Sadly in this rescue we get times that animals come to us that end up not finding a home and die with us here.
Ben the Yorkie was one of those dogs, although he did actually find a home when he was 14 years old to people who we thought would love him till the end after arriving here as an unwanted pet. At the age of 17 years old he was returned because he had got elderly, could not hold himself as he used to and was not house clean and developed health issues - he kept suffering mini-fits. Without a care in the world they dropped him back to us simply because they knew that the time was near to make the final decision and they didn't want to make it.
Furious does not explain the emotion I went through with this little dog. To say that the family are blacklisted for life is an understatement due to their complete lack of compassion and throw away attitude.
Regardless of that Ben had to be our main priority. He deserved more than those uncaring and selfish people and I truely hope that they stumble across this blog just so that they know the digust and contempt I hold for them for the rest of my days. Just remember that we all get old sooner or later and you have taught your children a very valuable lesson in life in your case...when something gets old, dump it. I wonder if they will do the same to you?
I was of course expecting a weak and frail dog to turn up, but no...he was very agile for his age and proved to us that he still loved his walks. He did half an hour every day and led the pack happily far ahead on his extendable lead walking with the younger dogs and holding his own! At the end of the walk he turned around and wanted to go again...but we had to draw the line and insist that was enough for that day! He had a lovely, if little volatile nature if you wanted to pick him up, but we got round this easily and within a few days of being back with us accepted being picked up to the point that he allowed a full clip out of his coat and he was much more comfortable after that.
Feeding time was a tad of a nightmare as he would only accept home cooked food and preferred a different meal each time. Braised steak in gravy was his favourite and up to the day before he died he ate it all up with great gusto! He also liked to be handfed 6 dry food biscuits every couple of hours as a filler in between meals. This was all done for him as was constant bedding changes and a clean bed being given to him a couple of times a day - he was old and accidents happen. It really was no bother.
Unfortunately Ben then took a spiral downhill on Wednesday morning. On getting him to the vets it was confirmed that he had gone into Renal Failure and judging by the way that he had suddenly started swinging his head from side to side and having seizures in close succession, it was in line with a probable brain tumour.
Ben was not a happy dog at this stage and it was the final kindness that we could do for him. He may have been abandoned by his previous owners, but he died very much a loved dog. RIP Ben.
A few days before that, on the Monday, Doofus - a Labrador x Pointer bought in from a Birmingham dog pound - had to be taken into the vets after he became ill overnight.
Doofus had been seen by a member of the public being thrown from a moving car and they had taken him to the local dog pound. He served his 7 days and although he had been reserved to come to this rescue, it made no difference and he, along with 12 others who were not so lucky that day, were earmarked for euthanasia. As he was being walked to the euthanasia room, the dog warden doing some of the transport for him, spotted him and grabbed him. He was a lucky boy and we pray that his luck continues.
Overnight he had an inability to keep any food or water down and had laboured breathing and he was diagnosed with having Pneumonia. This meant a stay at the vets where he was put onto an intraveneous drip and intraveneous antibiotics. His temperature was high and although they managed to reduce this, the bacteria became immune to the type of antibiotics being used and he had a slight relapse. Four days of worry and they finally sent him home as he started to become depressed in the kennel and felt he would be better in a home environment.
His treatment is ongoing at present as he is still very quiet and we are not in the safe zone just yet.
Bella the American Bulldog who has been with us for a few weeks went in for her spay which could not be done immediately due to her recent season and all went well. She is reserved to go to a new home on Saturday subject to a homecheck. Bella has got a perfect nature and arrived in rescue through no fault of her home, but due to a family break up. She is one of those dogs with no issues at all.
Today we had a few adoptions happen - two baby female rats who went off to pair with another two does. These rats were born in rescue after their previous owner who had lots of rats, had put a male in with her group of females a week before they were due to arrive in rescue. Only one gave birth and she produced 7 babies - 5 boys and 2 girls. At the age of 8 weeks they are no ready to find their new homes.
We had a male ferret adopted to go and live as a spoilt house ferret and his two new friends accepted him with little trouble. Originally arriving here as a stray that was never claimed, his life has now taken a turn for the better.
Plus, we welcomed Peppa the Shihtzu into the rescue. This girl was originally a puppy farm breeding bitch. The farmer sold the other dogs, except Peppa who was taken to the vets to be euthanased because she could be snappy. She was rescued from this situation and although she was very loved in her new foster home, one of the original resident dogs took a dislike to her, so she came to us for rehoming. Initial assessment shows more fear than anything else, but she is obsessed with food so we shall take advantage of that and use that positively for her training. She shows good body language if she is worried by averting eye contact and will make a lovely dog for an experienced owner.
