Posted on 09/17/2010 10:04:19 AM PDT by decimon
My daughter has one of those new fangled cat litter boxes that empties its self after being used...but they are not cheap..
good dogie
Our dog is named Buster for a reason. Until he got sick, he was as unstoppable as a freight train. No obstacle too big or too small to plow through!
Um, I never said I fed raw. In fact I stated quite clearly that I did not feed raw.
In your vast experience then you also know that until very recently the Lepto vaccine doesn’t cover all strains of the disease and it’s still quite possible for the dog to get it. Of course, most vets won’t tell their patients that, do they? No, they charge them for the vaccine, which has questionable efficacy even given on a yearly basis, and send the people on their way, minus a bit of money.
Just as people are unwittingly told their dog must have a “kennel cough” vaccine, but aren’t told that the vaccine doesn’t cover even most strains that cause “kennel cough”. Just as people are unwittingly told that their puppies should be vaccinated for corona virus, even though it only affects puppies less than 6 weeks old and no one should be brining a puppy home at that age. And most vets won’t discuss the new vaccine protocols that suggest vaccination every 3 years either.
Some vaccines are necessary, but they’re also a big money maker for vets and so are oversold. Any dog that lives in the house in an urban area has absolutely no need for a lepto vaccine as the risks much outweigh the benefits.
Besides that, you know darn well that the vet’s suggestion that little dogs are wimpy is no way to deal with a vaccine reaction, and that’s mostly what I was commenting on.
I’ve had two of them. Loved it, all you have to do is take out the basket and empty.
Problem is the motor only lasts for about a year and a half. After the second one died at about the same life as the first I said forget it.
Thanks much Joe. I know that real chocolate, grapes-raisins, and onion are bad for dogs. My Yorkie seems to like lettuce for some odd reason.
Lepto vaccine...my most pathogenic strain recovered here is L. bratislava and its not in the improved multivalent vaccine but for farm dogs its worth the risk and may have some cross protection. The academics claim it isn't a pathogen. Kennel cough...whatever the client wants...if they don't want it fine, I make more money treating the disease. Canine influenza...risk versus benefit; I was consulted about it back in 2003 when it exploded at a dog track near Ft Meyers.Corona virus...don't recommend it, I worked in research and we couldn't even count the strains. Every three years...whatever..I make more money on the titers than on the vaccine. If folks want their dog protected like some egg heads are recommending, then by all means do the titer for three or four times the cost and if the titer is low I make money on the titer and vaccine. I remember back in 1974 when this idea cropped up with the academicians and we had a significant outbreak of old dog distemper. No vaccine in urban environment...I guess rat and raccoon piss are safe. Just forget the bats in the urban environment. Living in Maryland I see you got to experience the results of complicity with rabies. Just because one vet shoved a burr up your butt doesn't mean we all do.
Hey listen, I’ve never taken my dogs to you so I don’t know what kind of vet you are. But I’ve owned dogs for over 20 years; competed with dogs, showed dogs, bred dogs and I can tell you that in both South Florida and Central Florida (my only two areas of experience with vets) that quite a lot of them leave a lot to be desired. Just like with your own personal doctors you have to be proactive with what you do and don’t want done because a lot of them will tell their patients that they need a bunch of stuff that they don’t really need and/or don’t always do what’s best for the pet. Most vets won’t let their patients know that the kennel cough vaccine doesn’t cover most strains, and it sounds like you don’t either. You should not be making more money on a quick office visit and administering a simple antibiotic to treat it than a yearly exam and giving the vaccine (which you also know is required every 6 months, not yearly). And the titers don’t cost 3 - 4 times the cost of the vaccines, they’re about the same amount as the vaccines, so if someone chose to titer they should only potentially double their cost.
The new vaccine protocol does not call for titers every year in lieu of vaccination. I *want* my vet to make money off of me; people that make money off you tend to want to please you and take good care of you. I’ve taken a lot of time to educate myself on what’s best for my animals and I really resent vets that recommend doing this or that because it’s more money in their pocket. I recognize that there is some risk in not vaccinating for lepto. But you will never convince me that it’s safer for the dogs to be vaccinated every 6 months for lepto (efficacy of vaccine is thought to be in the 7 - 12 month range) than not vaccinated at all when most dogs that do get lepto are strains that are not in the vaccine.
Florida allows a 3 year rabies vaccine, most people don’t realize it’s the same exact thing as the 1 year vaccine. Why would you put that in to your dog every year if efficacy is at least 3 years; they’re actually researching to see if it will last longer. Humans that get the rabies vaccine routinely titer and levels are at effective levels for much longer. Problem for you vets is that a lot of people will stop bringing their dog in for a yearly exam if they don’t have to get yearly vaccines and then you’re losing money; so many push the nonsense that yearly vaccines are safer.
So back to the food; it couldn’t be that a lot of vets sell Science Diet in their offices because Hill’s pays them to, could it? All mighty dollar wins out over pet health in so many offices. Of course, sell a $5 can of Hill’s I/D instead of telling people they should go home and boil rice and chicken and give a probiotic for a few days. One vet I know of gave a puppy Hill’s K/D for a urinary tract infection and had the owners keep feeding it for months, even though it’s very very low in protein, much lower than a growing puppy should be on. That is frustrating, and even more frustrating that it happens over and over again and other vets condone it. But hey, why not keep doing things they way you did it 30 years ago, no matter what the research says. You will never convince me that a dog fed a majority of corn is healthier than a dog fed a majority of meat
It’s not just one vet and it’s not all vets, but I’d say in my 20 plus years owning dogs it’s probably at 50%/50% and that’s pretty sad. It took going through a lot of duds, but I love love love the vet I have finally found.
