Erny

Thanks AnnieK. I already have the Pet Health Manual (and sometimes forget that), but wouldn't mind one two or three of the others as well. Although I can well imagine that some of the terminology in the more technical books may serve to confuse me.

Review can take a while - but DO NOT ALLOW them to twist words. Make sure that they are clarified, if there is any room for mis-interpretation. I would expect that the Ombudsman (and I think there is one - google "Insurance Ombudsman" in your area) would want to know that this has been done (in writing) before you take the matter to him/her. S/he would probably also suggest you obtain the decision of the review committee first as well. I'm not an expert, so I'm only guessing.

We can only guess from this side of our computers, k9angel, but it sounds a bit like mild seizure activity - even the cry she gave could have been through seizure activity and not because she was in pain or discomfort. I agree that she should see a Vet. It doesn't sound urgent, but you need to be the judge of that. Know that with meds, a fair bit can be done to help dogs who develop seizure activities. So hold on to that thought for the night and if your dog can rest easy, make sure that you rest easy as well. If you're worried, as I imagine would be the case (no amount of "it will be ok" would prevent that), why not ring emergency and see if someone there would be able to give you some information at least enough to determine whether you need to see them tonight or whether a visit to your normal Vet tomorrow (has to be a weekend, doesn't it) will suffice.

OT ..... Gosh! Bloods were only drawn and sent Fed-Ex the day before yesterday and following the tracking system, I see they've already arrived in Memphis Tennessee and now departed the Fed-Ex port there, presumably on their way for delivery to Dr Dodds in California. Talk about fast!

Pretty obvious now that you've answered . I should have been able to guess . Thanks, though.

Yep - that's what Mandela's looked like, although I didn't think the serum looked as yellow as in the picture. The clear part was just like gel. The Vet didn't take quite enough blood to be able to satisfy the thyroid testing requirements, so needed to take some more from Mandela. When that bit was spun down and he pulled the serum off, the serum did seem more milky. I only got to glance at it as the Vet's hand was holding the tube with the spun down blood in that sample. Gosh .... I'd love it if they could stop and explain what was what and what they were doing etc. so that I wouldn't regret not thinking to look at things more closely. I love having things explained, especially when it is about my own dog. But I know they don't have a lot of time and the Vet was already rushed.

Oooh. I missed this post. Sorry Anniek. From what I could see, there was a large ring of white cells sitting on top of the red cells. But I thought that's what happened when bloods were spun down. It was the white stuff the Vet was drawing from and I assumed this was the "serum" . What is "wbc/..." There are times when I wish I knew/understood more than what I do. Mind you, there are other times when I wish I didn't know what I know. Ignorance is bliss, and all that. LOL

Bonnie Pup - you should have the right to a review. Have you taken that avenue yet?

I'm with PetPlan. At one stage I had wished I'd chosen someone else as I needed to make a claim (divided into 3 separate issues because we really didn't know what was wrong) and all 3 were denied - even one of them which was only because they'd misread a date on a report. I had to 'fight' them for all 3 claims and felt very frustrated and disillusioned at the time. The claims went to the review board and were eventually honoured. I had another claim to submit more recently and I was holding my breath as I didn't know if they were going to resist and give me a hard time again, but I have to say that this time around they were really good and the claim was processed, honoured and paid in good time. My faith is restored.

Thanks Stormie. I didn't know that. Makes me even more pleased I've arranged the thyroid test. In response to a couple of previous posts ..... my boy was fasted at least 12 hours before the blood test. This wasn't requested by the Vet but something I often do when I'm not sure where things will lead to at the Vet visit.

Thank you, AnnieK. It's a curiosity thing. It would be interesting to know "why" .

I wonder why, and more particularly, I wonder what difference it makes for them compared to others who have less.

Well, the body blood work-up showed up nothing remarkable and faecal tests came up clear save for the presence of some red cells, so given the absence of any alarm from the Vet, I guess my boy's fatty blood is not such a big deal . Iron and Lead blood test results, as well as thyroid tests which I've sent to the USA, to come in yet - not that I am inferring they would have anything to do with his fat blood.

