minimax

True, however most people with large bills probably would not have paid the amount up front or in a lump sum anyway, so if the insurance company doesn't pay obviously it's the responsibility of the owner, as is the case if there was no insurance in the first place.

I disagree here. My young 4.5 yr old dog - very fit and healthy developed diarrhoea which turned out to be cancer (he had it in the lungs, liver, spleen, intestine). This was over a 3 week period. He had not been sick before in his short life. The tests etc cost me over $2200.00 and I got back $1800 within 10 days of the bill being sent to my insurance company (Bow Wow Meow). I have never had an issue with the insurance policy and have found that the few times I have claimed for my other dog (which have been for large amounts), I am quickly paid. I don't have the thousands of dollars sitting there to spend on these unexpected vet bills (don't think many people would) and I can claim up to $12K per annum. But you did in all of those cases, right? Or am I missing something? I thought that you had to have your own money up front, and then the insurance company reimburses you later... I know my insurance (PetPlan) will pay the vet directly, so don't need to have the cash upfront if your vet is okay with that. I assume most will do this.

The kid asked for a puppy, and the kids friend had one so that's what they got. The kid's happy, so really that's all that matters!

I am thankful we have floorboards! However one Christmas Eve Oscar decided to vomit up dog poo on our doona Thankfully the dry cleaners were still open! I only have one rug ... I have about 3 rugs in the house, the rest is floorboards. It can be guaranteed if Max needs to puke she will run to a rug to do it. What is it with dogs liking a nice soft place to land their vomit???

Ah, here we go. Another desexing age debate! Most vets don't recommend desexing at 6 months. Some vets do. Apparently yours is one of them, this doesn't make them most vets. Desexing pups at 3 months isn't necessarily bad for them (sweeping generalisation). I know people who want to use dogs for guarding/protection etc prefer to leave for 12 months or longer, but a standard pet dog isn't harmed by desexing at 3 months.

Poor guy, I hope he's ok.

Aww ok. I would love some small guys to come and play with my pint-sized pugs!

Whole carrots are good for their teefies, like bones. Or grated if you want to disguise it in food.

Fruits and veggies?

What sized dog? Ox tail bones can be quite small so a bigger dog can easily swallow one - or try. IMO they're too good for dogs, make awesome casserole! I like the lamb offcuts from the supermarket for mine, or our butcher sells "doggy chops" which are the same thing but usually more meaty and often a mix of species. Mine love pig trotters and eat the whole thing - but pork is a rich meat, so watch out for the after-burners :laugh: I have teeny dogs - pugs (one 4 month old and one almost full grown at 10 months). I'm vegetarian, so really unadventurous in what I buy them because I don't know what is suitable! They get chicken wings, necks, frames and feet and would probably kill for a different animal every now and then :p I often seen lamb offcuts in Woolies, but they don't appear to have bones in them, or they look like they are soft bones? So I don't really know about those. They get lamb shanks sometimes, when I need a few hours to myself.

I have insurance not to cover the small things like a bout of diareah, but major things like surgery. I have a $100 excess, and I pay annually for both my dogs. I also researched a lot before going with PetPlan, specifically so I didn't end up with a restrictive company. I figured there were two lots of insurance - PetPlan and everyone else. "Everyone else" (because they are all underwritten by the same company, thus their terms are basically the same) seemed quite restrictive, but PetPlan (the only pet insurance underwritten by someone different, therefor having completly different terms) actually covered illnesses for more than 12 months, and covered more things, thus being less restrictive. In summary - if you researched and didn't just go with the cheapest, you probably wouldn't be having issues. I pay $550 a year per dog (which is $90 per month, same as Megan said up there), and I have two Pugs. I sleep well at night knowing I have a breed that are prone to health issues and lifetime cover for their illnesses.

When Max was a puppy, I put peanut butter on carrot sticks to entice her. She will eat anything with peanut butter on them! As she got older I stopped the peanut butter and now she eats the carrot for the crunchy noise.

I saw beef tails in woolies last night, would they be suitable?

Mine get lamb shanks sometimes (although probably not in the budget for everyone, everyday ;) My local Woolies sells "soup bones" in the dog food section, they are beef and I have no idea what they actually are but my guys love them and they have a decent amount of meat on them, and in weird shapes so they have to work at them. I'm vegetarian so I have no clue about the technical names of meat stuff

That's why I introduce a huge variety of foods to my guys - so its not a huge shock to their system if they eat something unusual.

Why - because you say so? I can ask the same question you have asked in other threads - regarding other dry foods - about this food if it is not stated anywhere that the fishmeal is Ethoxyquin free. You yourself raised the importance of finding this out and I would like to know thanks before trying any dry food. Being Australian does not negate the possibility and the premium dry foods I have used from America state on their website that their food is Ethoxyquin free. Are you responding on behalf of the company that Ethoxyquin is not used? :laugh: Love it....is that a new Emoticon ????? Haha no, unfortunatly not! One I keep for exactly these purposes ;) It was put to Troy as one that should be added, but for some reason he hasn't got around to doing it yet ;)

Okay Sydneysiders - who is on for this Saturday? Does Gladesville work for everyone, or does anyone have any other suggestions?

Why - because you say so? I can ask the same question you have asked in other threads - regarding other dry foods - about this food if it is not stated anywhere that the fishmeal is Ethoxyquin free. You yourself raised the importance of finding this out and I would like to know thanks before trying any dry food. Being Australian does not negate the possibility and the premium dry foods I have used from America state on their website that their food is Ethoxyquin free. Are you responding on behalf of the company that Ethoxyquin is not used?

Is that drool?

My guys gets carrots all the time to crunch on, and as training treats. They love it! They are fed on a raw diet so all sorts of veggies are part of their normal diet.

And such a cutie That was Bronx (Hugapug Missing in Manhattan), my boys brother :D So proud of that little guy.

I'm having the same issue with photobucket, and it's not DOL that's the issue, it's happening when I link the image everywhere. I have a photo, I resized it on photobucket and when I link it it's coming up as the original size. Annoying! Er, except I just re-tried to link the one of mine that wasn't working and it worked. So - hmm.

Yeh, 8 with the help of the acidity meds. You'd hate to know what it was before them! I think the only thing keeping UTI's away is the cranberry powder she gets with her dinner each night. Poor little mite, she's only a puppy.

I'm not the OP, but I'm jumping into the thread too coz I'm having the same issue :p We've done all that and as a last resort had her on prescription acidic meds for the last few months which also had little to no effect on the PH of her urine (which is still currently at 8). Next stop is ultrasound or x-ray to see if vet can find any stones, because although her urine shows no signs of infection its still full of crystals.

Thanks for the link Staffyluv, I'm having an issue with Struvite crystals and my pug and the vet keeps wanting to switch her to a special/prescription dry food diet, which I refuse to do, but I'd like to find something to help her!