tdierikx

This is the most effective arthritis "treatment"... supplements and medications will be much more effective if the stresses on the affected joints are reduced. Zeddy was kept a nice lean weight, and I'm sure that was why I only had to give her Meloxicam when weather conditions were likely to affect her. T.

I used to give my old girl (Rotti/Pittie) 1.5ml Meloxicam of an evening if the temperature was set to drop below 10 degrees... made it so much easier for her to get out of bed in the mornings. That was the only real sign of old age she ever had right up until she passed at one month shy of her 16th birthday - which was a bloody good innings for a dog of her size/mix! T.

There are 3 Sulphur Crested Cockatoos at one of my work placements who know I'm scared of curved beaked birds... and the buggers will hang on the door waiting for me to try to come into the aviary... I refuse to go in there now, as the horrid things attack me 'cos they know I'm scared... grrr! Doesn't do anything to allay my fears let me tell you! I'll be happy to go in there to catch them for euthing if ever asked... they are NASTY!! I'm not scared of the shoe-eating Galah in another aviary... she confines her attacks to the steel cap portion of my boots, so all I do is try not to step on her as I go about cleaning and feeding... lol! An Alexandrine Parakeet named Cookie wants to sit on my shoulder and blow kisses in my ear, but I'm leery of his beak getting that close, so I let him stay for a short while, then tell him to get on a perch. T.

Picture this for some giggles... Friend's staffy cross decides to chase a cockatoo down the road... cocky's calls bring a number of it's friends to back it up... and they all chase the dog back up the street... poor dog is terrified of cockatoos now... lol! T.

In the past 12 months, I've only had 2 vet visits with my dogs... $253 for Zeddy's final vet visit ever in July, and $75 to give Harper a C5 shot because I had to board her for a couple of days In March. As part of me fostering and volunteering for a rescue, they also give me feed for my own dogs, so I've probably only had to buy 2 bags of food for them over the past 12 months also. Even as she was aging, Zeddy was surprisingly healthy up until her final collapse that night in July... the only expenditure was for a bottle of Meloxicam at cost price (my local vet insists on giving me discounts for some reason) to dose her with on colder nights for her arthritis. My current dogs are 3, 5, and 10 respectively... and in great health so far. I don't vaccinate annually, or even tri-annually, so they only get vaccinated if they have to go into boarding which doesn't happen very often - basically Harper will get boarded if I have an overnight excursion for TAFE, and a friend comes to feed the other two - I have one more of those excursions next semester, but this year's vaccination will cover that boarding spell... yay! T.

Awww... so purty... T.

No fair Miss Molly... Pudden is speshul! T.

What a stunning boy! He rocks those ears like a pro too... *grin* T.

How often are you worming the pup? T.

I reckon a calendar of the out-takes is the go... you can set it up on Redbubble and the rest of us fans can buy it... lol! T.

Simply stunning... but I bet you wish they were storm clouds, yes? T.

Be still my beating heart! Gorgeous puppies AND a gratuaitous Marcus shot... *swoon* T.

Danny is an amazing little old man... and when it's his time, his mummy will make sure he gets his wings with the utmost dignity... ... until then DDD, chin up and treasure all the wonderful moments the dear little old man gives you, OK? T.

Awesome names for 3 awesome little doggies... nice choices! T.

Wow! She has some focus there... Hahaha @ Geoffrey "lolly legs"... T.

Don still has eyes only for Mummy... such a good boy! Smoke is gorgeous... is he working now? T.

My back door is always open, so it is easier for the dogs to take themselves outside to do their business without me dictating when. There have been a few accidents inside... it was raining the other morning, so Ru did a poo inside, and a few wees... but he got close to the back door, so I reckon he was trying... lol! He's been sleeping in a playpen out in the granny flat at night, and most mornings there are no poos in the pen - he's held overnight and runs straight to the grass to do his business when he's let out in the morning. Mind you, I have noticed over the years of having fosters that the boys are faster to stop crapping in their crates/pens than the girls, but wees inside the house can take longer to disappear... maybe girls can hold their bladders a bit longer than boys at an earlier age? Overall, I'm very happy with how he's progressing... he's learned so much in the couple of weeks I've had him here... He's going back to the rescue on Saturday... T.

Cutest butt in the bush... lol! T.

... couple more... just 'cos he's cute... *grin* T.

Some new pics of Rupert... taken today... T.

As far as I know, the one in Sydney is the only registered Fox Rescue in NSW... T.

Yesterday we had one poo and about a dozen wees inside... but it was raining outside... lol! There were also about 3 poos outside when I did the patrol in the afternoon though... so he obviously does prefer to go outside on the grass. Pickles is still being a bitch and has to beat him up when he first comes in, but Trouble has been getting better at letting him do the annoying puppy routine and playing bitey face. We've been working on trying to be settled when being held... he's a very mouthy little man and busy... needs to be doing something all the time. He did appear to have had a nap on the dog bed in the lounge room while I had a nanna nap on the couch yesterday though. He's abit averse to being handled on top of his head and face, which is most likely because the poor fellow had ringworm on his face and had to get lathered with anti-fungal cream every day. As soon as he came into care here, I changed the cream to the once a day type, but he's still not fussed on his head and face being handled. We're working on it, and he loves ear scritches... I'll try to get some more Ru photos today... he has the most adorable head tilt when you talk to him at the moment! T.

Isn't he glorious? Both sun bears at Taronga have the most beautiful coats... T.

That is only one corner of the exhibit... the rest is trees and other climbing logs, etc... ... and the crow/raven was a one off... never seen anything like it before or since... T.

Hahahaha! Too funny! T.