cavNrott

I thought my dog was a very healthy specimen and I think most of us on this forum take good care of our dogs and keep them away from roads but always expect the unexpected. My Cavalier boy was 5 1/2yo who had never had one sick day in his entire life until 8 months ago when he suddenly ruptured a disk in his spine. Vet visits, medication, referral to ortho specialist, myelogram, xrays, laminectomy surgery, 4 days in hospital plus follow up visits = $8640. Two or three months later a fierce storm blew a small throw pack of Ratsak from God knows where into my yard. I saw it the next day...sooo, Vet, ACT test Vit K injections and tablets for 3 weeks. Cav boy had eaten some Ratsak. Another ACT test after he finished the tablets to show all was well = $680 all up. Cav girl, vet consult + ACT test $148 ( hers not covered by insurance. My contribution for each procedure is $250). 6 months later, seemingly out of nowhere my Cavalier boy now has pneumonia. Vet, xrays, blood test, referral to specialist, more xrays, 1/2 day hospitalisation and 6 weeks of antibiotics = $1660 so far and we're not finished. Another specialist visit and more xrays in 2-3 weeks time to make sure he's ok. So far my Cav boy's vet costs in 8 months are around $11,000. He is insured and my contribution is $250 for each seperate incident. In addition to this, 8 months ago my elderly Rottweiler had a large internal malignant tumour excised. Vet, surgery, pathology, meds, many follow up visits = approx $5300+. This elderly rescue Rottie is not insured so her costs are my costs. A couple of months prior to this she had an indolent eye ulcer that the vet tried to fix and failed.. at the cost of $1500 including surgery and many consult fees. Then onto canine opthalmologist for successful surgery..approx $980.00. She also had a consult and medication last week due to an eye problem with the other eye. Consult, tests and meds $480. All up in less than a year I've paid over $19,000 in vet costs for my dogs and it's not over yet. A personal savings plan of $5000 would not have touched the sides. If a dog needs a specialist surgeon only a minor procedure would cost less than $5000 and being minor would probably not warrant a specialist. Unfortunately $5000 doesn't cover much at all in veterinary costs these days. I guess if you are lucky and nothing major happens for 5 years maybe you would be ahead. With my Cavalier boy, I insured him and my Cav girl only 3 months before he ruptured his disk. Fortunately she's needed no vet treatment apart from her test to ensure she hadn't eaten the damn Ratsak. How lucky was I that I decided to insure the boy before all this happened. If there's one thing I've learned if things turn pear shaped it will all happen at once.

Is this the lady in Victoria in the outer southern 'burbs?

I've never chosen a puppy, the breeders know their pups well and will choose the one that best matches your lifestyle. I have many phone conversations with the breeders beforehand so we get to know eachother quite well. When I went to see my Rotty pup the breeder said to me "That's your puppy". She was perfect for me, exactly what I wanted. With my Cavalier I wanted a tri coloured boy. The breeder sent me pics of the boy she chose for me and again, he is just perfect.

I am so sorry for your heartbreaking news about Diesal. I've been down that path with my beautiful 6yo girl, Sophie, who is now at rest. When Sophie was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of the mandible both amputation and chemo were recommended. I declined on both counts because I found no evidence to support osteosarcoma responds to chemo and I couldn't put Sophie through the pain and rehab of amputation only to lose her a few weeks/months later. I don't believe amputation would have extended her life by more than a few months and we were lucky enough to have those months where she was happy and pain free without amputation. I think chemo is effective in some cancers but not with osteo. We saw an oncolgist every 3 weeks who was fantastic and very supportive. Sophie was on a few oncology prescribed drugs to slow down the progression of her cancer but I think the supplements she was on extended her life. She was given a 3-5 week prognosis upon diagnosis and she lived happily and without pain for a year. Sophie's story is in the Unwell Rotties thread. I would be looking into the supplements Avemar and Artemisinin. There are Yahoo groups for both of these supplements. It would probably be worth you joining those groups as there's a lot of knowledge from dedicated people who are going through the same thing with their dogs. I agree with Staffyluv regarding diet. Cancer feeds on sugar and carbs so eliminate as many of these as possible from Diesal's diet. Research the Budwig cancer diet. I had always fed Sophie a raw BARF diet but changed over to home cooked food for her. I think Staffyluv and I had our dogs on much the same diet. Adequate pain relief was of utmost importance to me with Sophie. Please keep us updated on Diesal and know that we are here to offer you our support.

