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Gee JenB that must have been a horrible event. Hope your doggie recovers completely and quickly. I had no idea that dogs could still get Parvo when vaccinated. I am sure with your good care she will be fine.

At our house the Dog Reconciliation Process has begun and I am cautiously optimistic at this stage.
Have had Toki and Lucy together in the back yard with Toki's muzzle on and me and the other dogs out of the picture. First time a little flash of aggression and then all ok. Lucy wary and quite defensive (understandable). Second time we repeated same and I went out to get something 15 minutes later and Toki running around with muzzle pulled off and hanging around her neck All okay though and both much more relaxed.
The process will continue gradually - will reintroduce the other dogs tonight or tomorrow and then progress to inside the house....... all goes well.

In the meantime, good luck Jen with Zina's treatment and recovery.

Threedogs, slow but steady is the way to go. Soon the last of the hormones will leave their bodies and you'll be quite amazed to see the change in their personalities, they become more mature and less boisterous soon after the op.

I also did not know that they could get parvo after being vaccinated but they said it all depends on how direct the contact was and the concentration of virus digested. Had I kept her home she might have shown slight symptoms for a day or two and would have been over it in no time but then I decided to go the precautionary route....

I took her back for her checkup yesterday and the armpit looked less swollen. By this afternoon they'd be able to make a call if it should be surgically drained but I'm going to have a hard time trusting them again.

Her usual appetite started returning last night and she had her first good meal in over a week. The parvo has long left her body, the attack was extremely mild. It's just the complication with the drip which is still getting her down and the infection in her armpit which dragged out the healing process.

She's once again trotting around as if she owns the place and takes little nonsense from the boys. Here is hoping that they would not need to set her back by having to do the surgery.

That is such a shame that she is suffering from this unnecessary wound. But it sounds like she is on the mend. Really hope an op isn't needed.

Everything sounds good between your doggies Threedogs! I'm so glad for you!

JenB, I sincerely hope that surgery will not be necessary for Zina! I would also never trust those people again!

Please let us know how things are going Threedogs and JenB!

Hi pet people! Feeling fragile with the dog pack situation so thought I would drop in here Please bear with me............

Our doggie re-introduction is continuing but is proving to be an up and down process. What I am seeing is a lot of possessive aggression behaviour from Toki (possessive over me, mainly, and then also some continued general dominance assertion behaviour). For example; I had the two girls in the backyard together, muzzle on Toki; other two inside, and I just stayed relaxed and calm and hung clothes on line and pottered about for 10 minutes or so ignoring them. The whole time Toki shadowed me and kept Lucy right away (in fact hiding under the steps) by dominant body posturing and herding. Without muzzle she would have attacked I think, but without me there probably they would be okay

I downloaded one of Cesar's books onto my Kindle and read the whole thing today and have written down all the 'rules'. We are having a family meeting to discuss the consistent implementation of the rules.

What I am seeing is: a somewhat insecure dog who is nonetheless naturally tending to be dominant with a very high energy level. A dog who has not been set clear rules, boundaries and limitations and is now somewhat unbalanced and unstable. A dog who is not getting enough exercise. Latest escalated behaviour triggered by both the age (2yrs supposed to be socially maturing) and the coming into season of herself and the lower ranking female at the same time. Phew!

Am determined to stay positive and work this through over the coming weeks and months.
* Lots more structured excercise ( I need it too); correct walking technique!
* Consistent rules boundaries limitations - calm assertive leadership!
* Establish basic obedience training - sit, stay etc. (yes, we have been slack about that too )

At the moment, Toki goes into the separate run at night and then we swap them during the day. Lucy copes with this quite well but Toki stresses at times initially when put in, then settles down. Tonight I put Saffie in with her as a calming influence. Do you think this is the right strategy to go with at the moment while we continue with the overall plan?

If you got this far, thanks for reading this Chapter in our Book of Dog Woes..... It helps to write it down and get it out there; I need to stay calm and focused and happy so I can be a better pack leader

Hi Threedogs, I'm glad you have downloaded one of Cesar's books, ha seems to achieve wonders by adhering to a few basic rules. The key to this is to apply these rules consistently . I really do hope that it helps,and trust that it will. Give them all a big love from me, and tell them I said they must BEHAVE !!!!!!!!!!.

