August 26, 2009
Welcome to the Pet Loss Matters 'PAW' Newsletter
Firstly, sincere apologies for the lack of newsletter for the past few months. After visiting another specialist for my current health problems, I was given new tablets to try and was very optimistic about them helping me. Unfortunately whilst they did give me a little bit more energy to be able to achieve things, they had the less than helpful side effect of making me feel like a complete zombie and unable to do even the most basic mental task. I was advised to ‘bear with them’ and keep taking them for a few months to see if this effect got any better, but when one day I found my dog Henry walking out into the road in front of a car, because I had forgotten to reattach his lead on the way back from our walk, something I would never have done normally in a million years, I felt it was time to give up.
So I’ve spent a few months trying to get back to ‘normal’. Lots has been happening though, Gryphon went off to be castrated and microchipped and has now stopped constantly chasing after anyone on a motorbike. A habit which I felt slightly dangerous especially for a dog of his size. Henry was back at the vets as the epilus/tumour on his jaw doubled in size, but he is thankfully okay so far. Boo managed to snaffle one of my bags of shopping and eat a packet of garlic cheese. He then spent an entire day throwing up everywhere and got so poorly I had to rush him to the vets. I knew onions were toxic to dogs but I’d never really thought about garlic which I believe is actually a relative of the onion, but clearly garlic can have nasty side effects as well.
I was varnishing my front door one day when Gryphon who had been playing all day started whining, and when I picked him up started whining even more. He had a very bloated stomach and as I hadn’t given him anything to eat since his breakfast that morning I wasn’t sure why. I was also concerned because he does tend to eat everything and as I had been stripping the original varnish off the door that morning I was worried he may have eaten some of that. So I kept an eye on him and then he started throwing up everywhere, so I took him to the vets. On the way there he managed to be sick on the way to the train station, on the train, in the taxi to the vets and was sick all over the vet multiple times ; )
Whilst the vet was examining him he threw what up looked like dried dog food, which he doesn’t eat. It turned out he had got into the shed in my garden somehow and eaten my dog Red’s diet food, which is too big for him anyway but also swells to twice it’s size to make Red feel full (I hate the food to be honest but Red has so many health problems that it’s the only thing I can feed him right now). Not only did Gryphon gorge himself on that, but he then came indoors and ate his own dinner! So his tiny stomach was literally full to bursting, hence the throwing up. I was just glad he didn’t get into the varnish like I thought he had, and after a couple of injections he was fine.
Henry has suddenly started to look old again, which he does from time to time, and had trouble out on our walks, which were more frequent when I was taking the new tablets due to my energy increasing. He started limping badly after each walk and even with this joint supplements and memory foam bed it still seemed to be bothering him. So I did some research on the internet and found him some wrist supports from HandicappedPets.com. I’ve purchased things from them before and they have a great range of items to help elderly and/or disabled pets and make their and our lives much easier, so I’d thoroughly recommend them.
Dangers of Antifreeze
One thing I’ve got a lot of emails about lately is pets poisoned by antifreeze. It’s an awful thing and made worse by the fact that not only do pet owners have to worry about antifreeze being accidentally spilt somewhere but there are sadly some thoughtless members of our society who seem to think it’s a good idea to deliberately leave it out to ‘rid’ areas of stray cats. It’s unbelievable to me to be honest that people can be so utterly thoughtless and heartless. One particular heartbreaking story I read was about one owner losing all three of her dogs to antifreeze when it was deliberately put in her own garden by a neighbour. Obviously we can’t watch out pets at all times but I think it’s still a good idea to be aware of the symptoms of antifreeze poisoning so we act as soon as possible should the worst happen.Click here for more information on the dangers of antifreeze.
Changes to the Site
In the next few months I’ll be making many changes to the site to try and make it more accessible and useful to visitors. Firstly the pet loss stories area will be broken down into types of pet and over several pages, as opposed to them all being on one page as they are now. You will still be able to keep up to date with all new stories via the Pet Loss Blog page on site and also signing up to the blog if you haven’t done so already. The site will also become wider, having 3 columns rather than the 2 it has now, and I hope to add extra features, such as the ability to add more than one photograph with your submissions. At the moment I’m just waiting for the technology to be finalised and then it will be all systems go ; )
Wasps and Bees
We’ve had a ghastly amount of wasps and bees in the garden this year, and all the dogs have been stung multiple times, with Henry getting the worst of it as I discovered a wasps nest just under a tree where he always lays in the garden.I don’t like killing things but the wasps became very territorial and started stinging us all whenever we even dared to venture into the garden. One particular weekend we were just trapped indoors! So I treated the nest with pet safe wasp killer and also covered it up with a dustbin just in case it wasn’t as pet safe as it proclaimed, and managed to get stung all over myself in the process. This was quite useful though as I’ve always treated any stings the dogs get with vinegar for wasp stings and a solution of bicarbonate of soda for bee stings, but on looking this up recently I found various sources who claimed this was just an old wive’s tale and didn’t work at all. So I tried the vinegar myself on a particularly nasty wasp sting on my ankle and I have to say it did work quite well.
There’s more information on treating wasp and bee stings in pets here.
Add Your Voice
We’ve recently had quite a few stories on the site relating to deliberate cruelty and abuse of animals and I don’t know about you but it always makes me feel really angry and helpless that I can’t actually ‘do’ anything when these sorts of things happen. They might not be my pets but it still upsets me and angers me that people can do these things and I’ve always wished there was something I could do to at least try and help deal with the people who perpetrate these crimes against animals.Well a few months ago I came across the Petition Site. The site allows individuals to set up petitions and for visitors to sign them. Petitions exist there for all kinds of injustices, and if you are unfortunate enough to suffer such an injustice yourself you can start your own petition. It may not seem like much, but the power of the internet makes it much easier to get your message across to the thousands of people who believe just like you do that such injustices should be dealt with and punished accordingly. As the saying goes, evil triumphs when good people do nothing, so if you do want to do ‘something’, this is a great place to start.
Click To Give
Speaking of things we can all do to help animals in need – by visiting The Animal Rescue Site daily and clicking on their ‘Click Here to Give’ button you can help to provide food and care for animals who need it the most. When you ‘click’ the site displays ads from their site sponsors and 100% of the money from these advertisers goes to their charity partners, who fund programs to provide food and care for rescued animals.Many thanks to Marg Handy-Williams who sent me the link for Click To Give.
Closing Thoughts
Many thanks to Jack who sent me this.
Warmest Wishes,
Bunny Hankers xxxxx