Pet health! I'm saving a fortune

IvanOpinion

Hi C_Q
With careful nursing she pulled through the strokes but these were back in 2000 and unfortunately a year later cancer set in. The vet successfully removed a 2.5kg tumour and gave her an incredible new lease of life for several months but all good things come to an end (Cal died at the age of 16). I was actually surprised just how hard the death of a dog hit me.

We did not get another dog for several months afterwards - its strange, you almost feel like you are doing wrong and betraying the memory of your dog - even when you do get a new one you keep trying to compare it to the old one ... big mistake! However we now have 2 dogs. The big one was badly abused as a pup and we got her from the NCDL (now Dogs Trust) the wee one came from DWs uncle/aunt (and is probably the nosiest dog I have ever come across). Here is a link to a couple of pictures of all three.

Ivan

Curry_Queen

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, but still, she had an incredibly long life despite her health! I did wonder if I might have been a little presumptious after I posted and was hoping that I hadn't "put my foot in it" in wishing her luck

I'm not surprised it hit you hard when she went, it did us too, as they are a member of the family just like the kids. We too ended up getting another dog eventually, a rottie girl (did write the b word but the censors got it :rolleyes:) and although she was never a replacement for our old boy (he also had cancer incidentally) she certainly helped us through the grieving process.

It also changed the way I viewed owners at work too, as being a vet nurse is as much about dealing with the public as it is the animals, and after discussing it with the practice I decided to set up a pet bereavement counselling clinic which was very well received.

Your other two dogs are absolutely adorable, particularly Carly, but then I've always had a soft spot for collies ... Tess reminds me of a scruffy little terrier my mum used to have, very cute but was also a little devil!!!

Chickenlady_4

I read this thread with interest, as I have spent £180 on my dog's ear problems (not insured) in the last 2 weeks. I looked at the sites mentioned but none were any cheaper for the medication my dog was given.

How about thinking out of the box? It has been suggested that my dog might have a food allergy, and on investigating this I discovered a whole movement of people taking their pets off commercial junk pet food and feeding them instead raw meaty bones! Sounds a bit drastic I know, but these people suggest once their pets are on a natural diet, they rarely need to see the vet.

Just a thought...If you're interested, this is a good place to start - https://www.ukrmb.co.uk

Curry_Queen

You've raised a very good point there Chickenlady, thanks

You've reminded me of the lecture that my old vet used to give to everyone regarding feeding their dogs (and cats), especially new puppy owners ... it goes something like this ... (I can still remember it almost word for word I heard it repeated so many times )

"Dogs are carnivorous and in the wild they would catch an animal and eat it ... all of it ... skin, bones, meat, the lot! ... but us humans can't cope with the idea of our pets eating other animals and would much rather open a nice tin of ready made meat for little Rover! The problem with these tins of meat though, is that they don't contain the whole animal, and much of the natural diet has been stripped away and replaced with processed junk!!!"

He also added ... "feeding only processed food (in particular tinned meat) to your cat/dog is the equivalent of giving your kids chips and chocolate for every meal".

Now this was more than 20 years ago and pet food manufacture has come a long way since then and there are some fairly decent foods available nowadays, but the fact remains there is still a worryingly high incidence of dietry related illness in animals because of the junk that's still available and fed every day.

IvanOpinion

Another point is that tinned food is not good for an animals teeth without something to clean them. I feed both of ours on dried foods only that also help to scrape the tartar of their teeth - it is actually a mixture of Pedigree Chum complete and Eukanuba/Iams (and I do know there are issues over animal testing related to both these products). They do get all the usual treats including at least one rawhide strip a day. Many people have commented on how good their coats look.

Ivan

Curry_Queen

Dry food certainly does help with keeping their teeth clean, in particular with cats as they don't have the option of chewing on bones, raw hide etc that dogs do.

The problem is though that not all animals get on with a completely dry diet and whilst not wanting to go into all the various medical conditions that require special dietry management, there is one problem that I'd like to highlight which many owners are not aware of.

Some of the complete dry foods available, in particular the upper range of brands (i.e. Eukanuba/Iams, Hill's etc) are highly concentrated thus you feed less, which is why on first glance they appear very expensive but on balance work out much cheaper to feed than the lower range brands.

BUT ... because the animal is receiving less bulk it also means less waste is coming out of the other end (hurrah!!! some of you may say) but this can also cause problems in some animals because it means the reduction in mass of faeces is causing their anal glands not to empty properly, and in some cases this can lead to problems with impacted glands and infection.

Not all animals are affected of course but this is something to consider if your dog/cat is having problems with his/her anal glands and you're feeding a high concentrate food, but obviously it's something you'd need to discuss with your vet. My own cats have been fed on Hill's all their lives and not had a problem so it doesn't necessarily mean you will have problems by choosing that type of diet.

And if anyone reading this is considering changing their animal's diet, please don't do it suddenly as this can cause digestive problems, but gradually introduce the new food over a period of a week or two and reduce the old food accordingly, and remember to always speak to your vet beforehand if your pet is on a special diet before making any changes

suki1964

I feed my dog a complete dry food and yes because hes fed such small amounts with such little out put his anal glands have in the past needed emptying. I have now added raw meaty bones, chicken wings and raw and cooked veggies to his diet and since then his glands have been fine.

Although he doesnt get much in the way of nutritional benefit from the veggies they do help to keep the anal glands empty(loads of roughage) the bones are good for the teeth and of course the veggies are excellent low fat treats.

The only other treats my boy gets are pigs ears and jerky. I have noticed if I feed him proccessed treats he becomes hyper

If I was more organised I would go for a raw diet as I have read/heard and seen for myself how well dogs do on it.

Lifesaver

bunking_off wrote: »

www.petdrugsquick.co.uk

Fantastic - saved myself a fortune - just stocked up on Drontal and Frontline for my 3 cats.

Free postage and packing too! :T

Savvy_Sue

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to the Pets board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Although I think when this was started we didn't have a pets board!

spookylukey

Lifesaver wrote: »

Fantastic - saved myself a fortune - just stocked up on Drontal and Frontline for my 3 cats.

Free postage and packing too! :T

It's worth noting that this thread dates back to 2005 so may not be that up to date! The petdrugsquick that you linked to takes you to the bestpetpharmacy website, I've used them in the past and have been very happy with the service and they are still much cheaper than direct from my vets but I now use www.vetuk.co.uk as I find them cheaper for what I normally buy

Frontline spot on cat x 6 : Bestpet is £18.19 Vetuk is £16.89
Drontal cat worming tablet: Bestpet is £1.73 Vetuk is £1.54

Vetuk also do free delivery and I've never waited longer than 48 hours for my order, they normally despatch the same day if you order early enough. As an added bonus I get to the vetuk website via a link on a Cats protection site (local website, not the main one) and vetuk give them 5% of my order value so not only do I save loads but I get to help a charity too I don't think I'm allowed to post the cats protection website address I click through on here as it counts as a referral link but it's worth googling your local CP branch to see if they have a vetuk logo on their site.