morgan

Does anyone know of a kennel in or near southwest Sydney that doesn't insist on C5s? Friends are stuck as the place they used for years was ok with C3s but has changed hands. Their vet rang the new owner and begged, saying that the dog would probably be killed by another C5 due to reactions and health issues, but the bloke was adamant and now they can't find anyone to board their dog with. As he is a large, busy terrier they don't want someone just coming around and feeding him.

If you are concerned about chemicals, try liming your backyard to kill any that have dropped on the lawn and try getting hold of some Diatomaceous earth (food grade) and sprinkle it wherever she lies in the backyard and dust it around skirting boards and other places in the house where they might breed. This combined with the Advantage should knock them on the head and if you keep up with the DE shouldn't be a problem if she picks up the odd one or two again. Try using neem shampoo before she goes to puppy training to help prevent fleas from jumping on her in the first place and you might be able to avoid using chemicals too often. The apple cider vinegar is good for coats and other things too, so worth using. The diatomaceous earth can be given to her every day in her food to eliminate worms and provide extra minerals. Also stops flies from breeding in any dog droppings that you pick up. Also good sprinkled on compost heaps to stop flies breeding.

Agree re titre tests - IMNSHO they are a waste of time and money unless required by boarding kennels or obedience clubs, in which case they are definitely better than annual boosters. As they do not measure cell memory, they are only useful for assessing one component of immunity, not the whole thing, Antibody levels can be "dangerously" low and immune levels fine due to cell memory. In over 30 years of never vaccinating adult dogs or cats, and seeing many belonging to friends and associates treated the same way I have yet to see a single case of parvo, distemper or canine hepatitis in an adult only vax as a pup. This is despite exposure to parvo and distemper. Excellent article!

I had thought that foods were only irradiated if they contained certain ingredients? Royal Canin isn't irradiated but I don't know about others. Maybe the more natural or holistic formulas don't process ingedients as much and that's why they have to be irradiated? Nutro refused to sell their product in this country when the govt decreed that it would be irradiated. Or maybe it's simply a different ingredient. Many products aren't allowed in without irradiation, including medicinal herbs as well as foodstuffs. AQIS is very concerned about many things of animal origin as well.

This is the boxed warning in the Caution section of manufacturers information for Proheart 6, which contains one third of the active ingredient of Proheart 12. Any vet reading this should not be recommending the general use of the injection, let alone giving it at the same time as other vaccines that also have the potential for adverse events.

Sounds hopeful - this technology has been used to repair leg injuries in competition horses in the UK for a while, apparently with a good success rate.

What are the 'many types' of cancer that desexing protects against? AFAIK it only protects against mammary, ovarian and uterine cancer. Desexing removes the ovaries and uterus, so that only leaves one type of cancer that is affected by what age desexing occurs. Most protective benefits against mammary cancer apply to those done before the first or second season. Incidence of other cancers is increased by desexing. I personally would be more concerned about the risk of pyo from leaving a bitch entire than mammary cancer, it is far more dangerous and can strike much younger bitches. Owners must be aware of the possibility and keep a close watch after each season. It is easily detected in the early stages by a white blood cell count if the bitch is looking a bit 'off'. Another reason why surgical sterilisation is good, no pyo

The biggest concern with spaying bitches is incontinence, which is not always controllable with drugs. Even if it is, it is a lot of expense over the lifetime of a bitch, more than just putting her in boarding kennels for every season. We all know from reading posts here that spay incontinence can even strike puppies under 12 mths. It's onset, on average is within 2.something years (can't remember offhand) from date of surgery. And it doesn't matter how old the bitch is when desexed. I would rather pop an in season bitch into a C-crate for 10 days every now and then than put up with one leaking urine all over the furniture and carpet whenever the expensive medication isn't working. Why on earth vets don't encourage people to simply have the uterus and one ovary removed (leaving the other behind to produce a few hormones to keep the body functioning normally) is just beyond me. No puppies, no mess during seasons, no pyometra, no spay incontinence and no increased rates of cancer. The lower levels of hormones would probably reduce the risk of mammary cancer as well. But this has all been said many times before

When was the last time you had a bitch in season? They don't drip blood for 3 weeks, it's usually only about 10 days that they actually discharge blood and some bitches are very clean and don't even drip. Some bitches only come in every 8 or 10 months, not twice a year. If enough care is taken to prevent litters, what is the problem? Not everyone wants to put a bitch through major surgery and destroy it's hormones forever for the sake of their own convenience, because they can't be bothered being a responsible owner and keeping their bitch totally secure. I have just gone through several weeks of fun with 5 girls coming into season, one after another, various stud males and no kennels or totally dogproof fenced areas. It's not that difficult. Any pet owner with a C- crate or plain crate and a dog lead can safely manage a bitch in season if they really don't want to desex..

What 'antidesexing' campaign? Do you mean providing information about the cons of desexing so that people can make up their own minds despite the constant barrage of incorrect information from pro desexing sources? I have never seen anyone say that desexing is to be avoided in all circumstances - I myself have frequently posted against desexing, but have always acknowledged that it is necessary in some cases. I promote surgical sterilisation to prevent unwanted litters and avoid adverse health effects of desexing - how is that an 'anti-desexing' campaign? If the aim of desexing is to prevent accidental breedings aren't we basically on the same side? Where is the 'emotion getting in the way of the facts'? The only emotion I feel is the occasional frustration of dealing with the untruths promoted by those that push desexing as an answer to all problems, that refuse to acknowledge that spay incontinence can be a huge problem for some owners or even recognise any of the other associated health problems. In all the years I have been posting on this subject on DOL I have never seen anyone here completely against desexing.

