Staff'n'Toller

It's fine to use Milbemax every three months in combination with the Proheart injection. 

Monthly heart worm treatment is retrospective, so if you want to switch back, you just resume monthly medications one month after the Proheart would have been due. 

On 2 February 2017 at 8:21 PM, Dame Aussie said:

I won't lie I'm really struggling  I keep thinking we should do more training but then I'm terrified we'll slip up and if he hurt her then rehoming wouldn't be an option anymore. I can't decide what to do.  I can't stop crying

I'm sorry that you have found yourself in this position, it would be extremely upsetting and stressful. 

Since you are a long-term doler I'm going to say it straight - I wouldn't rehome him. 

Even if he goes into a home where there are no babies planned, you can't guarantee that crawling babies will never visit that home, or that his new owners will be as dog savvy about it. There is also a huge risk that he may be rehomed again, and that that information is never passed on.

I know that it is very upsetting, but he has had 8 fantastic years with you, if you move him on - he becomes a liability to someone else. It wouldn't sit well with my conscience if it were me, that he might hurt someone else's precious baby because the adults weren't aware.  

Blackmores PAW now make Denosyl (SAMe) with milk thistle for dogs and cats in different weight ranges. It's called Denamarin. Ask your Vet about it. :)

Hill's Prescription i/d has been a pancreatitis diet for a long time and it works very well, there is a lot of science and research behind both the Hill's Prescription and Royal Canin Veterinary diets.

Royal Canin G.I. Low Fat is newer to the market and may suit her better - you should definitely give it a try for 4-6 weeks before you look at other possibilities. :)

Pancreatitis is very serious and unfortunately some dogs can tolerate small amounts of fat after recovery, and others have a tiny amount and it triggers repeated attacks.

Thanks for all the ideas. Good to hear the Solvit brand is long lasting.

I looked at the Crazy Sales ramps but I think the $179 one won't be quite long enough, although I'm still waiting to find out the length of the Ranger tray to see if the Solvit XL will fit, folded up.

It's for a Shepherd, so a motorcycle ramp may not be wide enough. Hopefully she'll use it once trained to! :)

Hi guys,

Just after opinions since I haven't bought one for ages...

I need a really good quality dog ramp for a Ford Ranger, it's very high, I'm thinking the Solvit XL Ramp for SUV's would be the best choice?

Any other good options out there? :D

I have looked at these and reckon Solvit are the bees knees. No experience though.

Thanks TSD!

Hi guys,

Just after opinions since I haven't bought one for ages...

I need a really good quality dog ramp for a Ford Ranger, it's very high, I'm thinking the Solvit XL Ramp for SUV's would be the best choice?

Any other good options out there? :D

You can buy it from your work. Snooza sell it by the roll. :)

Oh do they? Cool, will check it out.

Yes, well, they did when I bought my roll a few years back. But only in blue and white back then. :)

You can buy it from your work. Snooza sell it by the roll. :)

Reducing food is a fairly old-school idea, when you reduce it you can often push them into fat storage mode. All foods are complete and balanced at the recommended feeding amounts, but if you are cutting that by 1/3 or 1/2 they may be missing out on adequate vitamins/minerals during that time.

There is a metabolic + mobility (metabolic plus) recently out, which has the benefits of both metabolic and j/d. It's quite pricey but it is the cost of two prescription foods so the price reflects that.

Thanks staff - just read your edited post. She only has one functioning kidney and is on cd Prescriptives. I've been trying to encourage her to have this by adding freshly steamed chicken. The creme cheese is for the medication.

Any suggestions of food types for her?

Thanks, Kavik. I was washing her with malaseb but can't at the moment because she has sutures from the biopsies. The other issue is the cold. Hair dryers on hot will hurt her skin more nad it's far too cold to leave her damp. I've begun to use cold cloths on her skin to try and ease it for her. It's awful. She looks like she's suffering burns all over her body. .

You can ask your vet to call Hill's helpline and liaise with the technical vets there, your vet can also forward them any relevant history and they can make the best suggestions - it's a free service. :)

I'm not sure where you reside at the moment but I think you can do email/skype consultation with Rob Hilton - he would charge for this though.

Best of luck.

No idea sorry...I found this from one of our skin specialists in Vic: http://www.skinvet.org/downloads/2584026/Discoid+Lupus+Erythematosus+in+Dogs.pdf

Also this: https://www.zoetisus.com/Conditions/Pages/Dermatology/lupus-erythematosus.aspx

You need a consult with a skin specialist or internal medicine specialist if her condition is not improving.

You might also need to consider some critical/urgent care high calorie prescription food and/or nutrigel to help keep her condition- but check with your vet first to ensure the food is compatible with her medical history i.e. no previous pancreatitis etc.

My dogs have got weatherbeeta coats and I've been very happy. Heard somewhere they went out of business though?

One of the main distributors in AU of the dog coat lines has gone into liquidation. We can't access any of the new weatherbeeta range from any veterinary wholesalers this year.

I'm not sure where Horseland source theirs from though.

I have found the Weatherbeeta Landa to be the warmest out of that range, but my fave coats ever are Chilly Dogs - the Great White North coat. :)

We seem to have a bit of success with Troy Plaque Off powder for dogs that just need maintenance.

Hi Leoni, I've never heard of that type of reaction! Very interesting.

Please make an adverse reaction report to: Bayer Animal Health 1800 678 368. :)

I use a clicker and a (bridge) word. The dogs don't seem to mind as long as the criteria is the same. :)

I've also taught myself to make the click sound with the same sort of tone. :p In a class situation though, a bridge word is the best as you can alter the volume as long as the tone is relatively the same every time.

