cavNrott

I'm thinking of you too Jed

Great to hear Bison is doing so well. With Sophie I found nausea to be a big problem with the chemo drug she was taking daily. It caused her to drool and she wasn't a drooly dog. Once I put her on a fairly heavy dose of anti nausea meds she felt much better and there was a lot less drooling.

I think most of us on here do walk our dogs daily and take them to parks, the beach and generally take them out and about. I haven't seen anyone say they keep their dogs 'safe' in their house only.

Stephen Coles is a dental specialist at Sandringham Vet Clinic. My 14yo GSD had two carnassials extracted by Dr. Coles due to them being abscessed. The dog recovered quickly without any problems. I was not offered alternative treatment such as root canals but would have elected extraction at this tough old dog's age in any case.

I have always done puppy vaccs plus the 16 month booster but won't vaccinate after the booster shots. The vet who said I was uneducated about vaccinations also said titre testing was unreliable as the levels are not stable and are accurate only at the time of the test. He said if the titre was repeated the following day the level would be different, therefore unreliable and not an indication that the dog had an adequate level of protection against Parvo. To dissuade me from continuing the discussion he quoted me $380 to titre each dog!! This is in suburban Melbourne. I no longer discuss vaccinations or titre testing with this vet.

Thanks for that link Jed. It confirmed what I have thought for many years. My 8yo dog had a reaction to his 16 month booster. He developed explosive diarrhoea within 24 hours of the vaccination. He'd never had it before nor since then. I've not vaccinated him again despite a vet telling me how uneducated I am about vaccinations. This vet stated if all pet owners were as uneducated as I am then we would likely have an outbreak of Parvo and Distemper. This vet is still pushing annual vaccs. My 6yo dog has also not been vaccinated since her 16 month puppy booster. Neither dog will be vaccinated again.

I've been thinking you and wondering at the outcome of the further investigations. I'm glad you updated us but I'm very sorry indeed that the news is not good. Sadly this is typical of osteosarcoma of the mandible. It's truly vicious. I was very surprised to say the least, that any vet would say malignant cells could be scraped away from the bone. I figured you must have misunderstood that vet. When Sophie had lung xrays there was no sign of metastasis. However it takes millions of cells before they're evident on xray so I would think her cancer probably had metastasised but it just wasn't yet evident. It was only a matter of time. Sophie lived happily and pain free for a year after her first biopsy. After her second biopsy just a few short weeks later she was given the prognosis of just a few weeks. She way outlived her prognosis. I gave her a number of supplements in an attempt to boost her immune system. I checked all supplements she had with the oncologist first. Many supplements are contraindicated with the particular chemo drug Sophie was taking every day and I didn't want to make any mistakes. It goes without saying, the most important thing for Rogan is strong, effective pain relief. I hope your vet has provided you with this and will continue to do so. Osteosarcoma is an excruciatingly painful disease. I tried to keep Sophie mentally stimulated by taking her to a new park every day. She loved it and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Your trip to the waterfall sounds great for Rogan, I hope you can take him there again while he's feeling well.

Excellent I haven't commented until now but have been following this thread every day. Great to hear such positive news.

Mine is the same style as the Puppia Spotty Harness but it's not spotty. It's plain pink....more like a bright pink rather than a pale pink. Have pm'd you the measurements.

I used a Puppia harness for my CKCS. It stayed put and didnt slip or twist. Am about to sell a pink Puppia one that was used just once...when I get around to putting it in the members section. I tried a couple of other brands of harness and both slipped. I have short seat belt straps with fittings that slip into the seat belt and clip onto the harness for safe car transport. Got them at a large pet warehouse.

Sophie's journey with osteosarcoma of the mandible is in the palliative care section in the thread started by oonga titled, "Unwell Rotties". I didn't start a separate thread for Sophie but most of our progress and experience is in that thread if you can wade through it. It's a long thread. I wish you well and hope for a sucessful outcome. Please keep us posted.

I strongly suggest before you consider any surgery that you consult with a qualified canine oncology specialist. Sophie's osteosarcoma was also on the outer edge of her mandible. Her teeth were perfectly white, strong and clean. She was 6yo at diagnosis. I had a premolar removed to collect a good size biopsy of the gum (not bone) under the extracted tooth. She was diagnosed as a highly malignant osteosarcoma. Sophie's tumour was removed in the course of the surgery to collect the biopsy and it grew back very quickly as osteosarcomas do. In fact a tumour was not even evident at that point, it was a seemingly painful, slightly inflamed gum causing her to avoid chewing on that side. The chewing on only one side alerted me that there was a problem. Unfortunately osteosarcoma tumours do not sit on top of bone nor are they able to be scraped away. They are an integral part of the bone. In order to get clear margins, surgical removal of part of the mandible would be necessary. Much the same as any other type of malignant tumour, it must be excised and hopefully the surgeon in some cases can get lucky get clear margins. There is no way of scraping away malignant cells. I think you may have misunderstood your vet. Have you have lung xrays done to see if there is evidence of metastasis at this stage? That should also be a consideration along with bloods for histopathology.

Bison is beautiful boy. You know I wish him and you well. Have just pm'd you again.

Same here Laneka. I lost my heart and soul dog 3 1/2 years ago and I still miss her every day. I often wonder what I would have done differently if I had those years with her again. At least one thing I know is that she couldn't be more loved and valued than she was. She was a special girl.

