Tuesday, April 26, 2016

H-2-O.... ut oh!

We have bottled drinking water at the house, and have had it for years now after my doctor recommended it, citing research he's read for quite some time about the connection between digestive issues and the amounts of drugs that are dispensed, consumed and then end up in water supplies, but not removed by water companies... I wish I had kept the link he gave me to that web site, but I guess if you are that interested, you'll Google and find it...

The dogs in our house also drink bottled water... More of a convenience frankly, than going to the kitchen sink to refill their large bowl... 


This morning I read a survey done that ended up in my email and it was a bit startling.... 

Now, I don't have any cats, but it sure does make you wonder about what is in our water (and especially because we pay some pretty hefty water rates here in Southern California!)

If you want to read the entire article you can find it here ~~>
http://trupanion.com/blog/2016/04/trupanion-trends-hard-water-pet-urinary-health-study/


More on this topic:

Monday, April 25, 2016

Too nice to die....

I have an aversion to leaving nice dogs to die... If you are a nice dog but you are an older dog, your chances of getting adopted diminish... I have often thought to myself, "What if people treated other people the same way they treat the dogs in shelters?  Older dogs get euthanized, dogs with medical issues die, even fat dogs don't get adopted as quickly and run the chance of being killed... where would that leave me?  I'm old, I have medical issues, I am overweight...."


Well, Nasir is not overweight but he certainly has won the heart of many TLC volunteers, including mine...  We found him at the Camarillo shelter and knew going in that he had a cataract in his right eye... But that didn't stop us from pulling him...

Shortly after saving him, the cataract 'flipped' and instead of flipping inwards, it flipped outwards... 

When we came into the rescue center that morning, it looked like his entire eyeball was going to burst out of its socket... I will spare you the gruesome image and not publish that photo on this blog...

He was also not in really good health... He was underweight and apparently not been giving good nutritional food for some time... His coat was and thin in places... 

But personality-wise?  He was a love... pure sweetness wrapped up in 5 pounds of heart and affection... 


Off to the vets he went... And then we discovered he had a grade 4 heart murmur... Surgery would be dangerous for him... sigh... BIG sigh...

These are the times I HATE what I do... 

Too many times it comes down to the lack of money to save these dogs... 

An 11-year old dog with an adoption donation of $200 and now facing a $1200 surgery to remove this eye... He's really not old in dog years for this breed, but still... And I know, I know... We can't save them all, but it does not make my job any easier... 

I am usually pretty good at making decisions and I have to - every day - based upon what can we do to save and take good care of ALL of the dogs we save at TLC...  Looking at this logically, we just could not afford this new surgery, and even if we could, would he even survive it?

The hard decision had to be made... And I made it... But I tossed and turned that night... Throughout the night... And unhappy about the decision I had made to have him humanely euthanized the next morning... 


When I woke up, I realized I just could not do it... Some how, some way, I would find the money to get this surgery done... He was just TOO sweet and loving of a dog to have to die because of a medical issue that could be fixed... 

Instead of taking him that morning to be humanely euthanized, I took him in to have his surgery done... And then I nervously awaited throughout the day for news from the vet's office... 

Most of the TLC volunteers sat on pins and needles with me... Nasir had quickly become a favorite of everyone's... It was a big sigh of relief when we learned he had pulled through the surgery... 


Once this eye got taken care of, Nasir had a rough first week... But slowly he started gaining weight and his coat started filling out well... 

Because he is potty trained and oh-so-friendly, we let him wander around in the lobby at the rescue center now... He greets people (and begs to be held) when they sit down to do their adoption paperwork on some other dog or puppy... 

We keep hoping someone will see him for the jewel of a dog he is, and he will find his own furever home... He has such an endearing little almost cat-like sound he makes when he is asking to be picked up and cuddled... That little bob of a tail wiggles to beat the band and you cannot help but fall in love with him!

I think (??) he is getting some extra treats and being sneaked some extra goodies, 'cause he is starting to get a bit chunky 'round the middle... (smile)... And losing an eye has not changed one thing about his personality except to make him even more loving, if that is possible... Maybe there is some internal thing going on that he knows despite not having the money to do the surgery, we did it anyway because he truly is worth it, ya know?

Nasir's own person is out there, and will one day walk into the rescue center and fall in love... I just know it... 

Linda


I'm waiting for my furever mom and dad









Monday, April 11, 2016

"You're too fat"

"Owner surrender requesting euthanasia because dog is too fat"

You might think we are kidding, but no, we're not.  We have several of these dogs now at the rescue center.  In fact, we pulled three at one time and set up a special area just for them with extra room to walk around in, feeding them special diets, a program set up with our dog walkers and logs to monitor their weight loss.

We call it our "Chunky Monkey" section and no one can believe these sweet dogs were destined to die - requested to be put to death by their owners - because they were fed too much and/or the wrong things and allowed to get "fat".

What do you even say to someone when they tell you this?


When Sox came to TLC on the 22nd of February, she weighed 29 pounds.   You had to help her stand up by pulling slightly on the lead to give her that extra hand in going from a laying down position to an upright, standing position.  She could not walk up or down the steps of the rescue center... in fact, she was 'done' and out of breath simply walking from the dog room to the front door of the rescue center! 

Then our dog walker would have to carry her down the front stairs, nudge and coax her to walk 200' around on the sidewalk, then carry her up the back steps!

Today, seven weeks later, she weighs 21 pounds.  She is no longer out of breath simply by her walk, can stand up on her own and looks forward to her walks... bring the leash and she is ready to go!


We haven't done anything spectacular here - just simply cared enough about her life to do the right thing.  Sox has been to the vet and there is nothing really medically wrong with her.  Our vet was really impressed by how much weight she's lost in 7 weeks (8 pounds) and by this time next month in May, she'll be at her ideal weight.

Now Sox can sit down like a normal dog, and walks without the pain of her hind legs being stretched too far apart because of the extra girth in her belly.  This dog's frame was never meant to carry almost 30 pounds - her ideal weight is 15.

As for her special diet, we purchase frozen green beans and freshly shredded carrots in addition to the high quality kibble (Zignature) that we feed all of our rescued dogs.  A bit of warmed up salt-free chicken broth popped into the microwave added to the mix?  The chunky monkeys love their extra special meals at TLC!

Sox could use an advocate however... Or more than one... Someone willing to come to the rescue center and walk her once a day, or several times a week. Have you been wanting to give back and not been able to figure out how?  This could be your gentle act of paying it forward -- to help save the life of a sweet, deserving dog that did not deserve to die because she was 'too fat'!