sandgrubber

If you cannot get rid of the fleas -- eg, they are dispersed across an acre of land -- and they come on as occasional outbreaks it may be helpful to manage the allergic reaction as well as the fleas. Your vet should be able to provide Prednisolone tablets. . . or an antihistimine injection in the case of an extreme reaction.

The more information you have to work on, the better your decision. On a wild guess, I'd say that you have something like a 1/20 chance of a horrid outcome . . . but it might be 1/1000 and it might be 1/3, depending on what other dogs have been around the yard and whether or not the pup's first jabs developed an immune response. As others have said, parvo is truly horrid, and it is worth asking the breeder if they'd be willing to look after the pup for a little while. Another bit of research you could do is to call a vet near the holiday house and ask if the area has had parvo.

I've had a few dogs in my boarding kennel who get frozen portions of weird foods, eg, camel and sweet potato. These have something to do with elimination diets, but in some cases, the owner is not doing an elimination diet but just doing the quick and easy option of looking for something that will make a rash go away. I have some links with a game meat exporter who gets various sorts of unusual meat. I sense that there may be an opportunity to provide "convenience" food for people wanting to do elimination diets. I'd love to hear from people who have done the elimination diet routine. Did it work? Was it a nuisance? Was it expensive? Was it worth it? Would you like to see other supply options for the foods used?

If I were you I'd be keeping my pup indoors until 10 days or so after the second parvo vaccination. . . . and keeping the kids and dogs out of the yard.

Generally, if you buy a pedigree pup of a breed that is affected by HD, the parents will have been tested. There may be exceptions, but in a large number of cases it's required by the Canine authorities. In some cases (eg Labradors in WA) the requirement is only that tests are done and results filed with the Canine Association, there is no specific threshold in the regulations. Thus it is not sufficient to know that the dogs were tested . . . you also have to ask what the scores are.

Although some dogs have problems with Rimdyl, it can be a very good drug, and it does relieve pain. I once had to spey a lovely girl (Lab) due to bad elbows, and who is now with a very caring family. When elbow problems set in at about three years, Andrew Buchanan -- an excellent local vet -- put her on Rimdyl twice daily and a severe weight reduction program. She has been on Rimdyl now for three years. She moves normally and appears to be pain free. She's also 9 kg lighter. Another vet I work with often uses Rimdyl when dogs have minor cuts and bruises and are generally feeling sorry for themselves. I have never seen a bad reaction.

Guess #1. You need to mix it fresh because it contains a volatile compound that will tend to evapourate if you store it. (Does it have a strong smell?) Guess #2. The active ingredient gradually reacts with water. Is malaseb related to malasol? If so, guess #1 is probably correct

Not sure about this . . . but I don't think paws are a normal spot for a hot spot (pyrometra). You might want to check the diagnosis before you look for the prescription.

Try Rita at 9398-6609. She's just re-starting a grooming business after a few years away and might have some time.

The pro for pet insurance is usually some protection against the economic effects of nasty, expensive events, like car accidents, injuries, bloat, etc. But as others point out, you have to read the fine print. Some things won't be covered. As a breeder, the con is that it doesn't cover most of the things that come into my vet bill. Health testing, prog testing, AI, Ceasars, speys, neuters, vaccinations. Also, unless your pet is less healthy than the average, health insurance will cost you more than it saves you . . . it has to . . . if it didn't the companies involved would loose money. I don't know about Oz, but when I lived in the USA, the thing that pissed me off about insurance is that it started out cheap, when I had only routine vet bills for things it didn't cover, and got expensive when the dog got to be eight or nine and started having problems with arthritis, etc. I always keep a good financial buffer in the form of ability to redraw on my house loan. I'm reasonably good at keeping my pets healthy and out of trouble. Unless your animals are catastrophe prone, this is substantially cheaper, in the long term, than paying insurance.

A neighbour who does rescue suggested using a biscuit called Vitality. I'm wondering if anyone else has used it. WA made, mostly for export; only available from the wholesaler (in Naval Base). Not irradiated. It's embarassingly cheap: $35 for a 20 kg bag. Beef/lamb are main meat ingredients . . . . the ingredients list states mixed grains so you don't know what grain is used . . . plus something called Omega-Magic . .. a blend of flaxseed and fish oils. My dogs get mostly bones, with a bit of kibble and some veggies thrown in, so its hard to say what it does to their pooh. Being Labs, they'll eat any biscuit. But this stuff seems to do good things for their coats . .. I suspect it's the added oil supplements.

Whether or not you need supplements, and what supplements may be of benefit, depends on the quality of what you feed. In my book it's a pretty complicated issue and I don't think anyone has a definitive answer. My answer and a lot of other people's answers, are tied to broader outlook / philosophy / belief. I supplement with a fish-derived product that contains a lot of zinc and selenium (elements that are generally deficient on a well weathered continent like Australia), plus a few dozen other nutrients (elements, fatty acids, vitamins and amino acids). It seems to improve my dogs coats, and I figure that coat may be an indicator for other things. I choose that particular supplement because it provides a lot of different things, it's cheap, and it's a byproduct of ridding waterways from feral carp. I do not trust supplements that provide massive dosages of a single thing. I have labbies, who are all gulpers. That doesn't stop me from feeding chicken frames. They gulp them, but they digest what they gulp. I think it's better to feed frames than bone meal . . . because some of the good stuff may be destroyed by heating, drying, and whatever else they do to prevent bone meal from becoming a stinky mess.

