morgan

You'll find that quite a few kennels these days do use expensive brands of dog food, especially Royal Canin. My rep said that the number of boarding kennels using it has quadrupled in the last year. Ring different places and talk to them - you have to feel comfortable on the phone about a place before you go to look at it. If you pick a place with exercise runs separate to the kennel area the advantage is that the dog gets more human contact and has the kennel cleaned out while it is out exercising. Some places simply gerni kennels with the poor dog still inside. But do go and look, preferably when it is a bit quieter - I know some people advocate looking at places during school holidays to confirm that no "double stacking" occurs, but staff will often be too busy to answer questions properly and you might get the wrong impression of the place. If the place seems a bit too quiet for the number of dogs, be careful - there is still the occasional place that drugs dogs to keep them quiet. You want to see some dogs jumping up and down and barking their heads off when they see someone

It is in both eyes, one more than the other. She is now indoors all day and only out first thing in the morning and the evenings to avoid sunlight. She had always been an indoor dog anyway, am now just letting her go outside later in the day than before. The vet very carefully checked her eyes, staining them with a liquid checking for any damage to the eye surface, even right down under the lids before putting her on the medication. He said that if there had been the slightest bit of damage she would have had to have a different, slower acting type. She goes back in a couple of days to check on her progress, so will ask about medication then. There has already been improvements in the appearance of the eyeball and third eyelid in the bad eye. Thanks for the advice everyone - this is all totally outside my experience.

In my experience, CS given orally has cured - In friends and family - bronchitis, flu, UTIs, gum disease and sinus infections - 600 mls daily for over a year has been the maximum dose used. As a prophylactic it has prevented respiratory infections and asthmatic attacks in family. In week old kittens - eye infections, older kittens - eye infections, diarrhea, bladder infection and cat flu. 20-30 mls daily max dose. In horses - life threatening chest infection, blood poisoning and always given orally in cases of severe injuries in addition to topical applications. 2 litres a day max dose. So in all of the above cases, oral CS has been proven to be safe and effective. I would happily use it myself for Hemorrhagic Gastro in dogs, but as an adjunct to other treatment, not as the sole approach.

Thanks for that - will speak to my vet and check it out.

Angel Dust - this is the site for the colloidal silver generator I use - it has many links to more info on it as well as yahoo groups for CS users, of which I am a member. There is a lot of info out there as well as the personal experiences with CS from all over the world. Colloidal Silver Generators The chap who runs this business is incredibly helpful and goes out of his way to assist. He has given me advice which has cut costs for me at his expense - the mark of a genuine person, not just someone only interested in making money.

Don't suppose you can remember the name of the cream? Am feeling a bit more hopeful now, if I can reduce some of the redness and the swelling of the third eyelids I will cheer up a bit! She looks like she has the worst hangover in creation atm

There has been a sneezing bug going around in the last month. Have heard of at least 8 dogs from different families getting it. No other symptoms apart from sneezing, quite contagious but self limiting. The hoarse bark is definitely from barking himself silly at the kennels Some dogs practically give themselves laryngitis from barking so much!

Thanks - hadn't even thought of those supplements - my mother takes them for her MD. Might add eggs to her diet for the zeaxanthin too - this is good for eyes as well. From what I've seen on the net it is more common in GSDs and greyhounds than other breeds. Just a major shock to the system - in over 30 years of showing dogs I've never had one with eye problems of any description or auto immune problems. For both to happen to my favorite dog is upsetting so soon after losing her precious father. Did your friend's GSD retain his sight to the end?

One of my girls has just been diagnosed with pannus, so I'm now on a huge learning curve as I'd never heard of it before. The vet thinks it started with eye irritation from an injury, but as far as I can see it is an auto immune condition. She is getting a steroid/antibiotic cream at the moment while I wait for other remedies to arrive. Naturally I will adjust her diet away from commercial food, add cod liver oil for vitamins A and D (especially as she now can't go out in the sunshine) and am getting some herbal and homoeopathic stuff. She goes back to the vet in a week to see if the steroids are helping with the inflammation and abnormal tissue buildup. Has anyone found a really good treatment for this? I really want her to retain her vision (and finish her show title if possible). Thank heavens it isn't a painful condition, cause it sure looks horrible. Is any of the clouding reversible? The vet says not, but I have seen a couple of accounts where treatment has helped.

Break his food up into two meals daily, don't feed grain or vegetables of any description and give charcoal tablets every day to help absorb the gas for the rest of his life. If this doesn't help, there are other things that can, but this is a good place to start.