Don't know if has anything to do with how they spent their first few months of life. George was a dumped kitten that spent his first six months living in a barn. Scooter was born in a rescue home and has always had it soft.
I switched my two kittehs over from Royal Canin to Blue Buffalo Indoor Health and they are both doing extremely well. They are both long-haired (Ragdoll and Birman) and the Ragdoll rarely has a hairball anymore (from 3 or more a week to maybe 1 or 2 a month). The Birman has NEVER had a hairball - only throws up food when he has pigged out! He’s only 2 y.o. so he still has to learn to moderate.
Kitteh can’t haz cheezburger. :^(
Did your vet identify the strain of Bordetella in your area? Has your vet done the epidemiological studies in your area as to the strains of Lepto that may be in the area or have they ever even seen a case of lepto? I am sure he/she did. Also, pricing in this area is markedly lower than in other areas. People drive 80 miles to this area to save on the cost of vaccines. Yes, titers cost three times that of the vaccines. I didn't do it intentionally, it just worked out this way. Now the problem with you know it all breeders is that you are given a little information and possess a myopic view of vaccinations, their history, and their purpose. Your microbiological background is commensurate with your overall education and therefore you cannot make competent decisions as to medicine. You puppy mill operators just shop around from vet to vet like little Saturday night prostitutes, dissing vets that care to have a differing opinion of your great intellectual capacities. Breeders like you cut corners so that you can make more profit on your puppy mills. Just because you get your jollies from watching dogs breed doesn't mean you are a bad puppy mill person..
Hey its not all breeders like this, but I have seen 80-90% of the dog breeders dishonest and uncaring and breeding dogs to make a dollar ignoring the health and well being of the breeds. The audacity of people breeding animals for money!! I have seen one or two responsible dog breeders in my thirty years of veterinary service and you could be one of them.
A dog breeder shouldn't be throwing stones at the veterinary profession. How do you feel being lumped with the puppy mills? When the two occupations are lined up side to side comparing ethics, I wonder which side would one wish to be? Es todo.
I will agree with you that most breeders don’t give damn about their dogs or the quality of dogs they are producing. And yes, because of that I feel I have to work even harder to assure anyone who has gotten one of my puppies the amount of work that I put in to producing sound puppies. Not counting the amount of time and money taken to get my bitch ranked in the Top 10 in the country for conformation and the endless training that goes in to agility, hunting, obedience, etc., by the time I pay for all the genetic testing, hip & elbow evaluation, progesterone tests, stud fees for a dog that has been through the same rigorous tests, there’s no way I could charge enough for a puppy to even break even. I do it for the love of the breed though, not the money.
I don’t know anything about Hill’s development of dog food for for the military dogs, but again, if it’s mostly corn like their other formulas I ain’t impressed. I hope it’s not the same crappy formulation and they’re actually feeding those working dogs the protein they need. Are you saying that Hill’s doesn’t pay vets to carry their product in their office? Maybe they don’t now, but they used to.
There are dog food companies that are doing it right. I’ve been on an Orijen kick for the past couple years; they’re a Canadian company. My puppies were weaned on it and did fantastic and I sent bags of it home with them when they left me. But I’m always checking, double checking, reevaluating. I do add fresh, whole foods to their kibble every now and then; quail eggs, sardines, veggies.
Tell me, what kind of nutritional training did you receive in vet school and what kind of continuing education in the field of nutrition are you required to take to keep your license active?
I’m only a professional engineer; organic chemistry was probably the closest I ever got to microbiology. That doesn’t mean that I can’t read and understand the published studies on vaccines and why the new vaccine protocols are recommended. Most dogs aren’t going to have a problem with yearly vaccination, but some dogs do and just because I didn’t go to vet school doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be presented with the information and allowed to make an educated decision on what I think is best for my dogs.
I still don’t understand why you’re so defensive regarding my statement that the vet I used 20 years ago responded the wrong way when presented with a vaccine reaction. You know that was the wrong response, but you don’t address that. You attack me for not being a vet and having an opinion about how my dogs are cared for. How about a simple, Oh yeah, that vet could have suggested giving the dog a little bit of benadryl? I will stand by my statement that not all vets do what’s best for the animal.
Scooter is a six month old Turkish Van mix, has never had a hair ball and eats everything that isn't nailed down. But then he is a growing boy. And growing and growing. He is going to be small dog sized if he keeps it up.
He already out masses George but so far age and guile has beaten youth and exuberance.
Commercial foods and pesticides. It’s a dog’s life fer sure. You used to have a Shit-soo? What’s a high quality of life for those rug-rats? My dogs run around with me in the woods. They eat berries, retrieve ducks, terrorize muskrats, and generally act like animals. Do they eat commercial food? Yes, among other things. A varied diet and exercise will do more for a dog than some magic bag of food. And vets? They’re businesspeople. Treat ‘em that way. Ya wouldn’t ask a car salesman if ya needed a new car, would ya?
I feed it to my poodle too. He loves it. Glad they sell it in the small packages. The bagged stuff got hard and he won’t eat dry, crunchy dog food. But his milkbones must be crunchy! Spoiled??
Your dog eats cat turds only because there aren’t any cow or horse turds available. Quite the doggie delicacy.
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