If there is a Wholesale Poultry place anywhere within reasonable distance, it can save you a lot of money over time, if you can purchase wholesale. I guess I'm a bit more aware of that side of things for the fact that I am feeding my boy 2kg of chicken per day - even one or two dollars off per kg can make a big difference to the cost of a month's supply of food. Fortunately, there is a poultry place not too far away from which I can pick up regular supplies. It's not breast, but I pay $7 per kg for leg fillet (skinless). From memory, the chicken breast fillet is about $8.20 per kg or thereabouts (for skinless, I think. Skin on is cheaper.).

But if your Titre test reveals immunity, then she has immunity. Yeah - that's a problem and is one that has to be the choice of the owner as to what they want to do. I only ask for minimum C3 for our classes, Titre tests in lieu are accepted. As said, this should get better the more Clubs start looking at this more closely and catching up with what research reveals. ETA: If your dermatologist doesn't want Honey to have vaccs, ask for a letter from him - your Club at least might accept that and not insist on current vaccination.

Hey!! Gardening, then a quick bout of training in drive with tug, then back to gardening .... without even a pause!!! ;)

That narration of events is something I might expect to see written as a cartoon script, but being 'real life' it wouldn't have been funny. Hope you, your Mum and your dogs are ok. Sorry for the loss of your canary. They are lovely birds. A neighbour used to have one. I couldn't see the neighbour for the trees, but I used to hear the canary singing on most days. It was a beautiful sound that lightened the soul. I don't know what happened to the bird, but I haven't heard it for at least a year. I do miss it. Condolences for your loss and hoping your run of bad luck has run out.

I agree with your dermatologist. A Titre test will confirm sero-conversion and antibodies to the core diseases. My boy received 2 x puppy vaccinations. I goofed, with his second vaccination being administered before 14 weeks of age, so it was recommended to me that he receive a booster at 12 months after the 2nd puppy vaccination and that should be it. At age 15 months, my boy was showing allergy symptoms and other complications so I opted to NOT administer the booster and instead had a titre test which revealed sufficient immunity. Here's some links you might be interested in reading, to help you come to a confident decision : http://rrcus.org/rhodesianridgebackhealth/...nprotocols.html http://rrcus.org/rhodesianridgebackhealth/...nevaccines.html

Hhhhmm .... It wouldn't have been about Mandela having a fatty meal just before the bloods as I didn't give him breakfast before we left. Maybe it is cholesterol. The only thing he will eat (since March) is cooked chicken (he will no longer eat raw meat). I feed him leg fillet, skinless because he does seem to not like fatty stuff. The cooking (I steam/boil it) takes out a lot of the fat as well. It's not just fat that puts him off though, as he will no longer eat roo mince or rabbit (BARF) either, nor beef or lamb. Interesting.

Thanks Dobesrock. Good to hear that it isn't or doesn't necessarily indicate a problem .

Hi I took Mandela to the Vet's today for a blood work-up re-run; iron, lead level and faecal tests. (Was also supposed to be an acupuncture session for his spondylosis, but he doesn't relax easily so wasn't a good enough candidate for that treatment.) I also arranged for bloods to be drawn for thyroid testing via Dr Jean Dodds in the USA. For the latter, the blood needed to be spun down. What the Vet noticed and was a bit surprised about was how much fat was in the blood - noticeable after having been spun down. Anyone ever had the same with their dog? I should have the full body blood work-up results in the next few days (the thyroid will be about 5 days after that), and the Vet I saw said that if the fat in the blood was a problem, the blood results should show that up. So this is just a curiosity question as I hate waiting. Of course I will (wait, that is), but would welcome a chat about it in the meantime.

;) at K9Pro

Don't you have a pair of these ones, Steve? They're a b*^gger for throwing orbee balls, though .

Thanks everyone - sorry I wasn't back in here earlier, I've been out training all day. I will pass this info to my client. It will be a big help, thank you .

Yay, Megan .