“You can’t bathe a dog every week,” stridently declared practically everyone in the world, including the people at dog training and puppy school, that one lady that goes through the bins in the dog park. “It causes itchy skin.”

“Besides,” said my stepfather, “He needs his own doggy smell.”

Which is a relief to hear, really, because he certainly has plenty of that…

There was no denying that Jack was itchy. His scratching subsided for a while, but in recent weeks – he’s just a scratching fool.

“No bothers,” said Irish. “I just won’t bathe him while you’re in Melbourne. We’ll let the little pooch get as crusty as he wants.”

Man. I returned on Sunday night to one seriously smelly groodle. And – worst of all – not only was he itchier than ever, but he had a red belly and a strange, scabby rash on his normally pale pink skin.

Argh! “What’s he been doing?” I demanded. “Did he get wet?”

“Only in the swamp,” said Irish, hand on his heart.

“How often?”

“You know… every day…”

So it was straight into the bath for Jack, and no swamp until we saw the vet. And what do you think? She said it was perfectly fine to bath him as long as I used the right kind of, shampoo, specially designed by dog scientitions and, I dunno, tiny little elves.

And the culprit for the rash, she suspected, is not bathing but wandering dew, or wandering jew as it’s sometimes called. It grows like the noxious weed that it is in swampland and lots of dogs are allergic to it – and the allergy gets worse with exposure, not better.

Poor Jack! Splashing those big paws around in the water is his favourite activity (besides chasing Mei Mei). But we’ll have to find him a water park to swim in.

Despite this news, I came back from the vet alight with happiness — I’d been given a dog shampoo with the vet’s blessing to bath him twice a week if I wanted! So now I get to have a clean dog, and Jack gets to play in as many puddles (wandering dew-free of course) that his muddy little heart desires.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Totally Terrific Miss T has just published her new Four Paws and Me article. Gasp in wonder as Floyd the Rhodesian Ridgeback gives cancer the flick not once, but twice! Sigh in awe as his two-legged friend, Helen makes the intelligent decision to prepare for the worst and expect the best by taking out Pet Insurance! It’s a blast! It’s a hoot! And it’s one you can’t afford to miss!

Great value pet insurance from Direct Line

Pet Insurance from Pet Protect for people who love their pets

Ever wondered what it’s like to live with an Airedale, Persian, Rag Doll or Zuchon? How about a shelter or stray cat? A special needs or designer dog? Ever wondered if you could survive a crisis with your pet — or what to watch for to prevent one? Miss T gives you the word from the trenches with the world’s best cat and dog column: “Four Paws and Me”.

At 13, Floyd would have “House”, the sarcastic limping tv doc, scratching his temples till they bled. Helen Altmajer, loving mum to Floyd and easygoing Maltese boy Moka, tells a story that would make any Medical Drama proud.

So, tell me about your dogs
Floyd is a Rhodesian Ridgeback and will be 13 on the 29^th of September. I’m amazed he made it this far, but he’s still kickin’! Moka, our Maltese x dog is nine, and is such an easy dog.

Easy? How so?
Well, as a six-month-old pup, Floyd was diagnosed with Dermoid Sinus - a condition that specifically affects Rhodiesian Ridgebacks. He’s also been on heart medications for the last year and half and diagnosed twice with cancer. Once at age five and again at the beginning of this year. The tumour this time round was wound around both bones in his leg which meant that the vets had to take the bone out completely in order to get to the tumour. Now his leg is like a layer cake; bone, titanium plate then bone again.

Oh yeah, he also ate a bone that was left in the park by someone else. It lodged deep in his esophagus and took the strength of three nurses to pull it out! I don’t even want to think about what our bank account would look like if both Floyd and Moka had health problems!

What were the first signs of his cancer?
When Floyd was five, his breath was getting really smelly. I’d keep on taking him to the vet who continued to tell me that I should just give him bones, brush his teeth more often, all that kind of oral health kind of stuff. But it never changed; his breath would get very smelly again very quickly. But I wouldn’t give up and kept on taking him to the vet until I got pretty emotional about it. In the end, the vet listened to me and looked in his mouth and there was this huge lump in there! I could tell, just by the tone of his voice that something bad was happening. The specialist he referred us to said he didn’t have a hope in hell and suggested that they either put him down there and then or we take him home and spoil him for a couple of months. I was like, “Spoil him!!?? He gets his meals cooked meals and walked twice a day! What more do you want me to do? Take him on an overseas trip?”