Good luck Threedogs! I hope Cesar's advice helps!

However, possesiveness over you seems to be the main problem here! I don't know whether there is something that you can do about that, other than give each and everyone similar attention.

I really hope I'm not imagining things, but Gal seems so much better since yesterday, maybe the medication is now really starting to work. I don't want to get my hopes up because last time I thought she was improving, it was back to square one the next day. Please hold thumbs with me that she keeps on improving. She is normally such a happy girl,and it breaks my heart to see her like this.

Poor three dogs It sounds like you have two delinquent teenages ( of the human kind)in the house .. Just hope things will ease now both are spayed and you bring in some stricter rules.
Carolg I hope the medication is working ...and gal is feeling better. Poor thing ..

Thanks everyone! Things are okay at the moment as we work on the new 'rules'

Carolg, I too hope that the medication is really starting to help. It might help too, to realise that, with this type of illness in humans (and so it may be in your doggie) there are some days very good and some not so good and that is fairly normal. Difficult for the carer - HUGS to you.

Threedogs, keep going with Cesar's advice and as Jen stated, once the hormones have settled, the change is remarkable.

I am throwing in my bit here for advice. Jen once gave me excellent gentian violet advice... that I use even on myself.

I have an elderly Balinese male who has chronic snuffles. I took him to be tested for feline AIDS or Leukemia because he is just not getting better. I was given the all clear.

He started another horrible sinus infection again yesterday. His breath is foul and there is a lot of horrible gunk being sneezed up.

So far this year he has been on four antibiotic courses, had teeth removed and I try to give him the best food. I am not fond of frequent antibiotics. I think it does knock the immune system. Does anyone know of a good immune booster or more natural method?

Hi Threedogs, glad you are starting to apply the rules ,I'm sure doing things consistently,will really help. Thanks for you kind words for Gal. I'm sure things will start improving soon.

MM don't know of anything but will try to find out. Poor little thing.

MM ,that is a difficult one I think on the whole I find dogs much easier to treat given one can provide a range of food or supplements much easier than to cats.

If you can get a copy of Pat Coleby's 'Natural Pet Care' anywhere (maybe order online) it will have a wealth of information. Pat Coleby was advocating natural and sustainable methods of farming, animal husbandry and pet care decades before it became more mainstream.

I also just read the most fabulous article in a Grass Roots magazine about natural dog and cat nutrition. It was not airy fairy quackery stuff but explained the serious long term health implications of processed pet foods (the why and how) and what a more natural diet is and why it is better.

(Our dogs have been on a natural diet since we have had them and are glowing with good health and good teeth. I don't feed our cats any tinned food at all, only very good kibble.)

If anyone wants a copy and feels comfortable PMing me an address, I will post a copy of the article.

Interesting.

When I took my cat in recently for suspected bladder infection, or kidney stones, the first question that I was asked was about which cat food he was given. There is one particular cat food on the market that is notorious for leading to kidney stones.

On my recent trip to fetch my daughter, we spent a night at feline rehabilitation center. The person running the center was telling us that wild cats developed fatty liver on a domestic cat's diet. It had the same effect as if we lived exclusively on Mac Donalds.... or Tassies wine

One of the felines.

Yes, one of our very first cats that I owned as an adult died of kidney failure for that very reason ( bad dry food). We had little money then and bought very cheap kibble. The vets told us that poor quality kibble often resulted in kidney problems. It had to do with the ingredient/s used but I can't remember exactly what
The wild cat people you spoke too, are saying exactly what I read in the article I mentioned. The type and amount of fats and the way they are processed in the pet foods are not metabolised properly by many of our cats and dogs. This leads to many health problems including fatty liver, pancreatitis etc. This together with the grain products used can also lead to the problems one sees of 'itchy dog syndrome' where the dog licks and scratches a lot for seemingly no reason.

Our dogs are fed lean prime raw beef ( we get it as part of SO's salary thankfully), raw lamb hearts and raw chicken necks/or wing tips. They also get a little brown cooked rice and some grated veg. Apparently a similar diet is very suitable for cats too. Because we have four dogs and several cats the cats have so far lucked out on the above! However we feed only Whiskas brand kibble for the last 13 years and they do very well with it.