Little Gifts

I was thinking we would see a lot of crap for sale hanging in the reception areas and really, while you're spending money at the vets and your dog is looking sad because it just got a finger stuck up its bum why not buy it something high priced and cute to make it feel better? I don't have pet insurance but can a vet become a preferred provider like a Dr or hospital? That would be another revenue raising idea for them. The other way to capture the market slowly and insidiously is open the clinic hours outside of those that can be offered by smaller clinics in the same town. I know my little vet has cut back on opening hours on weekends now because their third vet retired but I'm sure my local brand name vet keeps its door open and picks up the slack. My little vet used to also own huge premises and has downsized. They still offer the same services but it is not spread out like a hospital anymore. The brand name vets are doing the opposite so I'm not sure where they are making their savings if they aren't charging more for services? Maybe that's why the pet insurance industry is also growing - people buy a dog, need a vet visit and are horrified by what it 'might' cost in the future. So they get insurance and because they don't go to any vet frequently they are none the wiser about those exorbitant random visit charges.

Crazy dog in the background for you DD!

Back in Sept 2012 two little foster peibes came to stay with us - Dimples and Dweeb. Dweeb didn't take long to go to his forever home but for some reason no-one was getting too excited for Dimples. There was interest from interstate that fell through and she did have a sleep over that ended, well disastrously. It seems our little foster girl (who we were never even supposed to foster) had already picked her new family - US! At exactly 11.45pm on 15 December 2012, Ams announced here on DOL that Merry Christmas, Dimples, now to be known as Tempeh Soya-Bean Dean, would be remaining with us for good and she became our foster failure! Life with Tempeh has been a delight! She presents as shy and a scaredy cat to the outside world but with us she is a constant laugh - always talking and protecting us from geckos and pulling the funniest of faces. And she is still learning new things and having new experiences. Only recently I was reading in bed with her by my side and I accidentally sneezed on her. She jumped up with a fright, realised it wasn't an actual explosion and gave me the filthiest look! Yesterday I was taking a photo of my sister's dog in a reindeer headband and when I looked at the photo later on I realised she was photobombing in the background doing a crazy dance. Today my mum came over and Temp reserves her most excited wiggle bums just for my mum. She is a real chameleon. So here's to a whole year of having you in our lives permanently Doodle Bug. We love you and are very lucky to have you! Thank you Ams! Here's a pic of her a couple of days after she arrived (she's in the front) and another taken a couple of weeks ago.

I used to have to do child death reports here in QLD to assess whether there were any child protection issues that may have led to a child's death, particularly if there are other children in the household. This was for all children who died in our geographical zone, not just the ones already known to CP services. The number of babies who died from sleeping with adults would shock you and it was more likely to happen when they were sleeping on the lounge together, followed by the floor and then a bed. Never saw one where mum and baby were in a recliner type chair sleeping after a feed though. Sometimes more than one child would be asleep with the adult but it was always the baby that succumbed. Babies aren't like our dogs or even toddlers, who can wiggle out of the way if they are getting a bit squashed while we snooze deeply. Very sad for all concerned.

Alas my dangerous SBT, whilst obsessed with all things rodent can't actually catch one. Even if it is already in a trap and I release it under her nose it still manages to run off in the opposite direction to which she is looking. I have not done a mega house clean for about a month. With visitors last Friday I was doing a frenzy clean and discovered a dried up (very dead) mouse hanging from the bottom of the treat cupboard. Let's just overlook how unhygienic this sounds and focus on the fact that said terrier stands in front of that cupboard, at dead mouse level, at least twice a day and neither saw it or smelt it. Clearly broken but sadly the warranty ran out.

I just noticed the photobomber in the background of the second pic....

I scored something new at a proper Santa shop today - soft reindeer headbands and only $1.25 each! These are just quick outtakes (there were no 'intakes') showing the 2 different styles.

When I was a kid and speying was not the norm we had a seal point Siamese who seemed to always be pregnant by a local tom or other. She certainly never had any pure breds! Anyway she had one black boy one litter that we kept and called Dudley. Unfortunately Dudley was a Bitty Boy and we often found her, when she was pregnant with another litter, being pinned down and suckled to within an inch of her life by Duddles. He had a very shiny coat!

