~Anne~

Maddy - just on a side note. On one occasion Monte suffered from bromide toxicity. His dosage hadn't changed, his diet hadn't changed, but the bromide built up in his system to lethal levels. He'd been on it for many years by them so it was a surprise. He was, however, a very sick little pug for a few days and spent some time in emergency care in Sydney. No-one is sure why the levels built up to such a high extent. I can't recall his readings, but they were triple what they should have been.

I hope we get there Anne, but if not we will give her all our love and comfort. I'm afraid they will get worse, as we are maxed out on meds. Don't be too stressed. Monte lived for 10 years on max dosage. He still managed a cluster of 4 or 5 every few weeks. He eventually went into status and we couldn't stop his seizures. After 18 or so hours of constant seizures, we elected to euthanise him. I'm still heartbroken. He was a beautiful dog and he lived a wonderful life even with his epilepsy, right up the very end. The only time in his entire life I considered euthanasia was that last day, and I knew without doubt, the time had come.

Charles was a member of this forum. I'm not sure if he still is. I had a message conversation or two with him a few years ago on here about my epi boy. I've never met him though. I totally agree with those who have said they don't feel their seizures. It's why I never considered euthanasia of Monte. Humans also live with this condition. It's treatable and many dogs have their seizures totally controlled by medication.

It is a responsibility, that's for sure and if you're not 100% comfortable with it, then I think your decision not take the dog on is a good one. One consideration should also be around aggression. Aggression exhibited by both the epi dog and others reacting to a dog having a seizure. Dogs have been known to attack a dog experiencing a seizure. I've read many forum posts on the epi forum I used to belong to, where this occurred. I ran a rescue while I had Monte. In having said that, it was for pugs and so we didn't really have any issues with others attacking him. Monte looked very youthful for his age. He barely had a grey hair to be seen, even when he died and he enjoyed his life as much as the others.

I also had an epileptic dog. Monte was 12 when he died, 2.5 years ago, as an indirect or direct result of his condition. The jury will forever remain out on that score. Monte began having clusters of seizures when he was around 18 months old. It was why he ended up in rescue and why he came to me. He was medicated with both bromide and phenobarbital daily and was given rectal Valium (not tablets mixed with water but injectable Valium) when he had a cluster. His clusters never stopped however and he was on maximum doses. There is also another drug, Keppra, and he stared on this towards the end of his life, but only when he had a seizure. He wasn't a candidate for the usual Keppra medication regime because it had to be given 8 hourly to have any real affect and I wasn't able to do this. Bromide and pheno have to be given 12 hourly. Compliance with the timing is important because the drug levels reduce in the system and effective control lessens. We couldn't afford to lessen the control of his seizures any more then they were - he averaged a cluster every 2-3 weeks or so and maintained this average for a good majority of his life. He remained under the care of the leading expert in canine neurology in Australia, his entire life. Unfortunately she's in Sydney so it will be hard for you to consult with her. Monte was fed largely a natural diet, but not raw. One of my other guys couldn't tolerate raw meat so it was always cooked. He also had low fat high quality kibble. He lived a wonderfully happy little life though. His drug regime and care was very rigorous and I can't say it was easy, however I wouldn't have changed those years for the world. He never had any other health problems his entire life, only things related to his condition.

It's not a flawed system. It's just an issue with the datamatch. The details are being pulled from the NSW CAR. It's pretty simple to get it fixed - just ring your council and have the original details amended. The new system will prevent this kind of future issue. Regardless, the new system is here to stay. Vets, councils and authorised identifiers will all be using it. It's your choice to use it or not use it if you're a pet owner, but it certainly makes a lot of sense to begin using it. Well Im a way off seeing that the new system will prevent these kind of things happening in future because you still have to get exactly whatever the person entering the data typed in to claim it. Right now its not making a lot of sense to me to start using it as a breeder. Went to get some pups chipped yesterday and asked my vet about - not interested and wont even look at it not eager to do the councils work for them and data will not be entered online by their clinic. Vets are resistant to use any database because it means they have to do data entry. With the new system, the breeders details come up when the breeder ID is entered. It doesn't have to be retyped for every pup in the litter, like the current system. As for doing people put of work, some councils actually now charge to do the data entry. So by all means, vets can still send them to the council to do but they shouldn't be surprised when they start getting billed for it. As for the new system, it is THE system so it doesn't matter if your council enters the details for you or not, it is still on the new system. It's just that YOU will not choose to acces it yourself. It's no biggie, as I said. Continue to use the council as you choose.

