Little Gifts

No it isn't kennel cough... My old staffy girl has mammary cancer and the vet advised me earlier this year that it will next turn up in her lungs. Her cancer is untreatable and she hates the vet so my vet supports me keeping her happy and pain free and only making appointments when I think it is necessary. She is still very active and part of pack. Her weight has dropped and she is not as flexible but apart from that she is doing well. My problem is that when she eats her dinner at night she has started kind of choking - a bit like if a person was eating something and it went down the wrong hole (as we say in my family). With a person you would pat them on the back and give them a drink of water and they would keep on eating. What I have been doing with my girl is pat her over her rib area on both sides until she settles down. Then she finishes her meal. It dawned on me though that I have no idea where it is best to pat a dog who might be choking. Patting her on her back/spine doesn't seem right. Obviously I am not talking about serious choking and she is not rushing her food - it's just like she needs a little help to keep it moving downwards. She choking seems in her upper chest rather than her throat area and only lasts for 5 seconds. She is always supervised while she eats. Does anyone have any suggestions on where best to pat her? Or should I start elevating her dish when she eats? It never happens when she drinks water and never when she is eating her biscuits in the morning. Her dinner meal is a mix of biscuits and tinned (all Hills Prescription W/D). If the situation gets worse or she takes too long to get things under control I will of course take her into the vet but she is due for her 6 month check up in a couple of weeks so I want to hold off causing her extra trauma. Thank you for any advice!

The thing for me is that I want to feel outraged and I want others to as well. I work in child protection and there are numerous large agencies out there advocating against child abuse and domestic violence but what do animals get? We have no strong advocating body nationally (although there may be pockets locally). Outrage that leads to people power can be a useful tool to ensure public opinion is known and influences legislation for these crimes. There is clear evidence that people (particularly children) who sadistically abuse animals will go on to commit heinous crimes against humans. So for our own safety alone we should be outraged and we should demand strong sentences against animal abusers. What kind of specific treatment options are even out there for animal abusers or even hoarders? I don't personally know of any. Basically incidents of animal abuse is an indicator for the future health and wellbeing for this country. How much are we all willing to tolerate? And as an Autralian Citizen I believe I have a right to complain if I think a person's sentence is not strong enough and there was one recently that I felt did not fit the crime. I consider that person a risk to any community he lives in. Would you and your dogs like to live next door to a serious animal abuser who just got a fine?

Mark I am so very sorry for your loss. It sounds so unexpected. Frenchies are big dogs in little bodies so I understand how empty the house must feel without Herbert. RIP little man.

I was on call for potential Y2K disasters like our office security failing. I had to have a special survival kit for it. I'm very glad it didn't have the impact anticipated but when you are a big organisation it would be negligent to not do any risk management planning. Given the ABC is a 24 hour service I guess the bunker was to protect staff and possibly some precious files if something did happen. How would we be feeling if something did happen? The big govt building I work in now has lots of basement bunker type rooms but I doubt they'll be inviting me into them - I'm not important enough!

Boo hoo - cheap as chips are not in QLD.....they are incredibly cheap!

My girl was only 4 months and had to have an op to remove a grass seed that got infected over her knee. Seemed to happen overnight. Full and quick recovery. My vets have moved premises and at their old place they had a special good bye room for animals getting pts. I have another dog on a special diet so I seemed to be at the vet every other week for something. For a long period of time every single time I went there a dog was being pts from old age or an accident. I felt like a jinx.

My girl stuck everything in her mouth for a taste until she was just over 2. We learnt very quickly not to leave anything at low levels and still live like that (just in case). Remotes still don't stay on the coffee table and my shoes do not come out of the wardrobe until I am putting them on my feet. She still has problems with pillows and doonas so she gets one large stuffed toy a month to destroy and once she is done it is all cleaned up. She does get playtime every single night with things like tug toys as well and I taught her 'leave' very early on so we could salvage things she shouldn't have. You really have to be vigilant as they don't know they shouldn't be chewing certain things - everything is just so interesting to them at that age. I know it is harder with flatmates but once you get used to it it becomes quite automatic. You'd do the same thing if you had a toddler getting into stuff!

Furminators are on Catch of the Day today for $9.90 plus postage. Glad it has worked for you Mumsie!

This is so very sad. My old girl has always struggled when we've lost a dog from the pack and whilst some would probably say not to molly coddle them to make it worse and to just go about things normally I know I spent a lot more time with her while she was grieving. We had lots of one on one and I used the time to do more nurturing things - lots of massages and talking to her and doing more activity with her. After her last loss she turned into a really old dog overnight and after almost 2 months we got another rescue pup who has stayed. It made a huge difference to her and she spent lots of time mothering and playing with it. We have since got a third dog into the house. I think she is a dog that is used to being in a pack. If getting another dog is not an option what about some play dates or starting some new training with Billy to give him a new focus? I'm sure others on here will have some sound advice for you.

