^^id like to know how this works out. I totally see my dog destroying something like that in seconds.

not to mention I think they might start to stank when they get chewed on.

7/24/2011 2:04:21 PM

They are huge and seem really durable...saw one last night I think it could potentially last longer than a week lol. I will report back one I pick one up this week!!

7/24/2011 3:08:56 PM

DEER ANTLER FOLLOW UP: A++

positives: don't splinter, don't smell, last forever, are natural, fall off deers naturally

negatives: $. a "large" is like $16 and is def not very large. BUT it works fine for my dog so whatevs. i'm also worried she could break her teeth on it, but so far so good.

she murdered a bully stick (SUPPOSEDLY THE TOUGHEST CHEW THAT DOGS EAT) in like...a few hours.

she was weirded out by the antler at first. didn't really know what to do with it. now she brings it to me to throw for her. and sometimes she just plops on the floor and gnaws on it for awhile. i would totally recommend.

8/4/2011 9:23:31 PM

I've seen the antlers at Unleashed and no way are they $16! Or if they are I obviously have not looked at them long enough to determine the price But pretty much all of the chews at Unleashed are the same price as what you'd pay online.

My dog takes weeks just to burn through dried tendon so thankfully I don't have to search high and low for appropriate chews for her. Only thing I've ever seen her devour are dried duck feet.

[Edited on August 4, 2011 at 9:27 PM. Reason : s]

8/4/2011 9:26:54 PM

i got the antler at unleashed! $16.99! for the large anyway.

the bully sticks are like $3 -$5 but she eats those in a matter of hours - it is cheaper to buy them in bulk online i think, which i might start doing. but the antlers are more expensive. i don't know how much the smalls are. prob like $7. but my dog is like 55lbs so she needs a large one!

[Edited on August 4, 2011 at 9:30 PM. Reason : .]

8/4/2011 9:29:48 PM

Unleashed will let you buy in bulk from them I've found.

And man that's crazy! I can't believe those things costs that much haha.

8/4/2011 9:34:44 PM

REALLY!? that is awesome!! i need some bulk chewy things pronto lol.

and yeah i know. and you should see it - it doesn't look very large!! the smaller ones are cheaper but they are also REALLY small. at least for my dumbass dog

BUT

if it lasts for awhile then i'm good. because buying all these other bones and treats that get destroyed in minutes (hours if we are lucky) is kinda pricey too haha. i mean she'll still get those, obvi. but at least this keeps her occupied in the meantime.

[Edited on August 4, 2011 at 9:46 PM. Reason : .]

8/4/2011 9:45:38 PM

if my dog could talk.. id ask him what was going through his head, we have puggle and hes gettin neutered tuesday

8/4/2011 10:07:35 PM

I imagine on Tuesday it'll be something akin to FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

8/4/2011 10:08:56 PM

this is how it will go

tucker on 8/9/2011:

6:30am- WAKKKEEE UP DADS, I NEED TO PEEEE.
6:45am- WTF, NO FOOD
7:00am- THIS IS ODD, CAR RIDE,CAR RIDE
745am- PEOPLE, PEOPLE,PEOPLE, PEOPLE
830am- DADS, WERE THE FUCK ARE THEY TAKING ME.... FUCK IT THEY ARE GIVING ME ATTENTION

1200PM- WTF HAPPENED, I FEEEL SO... CALM

8/4/2011 10:16:02 PM

WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

sunday: i get back from the beach and pick my dog up from the bfs house, notice she's really itchy and has a pink rash on her tummy. she has been treated with frontline (recently, prior to this incident). i give her an oatmeal bath, suspecting she has been bitten by a flea or mosquito (she has very sensitive skin and bites tend to do this to her). i check for fleas. i found one dead one floating in the tub. other than that no flea dander/blood or fleas on her.

monday: she has hotspots under her front two armpits (red and swollen, no pus) and still no fleas to be found. i got this hotspot spray for dogs and sprayed it on her spots (she hated that). and aloe/tea tree hotspot shampoo called vet, they can't see her til wed. scheduled an appt.

