Kazm

Take your time. You can’t get over “12” years in the blink of an eye. It’s two and a half year since Zena left us and I still say goodnight to her every night and I can definitely still be teary about her not being here. Its a specialness between us and our furry friends and I decided to just ignore those who thought we should be over it by now. I think of my girl daily and we always talk about her. Personally I don’t think we’ll ever be “over it”. Maybe we’ll just get used to her not being here but we do and always will miss her.

So sorry to hear this sad news. Jasper looks like such a sweet little pup. Life can be tough.

So sorry to hear of your Polly’s passing. It is such a difficult time. And no matter what anyone says they are like our kids. They love us so unconditionally so why wouldn’t we treat them like a family member. They say time eventually helps but our girl went 2 and a half years ago and we still miss her every day and it’s not unusual for me to have a tear or two just thinking about how much she is missing out on. She went to young in my opinion. (9 years old). What really helped me was making a photo book of all her good, funny times. It still is on show for us to look at any time. Remember her happy days and take each day as it comes. Look after yourself too.

Just an update on Molly. Obviously I have been working with my vet and she is very happy with our outcome. I have stopped all medication. I just put a liquid omega 3 supplement in her breaky each morning. I have changed her diet somewhat. Eliminated all chicken. Molly does not scratch anymore. And her coat looks amazing, her weight is perfect and she is bouncing around like a two year old. We actually have our annual checkup and vaccination next week so we shall see what the vet says then. I have been speaking on the phone with her. She only saw Molly when she was a very itchy girl. Touch wood everything is ok but obviously her irritations may have been something else which has gone for now, (grasses, pollens etc) I guess we’ll only know in the long term. Happy for now.

Beautiful photos !!!!

I’ll agree. Zena was a great one for that. She once totally destroyed the box and everything in it prior to giving birth. Ripped everything apart. I had to quickly organise another before the big moment arrived.

Molly does this too. In her bed, on the lounge and even just on plain carpet. She scratches around, messes up the spot, does the 360 turn, then sits down for a 2 minutes and then she gets up and comes and sits with me.

Omg. Yes. My Zena would roll in these too. Loved rolling in duck poop also. And basically anything that smelled dead. Molly actually rolled in dog poop once a very long time ago Bat shit is always good to roll in also. And that just doesn’t only stink it sticks. Blah

I have always owned mini schnauzers. They are a great family dog. Loyal, very smart and very trainable. Smallish. Barking - depends a lot on training but they do make excellent little guard dogs as they have excellent hearing and are very alert. They don’t shed. However they do need/ should be regularly groomed. Mine have never dug up gardens and although they love going for walks they don’t demand it and are usually very happy to do whatever the family is doing. And we have always had cats and they have got on really well. Best mates actually. Good luck choosing a breed to suit your family.

Schnauzers definitely have a sense of humour and yes, talk . I can have quite a “conversation” with Molly. I might be silly but I can mostly “understand” her. A girl of many voices she is.

What would that even look like

@asal That was absolutely brilliant. Even though I sat watching it through tears. A great tribute to all passed animals, great and small.

We have always had cats as well as dogs. Our cats have always been very healthy. We had 2 that were sisters and they lived to 17 and 18 and only visited the vets to be desexed. Our current cat Lucy is 10 this year and she has never had a sick day either. Go figure. I reckon it’s the very pampered, lazy life that cats lead.

I too have lost 2 dogs to cancer. My boy was 10 and my sweet girl just a month passed her 9th birthday. Absolutely heart wrenching but if you read statistics on dogs sadly it is very common. I have another little girl at present, the daughter of the one that passed, and this little girl is the light of my life now. She is 8 and it is always in the not so back of my mind that she too will go the same way. After my boy passed I changed the way I bought my little girls up and then sadly cancer struck again. Long talks with my vet kind of consoled me as to the fact it wasn’t my fault. Could be anything that causes it. Just like in humans. Environmental, diet or even something in their own DNA. I’m scared, I will admit, for my Molly. I don’t want to go down that path again but ultimately I know something will take her and that’s just life. And yes it will always be difficult to own others but I just couldn’t imagine life without a four legged furry friend beside me.

Thankyou @teddybeans your 2 boys look beautiful too. What are their names ? Molly is the darker one on the left ( as you look at them ) and Zena, on the right is Molly’s mum. She passed away just over 2 and a half years ago. We miss her terribly still but forever grateful we have Molly. She is such a sweetheart and helped me through that very difficult time. She is extremely smart and very switched onto my feelings. Gotta love schnauzers.

