Guest mabel Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Hello We're researching taking our much loved miniature schnauzer to Sydney. Has anyone already taken their dog and how did they cope with quarantine? Our gut feeling is to visit her as much as possible but we don't want to increase her stress. Does it make it easier for harder for them if you visit? Is there anything we can do to make the process smoother for her? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest missvet Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Is your dog young and in good health? Depending on their temperament they usually cope quite well. Some can get quite stressed and lose weight etc. but its worth the short term stress if it means them being with you in Oz longterm! I'm doubt that you visiting would make them more stressed but again it probably depends on their temperament. I think that generally it would do more good than harm as it often does with dogs staying and being treated at the vet's - they love seeing their owners and it really brightens them up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mabel Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Hiya. Thanks for your reply. She's only 2 so young, fit and healthy. She's pretty laid back and independent. But we do spoil her and she hasn't ever stayed in kennels so we're not sure how she'll adapt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest missvet Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 She'll be ok. Quarantine meets all their basic needs but that's it really so it will be very different to what she's used to at home but its definitely worth it. Dogs are very adaptable and she's young enough to deal with the change absolutely fine. I think you'd regret it if you didn't take her and I'm sure you'll make up for missed "spoiling" when you get her back after the month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mabel Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Absolutely! And there's no chance we'd leave her behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PARBUTTN Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 We are so unsure as to what to do with our dog. She is a 5yr old weimeraner who by nature are a fretful breed and hate being left alone. Again she is very spoilt. Unfortunately she is epileptic, although they arereally bad grand mal fits, they only happen monthly, but sometimes she can go up to 6mths without one. We have never put her on medication, and the vet seemed to think we would be able to take her but it would be with the descretion of oz. It would break my heart to leave her behind with my parents, but I worry about her coping with the flight and quarantine, and with the stress of it all not surviving. Do you think they cope better than we do? do we worry too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackboots Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 we brought our dalmie (age 7) who had never been in kennells, in fact who is soo soft , sleeps in our room lol .. i was so worried , we came to perth in byford and he was absolutley fab , byford were brilliant , golden arrows shippers were brilliant( he coped far better than we did at the thought of it) he came out of the quarantine looking far better he shed a few kilos they had him on a diet and were better at it than us , we have kept it off, ringing them they were brilliant and had the time to chat, we never visited him as he came before us and the last week we decided not to , our choice .. as we thought it might upset him .. we also used www.dogwalks.com.au for extra fuss and feed back for us it was brilliant and the company also put our mind at rest , others i have spoken to did not and there pets were just fine! After a month he was back in his favourite position on the sofa and doing his swims in the sea and walks on the beach .. i only know id have rather have left the husband at home than my dog, and seeing him here i couldn't imagine not bringing him .. hard choice in some cases , and money is a decider too.. we went for broke lol all the best all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest missvet Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 We are so unsure as to what to do with our dog. She is a 5yr old weimeraner who by nature are a fretful breed and hate being left alone. Again she is very spoilt. Unfortunately she is epileptic, although they arereally bad grand mal fits, they only happen monthly, but sometimes she can go up to 6mths without one. We have never put her on medication, and the vet seemed to think we would be able to take her but it would be with the descretion of oz. It would break my heart to leave her behind with my parents, but I worry about her coping with the flight and quarantine, and with the stress of it all not surviving. Do you think they cope better than we do? do we worry too much? This is a tough one!!! My dog was 15 years old blind, senile and started having seizures in February which gradually got worse and worse. I looked into taking her to Oz but decided that I couldn't possibly do it to her - she was far too old etc and was on medication which I set my alarm to give her in the middle of the night and I always had drugs at the ready to sedate her if need be when she seizured (usually in the middle of the night and in my bed). I had to put her to sleep in October so didn't have to make the final decision to leave her behind in the end. :cry: I think your dog would probably cope fine. She is young enough to adapt. I'm assuming that when you say she is epileptic that you have