cavNrott

I knew when my dog was diagnosed with cancer that her time was limited but she was energetic, happy, playful and enjoying life. She was in the care of an oncologist who recommended amputation and chemo. I declined both. I don't believe either would extend life for an osteosarcoma dog. She had great quality of life and I wanted her to enjoy it for as long as possible. She was put on a new trial protocol of drugs and saw the oncologist every 2-3 weeks. Her prognosis was grim and her oncology appointments and prescribed drugs cost thousands of dollars. It was money well spent because instead of having a few weeks as her prognosis indicated, we had a year. She was playful, had a good appetite and enjoyed a run in the park and a roll in the grass. I would have kept her going for as long as she was happy and her pain was under control. When a lymph gland blew up up to an enormous size virtually overnight I new her cancer had spread and I made the decision to put her to sleep before she felt ill and in pain. She was pts the next day. She enjoyed a hearty breafast and a play in the park on our way to the vet the day she was euthanised. It was the most painful thing I've ever had to do but promised I wouldn't let her suffer and she would have, had I kept her going. Of course I would do it again and as Staffyluv said, even if I had to mortgage the house to pay for her treatmment which was in excess of $20,000 and worth every cent. At no time would it occur to me that I wouldn't or shouldn't spend the money because she was going to die anyway. Seeing her enjoy life taught me to live in the day and every day we had was a bonus. Irrespective of the cost it was special year that I wouldn't have otherwise had. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

We must be almost neighbours Luke. High Street Road vet is only 5 minutes from me. Must be - I'm off Waverley Road Oh not so close then. I'm on the other side of High Street off Essex Road.

She annoys me too, the way she was acting like a teenage girl at the lizard last night...man, if your that scared of it get someone else to treat it! I would have asked for someone else to treat it if it were mine. She comes across as a dumb, ditzy blonde. No way she'd be treating any of my pets. I would have asked for another vet who wasn't afraid of the goanna to treat it too. The vet nurse wasn't freaked out. Not that I'd go anywhere near it, but I'm not a vet. Lisa is a vet who happens to be on a TV show about vets treating animals, she's not just a TV identity. If she was just a TV identity she wouldn't be treating animals. She's probably an ok vet but we see only what they want us to see on TV and I don't think they're portraying her as a competent vet. The ortho surgeon at SASH seems to be very normal and competent.

Lisa Chimes at SASH annoys me. She wobbles her head around every time she speaks. She remindes me of those nodding head dogs some folk insist on putting on the back window of their cars.

That was my thought too :D And mine. I doubt the vet believed it either. It would be interesting to know what the neighbour on the other side of the fence had to say now the show has gone to air. Silly owner was so busy playing Miss Innocent, I bet she didn't give a thought to the wreck she made of any good neighbour relationship. Dr. Chris did a good job saving that dog. He cops a lot of flack if he says anything dumb but no one ever mentions that he seems to to be a good vet who knows what he's doing. He should never have started of at the beginning of his TV show putting false nads into that Bulldog and people would probably have taken him more seriously. He sure is easy on the eye!!

We must be almost neighbours Luke. High Street Road vet is only 5 minutes from me.

knowing the way cavNrott is with her animals and the level of care she expects from her vets or specialists i would go with anyone she recommended :D Oonga what a lovely compliment :D I didn't take my Rotties to High Street Road vets. I thought one of the vets there appeared uncomfortable with Rotts. She's a good vet and saved Dana's (Cavalier) life when she was impacted with loquat stones. After Dana's surgery she stayed with her until 1.30am in the morning, then called me to see if I agreed to her taking Dana home with her. That's what I call dedicated vet care. I doubt Dana would have survived without the care of this vet. I took my Rotts to Blackburn Veterinary Centre and I see only one of the vets there. He was great with my Rotties and always remarked on their good behaviour and compliance. I think this vet is better with the big boofers and High Street Road is better with the littlies. They're both good vet practices. So there we are...my opinon only.

Its about the size of a marble around 1cm in diameter. Is that big? Anyone else in sydney that has done the surgery and can share with me the cost involved? I rang a couple of vet around the area and they are all around the $100 mark. $100 compared to $30 for the same procedure seem a bit odd to me. Thanks That sounds about the size Bronson's hernia was, maybe your dog's is just a tiny bit bigger. Bronson had only one stitch. His $30 hernia job was done 6 years ago so maybe we should allow for CPI increase I still think $100 is pricey. Afterall the dog is already under GA.

I had my Cavalier boy's umbilical hernia repaired when he was desexed. The vet charged only $30 extra.

I take my Cavs to the High Street Road Animal Hospital in Mount Waverley.

Moselle I am so very sorry for your loss of Sophie. I lost my heart dog Sophie to cancer 2 years ago and I know how utterly soul destroying it is. My heart goes out to you. Godspeed dear Sophie, fly free now girl

Mine hasn't arrived yet either and the postie has been and gone :D Yeah my postman's been and gone too. Maybe tomorrow..... Nothing here today either. Did you get yours yet LuvMyCav?

Mine hasn't arrived yet either and the postie has been and gone

Ebay have some fairly good prices too. That's where I buy Sentinel Spectrum.

