SchnauzerMax

I think it is a lot of things in combination - increase in dog ownership, using harnesses instead of collars and leads (you might as well hook up a sled and get them to pull something), more dog owners not really knowing what they are doing and choosing inappropriate breeds, etc. Most of the lockdown times, you could still walk your dog and get about but people who got a dog for companionship during those times most likely would not have got a dog in normal times and probably didn’t even give a thought to training it.

My biggest worry would be the move. Elderly dogs (and people for that matter) don’t “do change” very well. I have seen quite a few older people, seemingly coping very well in their familar environment, just straight out decline in new, unfamiliar surrounds. I have observed similar patterns with elderly dogs - ours, friends and family. The anxiety that change provokes can be awful, both for the dog and family. If your darling boy is coming with you, you will have to be proactive in getting him familar with the new place and its smells. I wish you luck, in the end you have to consider what is best for him.

Insurance is never good value for money. You are essentially paying an amount each year, so that if your pet has a catastrophic illness / accident you can recoup *some* of the cost of treatment. You really don’t want the best financial outcome / value for money because that implies your pet is having major, major health problems and interventions. And putting $xxx a week into a savings account won’t go any where near covering it for those extreme situations.

No Medicare for animals

And they used a cigarette lighter and boiling water to get it away from them … I am sure that there is much more to the story and yes, we will never hear it.

So sorry. Hoover was such a special boy.

According to the GoFundme page linked from the VSOS Facebook page, Indi suffered 3 heart attacks and has passed away.

And if you are in the inner suburbs, talk to your vet about lepto vaccination. It is spread by rats and can be more of a problem in the inner suburbs than parvo.

There are ways around having someone come to read the meter. Jemena Gas (gas wholesaler) have an app where you take a picture of the meter and enter the reading. Person in the office verifies it and no-one has to come to your place. I’ve changed gas retailers and the app works like a charm. Electricity retailers offered a few years ago to upgrade the meter for free to a fancy new “phone home” meter. It automatically updates the readings every day over wireless (?) and no-one comes to your place unless it malfunctions. All this doesn’t help the poor guy though.

Denial is a powerful thing. Also councils like multiple complainants because it proves a pattern of behaviour that they can then act upon.

When you give steroids (cortisone or prednisone or whatever) for more than a few days, the body stops producing its own. So stopping abruptly causes a crisis due to insufficiency. The effects of this are really unpleasant and depending on the daily dose can be life threatening.

Um, not quite true. The older either of the parents are, the more genetic defects. In humans, the older the father the more likely the child will develop schizophrenia or other mental heath issues and the older the mother, the greater probability of Downs Syndrome or other genetic defects. The bottom line is younger eggs and sperm are generally healthier. If you want to cover your bets, you collect from the dog when it is young and then wait to see how it turns out.

Some retirement villages have a blanket ban on pets, not even a goldfish is allowed.

I think you need to see a vet. We didn’t recognise that Max was going blind until he walked into a pole and almost knocked himself out, because he could navigate in a familiar environment. If the loss is gradual, they compensate in familiar environments until suddenly they can’t.

How is Jodie’s eyesight ? My Max is blind and has panic attacks when he encounters things that shouldn’t be where he encounters them. Massive, full on freak out like you are describing with Jodie. Wish they could talk.

Maybe not. There’s enough crosses in there to make it a very expensive, bone fide mongrel.

It’s very brand new. It’s been available in Australia for less than 6 months according to my vet.

It might be his normal level? I would just make sure his food is good quality and I would probably lean towards raw / barf.

Do you have any scented diffusers? Some essential oils are really bad for dogs and the symptoms you described are similar. It’s interesting that the symptoms recur when you got home.

I’m so sorry. I was hoping for a foreign body. Have you talked about chemo options? You would probably need to talk to a vet oncologist. I don’t know if it is a suitable option for your boy but if it is, it can stop it getting bigger, at least for a while.

Correlation is not causation. Just because one event follows another does not mean the first caused the second. Also, the reported adverse effects and the time intervals between dose and effect are very variable in these reports, which makes it difficult to evaluate properly. Perhaps it is similar to ivermectin, some animals with a particular genetic makeup don’t tolerate it? If I gave my dog tick meds and 3 weeks later they got really sick, my first thought would not be the tick meds.

They scoped first and then planned the subsequent operation. Survival rates are very dependant on tumour type and location. Kitty’s was high up in a difficult spot to get to, so vet removed as much as they could but could not get it all. So greatly improved quality of life in the short term but it will eventually come back.

I too would have him scoped. A friend’s cat had similar symptoms and after a lot of faffing around went for the invasive option which showed a tumour high up in the nasal bone which they operated on to remove. I too hope it is nothing awful but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get a definitive diagnosis so you treat it effectively.

Depends on the vets. My specialist vet includes the prescription as part of the consultation fee but my local vet charges the prescription fee as a separate item.

Animals are considered property in the eyes of the law. So, in effect, you have purchased a defective product. The usual legal remedy is you return the dog to the breeder and receive a refund. There is no avenue for damages. The breeder may offer to pay for some treatment at their discretion or replace the puppy again at their discretion. Threatening and pursuing legal action for damages will only waste your money.