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skycat

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Everything posted by skycat

  1. skycat
    Epsom salts are an old fashioned method: they can cause dehydration and scouring. Far better to reduce the bitch's food. There is also a homeopathic remedy called Urtica Urens 3x which will dry the milk up very fast: MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT ONE AS THERE ARE TWO STRENGTHS. HIGH STRENGTH INCREASES MILK, 3x DRIES IT UP Should be able to get it from your local health food shop, and believe me, it really works. Alternatively, get in touch with Dorwest Herbs: they do Urtica Urens 3x.
  2. skycat
    What you've got is a toe which was dislocated and its severely damaged the ligaments which hold the joint in place. So now you have an unstable joint: imagine the ligaments are like a load of wires which attach the toe bones together in the right place. When a toe impacts on something hard, for example, the wires (ligaments) can snap or stretch so now the bones ain't stablised in the right place any more. Each time the dog runs the bones grate against eachother and cause inflammation and pain. Result: early onset arthritis. Given time there might be enough scar tissue to hold it all in
  3. skycat
    Sounds as though your vet kknows what he's doing: Carprofen will help to support the joint whilst the ligaments heal. Keep the dog from running about: lead exercise only for 2 months. Massage isn't supposed to help ligament damage but I've always massaged with Arnica Massage Balm: available from Weleda online or good health food shops. Its a homeopathic remedy and an oil so quite sticky but easy to massage in even on rough coated dogs. Rub it in well once a day. Massage helps to bring blood to the injured area. If you have access to a Portamag they are great for this sort of injury: youn
  4. skycat
    Don't leave a plastic bag covering the foot all the time: more chance it will get infected: dogs need to sweat through their pads and if the moisture/heat can't escape it will set up a breeding ground for bacteria which love moisture and warmth. If its a really deep cut it could take as much as a month to heal: lead only exercise and smear the pad with Padsanol from the Greyhound Megastore online....every day. That will help protect the cut and stop the pad drying out.
  5. skycat
    Soak the scab off with boiled, then cooled water with a teaspoon of salt per litre. just keep mopping at the scab with cotton wool until it dissolves and loosens. Don't try and pull it off its dry, but it should come away once you've moistened it. Might take a little while.
  6. skycat
    Nice to see some fit and trim staffys: not like the overweight lumps of blubber I see being walked round my way.
  7. skycat
    I'm sure that you've looked into this, but a friend of mine had a similar problem with a lurcher bitch, whose granddam suffered from Collie nose, which is an auto immune condition. Several of her pups had similar problems, and now, 2 generations later, this bitch has the crumbling claw problem. My friend has almost got on top of the condition by feeding only raw food, plenty of Kelp and various other herbal immune system strengtheners, if that is the right word. I've got a bitch who is distantly related and she gets skin conditions if she's not fed 100% on raw food with loads of herbal things
  8. skycat
    Feed her raw meat. Get some tripe, not that horrible washed minced stuff that has all the goodness washed out of it. But IMO one of the best things you can feed a pregnant bitch is whole carcase hens or rabbits. STOP feeding biscuit: it is full of carbohydrates: cereals which don't contain enough fat and protein minerals and vitamins: and get her on to raw natural food. Not just minced meat from the supermarket, but whole carcases. If you can't get whole carcases then buy chicken wings, minced meat, breast of lamb. Mince up or very lightly steam some vegetables: greens, spinach, carrots, cele
  9. skycat
    That was very close! Big things up close aren't they: superb photo
  10. skycat
    What is her breeding? How old is she? Has she had a litter before? Is she very big, as in do you think there's a lot of pups inside? Is the bitch OK in herself?
  11. skycat
    The working ability of any animal will eventually suffer when people breed for looks alone: it may not be intentional to breed out working ability, but obviously if each generation isn't tested in the field, prey drive etc will falter: even when breeding worker to worker you still get duff 'uns. What gets me is the inbreeding show people do just to fix a gene responsible for coat or whatever, regardless of how that gene might affect other things in the animal. I'm sure that the old wive's tale about white dogs being no good is due to the fact that IN GENERAL they have more sensitive skin,
  12. skycat
    Not a good idea to give ibuprofen to dogs: can cause serious liver damage.
  13. skycat
    That is a truly brilliant photo: how far were you from the snake? We used to have loads round here but I haven't seen one since bad floods in early spring a few years back. I reckon they must have drowned whilst hibernating.
