tdierikx

Breaking news this morning... Blacktown Pound and other facilities refusing to take in cats at the moment... http://www.theage.com.au/nsw/feline-panleukopenia-virus-resurfaces-in-western-sydney-after-40-years-20170207-gu7qab.html Feline panleukopenia virus resurfaces in western Sydney after 40 years A highly-contagious cat virus not seen in Sydney for 40 years has resurfaced in a western Sydney pound. Blacktown Council's Animal Holding Facility was forced to close its doors to cats after the outbreak of feline panleukopenia virus, commonly referred to as feline enteritis. "This is a highly contagious, life-threating viral disease for the cat population," Blacktown Mayor Stephen Bali said in a statement on Tuesday. "It has not been seen in Sydney for some 40 years, and many people have therefore stopped vaccinating against it. "As a result, it is now attacking a largely unprotected cat population." At least three other pounds and animal facilities are understood to have closed their doors to cats after an outbreak of the virus, including RSPCA centres at Yagoona and Gunnedah and the Animal Welfare League facility at Kemps Creek. "Please do not bring cats to our Animal Holding Facility until we are sure the epidemic has passed, and because other facilities across Sydney are affected, cat owners need to check the status of any facility where cats are held," Mr Bali said. Veterinary expert Vanessa Barrs has advised cat-owners to ensure their animals are vaccinated against the disease. "Disease in cats is caused by two parvoviruses - small DNA viruses. The main one is feline panleukopenia virus but parvoviruses that infect dogs can also cause the disease in cats," Professor Barrs said. AAP T.

Was at Taronga yesterday... Fennecs decided that they'd spend the day inside where we couldn't see them... *sigh* T.

I went to Taronga today... and Fumo is sporting the Zuri baby hairstyle this week... lol! T.

OMG! How similar to Sule is Zuri? This is Sule... T.

Such spunk in the affected pup... made my eyes leak... *sob* T.

Still as gorgeous as ever... T.

Hell yes!! T.

Keepers love photos of their charges having a good time... especially when taken from a public view perspective... T.

Smart Molly... knows that she must use her own bed... lol! T.

Such tragic news... my heart breaks for all of her carers... Such a pretty girl, and your photos are a beautiful reminder of a lovely soul... maybe you could print a few and make a collage for the primate team's wall? I'm sure that would be highly appreciated. T.

The joys of owning a pup... lol! T.

If you suspect he's developing separation issues, then you need to start giving him "alone time" more often... Start with short periods where you leave him for a few minutes, and when you return,don't make a fuss of him, just let him out and carry on with normal tasks. I'm suspecting that you are spending a LOT of time together, and he's beginning to expect that you should always be around and paying attention to him. Another option is that maybe you can train him up to be an assistance dog (I get the vibe that you have some disability going on), and then he can be with you pretty much wherever you go... as it will be his job to help you with your daily life. My brother's assistance dog even went to hospital with him, so it could be a good option for you both in that respect. Worth looking into anyways... T.

When he displays nervousness, don't react to it... just act normally and he should get the idea that nothing is really that scary... As for not eating his pigs ear while you were gone... do you know what he was doing instead? Are you 100% certain he didn't settle and sleep, only waking when he heard the car arrive back home? T.

One of my boys hated getting a bath... but loved cool hosing of his boy bags on hot days... so that's where we'd start if he needed a bath... lol! 2 of my current 3 dogs go completely mental if they get wet... so we don't bath as such, just go to a friend's place who owns a pool, and we paddle around for a while on a hot day... not as thorough as a proper bath, but seems to do the trick. I have to carry them into the pool, but once they are in they are fine for a quick rub down while they paddle in the shallows. T.

Try removing the spray gun part and just slowly start wetting from the front feet upwards with the slower flow. Plenty of hands on while wetting down and talk to him... tell him what a good boy he is, and if possible, feed a treat at regular intervals to reinforce this notion. The lathering up is the easy part... they love the massaging effect... *grin* Rinsing off - repeat the initial slow wetting stage, and massage/rub while doing so to remove the suds... and keep telling him what a good boy he is throughout. Slow and steady wins the race... T.

Fumo is definitely leaner than Zuri, and he's shorter too... which is interesting because Fumo and Shikamoo are not small chimps. Sudi is easily the same size or taller than Fumo now, and Liwali is catching up too. T.

Nope... lol! There will most likely be a naughty teen stage from about 18 months to 2 years where he might try pushing boundaries again... You are doing really well so far... keep up the great work. T.

Fumo will be 4 in October, so there is a decent age gap, but I don't think he's going to be as large as Zuri at 4.5... Zombi is an awesome mother methinks... T.

Zuri is nearly 4, right? So much bigger and adult looking than our Fumo, who is around a similar age... T.

I can't get over the growth spurt Zuri has had since Enzi was born... she's looking so much more mature than her tender years now. T.

He sounds like a completely normal cheeky 14 week old pup to me... lol! T.

No problems Paul777... glad to be of any assistance... T.

Ash is such ahandsome boy now, isn't he? But I still love "my" Pudden bestest... *blows kisses at the boofhead boy* T.

Wandering cats can cause car accidents when people swerve to try to avoid them... seen it happen more than once... I am allergic to cats, so can't have any of my own, but would never go out of my way to hurt one in any way... however, I have neighbours who think that their cats have the right to go wandering whenever and wherever they please. I must say that a cat going over 2 fences to go into my dog pen with 3 Rotties in it was not the smartest move a cat could make... and not only the owner was traumatised by the outcome... but responding by poisoning 2 of my dogs (one died as a result) was not exactly a civil course of action either. One place I lived at, the neighbour's cat had a penchant for dismembering birds on my front lawn. I had a polite word with said neighbour (who was horrified that her cat was doing it), and she would periodically come and remove the mess left by her cat... At my current residence, there used to be a tomcat that would come and mark my front door every night... not pleasant... so I invested in a very lifelike concrete black snake ornament - no more marking... even scared the poor parcel delivery person a couple of times... lol! Not a fan of cats deciding to make babies underneath my bedroom window in the wee hours either... jeebus they are noisy! And they set the dogs off to boot! T.

From the photos you've posted in another thread, Zagan looks like he's doing just fine... just keep feeling him over when he's going through his spurts and feed accordingly. If he's gained enough coverage in a couple of days, then ease back on too much extra, as we don't want to overdo it either... *grin* There's no formula as to how much to feed really... so the best way to judge is by feeling/looking and going by overall condition of each individual pup. You are doing great... T.