Inka3095

Digidirect have good deals too I think? I'm brand new to the camera world and literally bought a Nikon D5200 yesterday (getting it from my family for my impending 30th birthday so haven't played with it yet) so I'm hoping it's a decent camera! With a single lens it was retail for $1345 or something at Ted's that they discounted to $1,029. But the Digidirect ppl had the same package for $944 (with a $100 Nikon cashback) so the total price of $844 which was a lot more pleasant

yeah that's weird... the ones I use look, feel and smell terrible. Maybe it's all in my head coz of what they are... yuck!

My best friend is a vet; she did a few years of basic science degree then transferred into Vet. She graduated and really didn't enjoy the job for many different reasons, and yes, the pay is really low. She then moved into the Government sector and worked there for a few years making a LOT more than she would have in a small animal practice. She's now working as a qualified vet for a pet food company doing ongoing education and training centered around animal nutrition and health. She's making a bit less than she did in government but loving her job. Every position she's held has been for veterinarians so there are other options out there once you graduate :)

Heaps of treats do Lots of the 'blackdog' range are just air-dried bone.

Hey all, my vet friend has put the fear of the lord into me with multiple stories of bowel obstructions, punctured intestine, etc etc with bone-containing dog treats, regardless of whether they're dried or cooked or smoked or whatever. She's banned me from feeding my pup anything with bone in it (except for fresh bones) so out of respect for her sensibilities I'm happy to do so. Now I'm trying to find treats that will take a while to chew that aren't remotely risky for my spoilt dog. She does like the bully chews but they stink and she gets sick of them quickly as well so I'm keeping an eye out for other treats. I bought some dried lamb tracheas from a market the other day that she loved but she ate them in about 2 minutes, I've heard piggy ones are a lot tougher and more chewy so I'm trying to find them All the pet places I ask say 'wha the heck is that?' when I enquire and I haven't had any luck online yet... any of you guys heard of these or tried them? Thanks :)

Loving the tomato photo a lot!

Could try Rivid? https://www.facebook.com/RividPetPortraits

When I first heard the shiba scream I thought all my nightmares had come at once... such a horrible noise to come from such a small dog! Now I just laugh at Cinder when she lets one rip, and she rarely does it because she HATES being laughed at. Probably my laugh is just as offensive to her as her shiba-scream is to me :laugh:

Could look into a Shiba Inu? My shiba lives inside during the day, gets walked daily, gets a big run on weekends but that's about it for exercise. She only barks when someone comes to the door and doesn't whinge during the day (or nothing to a volume a neighbour can hear anyway) She sheds twice a year (at least) which is RIDICULOUS but you get through it lol.

Not sure if it qualifies, but I have an 'ex pen' from Vebo that my shiba lives in during the day while we're at work. No floor, but has 4 sides and a roof with a wire hinged door that opens to let her in and out. It's amazing! Great construction, easy to put up and down or move around, withstands her leaping on it when we get home and really wasn't that expensive for what it is (lots more expensive ones out there)

I think he was super annoyed because I was being so pushy by going down there and interrupting what he was doing instead of sitting at home by the phone hoping he'd call me. I did wait for 2 hours before losing patience.. he said 'oh, you were my next phone call' to which I think I gave a bit of a cynical look which didn't improve our relationship much lol... Cinder has improved again tonight, standing here begging for food from my plate as per usual - first time I've been happy she's done that, ever!

I'm in the north eastern suburbs, in Bundoora :) I'll show you guys one of the photos taken by Rivid Photography about two weeks ago... before all this! And then when she looks less ratty and stressy I'll take a home photo hehe

Yeah I'll have to do some vet shopping

Thanks so much for your replies and care everyone. My dog is very lucky she has the DOL community I can come to for advice :) :) I'm so relieved tonight because I think we've turned the corner. She's not 100% but she greeted me at the door with a toy in her mouth when I got home from work and my bf said she was LYING DOWN for a while in her pen and actually sleeping, not just trying to lick and scratch at herself. She's standing next to me leaning on my leg at the moment but again, it's better than how she has been, and in herself she seems more relaxed. I'll keep the pain meds up tomorrow at least and see how she goes with a slow wean. It's hard to know what really caused what, but I'm sure some of it was behavioural/breed related but I agree with you guys that she just has a very low pain threshold and simply couldn't cope with what was happening to her. She's taken years off my life this weekend but tonight I'm hoping I can actually get some sleep myself and stop panicking about her dropping dead from exhaustion or overwhelming sepsis. I'll keep you updated, but yeah, I was a little annoyed with the dismissive attitude of the vet to be honest. He didn't even ask me if she was eating and drinking ok, which would be fairly important you'd think.. I dunno, I'm sure he knows what he's talking about, but still.... Never mind, anti-inflammatories and pain pills for a couple more days then hopefully all will be back to normal and we can put this behind us

Nope, I've moved all over Victoria the last 4 years so each has been with a different clinic. I'm the only link... lol I waited for his call and didn't get it, so I went down there to talk to him. He told me he wasn't even a little bit concerned, the surgery was textbook, great close, nothing wrong. All behavioural. Upped the painkillers and gave me a vetwrap after I asked for it. The end. We will see.... if she doesn't improve he'll hear about it.

