The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

tk123

DBB wrote: »

With all due respect graces7, this is an unacceptable generalisation. There are many, many circumstances where a scan (no sedation needed for ultrasounds) will pick up a major problem long before it becomes a major problem, at a point where treatment will either cure or slow down progression.
Leave it to the vet to "feel" the problem, and the prognosis for the animal can often be very poor indeed as the condition has progressed too far for anything to be done.
Scans and technology have allowed for far more accurate, and far quicker diagnoses of a wide range of health problems in all animals in many cases, I think it unfair to condemn it in preference to waiting for the vet to "know without a scan".

I'd agree with this and I've experience of messing around with 'wait and see' attitudes both from vets and doctors for myself. If the technology is there why not use it - especially if you have insurance/money put by!! I've got long lasting damage myself from a old skool (as in so old she retired lol!!) consultant waiting to see what happened while a thyroid mass grew in my chest. After that no way. The same with the dogs - I'll always get a second opinion if I don't think we're on the right track. My vet is fine with that and is open to new opinions. She makes a point of showing students Bailey's legs and how the second opinion saved him

honerbright

Just finished work there now and on the way home with our new furbaby in a carrier in the back :-D

tk123

OMGGGG I got a strip of beef ribs yesterday for the dogs - I boned them and gave them the bones but kept the meat for us which I felt a bit guilty about ...until we just had the most delicious casserole/stroganoff - only cost €3.65 and the dogs are still chewing away on the bones!

Toulouse

Someone tell me to stop surfing and finish this bloody assignment so I can start prepping for exams.

My study-buddies (the dogs) are panned out and useless for motivation :mad:

They do look so cute and cosy though

honerbright

New pup is so ridiculously, insanely settled and comfortable in the house, you'd think she'd been here for 3 weeks rather than 3 hours! I wonder if it's because she's a full month older than Poppy was when we got her (New baby is 12 weeks, Poppy was 8 weeks).

Hard trying to pick a name for her, throwing out loads but none seem to fit yet. I put a photo of her up on the picture thread if anyone wants to see her (and her gigantic paws lol)

tk123

Oh what a beauty!! We were the same trying to pick a name for Lucy until I picked the breeder and found out her dad was called "Woodmore Ringo Star" - we narrowed it down to girls names from Beatles songs and liked Lucy best.

DBB

Lucy suits her a lot better than Rita would have :-D

Whispered

Although rigby has a nice ring to it.

Graces7

DBB wrote: »

With all due respect graces7, this is an unacceptable generalisation. There are many, many circumstances where a scan (no sedation needed for ultrasounds) will pick up a major problem long before it becomes a major problem, at a point where treatment will either cure or slow down progression.
Leave it to the vet to "feel" the problem, and the prognosis for the animal can often be very poor indeed as the condition has progressed too far for anything to be done.
Scans and technology have allowed for far more accurate, and far quicker diagnoses of a wide range of health problems in all animals in many cases, I think it unfair to condemn it in preference to waiting for the vet to "know without a scan".

on this we will differ. period. not condemning in every case so as often you have taken my words far beyond their meaning. recent events with my own dogs lead me to a very different conclusion and application than yours.

over and out on this which would have been better in a separate thread

Graces7

tk123 wrote: »

I'd agree with this and I've experience of messing around with 'wait and see' attitudes both from vets and doctors for myself. If the technology is there why not use it - especially if you have insurance/money put by!! I've got long lasting damage myself from a old skool (as in so old she retired lol!!) consultant waiting to see what happened while a thyroid mass grew in my chest. After that no way. The same with the dogs - I'll always get a second opinion if I don't think we're on the right track. My vet is fine with that and is open to new opinions. She makes a point of showing students Bailey's legs and how the second opinion saved him

disagree. thi s was not about wait and see. sorry re your own trouble but i have experience to the contrary.
as in permanent nerve damage through needless technical intervention.

over and out from me

Graces7

honerbright wrote: »

Just finished work there now and on the way home with our new furbaby in a carrier in the back :-D

wonderful moment!

borderlinemeath

I'm happy that I have a thorough vet that looks at every possible avenue and doesn't go with just a gut feeling. Last year both my dogs had growths/lumps that needed attention and I am glad that she was thorough with both, taking samples, scans and xrays to ensure nothing was left to chance. Luckily both were benign but I would not have been happy to let either one just wait and see and go with a theory as opposed to actually getting a definitive diagnosis, particularly when so many diseases with animals are time sensitive and some symptoms can present when it is all too late.

honerbright

Poppy and new pup, Roisin (current working name :P) are getting on great, even had a game of tug of war with Poppys monkey. Pops very gentle with her, letting her pick up the toys first and if she can't see her she goes looking for her.
No accidents inside so far either
Roisins sound asleep on my chest at the moment, I forgot how much babies slept!


Edit: Poppy has a great chew bone her secret santa gave her and she just bought it over for Roisin and gave it to her and walked off. Proud moment for me, although took it off her because u think it's a bit hard for her baby teeth.

SingItOut

Alli has learned how to roll over! Very proud mammy here if she wasn't so hyper with the attention span of a flea I could probably have taught her loads more by now! Moone can do it too but I'm always proud when they learn new tricks

The swelling in beaus cheek has gone down loads and there's no abscess thankfully

Whispered

Isn't it great when training goes well singitout. we just had a very productive walk which involved:

sheep - ignored
sheep poo - uneaten
sits and downs - enthusiastically given
leads - loose all the way.

