Red Fox

Okay, a bit of an odd question but I am curious. Around 3 weeks ago after a tummy bug and a round of antibiotics I started my dog on Inner Health Plus. It seemed to help settle the last of his gut issues but I also noticed something else - Kei has always had really gunky eyes (particularly first thing in the morning) and I was wiping goobers out of them out a couple of times a day. Nothing was wrong with him, no conjunctivitis or anything of the sort and I had just put it down to all the dust and dry weather we have up here. (We had already tried herbal eye drops, eye cream from the vets and cammomile tea in the past with little to no effect.) BUT, within a week of starting him on the probiotics he no longer had gunky eyes. None, nothing, it's now completely gone And over the past week or so his nose which has always been slightly dry on top is starting to very black and moist again So my question for those in the know is - do these issues all relate back to gut health. Could there have been a minor issue all along? Or is it all just a co-incidence?

hee hee I have been eyeballing that long line as well Unofurtnately I have a dog that needs to see an eye specialist and a horse with sore feet. Vet bills come first Well I caved in and went shopping today Not that I can afford it either ...and I already have a rubber long line

K9: Well I will be selling handling skills at the workshop, lol. People can still email me if they arent sure of what they need, I can help you choose SK... Lol, I emailed you last night at the old address ...and just then at the new one Can't wait for the SA workshop. I will be first in line for the 'handling skills' too ETA: He he, I saw the new address on your site and re-forwarded it to that one too.

Hey Steve, since you're in here - you're email address isn't changing is it?? Just checking

Me too ;) I have 3 boys, they are gentle and loving towards all animals, they have been taught well. I think rather than hate something that makes you uncomfortable why not invite them to pat your dog? Then they will becone animal loving adults rather than fear dogs, most hate comes from fear. While I understand some kids are downright scary, we were all kids once, and it's not nice to be hated. My dogs are regularly taken to kinders and school to become socialised to children, I hope they remain ok with them as they grow. Mind you I am very watchful that the kids are gently and behave correctly around them. Hmm, maybe I should add that i dont hate ALL kids (and yes, I actually have one :D ) But seriously, with the number of downright rude, misbehaved, obnoxious kids out there I find it hard NOT to cringe when I see one. Each to their own, we can't all be all goo goo, la la over kids Adults are a completely different story . Sooo MUCH easier to yell at and put in their place without getting yourself a dirty look from their mummy

Oooh can I have some of those as well I tripped over again today I blame my pants! :D I trip over my own feet half the time!

K9: Equipment Junkie lol, how long for? until we go broke! Seriously depends on stock, I would say about a week, no less though and YES if we have to back order anything you will still get it at the discounted price. Once we have sales numbers and discount is over, we will be trying to roll back prices as low as we can, but on the Packs, Bulk Buys etc, you will always save even more. Well I do want new tugs - But first I need you to get back to me with some suggestions lol. There is something else that I actually need though and have been wanting to buy for a while so I'm gonna have to place an order soon anyway Hmmm, pity you aren't selling handling skills and co-ordination though . I could certainly use some of those at the moment

K9: Go for it, 20% off everything lol, gee that hurts, but it for a good cause, limited time only! Whoohoo! How long for? I'm making my list now Hey Ness, you did read that there are bulk discounts right?

Sorry, I hate kids. Especially ones with no manners Kei is terrified of little kids and if they stare at him before I can re-direct his attention he will let out an almighty bark. Normally this scares the evil little buggers off, but of course the parents tend to glare at me if this happens so we try and avoid it. If it had of been me I probably would have said something very LOUDLY to this child along the lines of "it's rude to stare" Of course what I'd like to say is "Upset my dog one more time and I will let him eat you" But unfortunately that might get me into a spot of trouble so I have to restrain myself

What Nek said^^ Also, have you tried mixing anything in with the dry to make it more appetising? Some natural yogurt, sardines or even (yes it sounds gross but) a bit of blood/juice from some raw meat? I'm not suggesting you go offering him a million and one things as that WILL create a fussy eater but maybe the Euk is just not palatable for him The other thing I would try is to swap his bowl for a heavy ceramic bowl and see how that goes. When my dog was a puppy he was a bit funny about eating from a s/s bowl for some reason. He does eat and drink from them now but they are both on stands and if I do put a s/s bowl on the ground he will not eat from it. I think it may have something to do with the noise it makes if it slides along the ground and it scares him As a little pup I fed him from a cheap non slip plastic bowl then changed to an adjustable raised feeder once he was big enough.