Relos Border Collie had the same as above he came with me to tafe all day and then got excited to see his family and went home... about 4 hrs later he was running around on their property and bam fell to the ground SCREAMING in pain. Got the vets and he is ok now but followed as all the stories abovepretty much though he has not fully recovered - they did not do IMHO enough rehabilitation for him i suggested physio and swimming and all sorts but it didnt get done so he got more and more overweight he can walk and run at full speed now lol but he cant really bend his back legs and doesnt have full control over his bowels anymore. The ortho surgeon showed me how to do the physio on my Cav. It was just a few circles with each back leg to loosen him up because Bronson wasn't bending his knees. He only need a couple of days of physio before he was walking normally. A bit wobbly but getting around quite well on day 5. The only thing I found difficult was manually expressing his bladder but he was peeing on his own on the morning of day 5. He came home from hospital in the afternoon on day 4 so I only had to express him once. He had full control of bowels on day 3 and bladder on day 5. It seems the earlier the surgery is done the better the outcome. They told me if 40 hours had elapsed from the rupture until surgery there wasn't much hope of the dog regaining full function. Some vets decide to treat conservatively with steroids but it's not very successful in most cases and I wanted to give him the best chance of a full recovery. He has full function now and runs and plays with the others just the same as he did before the surgery.

Yes, that's why I think a myelogram is a good idea. It leaves no doubt about the source of the problem.

8 months ago my Cavalier boy ran outside first thing in the morning as he usually does and within a couple of metres he fell in a screaming heap. He couldn't move his back end at all. I rushed him straight to the vet and he was given a temgesic injection for pain plus oral Tramadol for me to administer at home. I crated him until our 8am appointment the next morning (Monday). Why do emergencies always happen on a Sunday? He was paralysed from behind the shoulders back. At our 8am appt next morning the vet sent us straight off to the Specialist Referral Centre. My boy was given a general anaesthetic for a myelogram. On seeing the situation via myelogram the ortho specialist performed a laminectomy immediately while my boy was still under GA. He had ruptured a disk in his spine which was pressing on the spinal cord so no messages from the brain were getting past the ruptured disk. Without surgery he would not have walked again. Evidently the sooner the surgery is performed the better the chance of a full recovery. My boy was given an 85% chance of full recovery and his surgery was performed with 26 hours of the disk rupture. This dog had never had a sick day in his 5 1/2 years of life until this. They said it was Inverterbral Disk Disease. He's is now walking and running around normally without any pain or signs of any impairment. I'd say his recovery is 95%. An excellent result from a really nasty situation. Full marks to the ortho surgeon

Stolz I am so sorry for your loss of this little baby. Rest In Peace little one. ;)

OMG the devastation. To see those pics Heartbreaking, just heartbreaking. You are an incredible woman Jed, in so many ways. I'm off to light more candles for you and your beautiful ones now at the bridge.

Surely you jest A crate verses a coffee table for puppy safety? You think a puppy won't jump from a coffee table? I'd really like to know how you arrived at the conclusion that putting a puppy on top of a coffee table is a safe method of confinement for any dog. It's certainly a very ahhh...novel idea if you are prepared to take risk of joint injury and/or fractured bones. Gotta say I've never heard of this one before.

Always thinking of you Jed.

Excellent advice. My boy's ACT was just slightly below normal but vet and I were concerned enough to inject Vit K in 5 different areas of his body...poor boy, and put him on a course of tablets. Inducing vomiting wasn't possible as approxmately 24 hours had passed by the time I found the half empty thow pack of rat poison. In the meantime he'd eaten two meals. His next ACT 3 weeks plus 48 hours after he'd finished the course of tablets was perfect. He had to be kept very quiet while on the tablets. I couldn't walk him in case of causing capilaries to bleed. I think we dodged a bullet. Good for you Samoyedman for taking your dog to the vet. Safer than waiting for symptoms.

There is a test that can be done before the dog shows any symptoms. It's a test called ACT. This test is to see how long (in seconds) it takes for the blood to clot. This test can and should be done prior to any evidence of symptoms if you suspect your dog has ingested rat poison. We had a wild storm in Vic last March. The next evening I went around to the side of the house and found a half empty, small throw pack of what I suspected was rat poison that had blown in with the wind. The label had worn off so I wasn't sure. I also saw a few green pellets that had washed in under the fence with soil from my neighbours garden. I asked my neighbour if he was using rat bait. He said he was and I asked him to check the ingredients on the packet. He informed me it was a 'One Shot' bait. It was Brodifacoum, which is deadly and faster acting than Wafarin. It's a second generation rat poison. I had both dogs to the vet first thing next morning and they both had an ACT blood clotting test. The result gave us reason to suspect my male had ingested some bait. The girl's test was normal and she needed no treatment. My boy was given injections of Vit K and was on 4 tablets a day for 3 weeks after which another ACT coagulation test was done which returned a normal result. My dog showed absolutely no symptoms at all and had I not found the open throw pack I would not have known he ingested the ratsak and I would probably have lost him. He was energetic, good appetite, acting normally in every way. Don't wait for symptoms. If you only suspect your dog has eaten rat bait take him straight to the vet for the ACT test. By the time symptoms are evident it can be too late.