I was bawling. It was the worst week of my life. I just cried the whole time. The vets were so keen on getting him put down; his stats were 60/40, weighted in the negative. On the day of the operation, they had to remove the whole bottom of his jaw. I remember just seeing it and wondering, “God is there anything left of it? What’s going to hold up his head?”

So how did he cope after the operation?
The vets wanted to prepare me for the worst I guess. They said he’d be quiet and off his food but when they opened the door, Floyd came sprinting towards me, legs flying and he was STARVING!

When and where did you first meet Floyd and Moka?
Both of them came when I was with my previous partner, Chris. He wanted a dog. I’d only ever owned small dogs before so when we went out and saw these HUGE Ridgeback dogs I was mortified! I mean Floyd as a pup was bigger than the full-grown Pomeranian I’d lived with before! And while we stood there and watched, he destroyed everything in sight! He destroyed a hose, a pot plant, and the back of a car seat! He was a menace! And my partner turned to me and said, “Isn’t he adorable? I want him!” So, he came home with us and after the first week, I said, “You know, if we split up, it’s not negotiable, the dog comes with me.” Which is exactly what happened. But yeah, Chris and I are still good friends and he even baby-sits our pups for us at times.

And Moka?
Well he came when my partner bought a pet shop. His shop was going to close for a few days over Christmas, so he brought home Moka (who, as a pup, looked like a tiny moccasin shoe) and even at that size, he could hold her own with Floyd. He wasn’t going back. No way!

How would you describe Floyd’s personality?
Stubborn. Weelll, not so much stubborn as determined. I’ve never met a dog who had so much fight in them. I mean there he was last weekend, hopping along on his three legs, with a pretty major heart condition, chasing after rabbits like there was nothing wrong with him.

He’s also calm and very cunning! There was this one time when there was some food on the bench and I hear this crash from the kitchen and I rush in and there’s Floyd lifting up his paw and whimpering like he’s hurt and I’m like “Oh baby! What’s wrong?” and I forget ALL about the fact that he’s getting food off the bench and then once he sees that, bam! He’s off out the door, sore foot over and done with. It was hilarious!

From your own personal experience, what advice would you give to anyone with a pet like yours?

1. Take out Pet Insurance! We’ve spent well over $10,000 on Floyd in vet bills. Unfortunately, by the time Floyd was five, he had so many health problems, it was going to be nigh on impossible to get any Pet Insurer to cover him. So we learned our lesson the hard way. We insured Moka before anything too much had gone wrong with him. He’s been easy up to now, but as he grows older, it’s inevitable that something will go wrong. Better to be safe than sorry.
2. It’s also great to have a strong support network. Family, friends, there’s no way I could have gone through what we’ve gone through if Rich hadn’t been at home cooking dinners for us while I shuttled Floyd to and from vets for months on end.
3. It’s also great to be in an environment where everyone around me loves dogs too. People like that will appreciate that if something’s up with my dogs, then something’s going to be up with me.

What’s Floyd’s favourite activity?
Chasing rabbits and food. He once stole a kid’s backpack that had a packed lunch in it and he loves eating tacos. Once I was trying to get him to lay off his food obsession so I put a big taco in front of him, heaped with hot chili sauce. Anyway, he gulped it down and absolutely LOVED it! So much for that!

What’s been your “best find” for you and your pet?
“Vets All Natural” I mix it with raw roo meat. It’s got grains, veges, garlic, parsley and vitamins and minerals. It’s good stuff, a complete mix formula and 100% preservative free. Also another “Vet’s All Natural” product for his joints - Shark Cartilage Powder . It’s helped so much with Floyd’s arthritis and made all the difference with him being able to walk again. Really sped up the process.

Is there anything special that you do with your pet to add value to their lives?
Exercise. Whether your dog is big or small it’s great for them to get out morning and night. It gives them stimulation, socialization and manners. You can’t put a price on that kind of activity.