ruled out an underlying cause? (blood tests etc) If its basic epilepsy and she is not on medication at the moment then at least you don't have to worry about the medication being given etc. Do you normally treat her with rectal diazepam during a seizure? How long do they last? Has she ever had one when you've not been there? Just trying to figure out if she would cope ok if she seizured in quarantine without anyone there! What is her postictal state like (after seizure)? Does she settle quickly or wander around panting etc for hours? I think the bottom line is that even if she did seizure in quarantine then she'd probably be fine. Most dogs with epilepsy just seizure occasionally with no longterm ill effects. The only worry is if a seizure develops into "status epilepticus" which is when the seizure goes on and on and on and needs to be treated to stop it, but this is rare especially without an underlying cause! Yes she will get stressed in quarantine and won't be cuddled etc like at home, but she will probably get over it and is very unlikely to not survive. It is difficult to say without knowing the ins and outs of her case but if your vet thinks she'd be fine, they know what they're talking about. On the quarantine website it doesn't recommend shipping dogs with epilepsy which you should probably look into in a bit more detail (reasons etc.) but each case is different so she should be assessed as an individual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PARBUTTN Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Hi thanks very much for your info!! She has had brains scans and many blood tests and has been diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. She has been on immunotherapy injections for most of her life but since July this year we have decided to stop them. Her epilepsy started the night of her first booster at 1yr. The vet said this had nothing to do with it but the following yr they ommitted a couple of the vaccines. This year I asked the vet if we could do the same, she more a less laughed in my face and gave her the full vaccine, again fitted that night, and she rung me next day to see if dog ok and I think she thought I was lying. For the following 3 mths every immuno jab we gave her she fitted that following morning (early hours as always) So whether its right ot wrong I have just had enough and decided to see how she copes with her allergies on her own. She apparently is allergic to house,dust,storage mites and some tree pollens. She shows no symptoms at moment and has only had 3 fits since july which I think is great. Her seizures are horrific and last about 2-3 mins and she loses full control of bladder and bowel. She is very dazed after, mad for food, has no control over legs, but too be honest we just have to let her get on with it. She is our baby and I am fed up with her being pulled around. We have decided that if she ever developed status epilectus we would let her go. We find it all so distressing. I just think the longer I can keep her of meds the better our chances will be of shipping her over. Selfish maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest missvet Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 I think your chances are potentially better for shipping her over if she is not any meds and the commonly used drugs have side effects and potential long term liver effects as well so probably better to steer clear until absolutely necessary (more frequent seizuring). If she has only had 3 seizures since July then thats pretty good and if you think the jabs are a potential trigger then the frequency may reduce even more, BUT she will need a number of jabs to come out to Oz as well. Immunotherapy can have side effects including severe anaphylactic shock so it may be somehow triggering a seizure too. If you think she is also reacting to her booster jabs then your vet should be reporting this as an adverse effect to the manufacturer and VMD (not laughing at you)! I wouldn't worry about putting her in quarantine. By the time it comes to it she may not have even had another seizure! Some dogs just grow out of it too!! She will be much happier in the longterm being with you in Oz and so will you! You sound like you care about her a lot and I totally understand how you feel about it all. Some of the allergens in Oz will be different so her allergies may potentially get better or maybe worse but if you could adapt her lifestyle depending on how things go. And just because immunotherapy isn't right for her doesn't mean her allergies are untreatable... Immunotherapy is great if it works (doesn't always) but many dogs live with allergies treated symptomatically as well. There's loads of stuff to try including dietary supplements and environmental management so don't give up hope!!!! :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddysMum Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Not sure about a dog with epilepsy. I think you would need to get the advice of the pet shipping experts, such as Dr Bob at PetAir UK who really does know what he is talking about. However, for a fit healthy dog, i would say try not to worry, even though you still will!!! Be have had Buddy back with us for about 2 weeks now and he really is none the worse for his experience (although he may not be very keen on the small planes which fly over the house from time to time!!) We used PetAir and paid for the super-deluxe package as we were so worried about getting one bit of the paperwork wroing and messing it all up. We also paid extra to get him visited and walked whilst in quarantine as the staff really don't have time to give each dog a lot of fuss, and what time they do have they tend to spend on the poor animals from other countries which have to have up to 6 months in quarantine. I would thoroughly recommend Karen's Dogwalks. Great service and not too expensive. Here's a link to the gallery of photos of our darling while he was in there. he was hot but quite happy: Coppermine Photo Gallery - Buddy F. Just explore the site to find out more about the service and costs etc, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PARBUTTN Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Thanks, it's nice to here recommendations. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongrel Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 DR BOB is brill although never met him ,we were here when we decided to fetch soft lad over ,the service was excellent and I email on certain things ,cheeky but imo aussie vets are crap. As for dogs frettin for being alone is wrong , the reason dogs fret is cos they believe they are the alpha dog and you and your families are missin ,logical when you think about a mum whos kids are missin . You need to get your status back as alpha with some feedin time work its easy and common sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PARBUTTN Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Thanks for your knowledge and understanding of our situation. With regard to her allergies we have been living with our parents since the summer with 23 acres of open farmland as to backing onto and walking in woodland at our previous house, so I am feeling positive that oz may be better for her allergies. Knowing our luck we will get her out there and she'll find a deadly snake to play with in the garden!!! You've been of great help and comfort to us, thanks again x Nickix P.s. have done the diettary and follow environmental management reigiously !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongrel Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Thanks for your knowledge and understanding of our situation. With regard to her allergies we have been living with our parents since the summer with 23 acres of open farmland as to backing onto and walking in woodland at our previous house, so I am feeling positive that oz may be better for her allergies. Knowing our luck we will get her out there and she'll find a deadly snake to play with in the garden!!!You've been of great help and comfort to us, thanks again x Nickix P.s. have done the diettary and follow environmental management reigiously !! I`m sorry not read your prev posts naughty YP , our mutt a border collie came here may 2008 he was alright for 6 months or so then became allergic to summat he has red and itchy paws between the pads and sometimes knaws at them ,hes had more steroids than arnold shwarzenniger , the latest is to send him to Murdoch uni WA for de sensitising which is about 2 to 3k and not infallible. One wwird thing in bringing him he was mauled by a gsd when he was a pup , after that if he saw one mayhem redmist totally lost it and he stayed like that .We came here he came took him to the dog beach he was about 25 metres in front then I saw it a big bruising gsd . I took off like Mr Bolt after him next thing they both sniffed each other and walked on . The first time in 8 and a half years hes paased the time of day with a gsd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest missvet Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 DR BOB is brill although never met him ,we were here when we decided to fetch soft lad over ,the service was excellent and I email on certain things ,cheeky but imo aussie vets are crap. As for dogs frettin for being alone is wrong , the reason dogs fret is cos they believe they are the alpha dog and you and your families are missin ,logical when you think about a mum whos kids are missin . You need to get your status back as alpha with some feedin time work its easy and common sense "Aussie vets are crap?" Why? Just out of interest. I'm not an aussie vet so won't be offended! :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongrel Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 "Aussie vets are crap?" Why? Just out of interest. I'm not an aussie vet so won't be offended! :wink: JUst my opinion on the ones i`ve been to and the service , you hear the same stuff give the same old thing withiout any new ideas , there are a lot of vets and it seems like a supermarket tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaC Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 hiya, i think you should def take your dog. I have been looking into this, as would never leave my dog here when we go, and most people seem to say that the dogs cope well with flights, and the quarantine. They seem to cope better than the owners in fact!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lanabanana Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 We came from NZ so our dogs didn't have to go into quarantine. I had a friend who moved from holland to NZ and their Viszla had to be in quarantine for 1 month. They dropped off a nice youthful looking dog who became so stressed that she came out with a grey muzzle. They also opted not to visit as their visits made the dog more stressed. A big thing for them though was that they really treat their dog like a child and she goes everywhere...and I mean everywhere (even to concerts and restuarants - she waits in the car) with them. Maybe try out a kennel here and there so its not as big a shock when she goes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.