Was thinking about the availability of Symphytum, and remembered that Diana Hayes does a great combination homoeopathic remedy for bone problems, including fractures - it also helps with pain relief apparently, and comes complete with directions. They have a toll free number if you have any questions. If you get plain Symphytum, a fe drops or pillules several times daily is fine - you can't overdose on homoeopathic remedies. http://www.holisticanimalmedicines.com/bone-formula.html The dolomite would probably be fine with a teaspoon twice a day for the first week then halve the dosage - I use several dessertspoons daily for a 10-15 kg pup. Cod liver oil has vitamin A as well as D, so is very good for healing. Too much of both of these over a long period of time aren't good, so care must be taken. I am not 100% sure of the dose rate for such a tiny puppy, so would recommend professional advice - it would certainly be no more than a quarter of a teaspoon daily. If you contact Robert McDowell in Bathurst he should be able to tell you. He also does a great bone healing mix which includes comfrey. http://www.herbal-treatments.com/dog_bone_...g_maturity.html Vitamin C will cause diarrhea if given to excess, so the usual way of finding out how much to use is the "bowel tolerance" method. This basically means to give enough to cause motions to soften, then drop the dose back a little. The body will then get the exact amount it needs. As no two individuals are the same, and different diets provide different amounts, prescribing a correct dose is difficult. In tests on advanced AIDS patients using intravenous vitamin C therapy, it was found that the bowel tolerance level was about 200 grams vit C a day for the first few months, then it gradually dropped over time until a year or so later it was less than 30 grams daily as their health improved. If the vet is open to new ideas, ask him to put half a gram of vitamin C into the drip when he stops the anaesthetic to reduce recovery time and detoxify the chemicals in his system. This stops the grogginess and reduces pain levels. As for the vitamin D, medicos don't even think about it to advise their patients, why, I don't know. There are thousands of scientific studies proving the benefits of it, but doctors and vets don't seem to read them. Everyone is so brainwashed that sun is bad for you and death by skin cancer awaits anyone who dares bare their skin in the sun that most people are deficient in this essential element. So of course no-one is going to stop and think that it is so important. Medicos also don't seem to understand that without the correct balance of magnesium to calcium the latter can't be absorbed properly, which is probably why the osteoporosis epidemic is so bad in western society. (Well, that and soft drink consumption) Women everywhere are told to take calcium, aren't told about magnesium and are warned to stay out of the sun - vitamin D is also crucial to calcium absorption. Hope this isn't information overload

Sounds like he's having trouble healing. After he comes home from the vet it is extremely important that he gets vitamin C every day to reduce healing time - it has been proven to be very effective in speeding up the healing of fractures. I should think that a dog of his size wouldn't need a lot - humans need the dose in grams rather than milligrams for fractures. Find a homoeopath or homoeopathic pharmacy and buy some Symphytum in a 30x strength. This is made from comfrey, or "knitbone" as it was commonly called. Comfrey tea and poultices were always used for broken bones, but unless you grow your own it is difficult to access. I would also recommend plenty of sunshine so that he can make his own vitamin D to help the bone heal and some dolomite powder each day in his food to give him the magnesium and calcium he needs for new bone. Many people make the mistake of keeping a confined dog indoors most of the time to keep it quiet, but sunshine is essential for healing. If it is too hot for much sun, give cod liver oil each day - probably not a bad idea any way.

When I asked my local vet about it he knew nothing about it, so he looked up the pathology lab info, still nothing. So after I left, he rang the lab in Perth, got prices and shipping details and rang me at home to say that each dog could be done for $100.

How does the plastic one stand up to the wear and tear of washing many dogs each week? Or is it best suited to just doing a few dogs? Just a bit concerned about the plastic degrading over time - I have seen fibreglass ones still in excellent condition 25 years on, even when exposed to plenty of sunshine.