tuesday: her hotspots look KINDA better. less swollen and moist (?) looking and her skin looks less pink but still pink. i also gave her benadryl today and sprayed her again morn and evening with the spray

tomorrow: vet appt at 5pm. i'm on the fence about canceling and waiting a little longer to see if her skin starts looking better v. just going ahead and taking her in. she seems a LOT (like a million times) happier than she did on monday. and her skin isn't as pink. she def still has a little rash and her 2 hotspots under her armpits but they aren't swollen anymore.

what would you do? i was thinking of rescheduling the appt for friday. that way if there is no change between now and friday i can take her friday afternoon. i was going to give her an aloe bath tomorrow and keep up the hotspot and benadryl regimen. but i wanted to see if this sounded like a rational plan to everyone else. WHAT DO WE THINK?

8/16/2011 8:44:48 PM

if you have neosporin...put that on it...or any other sorta of topical ointment

that's what my vet told me to do...

8/16/2011 9:19:41 PM

yea i got that stuff too! i read that online. i will try it!

i just don't want her to lick it off

eric has her cone of shame at his house. might get that tomorrow. sorry doggy. but it beats spending $150 at the vet. which seems to always be the standard anytime i go.

i feel like a bad doggy mom. but i'm not i swear i'm a good doggy mom. some people have just told me i tend to overreact (i disagree, but you know whatever) so i don't want to just take her to the vet if it isn't necessary. because it is blingy. i mean that isn't my main concern obviously, but it certainly plays into it.

8/16/2011 9:22:51 PM

It's the middle of the week. I'd wait it out. But maybe reschedule for friday afternoon, and then if it is significantly better then call it off. If it isn't much better friday I would take her. I wouldn't push it over the weekend because 150 bucks is nothing compared to what an emergency vet would charge if it goes downhill.

8/16/2011 9:24:52 PM

^ thanks. that is my thinking EXACTLY. i think i will do that...call in the AM and reschedule for friday. that way i have an appt set up if needed but if i don't need it then YAY! i just never know what to do. eric always thinks i'm overreacting with animals but i treat them like people so...i guess this solution is the middle ground

and you're right - i don't want saturday to roll around and have her like dying...a) because i <3 her and b) because i also <3 my bank account lol.

8/16/2011 9:29:31 PM

WARNING: WORDS. but i'd really appreciate it if pet people read this.

well her skin looked better today but like the overly paranoid mother i am i took her in anyway (figured i'd get it out of the way). she was due for rabies vaccine, etc so i just figured what the hell, i'll take her

WELL I AM GLAD I FUCKING DID

they did a heartworm test. she's had two done in the past. neg and neg. well guess what? today she was positive. because my dumb ass didn't have her on heartworm monthly preventative because like no one i know actually does this routinely AND because i didn't really know you were supposed to - the first 2 times she tested negative no one said "oh but put her on a monthly heartworm preventative" not that i would have really done it anyway though. i just thought it was one of those things like flossing or brushing your dog's teeth that you're SUPPOSED to do but no one ever really does

WELL

i got burned and i don't even want to see my bill. i have to pay it tomorrow. ahhhhh. any guesstimates? heartworm treatment x3, rabies + distemper, fecal exam, heartworm test, plus some other medicine for her itching. PLUS she has to stay there all day tomorrow to be monitored when they give her the heartworm meds because there might be a reaction. it is going to be like $1000 i feel like. i'm about to need to set up that 190% payment plan

BUT

i'm really glad i took her because if she died because of heartworms i would be devastated. and now my lesson has been learned because a year's supply of heartworm prevention is like $80 max. treating heartworms is like 5billion dollars. lesson learned. preventative medicine ftw. FML my bank account hates me.

