#dog health Articles

Six Australian vets and hospitals publish dog X-ray prices (read October 30, 2026): Burpengary Family Vets (QLD) $300 for the first site without sedation and $375 for hip and elbow films with sedation, Walkerville Vet (Adelaide) $520 for two sedated views, Kirrawee (Sydney) $650 to $850, and Paddington (Brisbane) from $743 plus sedation. In emergencies, WAVES Perth lists radiographs at an average $600 to $1,200 on top of a $260 consultation, and ARH Homebush a $1,000 diagnostic bundle plus $280. Consultation, sedation, blood tests and extra views are usually extra, and insured owners still pay first and claim.

If your dog ate a tampon, call a vet now: the cotton or rayon body can swell and the string can act as a linear foreign body that bunches and cuts the intestine. A vet can often make the dog vomit it up at the clinic, but only within about 30 minutes to two hours. Swallowed objects take 10 to 48 hours to pass when they pass at all; in a 2024 study only 1 of 8 linear foreign bodies passed without surgery, while 96% of 499 dogs treated for foreign bodies survived to discharge.

Dogs show signs after 15-30 g of raw onion per kg, and garlic is 3-5 times more toxic than onion, with red cells breaking down 3-5 days later (Merck). Dark chocolate can cause signs from about 3.6 g/kg within 6-12 hours, more than one grape or raisin per 10 lb may harm the kidneys (tartaric acid is the proposed cause), and xylitol can drop blood sugar from about 0.1 g/kg within 30 minutes. A 17-food holiday table gives the dose, signs, timing and urgency for each.

Bravecto Quantum costs $175 to $400 per injection on four US clinic price lists checked October 30, 2026 ($230–$310 by weight in Marietta, Georgia), against about $348 to $369 a year for 12-week Bravecto chews at PetSmart (4.35 chews a year). One shot covers fleas and five tick species for 12 months but lone star ticks for only 8 months. Both products contain fluralaner; in the US field study 2 of 225 Quantum-treated dogs had seizures, and the label says to use caution in dogs with a seizure history.

A dog that keeps swallowing, gulping and licking its lips is most often nauseous, but reflux and esophagitis, a stuck bone or chew, mouth or throat pain, nose and airway problems, megaesophagus and swallowing disorders look similar. Night-time episodes fit reflux (restlessness at night) and empty-stomach nausea in the early morning, yet timing alone proves nothing. Go to a vet now for unproductive retching with a swelling belly, breathing trouble or bluish gums, or drooling with an inability to swallow; a stuck object should be removed immediately once diagnosed.

A dog that eats but barely drinks is often on wetter food (canned food is 60% to over 87% water), less active in cool weather or drinking elsewhere, but dental disease, nausea, a dirty bowl, arthritis, swallowing problems and illness can look the same. Total water need is about 44–66 mL per kg a day, or 440–660 mL for a 10 kg dog including food moisture. Check that gums are pink and moist with refill under 2 seconds, and go to a vet at once for breathing trouble, pale or bluish gums, collapse or repeated vomiting.