For many people that would be normal but it has taken a fair bit of work to get Harley there. It really REALLY helped getting Kieran to come to a class with me last week. The trainer was brilliant and it really motivated him which motivated me more. I'm buzzing

Tranceypoo

Whispered wrote: »

:

sheep - ignored
sheep poo - uneaten

I can only dream....

Whispered

Tranceypoo wrote: »

I can only dream....

Phoe is a little feck for sheep poo. The first time I brought him to the curragh I wasn't expecting it at all until I noticed his little happy baldy head munching away on a piece like it was a Mars bar. Disgusting!!

I bring treats with me now and he very pointedly looks at a piece of poo and then looks at me for a treat. If I ignore him he grumbles at it and then at me. So he can be sure I see him not eating it, little brat.

tk123

Lucy is terrible for poo too!! All the things we hear about dog poo and what if a child picks it up etc - what about the fact that the edges of the dunes have become a toilet for people going to the beach?

borderlinemeath

On my beach the main problem is horse poo! People are allowed run their horses up until midday, and with all the talk of bagging your dogs poo, you're highly likely to come across a big mound of horse poo and nothing is done or said about it. Mine don't eat it but Coco is a demon for rolling in it.

aonb

Will take Pepper to have his scan on wednesday eve - just to find out if his bladder has a major problem or rather to rule out the possibility of his bladder having a problem. Will see from the scan results what is next. If scan shows problems that will necessitate surgery, I really dont believe that is an option for him at his age. Hopefully the scan WONT show a growth/blockage/cancer. HOPEFULLY medication for incontinence will be the next discussion. Thank you for all your input on the subject. Fingers crossed for the results on weds evening.

Whispered

Fingers crossed for Wednesday aonb

Kieran likes things to be lined up properly, straight lines, no creases etc. he spread out the blanket for Harley in front of the fire. Harley spent a nice few minutes digging about in it, making a nice wrinkled up bed, then hopped up onto the couch. Kieran got up and straightened it, Harley got back down and messed it. It's straight again now. Will be interesting to see who gives up first

Pretzill

My littlest guy was neutered this week. He's seven months, I was nervous our eldest boy was neutered almost 15 yrs ago and I worried cos little guy didn't seem to have anything yet to take away! But all went very smoothly, they hadn't dropped, he had two internal stitches and no need for the dreaded cone. He was back to himself as soon as the anesthetic wore off - a neat job - no soreness and ten out of ten for my vet!

He also recieved a chip and is now registered online, just in case. Also had his first dog licence purchased - now he's sleeping beside his brother in their bed - on his back, legs akimbo - the op I was dreading hasn't knocked a feather out of him.

SingItOut

First day on my new job and I got to work with a Harris hawk and some owls, separately of course! Loving it

Moones getting her stitches out tomorrow. She and Alli are annoyed at me because I've been switching over their food, they barely ate any this evening.

Pumpkinseeds

This morning Toby decided that he prefers sleeping on the right hand side of the bed, just at a point where it's really uncomfortable for me to sleep. Normally I can turn over by pulling one of my legs up under the duvet, gently sliding it over him so that I'm at an odd but comfortable angle on my hip, not this morning though, Poppy decided that she likes the new sleeping position so she snuggled in under my left arm.

So I had Toby on the right and Poppy on the left, both extremely happy and snug, with me in the middle anything but comfortable or snug. Just as well I love them so much:)

SingItOut

Got a phone call this morning to say not to come in till 12 the boss wanted a lie in, think I could get used to that

Toulouse

SingItOut wrote: »

Got a phone call this morning to say not to come in till 12 the boss wanted a lie in, think I could get used to that

So lucky, wish I was only in and hadn't been dealing with a snotty engineer for the morning :mad:

If Polly was here she'd growl at him for sure.

Whispered

Is it normal for dogs to be smellier in the summer? They haven't been anywhere really new but their paws in particular were a bit stinky.

They had a bath two weeks ago and I had to bath them again this morning. That is way more often than normal.

Hopefully it's not allergies.

aonb

Do you live in town or country Whispered? Its been wet for a bit now, so everywhere is muddy and mucky after dry spell - their hairy paws get all sorts stuck to them, so can get smelly ... my oh gives the dogs a foot bath now and then:)

aonb

Brought my poor old warrior to vet last night for his scan. Hes 16, been in/out of that vet far too much for his liking in last few years.
Our vet practice has been taken over by bigger practice in nearby town - not v.pleased about that ... will look at other options maybe...
Anyway, Peps bladder is looking in v.bad shape. Vet showed me 'live' pics of scans - excellent! His liver isnt great looking either, and some reading from his kidneys is v.high.
Bloods went off for analysis, and hes on meds to try to reduce inflammation & thickening in his bladder. Hopefully this will reduce any discomfort but his kidney readings meant the vet couldnt give him the inflammatory of choice, so the 1 he's on isnt great for bladders.
Poor old Pep. The killing thing is he looks great - in great form (humped a pillow when he got home - there was a bitch in season in the waiting room (he was neutered 15yrs ago, still humps now and then! Zoomed out the door when called "Walks"! and gutted a baby rabbit the other dog killed ) So we are all looking at him with doom & gloom in our hearts, spoiling him with snacks/treats/steak, and kissing the head off him (he's very patient with us really) Know at 16 he is on borrowed time, but now, we can hear the bloody ticking very loudly

Whispered

You poor thing aonb. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it is. Although it's brilliant to hear he's in such good form. I think the most we can hope for for our dogs (and cats and other furries/ non furries) is a happy active life right up to old age and it sounds like that's exactly what he's getting.