8/17/2011 6:16:24 PM

heartworm treatment at mayfair animal hospital runs 800 bucks on average.


i'm sorry, kadwackle

8/17/2011 6:21:30 PM

ugggh FML. its ok. my parents were one of my vet's first customers so i feel confident they will let me do a payment plan. but now i'm scared it will be MORE than $1000. because of the vet visit, the boarding her for a day, the vaccines, the meds, the everything.

if it is like $1500 i don't know what i will do. i guess i will do like $100 a week until it is paid off in like 4 months.

but i couldn't NOT treat her. i don't want her to die so i'm really glad my overly paranoid self went in for the skin thing.

this is just bad timing because i just paid $400 for a security deposit on the house and i will owe rent on the 1st. and my insurance is denying me coverage for my kidney ailment and my deferment has ended on my law school loans so i'm going to try to re-defer/forebear. i spent most of my savings this summer paying to retake the bar, plus for my tutor, plus other expenses whilst not working FT during the study time. PLUS IF i passed (which i'm sure i didn't, but if i did) i owe my tutor another $400. i should probably just commit suicide right now.

8/17/2011 6:32:23 PM

Quote :

"i didn't really know you were supposed to - the first 2 times she tested negative no one said "oh but put her on a monthly heartworm preventative" not that i would have really done it anyway though. i just thought it was one of those things like flossing or brushing your dog's teeth that you're SUPPOSED to do but no one ever really does"

Seriously? Considering heartworms are deadly I figured most people knew to give it every month.

8/17/2011 6:45:22 PM

yeah, seriously. and i realize they are deadly. i just was never recommended a heartworm preventative. i don't know. maybe i suck as a pet owner. but i've had her < 2 years and she's been tested twice (now three) times. first 2 were neg. so it isn't like i'm not taking her to the vet.

and my vet wasn't surprised either. he was the one that said a lot of people are kinda slack with it. they might do it every few months to stretch it out. or just not at all. especially people with younger, healthy dogs. i did not know how it was spread. he also said a lot of times when people adopt animals from the pound people assume that somewhere a long the line someone has told the owner about heartworm preventatives. *shrug*

plus, i didn't really think about it. the shit i've put on my cat for fleas is ALSO a heartworm preventative. the shit i put on my dog, isn't. but i never really thought too much about it. i guess i just assumed they were the same. i just put her monthly flea stuff on and went about my business.

ANYWAYS - i just applied for and got a $1500 CreditCare thing through GE bank ahaha. it is like a credit card for vet visits. no interest if paid off w/ full monthly minimum payment w/in 12 months. WORKS FOR ME. #OHWEBACK

now please don't let my dog be the 1/10 that has the severe allergic reaction to the meds they give her tomorrow. that is so my luck.

[Edited on August 17, 2011 at 7:09 PM. Reason : .]

8/17/2011 7:03:29 PM

Sounds like your vet kind of sucks then. I know the very first thing our vet did when we brought our dog in was throw some heartworm meds at us and berate us on how important it is to administer it every month. I find it really irresponsible that a vet wouldn't counsel you on something like that the first time you bring your dog in for a checkup.

It's not as big of a deal with cats because their immune system is better at fighting the buggers off, but when they do get it it's incurable, unless something's changed in the last 10 years or so since I heard that

8/17/2011 9:33:25 PM

I KNOW RIGHT?? well thankfully i am not at the vet i was at anymore (vet in gboro). but the vet i went to today (who was my family's vet for like 20 years and is a fantastic vet) said everyone i went to previously probably just assumed the previous person had told me (ie the berating speech ). like...i got her at the pound, they clearly advised me on nothing. took her to the vca place for her "free" checkup...nothing. they just told me she was hw neg and i went on my merry way. then when she got hurt in greensboro i took her to the vet there, they did a hw test. neg. no one said anything! i was just like, sweet she doesn't have heartworms. high five. i am clearly somewhat of a hypochondriac and have overreacted and shelled out $150 at a time to take my pets to the vet when REALLLLY i prob could have waited it out. so i feel like if someone said, look your animal can get this from getting bitten by ONE mosquito and DIE and the preventative stuff is only $50 a year (or whatever - way less than flea meds) then i'd most likely have gotten it. i know it is my fault but it was just an honest mistake. i didn't ignore advice. i just thought it was all cool. cause you know they tell you to do lots of preventative things that no one does. i didn't realize the severity of heart worms. i feel like if i had realized it i would have appreciated it and taken approp action. but who knows. too late now. :/ LESSON LEARNED!