  14. skycat
    When the bitch is in whelp the cervix is plugged by a blob of mucous to stop infection getting into the uterus. It is normal for some bitches to leak a bit of this throughout the pregnancy though many don't. A few days before whelping the mucous plug comes away so that is what you see leaking out: comes out as a clear jellyish stuff. Any discharge which is black, green, brown or any other colour except clear could mean a problem.
  15. skycat
    It's the dog in the cellar I feel most sorry for: no daylight, sunlight: how long will it be before that pup shows signs of either mental stress or physical problems. For f*cks sake get the pup somewhere it can see outside and get the sun on its back. I bet you didn't know that all animals need sunlight to be able to metabolise Vitamin D in their bodies. No vitamin D equals weak bones cos the Vit D works with calcium to build strong bones.
  16. skycat
    Not a money making scam at all for us: we borrowed a friend's 3/4 Polecat to cover our jills this year after seeing him and his sister work the socks of every other ferret I've seen: on rabbits that just didn't want to bolt. They were briliant, easy to handle and strong as anything. My OH doesn't sell kits though has ocassionally had his arm twisted to accept a fiver for a kit LOL. He would rather give them to good working homes. Our mate who lent us the hob said that he did have to put in a lot of handling when these kits were young: they were a bit more bitey than most ferrets, but he's
  17. skycat
    I'm afraid that some dogs are just very highly strung. I've got one here that I bred: her parents were not nervous in the slightest, nor her grandparents. She had a sister who was bold, but this one, now 6years old, is very skitty: but she isn't nervous of everything: just strange people and dogs, though in the last 2 years she has got a lot better. She's got Saluki in her which can make a dog very suspicious of strangers, (people or dogs outside of their own pack no matter how well you try and socialise them). Not saying that all Salukis are like that but it is quite common. Also, if you
  18. skycat
    You don't say how old she is: or did I miss that? It sounds as though the dog is completely unsocialised and has never been out of the kennel: forgive me if I'm wrong, but that is classic behaviour of a dog that never went further than its kennel during the first months of its life. Pups need to be exposed to outside life before they are 14 weeks old if they are to be confident and relaxed in the big wide world.
  19. skycat
    The second one down made me laugh: the look on that dog's face: "Oh my God what am I jumping into!!!" Hilarious.
  20. skycat
    It's a weird thing that dogs do really well on tripe even though its nutritional value isn't as high as other meats. I feed mostly fresh green tripe, chicken carcases and butcher's offcuts in the summer when the dogs aren't working, then up the protein(amongst other things) content in winter when they are working by adding more beef, and of course rabbit and other game they catch. Only thing I would say is don't feed tripe to the exclusion of all else, and don't buy that overwashed minced tripe if you can help it: hard to find whole tripe nowadays due to the laws but if you can then guard
  21. skycat
    Raspberry leaf is used to help tone up the uterus so making birth easier: women have used it for centuries. Won't have any use on bringing a bitch into season. I've known a few people try to bring a bitch into season, seldom with success: though there is a type of injection used on pigs: hurts like hell apparently and very sore for days afterwards round the injection site. IMO much better to let a bitch cycle naturally and stuff suiting the owner: messing with nature sometimes has unwanted side effects.
  22. skycat
    It was good to see you again A. Just a shame it was the wrong time of year LOL Loved your little bitch and the Whippet. Look forward to seeing how they've come on next season.
  23. skycat
    I'm not a bull cross owner but I'd never be predjudiced against any dog. If the dog is in good condition, has the correct conformation for its type (very important that bit: you shouldn't expect a bull cross to look like a whippet type and vice versa, for example) and moves well for its type (Saluki type won't look like a bull cross) then I don't see why bull crosses shouldn't stand as good a chance in the ring as any other lurcher. However, I was told that the main reason they have separate classes for bull crosses is because the owners of non bull crosses get annoyed if they are all in
  24. skycat
    Mine are always jabbed at 8 and 10 weeks, but I live in a low risk area for parvo so I take mine down the local park once they've had their first jabs. Never ever had a problem doing that. In a high risk area I'd wait until 10 weeks. If a vet won't do the jabs at 8 and 10 weeks, change the vet!
  25. skycat
    Pups need to be socialised before they hit 14 weeeks of age. After that they view anything new with fear and suspicion: if you really work hard to socialise her now she will get better but if she's of a timid nature anyway she'll never really be totally laid back around strangers: fear will lead to agression. Some pups are naturally so outgoing that the whole socialising thing isn't quite so important, but a lot of sighthound types are very sensitive anyway, so lack of socialising just makes them even more so. Keep taking her to the classes but don't ask anything much of her for several week
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