It's not a flawed system. It's just an issue with the datamatch. The details are being pulled from the NSW CAR. It's pretty simple to get it fixed - just ring your council and have the original details amended. The new system will prevent this kind of future issue. Regardless, the new system is here to stay. Vets, councils and authorised identifiers will all be using it. It's your choice to use it or not use it if you're a pet owner, but it certainly makes a lot of sense to begin using it.

Meanwhile the poor person employed by council becomes, so is made, redundant. Another job gone, another person on the scrap heap, and the back up tech job outsourced to India. OR, the overworked Companion Animals Officer that has no time to be proactive finally has enough time to be proactive! Exactly!

Meanwhile the poor person employed by council becomes, so is made, redundant. Another job gone, another person on the scrap heap, and the back up tech job outsourced to India. You do realise that no one single person is employed to do data entry, don't you? Seriously, tell me what council employs someone just to enter details into a database? And wtf has outsourcing jobs to India got to do with anything? :laugh: The new system will actually free up time spent doing mindless administrative tasks and enable Councils to direct resources to areas of need in the areas companion animal management.

As I said, you can continue to travel to the council and visit them personally. For most of us, we will do away with the need to visit council personally and do it all from the comfort of our lounge rooms. Moving house? Not a problem log in and update your pets details. Lose your mobile nad get a new one with a new number? Not a problem, login and update it. Buy a new puppy and need to register it? Do it online while watching Masterchef.

I'm not sure why you still have problems, tbh. Most are sorted out very quickly and by the numbers that have created profiles and claimed their pets, it shows the system is working and working well. The greater majority of issues are simply down to datamatch. Your details have to match what is on the old database. If they're wrong, it won't match you and you have to correct the old one first. If it's an address issue, it's potentially because the geo system isn't matching your address to a recorded address. This may affect some address types. There were some initial issues and there will always be data matching problems that need to be worked through. Sometimes it's simply a spelling error on the old database or chip number recorded incorrectly and these can and are sorted very quickly. As I explained earlier, my details were all correct but I didn't twig that because it also had (c/o Pug Rescue Sydney) in the name of the old one, I had to have the old database updated first, and have it removed to enable me to claim my pets. There are a number of things you can do to ensure the data match is correct. I know you think you have done this, but obviously you haven't because you're still not able to claim your pets. You can wait all you like and chances are the issues will not resolve themselves. :)

You can still do the paper based system if you prefer. Any changes you make will be added to the new system though eventually because it is designed to replace the existing, not be in addition to it.

Give them a call tomorrow, asal, and they will be able to help you.

Beautifully written. You've brought them to life for those reading. Rip girls.

Stenotic nares are an easy fix. Any vet could do it. If they need more detailed brachy surgery, such as palate resection or they have inverted saccules, then you'll need someone with experience. I'm sorry I'm not in qld so can't advise on specifics.

Thanks for the info Anne. On this table I am trying to keep it very factual and measurable. When I first started looking at all these breeds it was around December last year and my first criteria was size, however I have further researched these breeds into areas such as temperament. Whilst there are a lot of dogs on this list, I have no intention of owning many of them, however I still wanted to put them on my table due to similar shared physical characteristics, as I wish to make the table as extensive as I can with these breeds. Do you have any suggestions for reliable websites that have information that covers overall common breed temperament, rather than just some anecdotal evidence? For purebred dogs, I'd speak to the breed clubs and peruse their sites. I'm glad to see that you're now considering including a column for temperament.

You missed a very important column though.... temperament and what lifestyle the breed suits. The dogs you have listed are so varied and nothing like each other breed. Not all will suit your lifestyle or circumstance. Health and price is important, but temperament is equally as important.

I think Pugs are really suited to names like Barry and Brian and Kevin :laugh: I know one at the dog park called Tupug (as in the rapper Tupac, but he's a Pug lol). When I was considering a Pug I had the name Sammie in my head for a fawn female. Actually I also knew a Pug x called Puck, now that I think about it. I don't really have any names on my pet names list at the moment, I'm hoping the name will come if/when I decide on the dog. The Puck I groom is a Pug cross. Looks like a wire coat Pug! And I knew a purebred pug named Puck. Sadly she passed some years ago. When we first got Boofy, I wanted to call him Splat. My husband hated it though so in the end he scored Boofy. :D Boof was the only pet I've owned in the last 15 years or more that I've really had the chance to name. Monte and Oliva were rescues and came in with those names, and Molly the cat was mum's originally and already named. My new addition, when I find him or her, will be mine to name though...although he/she will be a cat. I like the name Sebastian too. There was a story recently in the papers about the most popular dog and cat names on the companion animals registry. I'll see if I can find it.