now i know. but i am scurred that she is going to have some allergic reaction and die. or that she is going to be too playful when she isn't supposed to be after the treatment and die.

he said it'd be EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that my cat would have them esp since her flea stuff is the stuff that is hw + fleas (but i only give it to her like once every 3 months and i confessed that to him, which he said was what a lot of people do so i felt kind of better about it). so i will probably just bring her in while i'm shelling out all this bling and have her tested for peace of mind.

tl;dr i don't want my dog to die. i'm scared. and i feel like a horrible person/pet mom.

[Edited on August 17, 2011 at 9:48 PM. Reason : .]

8/17/2011 9:44:32 PM

Honestly, I might write a review of that vet in Greensboro, and maybe the free one too, on Google saying that they didn't advise you on the importance of heartworm preventative and now your dog has them. Because I definitely remember when we brought our dog to NCPop to get spayed they asked us there as well if we were using heartworm medication regularly. It seems stupid as hell to just assume someone knows something when you're a vet. That's like your doctor just assuming you know about the importance of vaccinations without ever checking to see if you've been vaccinated.

8/17/2011 10:15:33 PM

i'd put a review somewhere. that's crazy. and sad

----

my brother just moved to raleigh, off capital just inside the beltline. he has a golden retriever & a newf mix that will need a new vet. any recommendations on somebody nearby? thx!

8/17/2011 10:20:10 PM

PAY OFF THE CARE CREDIT IN TIME KADWACKLE!!!! Last time I worked at the vet it was 29% interest if you didn't.

8/17/2011 10:45:41 PM

^ it is!!!! which is insane BUT if it is $1000 then that is < $100 a month to pay it off in a year. thank you for the warning!! i just need like 3-4 months to pay it off (if it is $1000 which is what i'm estimating/guesstimating). i could maybe do it in less but a cushion is nice (with my other expenses and my shitty ass job hah).

^^, ^^^ yeah i guess i should. but i mean, i went through 3 different places that never mentioned anything to me. 4 if you count the spay place. how does that happen? i feel like they must have just assumed someone else told me but yeah, why would you assume things? i don't know. i asked eric and he confirmed my story. unless we are both deaf morons, no one said anything that suggested we should do this or our dog could die. DIE. emphasis on die. plus, the vet i went to today was questioning some of the things my greensboro vet did and their records. i don't know. i just want my dog not to die. i can't even think about it anymore

i feel horrible. i am going to give her a treat now.

8/17/2011 10:59:36 PM

Hope your dog has a quick recovery!

Also, I am trying to figure out what type of flea/heartworm prevention I should buy. I've been using heartgard and frontline, but I always find at least one flea on her so I want to switch. I've heard good things about k9 advantix II, but I was also looking at Revolution that has both heartworm and flea protection.

Suggestions?

8/18/2011 8:43:18 AM

i've been using the generic frontline made for walmart/sam's club for a few months now. works fine for us & it's $25(sam's)/28(walmart) for 3 months, regardless of size. i also get ivermectin capsules made up by the vet's pharmacy for my dogs' specific weight. that's about $18 for 6 months. they don't do anything fancy like kill intestinal worms though. they're just heartworm pills.

8/18/2011 8:46:35 AM

^^ One of my vet school buddies said that you should switch up which meds you're using pretty regularly so your pet doesn't build up a resistance to the drugs.

8/18/2011 12:03:13 PM

205.90!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i've never been so happy in my entire life (ok maybe i have, but omg).

best vet ever. AND my dog is alive. AND they loved her there.

now no playing for like 6 weeks. but whatever - she's kind of a couch potato anyway

8/18/2011 6:22:26 PM

what kind of treatment are you doing?