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
24th April 2012
So, here we go! The first of the blogs which we hope will give people an insight into the weekly runnings of an animal rescue. We hope to update every couple of days with the highs and lows of rescue without focussing on the financial side. Although a very expensive hobby to undertake and one that should only be taken on with great thought and planning, this is not the reason of this blog.
We can start with a happy input....that would be that we have just decided to offer a rescue dog a home for life with us. Chance the Staffie is now a permanent fixture of the Furry Friends household. He joins Buddy the 2 year old Lurcher (GSD x Greyhound) who has very bad behavioural issues and cannot be safely rehomed and the three dogs that have been here before the rescue opened in 1999 - Monty the 13 years old Chihuahua cross, Annie the 20 year old Yorkie cross and Harry the 12 year old Cocker Spaniel.
Sometimes when things feel right you just have to go with it and this is the case with Chance.
This week started with MJ the Staffie cross being bought into rescue. This lad found himself homeless when he owner found himself a new girlfriend who had a 12 year old dog that did not like him and decided to move in with her leaving MJ homeless. Another rescue had offered him a space, but not for three weeks and that was too long. The owner was attempting to give him away on Facebook and the people coming forward were not so pleasent and would not have been good for him, so for his own safety he came to us.
On arrival, he was neutered and microchipped, but he also had an untreated skin problem (Demodectic Mange - non contageous) and this condition had affected his ears in particular. Almost swollen to the point of closure and full of itchy scabs and infection, he was a very uncomfortable dog. A treatment of Advocate for the mange on his skin and a course of some ear cleaner and antibiotic ear drops and within a few days the ears had gone back to their normal shape and the scabs were nearly gone. Veterinary treatment when necessary will normally get rid of these simple problems and saves a lot of suffering...he had probably been dealing with the constant pain and itching for two or three months minimum, possibly longer.
His vaccinations cannot start until his skin heals, but only time can help that.
MJ continues to improve and his manners with people are wonderful. A real cuddly and lovable rogue!
We also had some sadness this week. One of the old ferrets who have been in rescue for about 4 years went into Renal Failure and had to be put to sleep. Unfortunately sometimes animals never find a home, but here we keep them as long as necessary and never euthanase an animal if it has been in too long - they get a home for life once admitted into rescue and we are always a safety net for them should their adoptive home not work out.
He joined a jill ferret who was taken in at the weekend who had a tumour in her anal glands that had been left to grow. By the time she got to us the vet could do little for her and could only remove a tiny fraction of this tumour. She was not in pain though and was eating, drinking and was playful and so we managed to secure her a home for the rest of her life with a lady who has adopted off of us for many years. She also met and fell in love with an elderly jill who was at least 8 years old, returned to rescue when her owner became fed up with her (after 6 years of ownership) and adopted her as well, so although these jills had some rough luck, their lives have taken a turn for the better now and they will live their lives out as spoilt house ferrets.
We had 7 terrapins dropped in with us who were very lucky. They were actually sitting in the euthanasia room when one of the staff asked if anybody had tried this rescue - which they hadn't! It was very close for them, so they were plucked out of that room and transported to here. Tomorrow they are joining three others and being taken to a specific reptile rescue. We always accept terrapins here. Many people will dump them in ponds and rivers, but they are not native to this country and they are viewed as vermin legally and because of this many organisations will euthanase them if they are found. We do not release them but network them to rescues who will ensure that they go to responsible homes. We have two resident terrapins here - Gammy and Biddy. These girls have been here for over 10 years and are now aged at about 30 years old.
So, these 7 plus 2 more that were already waiting to go were transferred to DWARF Rescue in Essex who have a huge indoor free swim pond where they will await adoption.
Sonny, who is a Pomeranian x Collie and has been sitting in rescue for 3 years was finally offered a home along with his sister who was homed a year ago.
These two arrived here as puppies and were completely feral. They had never been touched up to their arrival at 5 months old and were due to be put to sleep at that age because they were classed as unrehomable.
These two have proved that there ARE people out there who will adopt difficult dogs and if rescuers are patient enough and ready to commit, then there IS a home for every dog!
We can start with a happy input....that would be that we have just decided to offer a rescue dog a home for life with us. Chance the Staffie is now a permanent fixture of the Furry Friends household. He joins Buddy the 2 year old Lurcher (GSD x Greyhound) who has very bad behavioural issues and cannot be safely rehomed and the three dogs that have been here before the rescue opened in 1999 - Monty the 13 years old Chihuahua cross, Annie the 20 year old Yorkie cross and Harry the 12 year old Cocker Spaniel.
Sometimes when things feel right you just have to go with it and this is the case with Chance.