Cool thanks S & T,

So combining the two will then be ok for occasions when I am not using clicker?

A word is fine in place of a clicker, as long as you have charged it up like you did with the clicker, and you make a conscious effort to make it sound the same each time. :)

I use a clicker and a (bridge) word. The dogs don't seem to mind as long as the criteria is the same. :)

I've also taught myself to make the click sound with the same sort of tone. :p In a class situation though, a bridge word is the best as you can alter the volume as long as the tone is relatively the same every time.

When my Toller had to be crated for a tendon injury, he ate all of his meals out of stuffed kongs and I also supplemented with chewy type foods, venison ears, carrots, apples etc.

I crated him for periods outside under our pergola so he could be outside and watch stuff.

Whilst day boarding might be out of your reach financially and logistically...your dog can swim after suture removal so Aquapaws or Woofpurnay might be able to offer a day boarding service for you 2-3 times a week with a staff member doing controlled swimming during the day.

I know that Woofpurnay do/did swim their boarding dogs.

You can ask for the bandaging to be removed if it's too difficult. As long as they stay very quiet it's more of an insurance policy.

Does anyone know where I can get relatively inexpensive firehose dummies? They appear to be quite expensive and then the postage on top of it from overseas pretty much rules it out!

Not sure if there are any WA people who come here that much but if anyone is reading this and wants to go in on a group order for some retrieving supplies, let me know - we might be able to get away with reduced postage if we share it :)

I've PM'd you RS. :)

You could try: http://www.animalnaturalhealth.com.au/ Margaret used to work for a previous employer of mine (traditional vet) before starting her own practice. She always sounded very sensible to me.

After an exhausting 5 hour shift at work trying to find the owners of a lost staffy whos microchip was a dead end,

all i wanted to remind everyone is please check your pets microchips and make sure everything is up to date!

He has not yet found his owner, will be spending the night at the clinic.

You can check your details here:

http://www.petaddress.com.au/

Or failing that, make them wear a collar with a contact number :)

Though the microchip has a benefit of proving the dog is owned by you, a lady on facebook faced an awful situation monday when she took her dog that she had for a year (bought off gumtree) to the vet to be microchipped.

Turns out he was already, so the vets held him assuming he was stolen, despite her showing facebook messages about his purchase and the bank withdrawal of his sale amount.

When the vet called the old owner then said she never sold him.

It was a debacle! But the police intervened and did transfer his ownership into new owners name as the facebook messages proved enough and the original owner changed her story.. very dodgy!

If it's a CAR chip, you're aware that you can ask for the authorised implanter/original chip purchaser's details?

I'm sure you're all over it, it's just that CAR don't generally tell you that they can supply that info...you have to ask for it. :) I have found a few owners that way. :D

Yes, they can be very sneasky :laugh:

Unfortunately they were no help either.

We did end up finding his owner as a vet further away gets him brought in frequently and knew the owners number..

I helped them fill out an update details form then and there!

Ah, awesome to hear! Thanks for updating his story. ????

After an exhausting 5 hour shift at work trying to find the owners of a lost staffy whos microchip was a dead end,

all i wanted to remind everyone is please check your pets microchips and make sure everything is up to date!

He has not yet found his owner, will be spending the night at the clinic.

You can check your details here:

http://www.petaddress.com.au/

Or failing that, make them wear a collar with a contact number :)

Though the microchip has a benefit of proving the dog is owned by you, a lady on facebook faced an awful situation monday when she took her dog that she had for a year (bought off gumtree) to the vet to be microchipped.

Turns out he was already, so the vets held him assuming he was stolen, despite her showing facebook messages about his purchase and the bank withdrawal of his sale amount.

When the vet called the old owner then said she never sold him.

It was a debacle! But the police intervened and did transfer his ownership into new owners name as the facebook messages proved enough and the original owner changed her story.. very dodgy!

If it's a CAR chip, you're aware that you can ask for the authorised implanter/original chip purchaser's details?

I'm sure you're all over it, it's just that CAR don't generally tell you that they can supply that info...you have to ask for it. :) I have found a few owners that way. :D

I find tablets super easy but find it really hard to get cheese to stick to capsules. I can still do it but it seems to take an awful lot of cheese by comparison. Are there any foods that work really well with capsules?

Slade compounding pharmacy in melbourne make a tablet putty. I'm sure you could order in online with them. :)

I use cheese slices - the crappy processed ones that stick to each other - the 'real' ones are too dry.

Hmmmm.. I've still got about three quarters of the capsules left but when he's due for a refill I'll ask the pharmacy if they can do some kind of tablet form instead. Thanks for the idea. The VB did say that once we have the optimal dosage worked out for Justice that she can write the prescription for a higher dosage so it requires less capsules to be given at once.

I might grab cheese slices tomorrow too and see how they go instead. :)

Yep, Slade do a tablet putty that I assume is quite salty, I think they do it because we used to have 'tablet pockets' for dogs and cats from Waltham's, but they stopped making them.

But Slade can pretty much make any medication into a flavoured something (tablet, syrup, transdermal). :laugh: They can also do multiple medications mixed together and flavoured, although they sometimes struggle with very bitter medicines.

I find tablets super easy but find it really hard to get cheese to stick to capsules. I can still do it but it seems to take an awful lot of cheese by comparison. Are there any foods that work really well with capsules?

Slade compounding pharmacy in melbourne make a tablet putty. I'm sure you could order in online with them. :)

I use cheese slices - the crappy processed ones that stick to each other - the 'real' ones are too dry.