My Molly sounds exactly the same. She’s a mini schnauzer too. She gets suspicious every time I open the cupboard where her coats are kept and then she puts herself in reverse and usually grumbles at the same time. I can’t say she doesn’t like the cold but she certainly seeks out sunny spots to lay in and usually snuggles up close with us on the lounge and creeps under the blankets in bed at night. Oh, and she loves the hairdryer on heat too. She will come into the bathroom and stand there expecting me to use it all over her body. She appears to love it.

@Dogsfevr Thanks regarding diet. The tablets are white. And the course of action was to wean her down to less every couple of days. We are now down to 1 every second day for 3 doses and then less again and again. My vet has come down with the winter bug so is not in today but I will definitely be talking with her by the end of the week.

@Dogsfevr The first course I think was over 2 weeks and this course is different. (Had to see a different vet at that time) With the instructions she gave it weans her right down over possibly the month. I guess as we were thinking low dose for a while ( until I got home and really thought that I wasn’t happy having her on it full time) I am going to talk with the vet again this week now that I have a bit more info and are getting my head around it all. We had discussed diet and she also mentioned the crocodile roll. Maybe I will. And no she doesn’t itch after clipping and haven’t been near any mulch either. Obviously you know a bit about minis - as a normal diet, what do you recommend? Just totally curious and always open minded.

That’s what I figured but obviously I can’t just stop the pred.

Thanks @Powerlegs All very useful info. And yes she does roll on her back on the grass but there isn’t much to our grass. It’s very thin and awful really. (Lack of rain and water. ) One question - and yes I will be speaking to my vet also - but obviously I need to run this course of prednisolone but if I go with an exclusion diet how will I know if it’s working or whether it’s still the drugs in her system.

Sorry. Sometimes my mind works faster than I type. Didn’t mean to be misleading. My current vet is willing to work closely with us and has mentioned specialists who deal with pet allergies. I guess I would like to try a few things first. Just was after opinions etc and have certainly got info I can relate back to her and I guess work out a plan of some sort. My biggest concern was being on the pred for a while. I was interested to find out if others had their dogs on it for any length of time and how they were.

Interesting. Molly has never had any redness or rashing. The only time is when left to chew or scratch she can make little sores. She just randomly scratches her sides and around her neck and tries to chew her back ( she will roll on the ground rubbing at times) Sometimes chews at her front legs and feet. @Powerlegs in your opinion does Molly’s sound like a food allergy? I’m seriously thinking of changing her diet. Maybe eliminating the chicken to start with. Thinking of this due to Dogsfevr saying she had an 8 year old allergic to chicken. It’s what Molly eats most of. I need to do something ???

Thankyou. The vet did talk about side effects and did mention pancreatitis and diabetes. This is why I came here asking for info and advice. I am trying to obviously work out what the best course of action is and I can now go back and discuss it properly. Sometimes when things are put to you and you try to make decisions on the spot it’s difficult. I also understand that dogs can start reacting to things over time ( like the 8 year old dog you mentioned) We discussed that also. I will consider her diet and work on it. What do you suggest a mini should eat ? Over the 20 years of owning mini schnauzers I have seen a few different vets and none of them have said I was feeding them wrong. Willing to change though. Her shampoo, yes I have been using the same one for quite a while. I could change that too and as for the groomer spraying her with something different - well no. I’m her groomer and always have been.

Why would you not give prednisone for itchiness and also to mini schnauzers? I am after any advice and if there are reasons I would like to discuss them with my vet. I only want the very best for my girl and will do or try anything. I do know that dogs obviously can react to any changes but absolutely nothing has changed. I haven’t changed cleaning products, washing products, nothing inside and the yard hasn’t changed either. And definitely no fleas. I once had a schnauzer allergic to flea bites so know all about that. It is difficult and yes I will be trying to pinpoint what is affecting her. I feed her cooked chicken fillets, vegetables, some kangaroo meat and sardines alternating these through the week. Eggs, cheese, and rice occasionally. Dry biscuits maybe once a week. And a lamb off cut bone twice a week. This has always been the normal for her. I am happy to say that this morning there is a noticeable improvement already. She slept well and seems very happy and bouncing around playfully. Have been for an hours walk in the rain already and have started the day off nicely. Also her blood and urine tests came back fine.

Thanks. I am such a worry wart. I will just keep an eye on Molly and fingers crossed the itchys go and she stays healthy.