Yes yes I saw that guy who had turned blue on tv as well. I think he was both rubbing the CS into his skin and drinking it to help some sort of psoriosis skin conditon he had. The skin conditon had gone but he was left with blue skin. I'm not sure that I use it on my dogs beacause of the fact that people turn blue from it so might my dogs. And the fact that the skin turns blue means that there is some sort of build up of something which can't really be healthy. Saying that I am always open to alternative medical treatments. If that is the same guy that I read about elsewhere, he made the classic mistake of adding something else to the CS - soda bicarb I think it was, thinking it would make it more effective. Just about every case I've ever read about of argyria from CS was from improperly prepared CS, eg made from tapwater, adding salt etc. My brother has been drinking 600 mls of CS daily for almost 2 years to help his CFS and doesn't have a blue tinge anywhere. Of course, he knows to watch the moons of his nails like a hawk, as this is where the blue first shows up. There is a successful protocol for removing silver from the system if this actually does occur, developed by a guy who started to get blue moons after 3 years of a huge daily intake of CS - he reduced his intake, followed the protocol and the blue tinge disappeared. I personally would never take such large amounts, but then I haven't spent years lying on my back for most of every day either. My brother is now flying planes and working again! I do use such large amounts for treating serious illness, especially bad infections from wounds in horses - and have always had great success. The mare we saved with CS was dying despite antibiotics, and was only turned around after we stopped them. In the vet's estimation she was about ten hours from complete organ failure and death, but the CS saved her life. The vet was astounded - her massive chest and lung infection should have killed her. We also had a stallion with a massive injury from a stable accident during a storm - texas chainsaw massacre was the reaction of the person who found him - he almost lost his foot. Without CS he would have died. The vet still cannot believe that a) we saved him and b) the healing process was less than a half of normal time frames for lesser injuries. Not only have we saved him, but we think he will be able to compete under saddle again next season. He was on one to two litres of CS daily, with more poured over the minced foot every dressing change - for months. All the skin under his white markings is still perfectly pink Personal practical experience for me counts more than any study - and when I have vets telling me that my animals would have died with standard vet treatment, I know it works.

Robert McDowell charges $27.50 for 500 mls.

Colloidal silver is best given straight, as it is mainly absorbed through the mucous membranes in the mouth - not as effective in food. It can be helpful with some stomach bugs, but it is difficult to get it to where it is needed. Some people swear by a gentle enema of CS to get it to the intestines, others just remove drinking water and offer pure CS instead - if this method is used it needs to be put in a glass or ceramic container out of sunlight. For sick puppies and kittens I use the latter method - perfectly safe. If you have to buy it, add some to distilled water or Nobles Pure water from the supermarket - don't add it to tap water as the silver will combine with stuff in the water and drop out of solution. Or just syringe a 10 or 20 ml dose several times daily into the mouth if the pup isn't drinking enough. It doesn't protect against cancer IME, but is great for hot spots, ear and eye infections and various illnesses. For bad infections, add some thuja extract from Robert McDowell - has saved a couple of lives here!

Neem oil is very good for putting on itchy inflamed skin to soothe it, but I wouldn't be giving it orally. It is usually used for deterring fleas, ticks and other insects. Any oil with omega 3's is good for skin and coat, not to mention heart and brain function - fish oil is the best, but others are good. No Omega 6 supplementation needs to be given if the dog is on commercial food, as there will be too much in the food already. Dry itchy skin is also helped with a zinc tablet each day.

Have only done F3's with kittens myself - and you just print up your own vaccination certificate with the label from the injection as proof of vaccination, same as some vet certificates do. This way the new owner has the batch number etc if there are any problems as well. However, it only saved me ten bucks per vaccination, and I didn't get a vet check up on heart etc this way, so I haven't bothered since.

Thanks for that - I didn't even know how much it is! I get a 30% discount on Royal Canin, so it is certainly a lot more expensive for me. Might get a bag and mix it with the RC just to keep costs at an affordable level. The pups are eating the adult food at present, so maybe those two together will work along with the chicken necks etc for calcium..

Many dog businesses give discounts to dog controlling body members, obedience and agility club members, even my local produce store gives a 10% discount for DogsNSW members on all dog food - don't see anyone complaining there. Usually dog owning members of the public recognise that registered breeders usually have a lot more dogs to look after and do get the occasional discount. Wouldn't matter anyway, because most registered breeders groom their own dogs

Put a big sign up saying that breeders registered with the VCA get a discount on production of their VCA card - then charge the bybs like wounded bulls. Donate the extra to your local rescue group to help the dumped DDs.

Was given a sample of this food for my puppies, who absolutely scoffed it after turning up their noses at Royal Canin (which they were raised on along with raw chicken necks, wings and beef mince). It has a lower protein level, more appropriate for large breeds. Not having heard of this food before, I'm interested to find out if anyone has had any experience, good or bad, with using it to raise large breed pups. As they won't eat enough to keep adequate weight on with any other food atm I'm considering using it - but need more info.

My understanding was that it was the same drugs but three times the dosage of the 6 monthly one used in the US. Note that oral monthly heartworm medications containing moxidectin are also suspect - Safety profile of Moxidectin Interestingly - this same document states there is a 422% increase in mast cell tumour rates in dogs that receive NSAIDS. Manufacturer's Warning on Proheart ed to fix link

Shouldn't be a problem - if there is any chance of the ligament only being strained and not ruptured you really don't want to put the dog through unnecessary surgery. As long as the dog is kept quiet is should be fine.