I don't really have the words to express how I feel and I can't see to type very well through my tears. April was a special girl and represents the wonderful and sorrowful sides of rescue. She was with the most amazing family for those last few days. It is a true tragedy that her life wasn't longer and happier. I'm sorry for the sadness in your household from her loss. RIP Sweet Girl xxx PS I think her cross is beautiful - the work of Leah?

+1 You only go food shopping when the dogs have run out You buy an expensive new storage cupboard for all your dog stuff but buy a second hand chipboard one off ebay for the people stuff You spend more on underwear for your incontinent old dog than you have ever spent on yourself Your dogs own more (soft) blankets and towels than you do Your dogs paperwork is more organised than your own

I'm all teary seeing how content she looks! Such a big journey for her and a risk for you but it has all fallen into place! Well once Cullen comes to terms with the changes. Thank you for posting Eileen - we all love this little girl and hoped someone like you was out there waiting for her!

A groomer told me about these gloves that are used for horses. They are shaped like hands, rubber (in different colours) and have little nobs on each side. They only cost like $5 from saddlery or farm supply shops. They are the best thing we have found for our staffies and my sister even uses it on her husky/shep cross. Also easy to clean - just a warm wash in the sink. We bought 2 about a year ago and no damage yet despite regular use. I think you could ask for a horse grooming glove and be pretty safe. Our farm supply place showed me the pic from a catalogue and I knew it was it. If you really need a pic let me know!

There is clear evidence through numerous studies that a child who tortures animals is highly likely to commit heinous crimes as an adult. It is one of those warning signs we have to deal with where I work in statutory child protection and juvenile justice. So yep, I'd be removing my children too. I'd probably be moving out of town if the family was likely to be staying and it was a small town.

Exactly what I was worried about! I had to have the conversation with my sister about how many there were in the bag and have been checking tummies and all the poops ever since to make sure there were no concerns. Luckily my girls are shredders and chewers rather than gulpers or it would've been straight to the vet with me telling anyone who'd listen "They're not mine!!!!!"

I'm very sorry Simple - I read about how traumatic this all was in the bully thread. Run free Amme you beautiful dog.

Why? Whether these were kids or adults I just don't get animal torture at all. The sounds they make and the obvious distress on their trusting faces when they are injured or frightened is quite clear. They can hardly beg for their lives or say no so I don't get what the appeal is even to sick sadistic people? And I certainly don't want people who are capable of doing such a thing living in the same society as me. I wish we could get a lot tougher on animal torture because it is a sign of how much a risk to the rest of society these types of people are.

I hope he buys himself a band saw and accidentally cuts both of his hands off, then he wont be able to do this again. You don't need to own an animal to abuse one. This level of violence shows a real sickness inside this human that could be directed anywhere.

I bet there will be a few tears this saturday! Fantastic story!

I don't understand how people can do this. The dog would be cowering, crying and be showing fear on its face. How can a person not notice that while they are beating it and stop? I don't know what a claw hammer looks like but I'm figuring it might chop into flesh and bone rather than split and crush it like a normal hammer would. That is just horrifying to even imagine. I'd like to take this man's testicles out of his pants and hit them with a claw hammer a few times and see how he likes it.

Yesterday my 2 staffy's found a bag with a couple of used tampons in it that was destined for the garbage but unfortunately forgotten (and no they weren't mine). I cleaned up the mess with hands full of toilet paper followed by a good hand scrubbing. My sister found out what had happened when she got home last night and was mortified. It got worse. After the dogs had their dinner my youngest burped up bits of tampon not once but twice (she is a silent vomiter) in the lounge room sending my sister to the laundry sink heaving up her dinner. She was so embarrassed. I was actually impressed that my girl brought them up without any of her other dinner. I think that has to be some kind of special skill!

I don't think her real mum would be too keen on that!

I have just realised that I know who Ella's skin mummy is! It didn't even dawn on me until I was looking on FB at mummy's latest holiday pics! She is a cuter!

Mine used to be the same with the chickens - pushing them out of the way eating the grain and the scraps. Heaven forbid if the chickens found anything in the compost that the dogs had overlooked like a dried out corn cob! I had to get a bin for the grain because the dogs would open the bag and snack from it throughout the day. Yummy, yum. The squirty poos were of course for rolling in and not eating. Blech.

I'm sorry for poor Myron - he sounds like he had some probs. And I know he was special to you Nekhbet but you might want to note he is a snake in the topic in case you scare someone - I was expecting an swf with that name!