I had a dog many years ago (speyed Labrador) who had one grand mal epileptic style seizure . . . frothing, unconscious, incontenent, growled at me when she came to, etc. when she was three and never had another. I had a lot of tests run, but they couldn't find anything. My pragmatic vet says that unless the seizure is severe / life threatening, the best thing to do is watch and wait. The vet can run a lot of tests, but it's a fishing expedition: likely to be expensive and inconclusive. Keep a camera handy and watch handy. Take photos and time the seizure . . . then go to the vet if the seizure reoccurrs. If the condition turns out to be periodic, its likely that it will respond to medication. But the vet who gave me advise on this one says she doesn't recommend meds unless seizures are severe . . . or reoccur more often than once a month.

Don't panic. Unless you have a very very small puppy, the pup probably weighs 5000+ times more than the fly. So it would take quite a few flies to get to a lethal dose. But I agree with others, prevention is a good idea. Or use a pet safe repellent spray such as the citronella blends used in stables.

My father, who was a medical doctor and something of a maverick, preferred to have a tubal ligation done on his girls. This leaves their hormonal systems natural, but prevents pregnancy. It doesn't have the benefit of stopping seasons, or reducing chances of tumors in the repro system. The procedure is simple and should be a bit cheaper than a full spey because they don't have to make a large incision or pull anything out.

Bottom line first, then the story prompting the question. What can you do at home to help a dog that is dying? Is there a medicine it's worth keeping on hand when the end is near? I got a late night call from a neighbor who has several (>15) rescue dogs, including sick, elderly, and abandoned dogs. One of hers was elderly, frail, and suffering organ failure. She wanted the number for the mobile vet I use, hoping that the vet would come out and administer the green needle that evening. Our local mobile vet is great, but I doubted she would respond. Nobody wants to become THE vet who comes out and does after hours euthanasia. The neighbor already spends hundreds of dollars a month on vet bills, and an afterhours emergency fee for euthanasia was not high on her priorities. The dog passed naturally within a couple hours . . . not without pain. This lead to a discussion about what the best thing to do in such situations, and whether home administration of a potent oral medicine (or even a sub cut injection) appropriate in such cases. Eg, phenobarbital or vallium. I'd be interested to know what others do or would advise should the situation arise again.

My vet charges a dispensing fee on worming tablets . . . so I buy them 100 at a time in their original packing and on sell them at my cost to other breeders . .. . saves the vet from having to deal with lots of little transactions and gets the dogs wormed in a way that minimises handling charges. If your dog is on a medication for life, why not see if the vet will sell you dosage for several months at one hit. Btw, most meds have a very long shelf life (years) if kept dry and refrigerated.

King River International in Canning Vale is the cheapest source I've found . . . especially if you buy in bulk. Their kennel mince is lean and $2 (bulk) or $2.20 (single pack)/kg. Chicken necks, same price as kennel mince. 2 kg bags of roo tail segments are $3. Chicken carcasses $6/bag . . . a bag is 20 carcasses . . . may weigh as much as 14 kg or as little as 8 kg . . . often with neck on. They are big roo exporters, and also have roo for human consumption. And if you run a zoo, they'll sell you a whole container load

My Labbies eat them whole, inside of 10 minutes. The pups take longer, and sometimes the big dogs take over and finish what the pups don't eat.

Did the vet say what was causing the seizures? If they are epileptic, you may be able to keep her going for years on meds. I realise you were asking about the second dog, and you may already have decided against going for a second opinion and I don't mean to push this . . . but vets do make mistakes, and some supposedly hopeless cases are treatable.

Homoeopaths do not 'cure' any disease - if a homoeopath tells you they can - run a mile. If he's dealing with a homoeopath who specialises in homoeo-immunisation, he's probably quite correct. I don't understand. Let's say dog is suffering from parvo and a remedy is given; the dog recovers due to the remedy. Isn't that 'curing' the parvo? Don't homeopaths give remedies that treat, and hopefully cure, the sufferer from the disease? btw, I'm not sure my friend used the word cure. He did imply that puppies who had come down with parvo were treated homeopathically and got better, apparently without IV support. This didn't jive with everything I've heard about parvo, and if it were true, I'd think there'd be a rush to adopt the homeopathic treatment, or at least people talking about alternate treatments in this forum.

A friend of mine recently wanted to book his dog into my kennels and I had to refuse him because he doesn't believe in vaccinations. A good natured discussion of vaccinations ensued. He believes in homeopathy and claimed, among other things, that UK homeopathic practitioners had good success treating parvo and that the disease wasn't as horrible as it was made out to be. I was a bit shocked cause it ran contrary to everything else I've heard. Has anyone seen any good evidence that homeopaths have a cure for parvo?

That's like asking how long flu is contagious. In my experience, there are a variety of viruses lumped as 'kennel cough' and there are significant differences between them in terms of symptoms, infectiousness, and period to onset. This is further complicated by secondary bacterial infections, which are common and varied in nature. The bit that responded to antibiotics, btw, it wasn't kennel cough, which is a viral infection and does not respond to antibiotics, but a secondary bacterial infection accompanying the KC.

My Labbies will eat Agaricus mushrooms -- but only cooked in lots of butter or in a rich gravy. If they could pick them out and not eat them, they would. I doubt that the mushrooms that are safe for people are poisonous for dogs -- but why bother. Dogs don't like them, and they're too good for dogfood.

I was reading the three yr C3 Topic and saw an add down at the bottom of the page for "Find a Pet" (Yellow Pages). I tried it, and what did I get . . . a nice list of local pet shops that sell puppies . Maybe someone should look into this . . .