Jed I would be more than happy to foster or rehome one or two of your Cavaliers. They would be fine with my two Cavs. It's getting them to me that would be the issue.

Great Idea. I love my slow cooker and I'm sure a quite a few of us would love a recipe book, especially from DOLERS. Most of the slow cooker recipe books I have are American and I don't know what some of the measurement are, let alone some of the ingredients.

Shells: Huski said her dog has been diagnosed with yeast so no point in treating for ear mites. When the vet took a swab and identifed it as yeast I put Surolan drops in twice a day for 10 days. They worked well but the yeast returned a couple weeks later. My Cavs don't have any discharge or mucky ears. The ears look clean and I smell them every couple of days. The slightest smell of yeast is unmistakeable. If I smell yeast they get Zymox drops. If I'm taking the dogs to the groomers I bath and dry them before I leave home so they don't need to be bathed by the groomer. That way I'm sure they won't get any water in their ears. I'm not certain the groomer would be as fussy about making sure no water gets in as I am. I've have Malacetic here and have used it a couple of times. I'm not sure which smells worse, the Malacetic or the yeast so I'm not really keen on Malacetic, it has a really stong unpleasant smell. The Zymox I have sent from USA comes in two varieties. One contains Hydrocortisone and the other one is Hydrocortisone free. I keep both varieties and mainly use the H/cort free. If I smell yeast again within a couple of weeks I use the one with Hydrocortisone. I also have Zymox ear wash but the dogs have no gunky discharge so I haven't needed to use it. The good thing with Zymox is that it I don't need to use it every day for 10 days. I can use it for 2 days and then the dogs are free of yeasty ears for a few weeks. It seems to be the only thing that keeps yeast at bay for any length of time. One dog gets yeasty ears regularly, the other one hardly ever gets it. We tried an elimination diet but didn't come up with anything. Neither of the dogs have had any skin issues. Customs usually open the Zymox parcel and hold it for a few days until they decide it's not a banned import then send it on to me with a note saying it contains no banned ingredients. I've learned to order it while I still have an unopened bottle here to allow time for it to arrive in Aus and make allowance for Customs to fiddle around and delay delivery. We've been battling yeasty ears for 2 years and I think I've tried everything on the market. It would be great if Zymox was available here but unfortunately it's not. I hope in time it will be.

I wouldn't be game to put water mixed with anything in the Cavs ears because if any water at all gets in their ears they have another yeast flare up. Yeast thrives in warm, damp, humid conditions.

My Cavs get yeasty ears occasionally and the only product I've found that works as well or even better than Surolan from the vet is Zymox. I have it sent from USA. If I smell the slightest hint of yeast in their ears I pop a couple of drops in. It keeps the yeast at bay for quite some time before another application is needed.

Thanks Steve. I must have stuffed it up. Will look forward to the arrival of the book.

yours should be there .Can you give me an invoice number? Steve I didn't receive an invoice. All I have is a Paypal receipt for payment to MDBA dated 7/7/10 with a reference number. Maybe it will arrive on Monday edited because I had a senior moment and typed the wrong word.

Is anyone else still waiting on their book to arrive? I'm in Vic and still no sign of it.

maybe im injected with pollyanna virus.. but i really think and want to believe such people are greatly in the minority. unlike your words seem to imply to me, or am i misunderstanding? The many back yard breeders breeding from untested, unhealthy, unregistered, underage dogs? Puppy farmers breeding the bitches every season for life? Pet shops selling badly bred Cavaliers from puppy farms? You haven't heard about these people? Surely you must have. They are not in the minority :D

Nah! I don't believe most people think testing resolves all problems. I think testing for possible inherited problems would lead good breeders to change direction with their breeding program if they thought it necessary. However it seems testing is not very helpful with SM. From what I'm learning, it can crop up when there has been no evidence of problems in the ancestors. Is it a recessive gene? Good breeders want to breed healthy dogs. I doubt most ethical breeders would use breeding stock that have been proven to suffer from SM. The unethical ones wouldn't give a rats and there is no shortage of the unethical ones. The trick is knowing how and where to find the good breeders. I feel pretty sure that everyone knows testing is an investigative process, it's not curative and nothing is 100% predictable when breeding a living organism.

Yep Jed, he's 6 1/2yo now so definitely middle aged. I agree he doesn't have enough (if any) symptoms of SM. Many dogs, irrespective of breed are unfortunate enough to rupture a disk in their spine without SM being the cause. I was lucky we got him into surgery right away so full function was restored. His scans were read by a specialist and surgery performed by a specialist. The imaging was clear and easy to read. I clearly understood what was going on when I saw the imaging and all was explained to me in detail. No mention was made of SM but I guess that's what all that initial neck manipulation was about. I got antsy about intervertebral disk disease when I saw that video a couple of days ago. Bit of an overreaction on my part. I haven't seen either of my Cavs rub their faces on furniture. If they ski, which doesn't happen often, they make sure there are visitors here to witness their delightful display. I wouldn't MRI the Cavs unless there were obvious symptoms but I will find out if the specialsts there are up to date with current SM research and surgical procedures.