I did. Amigo and I had a dressage lesson in english tack. He did AMAZING. I was so proud of him! We nailed both our dressage tests and my trainer says once we get him more supple we can do our training level test. So excited. We show on the 17th, so we’ll be practicing non stop.

The vet came out today because Luna has been lame on her left hind for the last two weeks. When we buted her for two days, she was fine. So we knew it was inflammatory. The vet agreed that it was her left stifle.

Anyways…the fun part. Luna’s been lame for two weeks right? So she’s had time off, no work, kickin back. She was off, but not completly lame yesterday for the farrier. Then today, she’s 100% sound, trotting gorgeously and passed her flexion (barely! her hocks still were limited, but she didn’t trot up lame after). I was going crazy. The one day I had the vet out, she’s sound.

Anyways, the vet gave us two options. We could do adequan injections (7 loading doses, with monthly as needed after that) or spend $400 on each stifle. I was leaning towards the stifle injections, but the Adequan seemed like the most logical thing to do. This way it will help her overall, versus one isolated problem. So we started the Adequan injections, and she gets them every four days for a month. Then monthly/as needed.

The vet also said keep up with the supplement program I’m doing. And she gave us a work out plan. For the next two weeks I can walk her for 30 minutes, 5-10 trotting. Then after those two weeks I can double that. Then after those two weeks I can start canter work. I am so happy.

I haven’t met this vet from the practice, but she was AWESOME. I am definitely using her from now on.

Legit Q: What was the largest vet bill you’ve had, and what was it for? Mine today was $520. That was lameness, farm call and adequan.

My second expensive one was $340 something, for Luna’s teeth and spring stuff.

Then the $150 hock injections.

Gosh, I’ve only owned her for 4 months and I’ve already blown through all my vet funds..for like two years. Good thing I’m taking on a few other clients.

The best answer is by :
PaintHorseLover :
Congrats on your dressage lesson! I always wanted to try dressage with my old gelding but I never had the chance.

You will be pleased with the Adequan. It has worked for my horses like a miracle! It is really cheaper in the long run when you add up all the crazy supplements you would have tried. I have had my mare on it for about 2 months and it has already worked better than every supplement I had tried for a year.

I did not ride today because I just brought my mare back home from Paint World. We were 6th overall in Novice Youth Showmanship and 7th overall in Novice Youth Western Pleasure. We were 3rd overall in our prelims for both events. We had very nice patterns but we are not a pattern horse yet. We also had a nice hunter under saddle class but we are so totally not a hunt seat horse! I had also gone to Pinto World for 10 days about a week before, so my mare is totally pooped! I’m not going to ride her for about 2 weeks.

My most expensive vet bill was over the last year to save Bella’s eye. We had 3 different vets out. The first one decided it was conjunctivitis, and gave us a steroid to pour in. That made it worse, so we got our favorite vet out (we wanted her originally but she was booked so we settled for the crappy vet–bad mistake). She determined that my mare had viral keratitis–little tiny ulcerations all over her cornea. After pouring in viral ointments and putting an eye tube in it was deemed "healed." We took the eye tube out and the issues came back in an hour! We called a specialist out that had a hefty trip charge and a very opinionated diagnosis of auto immune mediated keratitis. After pouring in steroids in again for months everything went downhill when I let my half blind trainer giver her the eye meds. This ended up giving her a pseudomonis bacteria infection that almost melted her cornea off. She also got a fungal infection that needed medicine 8 times a day. We put another eye tube in, but this time it gave her a hematoma. She got 90 pills a day of antibiotics for this, which ended up giving her colitis. She didn’t eat for four days and we almost took her to MU. We finally cleared everything up with some probiotics and a closer eye on everything. Now Bella’s eye is the picture of health besides a 1mm scar on her right cornea. We keep a fly mask on 24/7 to protect her eye and we put a tiny bit of a NSAID liquid in her eye once a day. It took us 9 months and $8,000 to save her eye, but it was so totally worth it. Luckily we had insurance but we still had to pay about $2,000 out of pocket because insurance doesn’t cover trip charges.

