Loving my Oldies

Thanks Tali. I will look for that at the vets.

;) Good idea, thanks.

There is a dark smudge almost in the middle of the photo and a little bit of yellow which is her tag. :rolleyes:

Thank you, ladies. Gussy comes walking with me around the block when I walk Tilly and Rover - the oldies. I wish I had a video of her running to catch up with her "undercarriage" swaying alarmingly. Gussy is a grazer and eats very little at any one session; as the birds come into the garage to steal her food, I am never sure how much she actually eats. I have a new system, now, that I give her little meals through the day. I will measure out 1/2 cup and spread that out through the day. Here she is sunbathing. . . . . . Thanks again.

Can this be moved to the Cats sub forum in Off Topic, please. Thanks

Gussy has a new favourite place in the garden. See if you can find her. ;) Oh dear, the pic is really small now that I've had to resize it to fit here.

Some months ago, I started feeding Gussy on Optimum Dry (she's never been overly keen on wet food) and the difference it made to her coat and general appearance was wonderful. However, she has put on a lot of weight and I am trying to feed her less. The Optimum recommendation for a cat of her weight is a cup a day. It seems a huge amount and I am wondering what others think. Gussy is a stray torti of about 8-9 years of age.

It's called coprophagia. Lots of animals do it, and it's only disgusting from a human point of view. Read up about it and stop worrying

"I believe that I have seen instances of this first hand where a dog's fate has been all but sealed due to what I can only deem to be ignorance of the breed that is being assessed. " Unfortunately this happens even when people are supposed to be the experts. At a pound where I was a volunteer dog walker, we had the most beautiful big black Newfoundland X. She was a gorgeous dog, but was rehomed inappropriately, jumped a fence and attacked another dog. She was returned and euthanised because, according to one of the vets, she was "kennel crazy" because she chased the flashing reflection caused by the sun catching one of the walker's watch. . How many happily homed, totally sane and much loved dogs chase reflections? As one poster said, it can be very difficult to assess a dog's temperament in a pound situation, but of course it has to be attempted. The main thing, which has been stressed again and again, is that a rescue group must be able to support and guide a foster carer and both the foster carer and the rescue group should have a good understanding of what is required from both parties.

Echoing the others - excellent work. What happens on DOL is that (I am making a great assumption leap here ) is that most newcomers don't read the instructions for posting, the pinned posts at the top of individual forums amd just hop on with their ideas and/or queries. Through no fault of their own, many - probably most - have absolutely no idea that rescue organisations exist let alone that there is a huge network of people working for the rescue organisations. So they see dogs listed in the pounds as needing help and immediately assume that if they personally don't do something, the dogs will die. It is as others have said a very emotive issue and people are very easily drawn in. They also start to see the good work that well organised and well supported rescue groups do and think: gee that's easy, I could do that. Etc etc and before too long they are over their heads financially and emotionally and have to be baled out. Recently a relative newcomer rescued a pregnant female, the puppies were born and all those puppies have been homed - UNDESEXED. Maybe there could be a few pinned topics that could be set up like some websites that you have to agree to the terms of conditions before you can proceed. Another clunky bureaucratic imposition, but it would help in the education of newcomers.

Sounds pretty good to me. Can I move in? ;)

I don't have puppies, but it may still apply. My dogs would not touch dried food and I had given up even buying it. In another thread on Supercoat and how it was now virtually rubbish, a poster mentioned feeding her cat Optimum. As my cat was looking a bit "scraggy" at the time, I bought some. She loved it and now looks gorgeous. I then decided to try some dog Optimum and my dogs just love that too. I sometimes give it to them as a treat if they are hanging around looking as though they haven't had a meal for a week

Chopper certainly is a handsome looking dog. Again it doesn't do anything for perceptions of the breed, but perhaps until you are alone in the park you could muzzle him? It would keep people and their dogs away from you and also give you peace of mind.

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I live in a very quiet street in Normanhurst where a lot of people walk their dogs. From time to time, I am aghast at the number of poos not picked up and have been sounding off to others who live in the street. I have even phoned the council and the reaction was, "Well what would you like us to do?" Anyway this morning I had walked all the others and was taking Tilly out on her own. She is a tiny, ancient, blind Chihuahua who loves her walk and because she is slow, I take her on her own. We were half way around the block and I was standing waiting while Tilly sniffed a very important blade of grass. A man walking along the road greeted me and I thought he was just being neighbourly. Oh no. Next thing, "Did your dog do a poo back there?" "No," I said, pulling out my supply of plastic bags. "I always have plastic bags." "You sure?" said in an aggressive accusative tone. "There's one there." "Yes, I always pick up after my dogs," I said and walked on as he turned away. I was sorry later that I hadn't asked him to show it two me because a lot of the poos are obviously from much bigger dogs than Tilly. I should have suggested he feel it to see if it was warm . I have been half expecting this, because I would bet my last dollar that this fellow wouldn't have approached a man or a man and woman walking together. It happened where I last lived. They feel very brave about approaching and accusing a woman walking on her own with small dogs. :D ETA: Whoops, posted in wrong place. Don't know how to move it in General.

Oh god. That poor family. I feel sick. All those years of sorrow, fear and fighting and now much more to come.

Not only settling in, but also putting on weight --- finally.