One of the people who adopted a rescue pug from me, named him Barry. I loved it. :laugh:

No I don't support game hunters, cock fighting or anything that is cruel and I consider a sport cruel when the end result is certain injury or death or anything the animal involved in it, given a choice, wouldn't participate. Try walking a greyhound past the entrance to an area where they know they have the opportunity to have a free run without them indicating they want to go in there, it is a very very sick Greyhound that doesn't want to go in and have that run. Tail docking doesn't even vaguely compare to dogs doing something they were very much bred to and LOVE to do. Why is Greyhound racing, done as it should be with all on a level playing field and the wastage issue addressed, a deplorable sport?? From my experience the dogs don't agree with you. They would rather have a run than lie on a couch the only time a couch would take precedence is if they are tired after their run. As I have mentioned before a track is about the safest place for them to do this. Why is it a deplorable sport? Really? Do you really believe that a sport that uses a living thing, that cannot speak up, and one that revolves around money and gambling is going to ever be clean, wholesome and healthy? While it may be that a lot of years passed since the last, I personally have euthanised more greyhounds than I can count. Don't tell me there is any justification at all for this activity or ask why I call it deplorable. My first iv injection was killing a greyhound. Killing a healthy dog on my first day with a greyhound vet. Killing it because it was surplus. I killed many, many more. We marked their heads with texta as they came through the door, with a big red E. That was so we didn't get them mixed up with the others that were there for spare rib removal (that damn rib slowed them down on corners), tonsillectomies (we can't afford to have an infected tonsil slow them down either), injuries from the track and from jumping at at the wire in their cages. We had so many come in to be pts that we didn't even blink an eye as they handed them over. At the end of each evening it was our role as nurses to do all the killing. We always had two of us. One to catch the dog as it dropped. The kennel floor was concrete and the thud was awful so we always made sure we caught them. We then slid their bodies into black body bags and placed them in the freezer. A freezer of young healthy dogs, killed for no reason. Do the dogs love to run? I'm bloody sure they do! I watch the dogs in the leash free areas where I live, the beach and parks, and the joy in their faces is indescribable and they're not even greyhounds! Are all greyhound owners monsters? Not on your life. I've seen them being treated as very much loved pets and members of families - usually to joking chides from others about the reason why they're not winning at the track, and I've watched greyhound owners sobbing when they lost one unexpectedly. But nothing I ever saw, witnessed and took part in will ever make me blind to the realities of this industry. The needless death and abuse of dogs, for a sport, for human fun. And the needless torture of animals used as live bait.

Yes you are entitled to your opinion but I think it is as uninformed emotive opinion that is based on a minority that the industry is trying get rid of. an opinion that is going to help pave the way for a government to enable people to lose their livelihoods, which will in turn affect their families and possibly their lives, being denied an opportunity to work can do that to people. It is as uninformed as if I were to say people shouldn't be able to own pets because of pet owners being cruel to their pets which is well documented in vets, rescue organisations, anecdotes, and newspapers. So, I guess you support game hunters too... maybe also live exports... Cock fighting... There are people who are denied an opportunity to work in these industries too. It doesn't make them right, moral or just. I am far from an animal welfare nutter. I know how government's work. I'm not a lefty, nor am I overly swaying to the right. I understand how legislation is created, debated and passed by peers. I am 100% supportive of the ban. This is 2016. Greyhound racing is a deplorable sport. We sacrifice dogs for our sporting pleasure. I read all of the arguments and some of it reminds me of another time. The time when docking was first banned. The world was going to come crashing down I was told. Tail injuries were being recorded. 'You'll see' everyone said. This ban is wrong. 12 years on and life continues and all dogs now wag tails instead of stubs. The sky didn't fall. The purebred world didn't disappear. So too shall this pass. A period of adjustment will be a certainty, just like with docking and then life will continue on.

Amazing rescue!

Thick ricotta also worked.

I found soft creme cheese worked for Olivia when her appetite began to diminish. At this point though it began to become clear to me that her time was coming to an end. Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you.

Thank you LFF. Yesterday, FB in its glory, threw 2 memories up at me. One from the same date last year when I'd taken a pic of Olivia sitting in the dark, up the hallway, at the front door waiting and staring through the glass. She was waiting for my husband to come home. The other was taken a year or two earlier when she'd scorched her fur on a heater. I'm gradually becoming accustomed to not tripping over her or finding her at the front door when I come home from work. I've got so many memories of all of them and this group, as well as Facebook, hold many of those memories.