Yeah I know what you mean lol. I think you can get soft crates that fold up like an accordain so the size folded would be that of the front/back of the crate rather than the base if that makes sense. No idea where you'd get them from though?? The tent looks cool but I wonder how strong it would be...?? Sooooo expensive though! Hmmm, I wonder if you could find one cheaper o/s :D

Hi Tilly. I just bought Kei a new soft crate and had the same problem as you in that I wanted/needed an XXL crate but it just wasn't going to fit in the car. After tearing my hair out for a couple of months on what to do (and with much help from the lovely Meg ;) ) I ended up buying an XL sized crate and crossed my fingers that Kei would fit. He does And it's brilliant Admittedly he is a little tall for it (he stands at 27") and he can't really stand up in there, but as for sleeping and stretching out it's fine. And really that's all I want him to do in there anyway. In fact I can't believe how fast he has taken to it, He absolutely adores it! Here a couple of pics of Kei making himself at home, oh around 2mins after I took it out of the box :D Mine is a K9+ Royale2 http://www.k9softdogcrates.com.au/index.ph...s&sp=royale and http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/K9-SoftDogC...s__W0QQ_armrsZ1 Hope that helps eta: Waggle have those Umbra tents. They look pretty cool but they're almost $300 http://waggle.com.au/egr-b25/umbra-pet-p352

Yes, I hope so Bowen is sounding quite positive so we will definitely give it a go. As for x-raying, Kei becomes very tense and frightened at the vets. He will simply not relax enough to not need a sedation. Having him stand for his examination today was a struggle enough, the poor boy just wanted to flatten himself to the ground and pretend it wasn't happening. The vet today could not say 100% that it was a rib, only that it was her gut feeling after examining him. The only way to tell for sure is to x-ray. Being that he is young I'm happy to try a few alternate therapies first and just keep an eye on it. If there are no changes then I can always have it x-rayed if and when he is desexed :rolleyes:

I was recommended to contact Douglas Wilson www.holisticvetonline.com Apparently he does over the phone consults. The recommendeation was only given to me yesterday though so I can't tell you what he is like.

Wow, that's really interesting! It does feel like an 'extra' rib but I just presumed that was impossible. Seems it not! I remember having pain myself, when my ribs were out. Although it wasn't affected by eating - it was breathing that hurt. Seeing as your Bowen Therapist is closer, maybe go back to him/her now that you've seen the Vet. The BT should be able to tell if something's out, I presume? I would also like to think he/she would be able to give you a 2nd opinion as to whether it is indeed a "floating rib". Must be hard to not have these people as 'on tap' as we do. Not only can we see either or both, but if we're not sure of one there are other good ones around that are fairly easily accessible. Thanks Erny. He's not in pain at all - unless he is hiding it very well. He does however seem to be a little 'slower' than usual if that makes sense..? Yes, it's a PITA living here and not having the choice. Haven't seen the local BT yet so don't know how good he is but do have the phone no. of another one who is supposedly very good and visits here every few weeks so at least there is that option. We did have an appointment on Wednesday with the but but he cancelled as he wanted me to have the lump checked first. To be honest I'm a little wary of chiros :rolleyes: I've never seen one myself and unfortunately my Mum's cousin had his spinal cord severed by a (not very good) chiro a few years back - needless to say that put me off Scary stuff! But in Kei's case it may be our best option. The chiro who has been recommended to me is supposed to be very good. Pity he is so far away though