This week started with MJ the Staffie cross being bought into rescue. This lad found himself homeless when he owner found himself a new girlfriend who had a 12 year old dog that did not like him and decided to move in with her leaving MJ homeless. Another rescue had offered him a space, but not for three weeks and that was too long. The owner was attempting to give him away on Facebook and the people coming forward were not so pleasent and would not have been good for him, so for his own safety he came to us.
On arrival, he was neutered and microchipped, but he also had an untreated skin problem (Demodectic Mange - non contageous) and this condition had affected his ears in particular. Almost swollen to the point of closure and full of itchy scabs and infection, he was a very uncomfortable dog. A treatment of Advocate for the mange on his skin and a course of some ear cleaner and antibiotic ear drops and within a few days the ears had gone back to their normal shape and the scabs were nearly gone. Veterinary treatment when necessary will normally get rid of these simple problems and saves a lot of suffering...he had probably been dealing with the constant pain and itching for two or three months minimum, possibly longer.
His vaccinations cannot start until his skin heals, but only time can help that.
MJ continues to improve and his manners with people are wonderful. A real cuddly and lovable rogue!
We also had some sadness this week. One of the old ferrets who have been in rescue for about 4 years went into Renal Failure and had to be put to sleep. Unfortunately sometimes animals never find a home, but here we keep them as long as necessary and never euthanase an animal if it has been in too long - they get a home for life once admitted into rescue and we are always a safety net for them should their adoptive home not work out.
He joined a jill ferret who was taken in at the weekend who had a tumour in her anal glands that had been left to grow. By the time she got to us the vet could do little for her and could only remove a tiny fraction of this tumour. She was not in pain though and was eating, drinking and was playful and so we managed to secure her a home for the rest of her life with a lady who has adopted off of us for many years. She also met and fell in love with an elderly jill who was at least 8 years old, returned to rescue when her owner became fed up with her (after 6 years of ownership) and adopted her as well, so although these jills had some rough luck, their lives have taken a turn for the better now and they will live their lives out as spoilt house ferrets.
We had 7 terrapins dropped in with us who were very lucky. They were actually sitting in the euthanasia room when one of the staff asked if anybody had tried this rescue - which they hadn't! It was very close for them, so they were plucked out of that room and transported to here. Tomorrow they are joining three others and being taken to a specific reptile rescue. We always accept terrapins here. Many people will dump them in ponds and rivers, but they are not native to this country and they are viewed as vermin legally and because of this many organisations will euthanase them if they are found. We do not release them but network them to rescues who will ensure that they go to responsible homes. We have two resident terrapins here - Gammy and Biddy. These girls have been here for over 10 years and are now aged at about 30 years old.
So, these 7 plus 2 more that were already waiting to go were transferred to DWARF Rescue in Essex who have a huge indoor free swim pond where they will await adoption.
Sonny, who is a Pomeranian x Collie and has been sitting in rescue for 3 years was finally offered a home along with his sister who was homed a year ago.
These two arrived here as puppies and were completely feral. They had never been touched up to their arrival at 5 months old and were due to be put to sleep at that age because they were classed as unrehomable.
These two have proved that there ARE people out there who will adopt difficult dogs and if rescuers are patient enough and ready to commit, then there IS a home for every dog!
Also this week, two very cute multimammates have come into rescue. Their previous owner could no longer look after them so we agreed to take them in. Both girls are very friendly, but need to go to someone who has researched the species. Friday brought us some very happy news for one of the rabbits, as one of our long termers found a home. Oscar the grouch came to us last year with a very sad story. He was found in the bin by the bin men who brought him to us. It is scary to think that if he didn’t moved when they looked in, he wouldn’t have been noticed and would not be here today. Oscar has been overlooked for reasons unknown to us as he is very friendly and loves attention. Oscar has grown up in rescue, and although he did go to another home to live as a trio, one of the resident female rabbits would not accept him so he was returned. On Friday, he went to live as a house rabbit with two female rabbits and is doing great.
Dino the Miniature Pinscher went to a new home on Saturday, but sadly was returned on Sunday as he did not get on with the resident dog. He originally came into rescue because he growled at the new baby and the previous owner had taken him to our local vets to have him euthanased. The vets rang us and asked if we would take him which we did. Dino was treated like a baby in his old home and not like a dog. Because of this, Dino has some bad habits and we are currently working with him to stop these before he finds a home.
Sunday saw the arrival of Screaming Jim – a syrian hamster. We were told by the previous owner that he screams if you say certain words to him and bites a lot, however we are yet to hear him scream. We think he just needs some basic hand taming, as he is not afraid of people and has already been sniffing my hand. Luckily, Screaming Jim has a home lined up with people who have adopted hamsters from us before and are experienced with taming hamsters.
Friday, 20 April 2012
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