What would you classify as "pulling up sore"? I have recently acquired an elderly dachie who has unfortunately put on too much weight despite having a very restricted diet ( she will even eat scraps out of the compost heap if someone leaves the gate to it open) She sometimes favours one front leg and doesn't lift the foot properly, as evidenced by 2 toenails wearing badly. Is this a concern with her back? There are no stairs here and she gets a fair amount of exercise while looking for food. Good to hear that Valentino is doing so much better!

There are breeds that never have a problem with hip dysplasia, so why on earth should they go through the risk of a general anaesthetic for the xrays? Especially sighthounds that are much more sensitive to anaesthetics?

I would be investing in a spray bottle and a bottle of F10 immediately and spraying local visitors as well as removing shoes and washing hands. I would even think about spraying car tyres as the virus has travelled hundreds of kms on these in the past. You only have to look at the precautions we had to take in the Equine Flu epidemic to see how seriously you have to take this threat. Spraying cars, tyres, footbaths, protective clothes etc should be considered with your girl being at such a vulnerable age. One vaccination, especially done so young, is useless. The other two things you must do are to boost your pup's immune system with vitamin C, vitamin D and excellent food and keep her away from flies at all costs, as these can carry the virus on their feet straight from the infected material on the ground to your puppy's nose to be licked off.

Why not? The incredibly 'respected' vet of a friend stated emphatically that Phenomav had absolutely no side effects. Vets are like doctors - they bury their mistakes.

Not just coastal - the first dog found to die of heartworm in NSW many years ago was west of Parkes - she was a BIS winning deerhound only a few days off having her first litter. Up until then it had been mainly confined to Qld.

I never put CS in plain tap water as the silver will simply settle to the bottom after reacting to all the impurities in it. The Noble's Pure water I use to make CS has 3ppm solids, which is acceptable and also ideal for adding CS to for drinking water. Ordinary Sydney tap water has between 128 and 140ppm solids when I have measured it - eerrkkk. You also need to be aware that UV light ruins CS, so if leaving it in water, make sure it is as dark a spot as possible. This is why CS is always sold in amber bottles and has to be stored in dark cupboards. When I have sick kittens I just put out pure CS for them until they are well. As I make my own I can afford to be liberal with it! Large dogs and horses simply get it syringed down their throats if they aren't drinking. With dogs with KC they get large and frequent doses of CS as well as homeopathic remedies, usually gone in 2 days. I also use stuff from Diana Hayes and Robert McDowell (he is on speed dial )

Have a look at the barcode - products made in China have 690 through to 695 as the very first 3 numbers. Australia's country code is 93. http://www.makebarcode.com/specs/ean_cc.html Many chinese products no longer have country of origin on them as people avoid them for some strange reason, I know I do

If money were no object I would have a really cute kitchenhand to prepare a good quality fresh diet with plenty of organic lamb flaps and a little Eaglepack Holistic for variety. Plus he'd have to be the one to give them all spring water to drink (none of that horrid fluoride) as I can't carry all that water. But he'd have to be cute :rolleyes:

Well, he did save the dog, so I wasn't going to argue with him at the time!

Snakes don't pick and chose which part of their venom to inject. Now you've just shattered my belief that all vets are omnipotent beings that always know what they're talking about and are always right...

Many years ago I came back from a neighbour's to find a freshly killed 6' brown next to the back door, but couldn't find a bite mark on any of my dogs, so decided to keep a close watch on them. After several hours of no signs I had to go out again, and returned to one of my girls (about 35kgs) with strings of foamy drool hanging from her mouth and having small tremors. She spent 3 days at the vet on a drip and treatment and pulled through just fine - vet thought she had only received the neurological portion of the toxin, not the hemorrhagic. For heaven's sakes start pumping them full of vitamin C powder dissolved in water - get enough vitamin C in them to cause diahrrea and you will know their systems are saturated with it and can fight off the toxins. (At least 10 - 30 gms)

Does this implant work by suppressing hormones? If so what physiological difference is there from spaying if the bitch still has unnatural hormone levels?

Did you look at the link? It goes into great detail about the incidence, with graphs measuring the rates for different sized bitches, age of spay etc. The incidence is higher in larger dogs, so if the ones you have seen tend to be more on the smaller side maybe this would help explain it? I don't know? Re feedback, would you have been told? Have you specifically asked all the owners? There is also the timing to consider - I think the article mentioned a mean age of 2.9 yrs after spaying for the onset of UI in those that did develop it. This obviously means that half the bitches took longer than 2.9 yrs. If you've been rescuing for 4 years there's a good chance that many of the spayed bitches have been done too recently to have developed it yet. I agree with you that you would have expected to see more by now, but there are a lot of variables and a lot of studies with small numbers. Some breeds are affected worse than others, so even more variables. One study I saw had a sample of 65% of spayed boxers with UI, yet I know approximately 5 with no UI at all. Most studies I have read talk about up to 20% of desexed bitches getting UI, with the higher figures in the larger breeds - I know of quite a few cases amongst my customers' dogs, ranging from malts to weis in size. Lots of variables, not enough research and not enough options

Here is an interesting and very extensive article on urinary incontinence in bitches - http://www.cdoca.org/health%20articles/Incontinence.pdf

Many of my entire show dogs are never bred from and don't have cancer anywhere, let alone in the reproductive organs. I have only had 2 cases of mammary cancer in over 20 years of keeping entire bitches - both were sorted with a lumpectomy at the same time as spaying. Desexing has been shown to increase rates of cancer in dogs, so whilst eliminating cancer of reproductive organs it actually increases the chance overall. Splenic and cardiac hemangiosarcomas are usually fatal and can't be fixed with a lumpectomy. What's so hard about keeping a bitch entire? She is only going to be actively looking for a boy for a couple of weeks or so each year - not getting one sure isn't going to be bad for her mental health