Loving my Oldies

He is used to being free and I doubt you can do anything about it.

Yes. Thanks for the tip about turkey. I’ll give it a try.

Progress has stalled - completely. We had another check up on Monday - three weeks since the last one - and despite all my best efforts, no loss. I was so disappointed, because I have been weighing his food and being very careful. All four dogs are shut in separate areas for meals (breakfast and dinner) and there is never any food left lying around. Once meal time is over, up come the bowls and they are washed. They haven’t been getting any treats and there is nothing until next meal. Mezza doesn’t like the Satiety which I mix with bone broth and about a teaspoon of mince (beef or chicken) but because the bulk of the meal (a whole 20grams !!!) is Satiety, he rarely eats even half. The vet wants to see them all next week, so obviously I will be consulting with her, but in the meantime . . . . . My strategy is that if he doesn’t eat what is perfectly good food and which Bunter loves, he can’t be actually starving. On the other hand, eating is one of life’s pleasures ......... However, should I just keep giving him his meal and if he doesn’t eat it, too bad, he will eventually? It is absolutely imperative that he loses weight so not doing this for aesthetics !!

Poor girl. Hope she gets better very quickly.

Ha ha ha - I think that is a problem that will take many centuries, if ever, for a solution to be found. That said, there are thingies that you can try, but I have found they generally don’t work, but rather the mats still keep getting rouched up and then, because the corners/ends have thingies under them, you can’t adjust with a drag of a toe, but have to bend down ..... and five minutes later you have to do it all again. If you google for help, you will realise that people the world over are dealing with this very serious and troubling problem. It is obviously something that needs a huge injection of funds from governments worldwide to come up with a solution.

HOW ON EARTH DID I MISS THIS !!! Oh my goodness. I nearly came through the screen for cuddles with Lilbit “Over the moon” - totally understandable.

To the vet - immediately. Poor dog is under a lot of stress and possibly something quite wrong inside, that can be easily treated. Good luck and keep us informed as we care about dogs and their families

Congratulations. Mochi is very beautiful and I hope you have a long and happy life with him.

Wishing you all the best and, as hard as it is, try not to get too stressed out. I agree with the other comments: spayed at the same time as tumour removed. Done regularly with pound dogs for whom we have no history. Your Elka is a strong breed and she has lived her life being loved and well cared for. She will probably sail through all this with barely a twitch. Thinking of you both.

Mezza is 14 nearly 15, @sandgrubber, but he is a Pomeranian. Since being with me he has put on a lot of weight and now on a diet. He also pants heavily and so dramatically (to use the vet’s word) that he wakes me at night. At first she put it down tohis being overweight and also having a full coat of hair which, judging from the state he was in when I released him from the pound, he hasn’t had for many a long year. However, after further tests and x-rays, he is now on a suite of medication (Gabapentin and Meloxicam for pains in his legs {he has been on these since he came here} and now Doxycycline and Aminyllin for the other issues) and seems to be doing well. He has always had a good appetite hence the o/weight. Good luck with Jarrah - so difficult not having a known vet you feel you can trust totally, but you are very experienced and, hopefully, they will recognise that and treat you and Jarrah with the respect you both deserve. As to how to interpret excessive panting: my vet found “crackling” in Mezza’s lungs and variations in the width of his Trachea. Since being on medications, the panting is not as often as before and the crackling in his lungs is still there, but has reduced - not enough for the vet to be happy though and his meds regime is continuing.

I used to think roast chicken was the absolute go to for the girls, but the last one was refused meal after meal and eventually thrown out

Touch wood, indeed, @BJ.. Hopefully this will continue. I don’t hold out many hopes for my peace of mind, though. Tonight or tomorrow, they will refuse to eat again.