If Ollie's anything like Faith, no marbles are lost. She's still got it together mentally. I think it's a physical thing and the body doesn't work as efficiently as it used to. With Faith the leaking while asleep doesn't happen all the time, probably only when her bladder is full because she was too lazy to get off the couch and go outside to pee. She doesn't leak a lot when it happens. Also like Ollie, Faith has had a few surgeries over the last two years. She has a malignancy and she's still doing well. The vet took large margins but they weren't clean, her tumour was bigger than it looked once the vet went in and he did what could safely be done. She's still happy and loves her walks and her food. She doesn't show any sign of pain. Gotta love our oldies More gentle coming your way for Ollie and for you. Belly rubs too but they're for Ollie

Jodie I think this often happens with our senior dogs. He may be losing the sensation of needing to 'go' and by the time he is aware of it there isn't enough time for him to make it to the door. He probably sleeps deeply at his age, I know my oldie, Faith, sleeps very soundly. She's developing a few senior dog behaviours. So far no bowel problems but she's leaking urine when she's asleep. I wonder if it would be an idea to lay a tarp or some kind of protection on the floor in the area where he sleeps. I think of the beautiful Ollie often and wonder how he is. Please give him a gentle from me and a for you too. Hope you are well and happy.

Oh that looks brilliant Spottychick. How good is the inventor to get involved in helping you out. Tango looks very comfortable in that. When do his stitches come out?

My oldie used to have constipation problems too. Vet suggested to give her some parrafin oil. It worked a treat.

Isn't Innova only available from that pet store chain that sells puppies and kittens? If so that counts me out because I won't buy anything from any pet store that supports puppy farmers.

I'd like to know when you find out too Shmurps. I have a couple of cans of their Holistic Select in the cupboard for emergencies. Haven't used any EP cans yet though.

Jed, I think each and every one of us shed many tears for you and wish you all the very best in your recovery. You can bet we wish you well, in spades! I sure haven't heard otherwise and if by some very remote and unlikely chance there was a person or persons who didn't wish you well...one word for them...KARMA. It's so good to have you back and I hope you continue to heal physically and emotionally. You've gone through such terrible tragedy and have come through the other side of it. You are a strong, courageous, amazing woman and I've yet to hear anyone disagree with that. You're bouncing back from such a devastating loss of not only your house but your very much loved and lost dogs who you risked your own life to save. How could anyone not wish you all the very best life has to offer. You were always there for me with sage advice when I needed mentoring with my first Cavalier. You're always there with good advice for dog owners and you stories are legendary (and many times, hilarious). If there is anything at all you need, just say the word. You are loved and very much respected by so many on DOL. Never doubt that for even one moment.

Have just paid for mine by Paypal. I put my DOL user name in the box under the address details because I'm not registered with PACERS. Is that ok?

I was fortunate to have a very caring vet team helping me with Sophie when she had cancer. After she was put to sleep by my vet, the oncology team at the specialist referral centre sent a card with lovely personal messages from all who had cared for her on her many visits over the months. I also received a beautiful card from my vet signed by all the staff. The day after I received the cards a lovely hand written letter arrived from my vet. He loved Sophie and always said she was his favourite. Even now, almost 22 months later, when I read that beautiful letter it makes me cry. He knew her so well and mentioned many of her special qualities and endearing traits. She was always a good girl at the vets. When I take one of my dogs to see our vet and Sophie's name is mentioned he always says 'Sophie was special". She sure was.

I wish I had the words to say what I feel. Jed, you are one amazing woman. Going to light a candle for you and some for your beloved dogs.

Wow, all those prices are really reasonable. My vet charged me just over $1000 to remove one tooth and do a scale and clean on my elderly Rotty. This was about 12 months ago. The man is going to price himself out of business at the rate he's charging these days.

Spottychick, my elderly Rottweiler Faith, had eye surgery for the same thing at the end of last year. The vet messed around with it for about 4 weeks and performed surgery that didn't work. We were then referred to an eye specialist who did the surgery but he didn't stitch the 3rd eyelid. Instead they put a contact lens in to protect the eye. They debrided the cornea and did that grid scratch thing...the actual terminology escapes me at the moment. It was done under local anaesthetic. Faith didn't have to wear an e collar and the eye didn't bother her at all. 10 days later at post op visit the eye had healed perfectly and she's had no trouble with it since. Damn local vet cost me $1700 in consults, unsuccessful surgery and general messing around with the eye. Specialist charged about $800 maximum, including antibiotics and it went perfectly. In future if we have any eye issues with the dogs I'll be asking for a referral to the specialist right from the start. Hope all goes well with Tango.