Given the renters on either side of me are getting worse with each passing year, I calm my dogs down but don't punish them in anyway if they give off a few excited barks, particularly when we are just arriving home. If I have to put up with yelling and screaming and fighting from my neighbours then they can put up with a couple of happy yaps from my dogs.

I know DD, I just couldn't open my lips and say the words. I very nearly grabbed the hose and started washing her off myself rather than even say anything. I will be calling them and telling them why I wont be back and why I could never recommend them to anyone in the present state they are operating in. The reception area is all clean and pretty of course. There is no excuse for a lack of regular cleaning out the back.

My parents have Satan and his bride living next door to them. An older (evil couple) who trap and kill animals in the most hideous of ways. Years of evidence and nothing has been done by police or the RSPCA to stop it. We don't even let our dogs loose in mum and dad's yard because of them. They even make council complaints if feathers from mum's silky bantams blow through the fence. And they think they are so right they don't even retaliate under cover of darkness. I once had to get mum's cat out of a cat trap in the boot of their car on a hot summer's day (with police assistance). Apparently it must've jumped in there all by itself. Some psycho's make you want to take the law into your own hands.

My friend's long hair would willingly get into the bathtub himself when it was his bath time... I'm pretty sure his purring was due to the fact that his owner was very gentle, and he truly enjoyed the one-on-one time with her alone. He was a weird cat... *grin* T. I've got friends who have to constantly stop their cat getting in the shower with them. Just a short haired moggy but a strange cat in lots of other ways too!

I don't understand why you didn't say something about her being distressed? They were standing right where they could see and hear and I guess I expected/hoped they would realise it themselves! I was talking and patting and generally trying to keep Temp calm. She was shaking and crying so I was telling her it would all be over soon (hint hint). I guess grooming staff see low level anxiety often though and figured she was in safe hands with me. I just wished we were in and out a bit quicker so my little worry wart had less time to get uptight. Plus I guess I was the job of the lady who had moved on to grooming a dog on a table so I felt somewhat reliant on her to finish what she started.

My sister's husky/shep girl Wolf is now 10 and has also discovered 'fun' and 'silly' in the past six months. The funniest is when I give an empty toilet roll to Tempeh and Stussy and find it maybe 15 mins later being under the full control of Wolf! She still has moments of being the fun police on the other two but she will often be found now coveting the toys that the other dogs were previously playing with (they'll be whining in the background).

I was back there again today. When I made the bookings I had booked Temp in for a malaseb yesterday and figured I'd be lazy and get Stussy a herbal wash today. For a variety of reasons I decided to keep the appointment today. The place is still filthy. All the daily hair was swept up but there is grot in the tiles on the walls and floor and the top of the tiles on the walls are thick with dust and grime. Why aren't they at least mopping? I saw the cat cage again and the bottom was not as shallow as I remembered (worrying with all that water that would be trapped in it). I also learned that their herbal shampoo does not need to be fully rinsed out - hence the suds still on the cat yesterday. At least the cat was not acting distressed yesterday during its wash, even if it looked wrong to me. A different, young girl washed Stussy today and she disinfected and washed down all inside the hydro bath before she let Stussy in so unlike yesterday there were no bits of other dogs sticking to the insides and I didn't smell anything blerch. It was all done and dusted in maybe 5 mins. The owner and the long term staff member were there again. I think yesterday I was upset that Temp was left so long because she wasn't coping as well and because the two main staff were simply out the back chatting with me and each other, oblivious to her increasing distress (mine was increasing as hers was). I nearly said something but the lady who started the wash finally asked one of them if they would rinse her off because she was still busy with a new dog. I agree it is not abuse but it upset Temp so it upset me and I guess it was avoidable. For hygiene reasons alone I wont be going back there.

