a try... T.

If it is a cyst, it will not necessarily resolve on it's own, as they have a nasty habit of forming a skin around themselves which just fills up again unless removed. The stuff that you are squeezing out is actually a form of pus or dead skin cells that are congregating inside the cyst. If it's not bothering him and not getting bigger, then I'd just leave it... but if it gets bigger and becomes unsightly or sore, then maybe would look at surgical removal. T.

You can upload the video to Youtube and post the link here... would help to see the symptoms... T.

I have to drive past the Yagoona shelter on my way to work, and they've been upgrading the facilities there for at least the past 2.5 years. The vet clinic was the first upgrade, and I am reliably informed that around $2 million was spent on it... apparently it's pretty swish and has all mod cons, including a state of the art eye clinic... I haven't been inside it, so can't confirm myself. The new kennel blocks look to be almost completely finished now also. All those upgrades apparently were using a $7.5 million grant from the NSW State Government a few years back. I am at a loss to see what further upgrades are needing the $12 million apparently just recently spotted by the NSW State Government (June 20, 2019)... especially since the most recent upgrades don't seem to have made a single dent in the operating practices (read euthanaisia rates still disproportionately high) - funnily enough, no info on what the money is actually going to be spent on... And back in January this year, the NSW State Government also extended the lease for the Yagoona Shelter land for another 20 years... at a rental rate of $481 a year - https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/lands/news/lease-extension-to-save-rspca-millions T.

With the limited number of public areas dogs are allowed to venture out to nowadays, is it any wonder that so many of them are not as well socialised as we'd like? Just saying... T.

Skin issues can be only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blue/blue bred staffies... I have seen a few hermaphrodites... also some with sight/hearing issues... I'd be more likely to go with breeder who doesn't breed specifically for blue, but occasionally throws same in regular coloured litters. I'd be very leery of anyone who tries to talk up how "healthy" their blue/blue bred pups will be long term. I'd also like to know how anyone can be mains registering (for breeding/showing) Staffords that are not conforming to the colour standards set for the breed. Oh... and blue Staffords are as rare as rocks nowadays, so paying higher prices for them is ridiculous and money-grabbing. T.

I assisted a dental on a 9 year old beagle cross the other day... she had a fair bit of plaque, but only one small pre-molar needed extraction. Her owner was so upset that her dog must have been in pain from that one small tooth... but we assured her that where that particular tooth was, it wasn't too involved with her eating, so she may not have really noticed any pain from it actually. All of the rest of her teeth were in beautiful condition, just had some plaque build-up. As for bad breath, that can have other sources... not only from teeth issues. Some gastric issues will cause bad breath too. Best to get a thorough vet checkup (and full bloods) to make sure it's only from a bit of muck on the teeth and not something else more sinister... T.

Is your roof colorbond or corrugated iron? And the rain makes noise on it? Just because you mentioned she barks at the blender, I'm thinking it could be noise related... There are rain/storm CD's that you can buy to try to desensitise dogs to the noises of same... maybe you could see if she reacts to one of those? I have a storm phobic dog myself at the moment, but just normal rain doesn't upset her much at all - we've deduced that she is sensing the barometric drop that happens with proper storms, so noise desentising doesn't work for her. She knows a storm is coming hours before it happens... *sigh* T.

You could try putting a dollop of plain greek yoghurt in her dinner... won't necessarily stop the farts, but will take the bad smell away... a good teaspoon should do it. T.

Pickles is somewhat indifferent to the cold, but if it's particularly chilly, she'll either hog the heater or take herself off to her own nice warm beddie... and of course tries to push me off my electric blanket overnight... lol! Harper has a toasty warm jacket that she will not let me take off pretty much ALL winter... *sigh* I'm more of a sook when it comes to the cold weather than my dogs... lol! T.

@Snook... from what I understand, Antinol's active ingredient is extracted differently to other green-lipped mussel formulas... something about this process apparently makes the difference as to it's efficacy over other formulas. T.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722199/ Another study using green-lipped mussel extract on dogs - with amounts given listed... T.

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2011/307121/ Section 6 of the above discusses some dosage rates and testing done on dogs with arthritis @Snook I'm thinking the active ingredient in Antinol is a closely guarded secret at this stage, therefore comparing it to other green-lipped mussel extracts may not necessarily give similar results. T.

Have you talked about Polaramine or Zyrtec with your vet? I have seen lots of dogs taking one or the other with few side effects... and they are cheaper than Claratyne and Aerius. T.

Love the smarty ones trying to go up the side to not get their feet wet... lol! T.

Did your girl have papers with her registered kennel name on them? If so, you could contact DogsQLD and ask whether that breeder is still active... If you run into all the dead ends 16 years could throw at you, then if I may be so bold as to recommend another excellent Labrador breeder in NSW... look at Tapua Labradors... I've met a few, and they are stunning in both conformation AND temperament. T.

@Loving my Oldies... that's most likely so the receipts can go to the right people for their tax purposes... nothing sinister... T.

My friend's dog is doing great on Antinol... I'd highly recommend it @Snook... T.

The beauty of a killed/modified live vaccine... doesn't require to be administered by a vet... *grin* T.

Bad breath can be indicative of digestive issues also... not just teetth/gum issues... Maybe a full blood panel might be helpful to make sure all is well with your boy? T.