Helen started up her own dog grooming and pet accessories business eight years ago. Pet Art has boomed in funky North Fitzroy, where Helen has combined her natural creative flair and animal husbandry skills in an area that is dog friendly and filled with artists, writers and creatives. Richard works as a service provider for maintenance, asset and project management.

The two have been together for eight years and happily married for three.

A Bit about Pet Insurance
Let’s face it, who wants to research Pet Insurance? Most policies seem way too confusing and expensive. Nevertheless, as our furry loved ones are graced with ever increasing family member status, decisions on expensive vet surgery can get pretty complicated and emotional. Vet associations predict that in the next five years, more and more pets will be referred to specialist care, which means bigger, longer, weightier vet bills. It’s a sad fact but true that most people are kicking themselves when their best mate is on the operating table, wishing like crazy they’d taken the time to do a spot of pet insurance investigation. The pay-off is obvious. Even when you’re facing a bill as big as Greenland, you’ll be feeling financially confidently and happy to stand back and let the vet do what their best at. That few days or even week of research could really bring a smile to your dial when the chips are down.

Get in Early
Even if your pet has been seemingly bullet proof for years, by the time your cat or dog reaches seven, the likelihood of illness becomes a lot greater. Most Pet Insurers will not insure animals after the age of nine and if of a particular breed, some only up to the age of seven.

Affordability
Happily, pet insurance is getting more competitive which means greater savings for savvy pet owners. It’s now possible to buy a decent policy for less than $30 a month for dogs and $15 a year for cats.

Accident and/or Illness?
Most policies will offer an “accident only” policy or an “accident and illness policy”. The accident only policies are a cheaper option in the short term, but in the long term, may not provide value for money.
Because of the growing rate of pets living indoors and also the fact that many city councils have enforced night curfews on cats and dogs, visits to vets because of an accident or injury (an unforeseen external event that causes injury to your pet) have dropped to just 10%. The remaining 90% of vet visits is connected to illness (sickness or disease not caused by injury).

Extras?
My research has concluded that the “Premium” or “Extras” options which cover some general health procedures (vaccinations, worming etc) not normally covered in pet insurance policies, aren’t worth the extra dollars. You seem to have to spend more on the policy than the amount you are able to claim back. But go ahead and do your own research. You might find different. Let me know if you do!

Seek Professional Advice
Speak to your vet about insurance policies that they recommend. Because the vet is the one to go into bat for you if the insurer has any queries, they’ll have a pretty good idea for knowing which insurer pays up and which insurer doesn’t.

Read the Fine Print
Check out the policies fine print. Look to see whether they cover behavioural treatment and therapies (a more commonly occurring issue in high density living or with animals rescued from pounds or shelters) and whether you can claim on alternate therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractics etc.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask
If you have any queries, ring up the insurer and GRILL them!! Find out exactly what you can and can’t claim. Don’t be shy to ask questions about scientific terminology you don’t understand. Believe me, you won’t be alone, but you’ll be all the wiser!

Don’t Judge a Book By its Cover
Don’t be fooled by easy to use, smart looking websites. People often feel so overwhelmed when trying to buy pet insurance that they go for the neat, simple option. Professional looking it may be, but they can offer the same products (and less in some cases) for much, much more.

Pet Insurance firms in Australia
http://www.vetsown.com.au/
http://www.petcover.com.au/
http://www.petplan.com.au/
www.rspca.org.au/animal/insure.asp
http://www.petsecure.com.au/

You might also want to see whether your existing home and contents insurance covers pets as some do. Generally however, they only insure for up to $500 per year.

Great value pet insurance from Direct Line

Pet Insurance from Pet Protect for people who love their pets

Fancy-pants pet products are all the rage because pets usually live inside the house now – I blame it on longer working hours. If you like the idea of luxe pet products, and you’re handy with a needle, you can run up this furry hot water bottle cover. They’re great for comforting young cats and dogs, and if your pets can be trusted not to chew it, yours can sit proudly on the pet-bed all winter. You may even find the human animals clamouring for one of their own.

You will need:

• Hot water bottle;
• 60 cms yummy luxe artificial fur;
• A packet of bias binding in a coordinating colour;
• A metre of cord or rope for the tie;
• Thread that matches the bias binding, sharp scissors, pins, tape measure.