Anyone with long memories and have read my “I’m tearing my hair out” posts about the eating difficulties and idiosyncrasies of my dogs may know that I have two dogs on diets to lose weight and another two on diets to increase weight. I’ve tried all sorts of things over the years with Jeune and Tamar to try to get them to eat: different places to feed them, different bowls, different foods and so on and so on. Jeune is by far the worst though why I should worry as she has now turned 18 I don’t know. And Tamar (15 in January) is on a very expensive medication to give her an appetite -- she was skin and bone, but bright and happy so no medical issues. (Naturally, they have had many visits to the vets over the years.) However, I just have to recount this morning’s episode. Bunter in the study, Mezza in the bedroom, Tamar and Jeune on the deck. Tamar and Jeune circling their bowls as though they are full of piranha or at least something that is going to do them a great deal of harm if they get within striking distance of the bowls. Eventually, I had to let Mezza and Bunter out of their rooms and picked up T’s and J’s bowls. I decided on another try with the girls and took them and bowls into the bedroom and put them all on the bed (with mattress protector) ..... yep, both of them guzzled down a good breakfast!! Crazy.

And people here are very good at offering support and encouragement, because no matter what the dog, no matter what the person, we care about the happiness and wellbeing of everyone. Please let us know how you and your puppy progress.

Yes, this is just absolutely crucial for all new puppy owners to understand.

Your puppy is just a baby. I wonder how long you have had him in that perhaps he was taken from his mum and litter mates too young? Maybe when he first came to live with you, your family (in all kindness and love) just gave him too much attention and loving and then thought he’d had enough and would be happy on his own. A puppy of his age can find it hard to adapt to a COMPLETELY and very strange new life; all puppies are different, though, same as you can have two children who could have come from different parents . A crate is a good idea, but it has to be made into a place of safety, security, interest and somewhere he can go to to curl up and go to sleep knowing that he is in his little place of safety. Remember, a puppy of his age has bouts of energy followed by longer bouts of sleeping - just like a human baby. And if he did come from a pet shop or a puppy mill, he has not been socialised properly or introduced slowly to all the different things he is going to experience in every day life. People can forget that a puppy doesn’t pop out of its mum knowing everything that people expect of a dog. A dog needs to be shown these things with kindness and patience. Good luck with a trainer and hopefully you will have a happy well adjusted puppy with the trainer’s and your input.

First weigh in today two weeks after being told Mezza had to lose weight. I was thrilled because he’s lost 200 grams having gone from 5.95 to 5.75. It is good to know we are on the right track. I am feeding him crushed RC Satiety mixed with mushy carrots (no teeth) or a bit of bone broth to moisten it. He is not bothering me for food between meals and yesterday, I fell asleep on the couch and woke just before 7pm. He would have normally started barking more than an hour before that. for continued success.

You’ll get this sort of attitude in all walks of life, as Diva says. I’ve seen it many times over the years with trainers: there is one way and one way only .... their way. Doesn’t matter if the dog is a Great Dane or a Chihuahua, there is only one training way. Dangerous and stupid. Lots of examples in just a few posts of dogs killing each other. How many examples of dogs living together happily all their lives? It seems to me that your dogs have wonderful lives with you and with each other. The only thing that worries me here is that that very silly and potentially dangerous woman has planted a seed of doubt in your mind which will be very hard to eradicate and your uncertainty and worry might be projected onto your dogs. I’d like to bob her over the head frankly and tell her to stick to her breed.

She’s adorable. Love Bullies. I am sure it be long before little grieving hearts are mended.

Dear me, @grizabella, your post had me sniffling badly: the tragedy of losing Soona and Baby Boon and then feeling the caring and love staff and volunteers have for the chimps.

How old is Hannah? It must be terrible to lose one of the family in childbirth. It isn’t as though you can run in and stretcher her out to the maternity ward I love the way the staff went all out with the birthday celebrations

What? Your computer or my dogs?

I tried my stick blender today and it worked beautifully. I thought the kibble might have been too hard. They don’t seem to like rehydrated kibble. Fussy . . . . .

@PossumCorner, I am nothing else or no one else to blame except myself. My dogs don’t have access to any food other than that which I give them. I don’t have food lying around and I don’t buy snacks, but I have been guilty of giving them bits of pizza crust, little bits of biscuit and the like. That has now stopped partly because of the weight issue and partly because it was teaching them to hang around when I’m eating. They have access to the outside at all times, but as there isn’t anything for them to get into (although Bunter has become coprophagic only with his own). I nearly died the first time I saw him wolfing down before I had time to collect it. Quite turned the old tum tum.