8/18/2011 6:25:14 PM

lol i just replied on FB

so she got an injection today and one application of the revolution (topical stuff)

and then i do revolution for the next 3 months and then after that she can switch to a preventative medicine (pill or whatever)

does that sound normal?

8/18/2011 6:30:52 PM

yay!

8/18/2011 9:38:58 PM

2^Basically a version of what we used to do if thee heartworms weren't too bad.

8/18/2011 9:51:25 PM

Wow, you sure that includes the price for the heartworm treatment? I'd think the vet would have charged more, especially since there's a national shortage of the medication.

8/18/2011 10:25:41 PM

well my parents were his first customer back in like 1982. and he treated all our family dogs growing up and now my dog is his new patient (since i moved back to ral)

he didn't even charge me to see my dog. he just charged me for the meds. i don't know - there are 2 heartworm treatments i guess. since hers were caught early she just had to get an injection and then the revolution (slash heartguard) topical stuff for 4 months or whatever. i was surprised at the price, too.

its a great vet practice. bayleaf veterinary hospital. if anyone is looking for a vet! its way out here though (six forks and 540)

8/20/2011 9:26:39 PM

sorry to hear that your dog got the worms. that's why I got my boy on dat 190% Frontline or something like that with the heartworm preventative

8/20/2011 9:42:17 PM

yeah. my frontline was only the kind with the flea, tick, lice, etc protection

no heartworm ish in it

8/20/2011 10:30:40 PM

fml we have a flea infestation

8/22/2011 5:23:46 AM

does anyone have a cat with allergies?
kitty meow meow allergies have gotten REALLY bad lately, his nose whistles and he'll go on sneezing fits that are like 15-20 sneezes long

i feel so bad for him.

i can't quite figure out what it is though although cody said he's noticed it's only in the summer when this happens.....

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 1:59 PM. Reason : he's sleeping now and i can hear his poor little stuffy breathing from across the room ]

8/22/2011 1:57:12 PM

^Yes

Our cat has sneezing fits too and does the nose whistling thing all the time. It sounds like a car motor running.

The vet said it could be polyps in her nose. They said the vet school at NC State remove them for us

8/22/2011 2:01:54 PM

they will remove them?


is there a test they can do for that?

[Edited on August 22, 2011 at 2:14 PM. Reason : dgvdsfsd]

8/22/2011 2:14:09 PM

yeah, the vet said she'd recommend our case to the vet school

we haven't heard anything yet.

We didn't take the cat there for the polyps. It was during a routrine exam that the vet mentioned that her sneezing/loud breathing may have do w/ polyps

8/22/2011 2:17:28 PM

ok, cool.


if you get them out or whatever will you let me know how much it was and all that jazz?

8/22/2011 2:23:38 PM

so i walked my own dog this morning ... just the two of us, and i forgot how intuitive we are together.

I can't wait till i don't have to watch my wife's friend's dog anymore.

Marley is cute but 2 years old and dumb as a rock, not trained at all and i spend our entire walk yanking back on her because she doesn't know she doesn't lead the walk.

8/22/2011 2:26:14 PM

i am having the hardest time keeping my dog calm. i keep her in small spaces but she still gets all hyper. i'm like, no dog, you are going to die you have to stay CALM.

8/22/2011 8:20:34 PM

^you could try some Melatonin.

8/22/2011 8:23:00 PM

Joie one of my cats has seasonal allergies (in the spring) and she constantly is covered in pollen and sneezing green kitty snot everywhere.

If it's simply allergies, my vet said we could use OTC allergy meds. Whatever the dosage was that it comes in, we had to cut the tablet in half. You might could call your vet and ask which are safe to use on a cat. We gave them to her for a day or two and she cleared right up!

8/22/2011 8:26:59 PM

that is a good idea. i also have benadryl.

even in small spaces she'll like try to run all around or chase her tail or just be otherwise unsettled

i know she is really bored and probably has LOTS of pent up energy. but we have like 6 weeks to go!!!

8/22/2011 8:27:21 PM

Site 3 Pet Forum is blowing up!

8/22/2011 8:29:25 PM