Thanks Erny. I think I will go for bowen, chiro then x-rays in that order. If I can avoid the GA I will be much happier I did ring the chiro a few days ago and he advides me to see the vet first, bowen therapist also cancelled on me when I told him about the 'lump' and asked me to call him back next week Funnily enough he also suggested that it might be a rib, though when I called the chiro he told me that a rib out of place would be causing severe pain after eating (which this is not). Yep, I read all the things that Google brought up too lol. From what I understood all animals have 'floating ribs' but it can be more obvious on certain induviduals, or they can have ribs which are slightly out of place. I did also read somewhere that the rib can be manipulated back into place but I've no idea if this is true or not

Just did a Google search and it seems that 'floating rib' fits the description of Kei's 'lump' very well. It is on his right hand side, just after his ribcage and maybe 2"-3 down from his spine. It certainly feels like an extra rib, but very short and sticky outy. It doesn't seem to be quite in line with the others either and can only be felt on the one side. Has anyone had any experience with this and can it cause any probs? Can it be mainpulated back into place by a chiro? (if it even is out of place to begin with). Of course I dont want to self diagnose but I may as well look into it...

One of the reason I hate walking my dog in town. Poor boy thinks that "glass!" is another word for heel now Hope Pucky recovers soon.

Thanks Puggy, he is quite lean and of course still quite young so it may very well be a floating rib. It's easy to feel and only just visable when Kei is stretched out on his side - not so obvious when he is standing though. It's reassuring to know that you have seen similar in Pugs Unfortuantely Kei is easily stressed and the vet said she would only x-ray him under sedation.

It's not about the money by any means and yes, I'd rather not have the worry. But I'm more concerned about sedating him for an x-ray if it's something that can easily be dealt with be a chiro... Sedations and anaesthetics can wreak havok on the body so I prefer to avoid them where I can. If the vet had seemed OTT concerned about it I would have insisted on having him x-rayed ASAP. So at this stage it is definitely an option but not an urgent (or preferable) one.

My dog is close to 40kg's and he gets around 1kg of food per day split into 2 meals If your dog is not looking too skinny then I'm sure he's fine. And if he starts looking a bit thin, well then just throw him an extra wing in the mornings

Kei has a lump in his side. It is hard and quite deep in - it feels like a rib. Today I took him to the vet to have it checked out. She had a very good feel of it and said she also thinks it may be one of the very last shorter ribs that dogs have and that it's just more prominant in that side. (It can't be felt in the other) It is too deep to just do a biopsy (plus if it is a rib we dont want to be sticking a needle in it ) so the only way to be absolutely sure is to do an x-ray. However, as it's not painful or growing there is no rush to do this. The ball has now been left in my court and I'm not sure what to do? My gut instinct is saying to take him to a chiro and have him checked out. Unfortunately we dont have any in our area so it means an 8 hour round trip to do that so it might not happen immediately. Other option is to see a bowen therapist who may or may not be able to help (but I have access to locally so can't hurt to try). An x-ray seems to be a bit overkill at the moment but maybe I should just do it to put my mind at ease... Has anybody else been in this situation? For those that do use chiros for their dogs - do you think that this would be a better option? I mean a chiro should have a pretty good idea whether it a bone or not? shouldn't they? ETA: Kei is only 17 months old

You may want to add in some other offal (liver and kidney) somewhere but otherwise it sounds pretty good

It can stand up, but appears more 'fluffy'. Mostly, it is the hair on rump, base of tail and over shoulders that stands up more as what we're used to. OP - watch for the reasons WHY your pug is showing pilo erection. Not sure how old your Pug is but possibly entering 2nd fear impact period ??? The hackles generally indicate uncertainty or fear. Yep, Kei does that. Just raises a little patch of fur above his tail. I've not seen him so it many times but when he has done it he has been either very unsure of something or scared.

:D Nasty dogs those giant killer whippets