Thanks guys. The emergency clinic wasn't the same one as the clinic I had her desexed at so I am just waiting for that phone call.... I'll harass them in about half an hour if I haven't heard I think because my girl is still just standing on her bed, staring at the wall... I was told he'd call as soon as he finished up with his consult but I'm starting to think that isn't going to be the case :*( That's a terrible story LG I haven't had much luck with desexing ops in the past either; I was already paranoid before Cinder's experience - my most recent foster did her best to gut herself but ripping out all the stitches despite having an appropriately fitted and sized E-collar on... I was at work and came home to find her lying on her bed with a huge puddle of blood underneath her... vet trip and sedation for her, and placed with the owner of the foster group until she was healed enough to come back to me as I work full time and can't do much about that. One before that got a nasty infection too... I hate this surgery so much.

Problem was, I really feel the vet last night didn't take me seriously when I explained that she hasn't been off her feet (unless co-coerced) since the Op. She placated me nicely "well I'm sure she's snuck a few naps here and there' and didn't really want to discuss it much after that. I am so worried about Cinder, I think she just saw me as a hysterical pet owner. I'm waiting on her vet who did the Op to call me at the moment because he's booked out today. I guess if he's concerned he'll make room for us?

Nope, she's meant to be a red and white but she has this black coloured neck that became really obvious after her last visit to get a bath and they decimated her undercoat with a furminator.... I'm just waiting to see if her colours change again... weird huh! I loved the story about the limp <3

yeah I've taped it and have it on my iphone to show them if they're interested

This is her

I'm going to call the vet who did the surgery tomorrow and ask for a follow-up surgical visit explaining she's not doing very well 4 days post surgery and we need some help. Tonight she was licking the wound really vigorously so I had no choice but to put her collar back on and she's been standing up ever since. I FORCED her to lay down with me on the couch and put my hands under her chin to rest her head on. She fell asleep immediately and must have had terrible dreams because was twitching and whimpering in her sleep. Is breaking my heart! Woke up and tried to leap off the couch after about 10 minutes and has been standing and swaying on her feet since. She won't tolerate anything on her cut. I tried a bandage, ripped it off, tried one of those tegaderm things from the hospital that don't take your skin with it when they come off... ripped that off too. I think we'll have to go down the sedation route tomorrow even if the vet tells me it's a bad idea. I don't know what else to do to give this dog some rest...

She is the weirdest dog! It's like she's forgotten how to lie down and now thinks sleeping on ones feet is normal... I got home from work at 4pm and my bf said he'd been driven mad trying to make her rest all day. Transferring from her crate to her pen to outside to a light walk and then just ignoring her... none of it worked and all he heard all day was the noise of her falling against the sides of the crate as she fell asleep and slumped to the side before righting herself to stand again... Couldn't handle it any more and took her to the emergency vet centre. I think the nice vet thought I was dramatizing the whole situation but that aside, she didn't recommend anything except an anti-inflammatory which she gave in injection form there and I have some for home for the next 4 days. It's just a non-steroidal but I'm sure it's a good idea. No signs of infection, nothing wrong with the wound as yet, healing well but obviously very sore as she's very tender to touch and guarding. However.. has now been an hour and she's identical to how she was. Standing, swaying, her nose now touching the floor and she's alternating between falling sideways and falling forward which is squashing her nose and making her wake up suddenly.. SO FRUSTRATED

I do have the soft flexible one, the 'cloud collar' I think it's called. She hates that more than anything else in the world.. except being desexed apparently. It's so strange. Inside she will just sook, with her head almost touching the floor, standing with her tail between her legs for hours upon hours. Outside if I take her out the front she seems to 'forget' and runs around with her tail up like normal wanting to sniff things and pulling on the leash. I don't know if this is all behavioural or if it's real. I'm in touch with the breeder who said it sounds like she's just been spoilt far too much and doesn't know how to deal with things she doesn't like. I haven't meant to spoil her over her time with us I just treat her like I do all my dogs, with lots of love and attention and spending lots of time with her.... none of my other dogs have been this sooky though. I don't think she's 'unwell' in that her wound still looks fine and she's not lethargic or flat. It's like she's just so displeased with everything and this is her protest. If she were exactly the same outside I'd be more worried but ugh, I just don't know. Have to work today but my bf is home with her. If she's like this when I get home I don't care if it's right or wrong I'm going to have to take her to the vet, even just for some reassurance from the guy who did the surgery

oh really?! Licking is ok? You've just saved my puppy from many more hours of collar-induced torture!

The 20mg of tramadol worked after about 30-40 minutes and she became a little less stressed. I laid a nice blanket on the ground and lay down next to her and convinced her to lie down if I was there. We both fell asleep until about 4am (omg sore back today!). I put her back in her crate and I went to bed. Woke up to find her licking her wound this morning, so back on goes the cloud collar. Now she hates life again and is back to standing, but at least she's had a few hours sleep so I'm less panicky about the whole thing. Would you guys ever try to put bandaids or something over the cut or will she just hurt herself ripping them off? She's not chewing at the wound (all internal stitches and nothing to nibble on) but I think it's just sore and irritating her so she's licking the skin near it as well. If I could get the collar off her she may be happier, but I can't have her licking at it all day either. I hate this surgery! Wish there weren't nasty health risks leaving a non-breeding female entire or I wouldn't have done this to her. She lives inside so I don't have to worry about oopsie puppies, I only did this so we have less chance of cancer and other things later on...