When my Cavalier ate about a 1/3rd of a small throw pack of rat poison the vet gave him Vit K injection in various areas of his body plus Vit K tablets for 28 days. At the time I brought him to the vet it would have been 24 hours or so after he had access to the rat poison. I wasn't sure when he ate it because the pack blew in from somewhere during a severe storm and I didn't find it until the next afternoon. His blood clotting time test was a fraction slow but said that could be normal for him. The vet advised to give the tablets and bring him in 24 hours after the last tablet for another blood test. The second blood test showed an improved clotting time so it proved he did eat some of the bait. I was advised to keep him very quiet so no walks or any exercise until we knew he was clear just in case it set of a bleed. Keep an eye on the colour of your dog's gums and also check his abdomen for any sign of brusing.

I'm so sorry your gorgeous girl had to leave you Baifra Fly free with the Angels, Rusty.

My vet advised against the annual heartworm injection. He's not at all keen on it. I have my dogs on Sentinel Spectrum and that's all they need. It takes care of heartworm, all intestinal worms and is a flea contraceptive so even if they pick up a hitch hiker flea it won't create an infestation. It's not difficult to remember to give them a tablet once a month....or in our case, every 5 weeks. On this regime none of the dogs have ever had any fleas or worms.

I've never brushed any of my dogs teeth. My guys are fed raw and have raw meaty bones as well as the ProDen to keep their teeth clean. The only dog who needed a dental was an elderly rescue with awful teeth. The incisors were worn down to the gums. One canine tooth was wobbly and one pre molar looked a bit suss to the vet and to me. We did the dental and both the canine and pre molar were extracted. The pre molar had an abscess.

Probably vaginitis. A trip to the vet would be the way to go.

Same here. $5 flat rate delivery fee and I"ve never had an issue. I don't buy anything from Pookinuk now. The last order took too long to arrive and when it did there was an item missing. On top of that they charged me more than the flat delivery fee. They did eventually refunded the extra charge on the delivery fee but I never received the second item. I called them a couple of weeks later and told them to cancel the order for the second item and refund the money, which they eventually did.

My yeasty ears small dogs have always had a tablespoon of organic live culture yoghurt every night. It doesn't keep the yeast away.

I use it only when I smell yeast...and once you smell yeast you never forget the odour. I smell my dogs ears every couple of days and if I get a slight whiff of yeast, in go the drops. I wouldn't use this product as a preventative. Why put extra drugs in the body if there is no issue. I'm not sure since it's off label in Australia that I'm allowed to post the details on here. Don't want to cause any trouble for Troy. I'll PM you the info. edit: have sent you the PM.

Not surprising the health insurance people consider it a pre-existing condition because it was during the waiting period so wasn't covered. If there is a loophole to be found insurance companies will find it and use it to their advantage. One of my dogs ruptured a disk in his spine and needed specialist care, a myelogram and laminectomy surgery. Fortunately we were just 1 week inside the cover period. They didn't want to pay. They asked for a full history from both vets I have used in the past for all of my dogs trying to find any mention of spinal problems in this dog. This dog had only ever seen one vet and had never had a sick day in his life until the disk problem. We went to the second vet because the ruptured disk was an early Sunday morning emergency. The Insurance Company insisted on a full history from both vets. Needless to say the second vet told them they had no record of this dog until our emergency visit. Our usual vet forwarded all records which showed all he'd ever he'd seen my dog for were his puppy vaccinations and the occasional health check which noted he'd had no health issues of any kind. The Insurance Company ended up reibursing me in three separate instalments but it took plenty of effort by me. I mentioned contacting the Ombudsman and that seemed to jolt them into action. Re: the yeasty ears. When my dogs go to the groomer I bath them myself the night before. I'm careful not to get water in their ears but I'm not prepared to risk the bather at the groomers being quite so careful. My groomer has a lass there who does all the bathing but no other grooming duties. My dogs both get yeasty ears. I now have a non prescription product sent over from USA that works as well, if not better than the ear drops my vet used to prescribe. It's not cheap but it much cheaper than constant vet consults plus the cost of the drops he prescribes. Unfortunately it's not available in Aus. I've been using this product for 2 years and it's never let us down. My dogs yeasty ears seem to be seasonal. ***please excuse any spelling/grammar errors I've just had 2 eye surgeries and can't see too well*** aha I edited on finding at least one error

My Rottweiler had TPLO on both knees, not at the same time, there was 12 months inbetween her surgeries. Wing Tip Wong performed both surgeries and we had excellent results. I wouldn't use anyone else for this surgery. Wing Tip said most TPLO surgeries turn out well. What is critical is the recovery and rehab period. He's very strict with his recovery instructions.

My dogs have Sentinel Spectrum. I learned that 10 fleas can create 25,000 fleas/eggs in just two weeks so I don't take chances. As fleas don't live on the dog but in the carpet etc., it's difficult to know if they've picked up a couple of hitch hiker fleas on our walks. Fleas jump on the dog to feed and lay eggs around the house. Once flea eggs are in the carpet it's difficult to get rid of the infestation because the eggs keep hatching. In the 3 cold months of June, July and August when fleas are not an issue I use Interceptor Spectrum. Like Sentinel it covers all intestinal worms including tape worm and it also does heartworm but doesn't contain a flea contraceptive like Sentinel does. On this regime none of my dogs have ever had worms or fleas so I'll stick with it.