Took me dog to vet and it has heartworm and i wanted to know what it is and is it a worm in my dogs heart? Cause look what i found :http://www.marvistavet.com/assets/images/heartworm_inside_open_heart.gif
So what is it?
Thank you!
And don’t tell me to just ask my vet cause thats a old lazy answer!

The answer is provided by :
Pepe Silvia :
Heartworm larvae are carried by mosquitoes, who then transfer the larvae into dogs and cats when biting them. It is preventable, and your dog should have been on heartworm prevention tablets. It is literally a type of worm that manifests itself in the heart (and sometimes blood), and it requires extensive treatment via surgery or a series of injections. Your dog will need to be kept calm and sedentary after treatment, as activity can cause blockages of dead worms to occur in the heart.

Do a ton of research and follow your vet’s advice. This is a very difficult disease; good luck.

There are so many different types of flea, tick and heartworm preventative out ton the market it is hard to chose from. Also, what brand will kill fleas and guard your pet against heartworms as well? I am sick of spending hundreds of dollars on expensive brands like frontline plus and others. What can I use that is reasonably price and does the same thing?

This is was answered by :
joanplus4dogs :
Here is a comparison chart for you. Only Revolution, Sentinel & Advantage Multi kills fleas & heart worms. Personally I wouldn’t trust a spot-on to treat heart worms on my pets. I am not willing to take any risks for a few bucks. The generics of Heartqard is only $2,3 per month per pet & treating half the year usually for fleas is enough with precautions taken.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_heartworm_preventive_compariso.html

Can I give 100mg once instead of giving 25mg 4 times a day?

The best answer is by :
super :
Deramaxx has a lot of side effects. Changing the dose can most likey be a bad thing. You can read more about deramaxx.

She is almost 2 years old. She was a rescue. I have had her since 3 months. She also has a genetic joint disease which she has received Adequan shots for. Her last shot was 6 months ago and she has not had any signs of limping since.

She does not have the *strength* in her back hips and legs like she should because of this.

So, the question is: When do most APBTs who are sound in body usually show interest in the spring pole?

I feel good it is happening now but I am just curious when this normally starts. Thanks!!!
Erica: Your answer makes sense. Yes, my vet said it is okay but not to have it up so high she has to come completely off the ground. I have to have another 6 months with no signs of limping before I can raise it.

I know about the ‘prey drive’ thing. Thank you.

The following reply is by : Erica -}X{-Butterfly Kisses-}X{- :
That mostly depends on the dog itself, and the genetics behind the dog. If you have a straight game bred dog, with a high prey drive, chances are, it’ll catch on and take interest rather quickly. However, if you have a dog that isn’t as game as some APBT’s, it can take longer for the dog to take interest. If you play with her around the spring pole, encourage her when she does take interest in it, etc… she’ll catch on rather quickly. Keep in mind that these dogs have an almost NEED to please their owners, therefore letting her know you approve of this, etc… will help encourage her to use it.

In reference to her and the spring pole, as an example to show what I mean, I know many APBT owners that HAVE to separate their dogs, because of their drive, I also know many APBT owners that only separate their dogs (via crates usually) when they’re not home to supervise, as a cautionary note to avoid the chance of anything happening.

Another good example would be my pit bull. She’ll charge an adult squirrel (has literally pulled my stairs away from my house with me on them because she saw the squirrel before I did, and before I could give the "leave it" command, which she follows quite nicely by the way!), but wants to do nothing more then lick the baby squirrel we’re fostering/keeping. A lot of it, as is the case with Pixie, depends on the situation, too. Keep in mind that the APBT is a dog that was bred to have a high prey drive, as are most terriers. If the object doesn’t look like prey (such as with Pixie seeing a squirrel running across the yard, as opposed to her seeing me holding a baby squirrel), or if it doesn’t look like a challenge, or something that they think YOU would want them to go for, chances are, they wont give it much thought. (There is an exception here with APBT’s who are strongly dog aggressive, etc…). However, if it looks like prey, or like something you want them to do, they have a much better chance at paying attention to it, etc… If that makes any sense, lol, I know what I’m trying to say, I’m just not sure if it’s coming out right!