Download, print out and photocopy this template until it’s about 17 inches by 10 inches (45cms by 25cms). Scale it up onto A3 paper on the photocopier. Check to see if your template covers your hot water bottle with an inch or so to spare. You want it to be a fairly loose fit on your hottie so scale up or down as necessary.

Fold your piece of fur in half — fur side in. Identify the direction of the pile and pin your template to the folded piece so that the pile runs in a nice straight line. (’Pile’ is the direction of the fur — I like mine to flow from top to bottom for optimum pat-ability.)

Now cut through both layers so you end up with two pieces of u-shaped fur. Be brave with your double layer of fur — slicing through it is not for the faint of heart. I like to use lots of pins so I don’t wind up making a wrong turn as it tends to want to shift around a bit. But it’s not as worrisome as you might think.

Cutting fur makes a big mess. Stay calm and explain to your housemates that there can be no creativity without chaos.

Use some scrap fur to practice stitching through two layers of fur with your sewing machine. Again, be brave. It’s not as difficult as it might appear at first. Then pin and sew around the sides and rounded end of your fur (about three quarters of an inch in), leaving the straight end open. I tend to stitch twice for optimum seam strength.

You could hand stitch it I suppose. But that’d be getting a bit too motivated for me.

Turn your new hottie cover outside in and use a large blunt needle or your fingers to fluff out any fur that inevitably gets caught in the seams. You’ll end up with lovely fluffiness that will practically hide the joins.

Now for the open end. You’re going to be sewing bias binding to this to make a nice clean edge. I’d suggest trimming the fur back to number one on the edges, about one centimetre in. This makes it much easier to get the binding on. Run a tape measure around the edge and cut a corresponding strip of bias binding with a one centimetre seam allowance. Now stitch the binding about half a centimetre from the ends so you get a nice circle of bias binding. Pin or tack this to the edge of your hottie cover and machine stitch it into place.

Nearly finished. Put your hot water bottle into it’s new home and pull the fur closed, like a bag, around the neck of the bottle. Mark where the neck is with a pin on one side of the new furry cover, because this is where you’re going to attach your cord or rope pile. Make a nice granny knot in either end of your rope or cord tie to prevent fraying and hand-stitch the middle of the tie to the side of the hottie cover.

Tadaa! Now fill up your bottle with hot (but not scalding hot) water and let your pet appreciate the eerie but enjoyable sensation of warm fur.

When I first saw dogs wearing these groovy swinging led lights, I thought that the “Fur Kid” phenomena had really gone overboard, following up Pawlates and Doga with doggy style rave parties. I was visualizing hip young puppies, sucking on liver flavoured chuppa chups and shaking their rumps to some seriously hefty paw-stompin’, tail-waggin’ beats.

But then dull reality hit and my surreal imaginings were pipped in their prime as I realized that the dogs were in fact sporting “safety lights”. Like the ones you might find on a buoy at sea or a tugboat. And that in fact, were coming in quite handy. I hadn’t tripped over a schnoodle all night!

And then Benny ran after a spunky spaniel called Hayley in the dark and I couldn’t find him because his coat had turned from “Just Washed and Dazzling White”, to “I’ve been playing in Puddles and rolling in poo, Fugly Grey”.

Let’s just say at that point, I thought it might be time to buy him his own special set of sparkly led safety lights.

And besides, I’m a sucker for sparkles. Ask Dave.

Benny is also a sucker for sparkles (he loves the laser!) and my one concern was that he’d go mental trying to hunt out the tiny fairies that were all of a sudden swinging brazenly from his neck. Turns out that the smell of fire hydrants, lampposts, brick corners and pie packets is far more interesting.

The score at full time:
Smell: 1
Eyes: 0

The Pet Blinker comes in a range of flashing colours, classic blue and white, bangin’ jade and pink, and nautical red, white and blue (which is what we bought to match his jumper).

Now, when we step out for our family walk, Benny lights the way like a techno lovin’ Florence Nightingale.

Once the dog walking Ipod boombox comes on the market, we might even think about kitting ourselves out for the entire outdoor entertainment experience, bringing a whole new meaning to the term “Mobile Disco” .
RATING:
BUY IT: Arcatapet.com
COST: $12 (AUS) $9.97 (USA)