This issue is about a cat but I am putting it in General given we have had a lot of other groomers discussions here. There is a small pet grooming salon in my town that I used to use as frequently as every 10 days for malaseb baths for foster pei. Since Tempeh only requires a bath every couple of months I have been doing it myself and haven't been at the salon for well over a year. Today for a changed I took her into the salon to get done. As per usual I got to stay with her the whole time. The same two ladies were there working (one owns it and the other seems to be a long term worker) plus there was another older lady there I haven't seen before. The salon was really grotty and it looked like old dirt under the washing tub and in the crevices. The wash tub had a fishy smell about it too down where the door lifts in and out and it was all yicky around the edges. For the first time ever I saw a cat in there. The owner was shaving the coat of this black Persian. She had a muzzle on it and the cat scratched her and it started getting uptight towards the ends of its clip/shave but she didn't mishandle it in any way. Once the cat started playing up her other worker was holding it so she could finish safely for both of them. She needed the cat cage for it and since I was closest I put it up on the table and held the lid while she released the collar and took off the muzzle before we both shut the lid. All good. Then she took the cat in the cage over to the other wash tub and squirted soapy stuff on it. I didn't see her open the cage and rub it in or anything but then she turned the water nozzle on and washed the soap off while the cat was still inside the cage. Then she flipped the cage on its side (upending cat) to get the water out. The cat didn't howl or struggle but I was thinking that must be a little scary being confined in a cage and having water sprayed all over you? Then of course being flipped inside a cage seemed scary to me watching it but I've never seen a cat in a salon before so don't know if that is normal? She lifted the cage out, with the cat still covered in a bit of foam, into the drying room where she lifted it out, rubbed it down with a towel and put it in a bigger cage to dry off. It made no other noise. I told my sister all this when I got home and she said if it made me feel uncomfortable then perhaps its not normal. So I'm wondering if all the wonderful groomers on here can tell me if this is standard and ok for the cat to be washed inside a cat cage? Or is it standard to have one holding and one washing a cat outside of a cage? I appreciate that washing most cats is not a pleasant thing for humans or the cat and that a good groomer needs to balance up what needs to be done with how to do it quickly and safely so you will get no flaming from me. I would of course like to know if my local salon's standards are slipping for some reason. They are far from a boutique salon but have always been good to me, my dogs and our foster dogs. But today I felt some hygiene standards had slipped and they left Temp twice as long in the tub as she needed to be before rinse off, and she was a cold and shaking mess of nerves by then.

I swear I just happened to look at the catalogue and put two and six together! Although I do have a well honed Christmas radar....

What a terrible BYB! How many lies are they prepared to tell to make money for doing eff all!

Gertrude I was just looking at a City Farmers catalogue and they have those exact same pom pom collars on sale at present. They are called Spectrum Christmas Collars and are on sale from $6.39 each (20% off and I'm assuming they come in different sizes).

You were always the welcoming smile at Ams. Run free over the bridge now beautiful girl. Big hugs for you Ams. XXX

I have seen people power at work on many occassions and if this article gets rate payers up in arms with their local councillors and mayor then change may actually occur. Without some civil unrest Mr Rebetzke may as well have saved his breath.

I posted on here not long ago about my sister's 10 year old husky/shep cross who had suddenly become clingy. After a vet check she was put on vivitonin for the beginnings of dementia and she is doing really well again now. The funny thing is it's a bit like human relatives I have known whose personality goes to the opposite when they get dementia. My sister's snooty, cat like dog is now super friendly and always wanting cuddles and to be in the thick of things! It's nice but funny all the same. Hope you have manageable news for your fur baby from the vet too.

Rach I'm so very sorry for you, the boys, the other pack members, and of course Zuess. You have had more than your fair share of losses. Doggy heaven must have quite a club going though of your fur babies! At least they are all back together, living a healthy and happy life that is only possible over the Rainbow Bridge. Take care. XXX

That made me cry. It makes me realise how old 17 is in a dog. That's how old my last girl nearly made it to. My sister's large breed is now 10 and just starting to act like an older dog. I think she has quite a bit of time still left in her. We just don't get them for long enough.

My best friend bought a 'shiatsu' from a BYB a few years back. For obvious reasons it nearly ended our 20 odd year friendship.