On a side note, have you talked to your vet about allowing her to be on the spring pole? With her not having the strength in her hind legs like she should, allowing her on the spring pole may be dangerous to her joints, etc… and it might not be a bad idea to check this with her vet just in case. Unless you already have and he’s cleared it, in which case I’ll shut up, lol

I tried to remove my dog’s tear stain using a wet towel, it was a hard chunky piece of gunk. While scraping it off, some of my dog’s fur came out as well, leaving a small raw looking patch near his eye. But my dog did not make any noise or react too negatively, other than squirming. Is it safe to assume that he was not in pain? Will dogs keep quiet even when they are in pain?

The best answer is by :
Alice :
I thought you were going to tell me that your dog snapped and yelped when you brushed him. It sounds as if you have a well-behaved dog, and I’m glad you got the gunk away from his eye, because that could have scratched the cornea and caused intense pain. You did the right thing, and I am sure he has forgiven you for any discomfort. It sounds like he wanted the piece of junk away from his eye, too.

I was recently given a 15 year old Palomino from a friend. He’s a $30,000 team roping horse that performed at the highest level of competition. He has developed arthritis in one of his knees. So he was given to me as a trail horse. I’ve heard good things about adequan. I was told it could cost up to $1,000 for the treatment, but that it pretty much cures the arthritis. Is this true? And advice or help on the matter would be great. Thanks!

The answer is provided by :
gallop :
Nothing will cure the arthritis. But Adequan is about the best thing going in the way of treatment. It actually does improve the quality of joint cartilage which limits progression of arthritic changes, even though it can’t undo the changes in the underlying bone that are already permanent. What it can do is keep your horse capable of functioning and slow the progress of cartilage destruction in osteoarthritis. You will have to continue treatment in order to reap the benefits, but new treatments are being explored and who knows what might be available a year from now?

My husband and I want to adopt another dog. We fell in love with a 2 year old Pitbull (I think she weighs about 50lbs) at the human society. They told us that she tested positive for heartworm so she will need to be treated before she is eligible for adoption. From what I understand, we will have to cover the cost of treatment if we want to adopt her. They said they would call us tomorrow with more details but I have no idea what to expect. I’ve never dealt with heartworm before.

The question was answered by :
A Great Dane Lady :
Vet treatment is expensive. The dog must be crated and kept quiet for months.
If this dog has a light heartworm load, ask about the "Slow Kill" method. In this method, the vet gives the dog an antibiotic for a couple of weeks. Then they give the dog Heartgard every 2 weeks for 6 months. This method is on the net and would be safer for the dog. The worm die off is slower so they don’t need to be kept quiet for months. It is less expensive for you. You can look this up on the net.

I’d tell you about alternative treatments, but I don’t think the shelter would go for it.

My dog sleeps in my bed with me, as well as on the couch, and although she just began a Sentinel regimen, I notice she scratches a lot and I also found a flea on the side of my face when I was laying in bed yesterday. I have DE FLEA by natural chemistry, which it says can be used on pet bedding, but can it be used on people bedding too? What about the couch? Thank you for your time.

The question was answered by :
JAG :
It is not so much the fleas you have to worry about it it is the flea eggs. These cannot be seen by your eye and will hatch for years to come and keep flea infestations coming back.

Take all your bedding and wash in hot water and dry on high heat as previously mentioned. Spray the bed. Wash all your clothing and pajamas in hot. Repeat this every few days as while the fleas are dying off, more eggs (thousands) are being laid.

As far as the carpet – I would actually call a professional to come and carpet clean. Be sure to tell them about the fleas as they can specially treat for that.

I have an adopted dog that was tested positive for hearworm and is on medication. My dog is mostly a good dog but some times he changes into a nasty dog that just gets into all kinds of trouble and will grawl at me. I am wondering if any other heartworm positive dog owners find this happens to their dog as well. I wonder if it has something to do with the heartworms making him a little nuts at times. Thanks for any answers from heartworm dog owners.

This is was answered by :
Tessa :
The heart worms are in the heart. The worms might make a dog have trouble breathing, cough, and not have energy to play. The worms have never affected the dogs behavior. I rescue dogs,and foster them. Normally the rescue sends heart worm positive dogs to me until treatment is compete. I have had some dogs become sick, but never have they had behavioral problems.