cavNrott

I came in here to have my say on this but T has expressed my sentiments far more succinctly than I could have done. Well said T.

What an absolute disgrace and worse, to make a public spectacle of it. Shame on the sick individuals who came to watch. WTF is wrong with some people.

Cologne? I must have missed that on the site. Does the cologne have the same perfume as the conditioner sample you sent me?

My order arrived yesterday afternoon, many thanks Steve. The calendula cream looks very promising. I'm going to use it on my tired old face. It's a lovely light cream, easily spreadable. The shampoo and conditioner smell delicious. I couldn't get enough of the beautiful scent and kept go back to smell the bottles. Thank you for sending me the samples. Steve, are the shampoo and conditioner ok for human use? I'd like my hair to smell like that. Now to make up a mix of the tea to spray on my dogs. They both smell lovely after I put some of the conditioner on their coats and followed with a gentle brush.

My darling Rottie had her first TPLO at 18 months old. The surgeon predicted the other leg would go in about a year. We did hydrotherapy and physio but the surgeon was correct. The other leg went a year later almost to the day. At 2 1/2yo she had her second TPLO. The first one was an extremely successful surgery. The second one not quite as successful. She didn't have the ease of movement she had on the first leg despite more hydrotherapy and physio.

This makes perfect sense to me. I've been researching this subject all day and have reached this same conclusion. I'm therefore not sure titre testing is necessary in dogs who have immunity as a result of previous vaccinations. My dogs are now almost 10yo and 8 1/2yo respectively. They've had no vaccinations since their puppy shots and a booster at 16 months of age, despite the vet insisting they need to be vaccinated because they have no protection from Parvo or distemper. He said if everyone took my stance, parvo and distemper would be endemic and intimated that people with my attitude are basically riding on the backs of the responsible people who vaccinate annually. I now see another vet in that practice who's thiinking is more enlightened.

Yep, I got that. From your first post it was clear that you would do whatever needed to be done to offer your dog protection. Maybe hubby was to blame and not the receptionist. Either way you're clear now on how to proceed. Your pup is probably fine but to make sure and also to set your mind at rest it's probably best to have the heartworm test done and then you can go from there.

Puppynovice, a heartworm test is simple, inexpensive and you get the results immediately. To me it would be a no brainer. I'd have it done. Then if Interceptor or Sentinel is your choice of protection for your dog you can go ahead and start your dog on it. I use Interceptor from May through September and Sentinel from October through April. This works well for my dogs and offers heartworm protection as well as all intestinal worm protection. In the warmer months they also have the protection of the flea contraceptive. One dog is amost 10yo and the other is 8 1/2yo and they've been flea and worm free all their lives. I don't know why anyone would take the risk of not heartworm testing their dogs if there's been a period of more than 6 weeks since the last heartworm tablet or chew. I would never have the 12 month injection done on my dogs. Your vet's receptionist was very wrong and her bad advice could well result in clients dogs developing heartworm. The vet should be advised that his receptionist is giving wrong advice to clients. Please let him know. You might save a number of dogs from contracting heartworm. Edited to say I give my dogs their chew every 5 weeks rather than every month.

It's not a urinary incontinence I also leave hime at home for several hours So is the problem that he doesn't have access to outside when you leave him at home for several hours and he can't hold it for that long?

Thank you Wundahoo for your knowledgeable post.

It would be wise to take your dog to the vet to find out why he has become incontinent. There is medication available for incontinence. There is also the chance that he may have a urinary tract infection. There is also medication available to treat this. See if you can collect a specimen of his urine to take to the vet with the dog. It's good to hear you will not put him outside in the yard due to his problem.

That sounds like the conversation I had with a vet last year. I didn't cave in though. He knew little to nothing about titre testing and told me I was 'uneducated' because I refused the annual vacc and wanted to titre test. He told me a titre test would cost around $280-300 per dog. So he knew enough to try to overcharge me. I imagine he quoted that price to put me off and it worked because I sure wouldn't use him to mess around trying to find out how to titre my dogs. I'm uneducated? What colour was that pot who called the kettle black? Needless to say I don't see that vet any more.

I did the puppy vaccs and the booster at 16 months. Haven't vaccinated since then. I don't do the annual heartworm vacc. I treat every 5 weeks with Sentinel Spectrum.

Thanks Erny. I'm in Mt Waverley. Narre Warren is a bit of a stretch.

Does anyone know of a vet in the SE 'burbs' of Melbourne who titres for a reasonable price. Thanks.

It's not the same thing as Ectropion. Kirty described it well. The gland needs to be repositioned.

I suspect trying to get kelp through customs would be a problem so best to order from an Australian site.

Quite so Erny. Going by these posts it seems the vets in Vic are not too familiar with the concept of titre testing.

Hi Boronia, is this product available in Aust.?. Kelp is available at most health stores. I used to include in my BARF recipe before I switched to Big Dog BARF.

It was about a year ago when I discussed titre testing with the vet. He was still of the opinion that dogs needed to be vaccinated annually. When I mentioned vaccinosis and that I would prefer to titre test instead of vaccinating he told me I was 'uneducated' about the need for vaccinations. Righto! He also said it would cost around $275-300 to titre test each of my dogs. He said it would include the cost of a consult, the cost of drawing blood and the cost of sending the bloods away. Then of course the cost of another consult when the titre results were in. When I refused the vaccination is when he said "I'm sorry Anne but you are 'uneducated'. He looked at me blankly when I mentioned Dr. Jean Dodds. The whole conversation left me in no doubt about just who was 'uneducated'. I left it at that and didn't re-vaccinate the dogs. One of my dogs was 8 1/2yo and the other was 7yo. Both were previously vaccinated. I've not raised the issue since that discussion.

So sorry Mooper. Godspeed Jack.

Yes please. Would you please warn us where the Parvo is in Vic.

Oh that sounds great. I use Aloveen leave in conditioner but I think Aloveen is causing the itchies after their baths. They only itch on bath day. Would you be kind enough to pop a sample of the conditioner in with my order too please Julie. I'd like to try it on my Cavaliers. I'm looking forward to trying the Calendula products and I'll mention them to my son who has a mini Schnauzer pup that has the itchies. Schnauzers seem prone to skin issues. His previous standard Schnauzer had the same problem and my son tried a number of products to try to overcome the problem.

I doubt it would be possible to clean dogs teeth without a GA. I think the vets probably use gas rather than putting the dogs in deep anaesthesia. BTW I think you mean gentle, not 'genital'. There are no teeth in the genital area, thank goodness. Jumabaar, I hear ya :)

I'm convinced and have placed an order. I hope it went through ok J. I messed up my email addy and had to go back and change it. I ordered the calendula cream as well as the flowers. My dogs are often itchy after a bath and I'm hoping a rinse with the calendula tea will prevent the itchies. Will it leave a yellow tinge on the white on my dog? That's my only concern.