Many thanks again for all the responses. Everything seems to be fine now: no more sicks and no more diarrhoea. I have been giving them chicken and vegetables and rice cooked in chicken stock. I have also cut down on the amount of food I give them as they certainly aren't underweight. I did go to Woollies again for chicken frames (they didn't have any) and the sight of their deli meat was extremely off putting. Dried, discoloured and overpriced. I rarely buy anything there for myself, so I will also be going elsewhere for the dogs' food. Hopefully we are back on the straight and narrow. Now to concentrate on MY diet (says she reaching for a sweet biscuit)!!

Ellz is correct. With Optrex, I think it works because of the elimination of bacteria and also the cleansing of the eyes so there isn't as much irritation. I discovered it purely by accident when, many years ago I had two Maltese who had really really bad tear staining and I did try several of the commercial products - none of which worked. When one of them had a mild eye infection, my vet recommended Optrex. His infection cleared immediately and because his eyes looked so bright, I started using it on the other dog as well. After a while I noticed their staining had almost disappeared. And this from dogs who made one little girl comment, "They've got blood all over their faces." !! After that, I just used it every few days or even less and their staining was never a problem again. I am never with out it now and still use it on my present dogs every week or so, but more often if there is any sign of a build up of gunk.

Many thanks for the responses. No more meat from Woolworths - going to the butcher for it from now on. I used to use a lot of the chicken mince (minced up frames) from pet food suppliers, but Tilly has an intolerance. However, I am going to go back to getting that as well and just be more diligent and supervise meal times, so she doesn't get any of it. None of the dogs seems to like chicken necks, though, and they are ignored until I pick them all up to throw away. So I've stopped getting them. There is no question of its being parvo, for those concerned people, thank goodness. My newest addition has been to the vet on numerous occasions in the past 8 weeks for check ups and treatment. He didn't come from the pound, but he did come from a home where he was being neglected, but he is doing really well now. Danny has also been to the vet in the last few weeks for treatment for a mild ear infection. I have one pack of the Woollie's food left, but that's going in the bin and tonight they are on chicken and rice and veggies. Thanks again for your concern and responses.

I came out this morning to a wonderful sight: several small mounds of "throw up" around the house and diarrhoea splatters all through the house. Luckily no carpets or mats (as much as I would love some colourful mats). All dogs, 6 littlies, were speedily shut out of the house, so I could start the ghastly clean up. I think the one throwing up is Danny (approximately 8 years, 6.5kg, cross breed red spitz from pound early 2002). One with diarrhoea I am pretty sure is Tilly (elderly, blind, hernias, heart murmur, l/h Chihuahua, from pound mid 2005, but happy little soul) as I checked all botties and bedding and the only one which was a little bit dirty was hers. Danny seems stressed because of a new addition to the household – Rover is a 16 years old toy poodle who was not being looked after by his owner and I have had him for about 8 weeks. I’ve had to pay a lot of attention to Rover as he has had health issues which are thankfully being resolved. Danny could do with losing some weight and he has always been highly excitable jumping around like a lunatic even if I’ve just been to the post box!! Their main diet is raw dogs meat purchased in large packs from Woolworths. They used to love this and I mix in rice cooked in chicken stock. Occasionally they are given dried food which they are not keen on. I have started to cook the meat which grew from just heating it up to tepid as obviously they weren’t interested in cold meat just out of refrigerator. If they start to get fussy, I will mix a bit of canned food, but very rarely. They also get raw bones from time to time and rawhide chews are always available. I also give them tuna, rice and cheese every couple of weeks. I have been very lax lately on the vegetable front and they have not been getting veggies. Is there a processed food (wet) which anyone can recommend? Thanks.

I was going to start a separate topic for a concern I have, but when I saw this topic, I had to read from start to finish. Apple Cider Vinegar has a long history of being a treatment for all sorts of things, but I have never been able to "stomach" it, but will be giving it another go for my dogs and me. Brown paper was also used as a preventative measure for car sickness. Apparently you put sheets of it against your chest - under clothes against skin. As I have never suffered from car sickness, I have no idea as to its efficacy. Tear staining: use eye wash called Optrex from chemist. Just soak a cotton wool ball and gently wipe over and around eyes. Also squeeze a little bit into eyes. I'm off to find the ACV with honey!!!

Jye and Sooty look as though they are exchanging the deep and meaningfuls. Probably something along the lines of, "Aren't we smart chaps to have found such wonderful homes?" Best wishes Mel. Cynthia

Dear Rozzie I was scrolling down the topics and just gasped, "Oh no!" when I saw Roadkill's name. I'm sure everyone who visits DOL regularly has wonderful mind's eye impressions of you and your amazing family at Mudgee and the gorgeous photographs and entertaining vignettes you post. Truly, a light has gone out and our DOL world is poorer, but still rich in memories and the knowledge of your love and care for all your creatures. Thanks for reviving another wonderful memory, Harminee. With love and warm wishes Cynthia

Tornado My father died a few years ago in Brisbane. After the funeral, I went through all his panio music and selected the music I wanted, as was his wish. I came across a piece I hadn't seen or played for years and of course that was one of the pieces I took. It was a very obscure work and certainly not too many people would know. On the day I was to return to Sydney, I had a bit of time to spend before going out to the airport and so took a wander through David Jones. What was playing through the store .... yes, that piece of music. Eerie ?? Arolf