Loving my Oldies

Mezza had his weigh in and check up yesterday. His weight is 5.6kg so I haven’t taken him back to square one. Vet says he simply must lose weight because none of the meds he has been on have seemed to helped, but then we don’t know if he’d have been worse without them. So in order to weigh food absolutely correctly, he is to have only Satiety and luckily, despite having zero teeth , he wolfs it down. I have been grinding it and mixing in with ordinary food, but that makes it hard to calculate calories. Since visit to vet there have been two meals and I have just given him the whole kibble. Vet wants to see him in a month and wants to see a weight loss in that time of at least 250grams. . I wish there was a kibble that I trusted to be a complete and healthy diet for dogs as it is so easy to just put some kibble in a bowl. I have also decided that Rose Hip Vital is a waste of money and now trying 4cyte which comes in little pellets, easily measured and the dose is tiny .. about six of the pellets. I tried both Bunter and Mezza on just the pellets last night and they hoovered them down and asked for more, which they didn’t get , because I am reading labels and sticking to them. The Rose Hip is unpalatable and needed more wet food to mix it through which, of course, added to the calorie intake . Hopefully 4cyte will be a help them both.

@PANDI-GIRL, I haven’t had an update about Simba this week, but previous reports were totally positive. Rescuer is very busy planning her wedding in less than 4 weeks’ time and still trying to cope with the never ending stream of dogs needing help . Sooty does look healthy and not only is the hair growing back on her ears, but also her whole coat is thickening. When she first came here, it was so thin you could see her skin through it and I was terrified of tearing it - brushing was a very careful and tentative activity and now I can brush (still gently) without fear.

Photo showing hair growth on Sooty’s ears. No pix of ears from her first days here, but they were bald (vet wondered if hair would grow back) and covered in scratches and scabs where the “carer” had allowed her dogs to pull Sooty around . Whenever I think of how she must have suffered (remember she is blind) I feel sick with sorrow and anger. She’ll soon be able to have proper Poodle ears - LOL . The groomer has managed to start giving her a little tufty head. IMG_1028 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

Sooty continues to wow and impress. Today she weighed in at 3.78kgs so approx 400gm to go. She regularly just needs two meals a day as she is not interested in her midday meal. I had her groomed the other day and she looks gorgeous. I have photos but haven’t been able to get them onto Flickr to put up here . There must be an easier way ??

I’ve read back over this whole topic to refresh myself as to the very helpful and appreciated suggestions and to see what I was doing in the first place. I have to get back into a regime of weight loss for Mezza. I’ll be taking him to the vet for a check up as we have completed a couple of courses of ABs so will weigh him and stock up on Satiety - which he and Bunter still get at every meal.

I don’t know. Too scared to weigh him

How exciting. Looking forward to sharing the journey

I can’t believe I wrote this. Mezza is a BOY !! Trouble is . . . HE is so damned pretty I’ve really dropped the ball, @PANDI-GIRL I think we will be starting from scratch in terms of Mezza’s weight loss.

And then you pay again because mobile vet has to refer you to a vet who has the facilities needed to properly treat your pet.

Good to see someone putting out how much money it takes to run even a basic veterinary clinic. Too many people think other people should pay for them, their pets and other problems.

What’s a UX designer? Hard to understand why you are assuming at the start of your research that there is a problem?

It’s years since I’ve had even young dogs, let alone puppies, but your puppy is very young, still just a tiny baby who must be really missing his mum and siblings. There are Vizsla owners on DOL so hopefully they will come in with some advice. Some trainers remind of a woman (in the UK I think) who’d set herself up as an expert on babies, how to settle them, how to calm them, etc etc. She’d never had children of her own !! Following advice, I once (yes once) tried ignoring one of my dogs because she would jump all over me when I returned home from work. It was horrible. She was so upset and starting whimpering and crying and crawling along the floor. Never did it again. If your dog is happy after you pay attention to him why not just do that? If you had a toddler who ran to you in delight when you came home what would be your reaction? There are a million posts here and on other social media platforms from people who can never go to the bathroom alone once they’ve become dog and/or cat owners .

Myrtle Street four legged inhabitants down to five. Simba went to his new home yesterday and I could not be happier for him. Another dog who chases balls until he drops (not that that is allowed), a very relaxed, semi retired couple, active, walking and dog loving, with three adult daughters living at home. Cafes and relatives close by and visited regularly with dogs.

This gave me a laugh. It is amazing how one’s ideas change over the years and with much greater exposure. I remember going to training with my first puppies and there was a lady there with a four year old ..... I thought he was old. My foster boy, Simba, is 9 and I think he is young.

You are absolutely right, @stellnme. One of the considerations people have to look at, however, is how extremely expensive they can be if you want to look after them properly. I have an A4 sheet listing all the medications that need to be dispensed daily. I cross each off through the day as they are given and this meds regime requires someone to be home at regular times through the day. I do not know how I would manage if I still worked (I’m old and retired ). There are lots of things to consider. When I get my debit card statement, so many of the entries are for the vet . Out of curiosity, I went back through my statement in in the past three months I have spent over $500 a month at the Vets and that doesn’t include food or supplements (I am trying Rose Hip Vital). I hope it doesn’t need to be said, that I don’t begrudge a minute or a cent.

And the saga continues . . . . “As the day dawned beautifully cool and overcast, Sooty decided that LMO has spent more than enough time in bed. She knew that if she moved out of her bed, Simba (another rather rambunctious foster youngster in the home of the Myrtle Street Moochers) would start his growling advice to LMO that another dog was daring to move around his patch and she needed to get her act into gear. Ever obedient to the demands of the “select individuals", LMO leapt to attention and carried Queen Sooty downstairs so she could attend to her morning ablutions. “LMO tottered groggily back upstairs to attend to her own needs [TMI dear readers ??] and then went back to gather up the little black and curly one to go back to bed. This is a new development: as Queen Sooty no longer needs to be fed several times a day and LMO loves her bed as much as any old dog, after the early toilet all the tribe settles down again for a few more ZZZZZZs. (It should be added here, that the permanent members of the tribe have not even raised their heads.) “This morning, however, being blessedly cool and the bed was so comfortable, LMO overdid it by going out like the proverbial light. A brief hour later, she was brought back to reality by Queen Sooty’s whimpering demands that her needs were paramount.” To be continued. For gods sake, get me a coffee someone !!!!!!!

There are so many dog breeds that would suit your family circumstances, it is hard to know where to start. There being so many, I think it would really come down to the breed of dogs whose looks appeal to you. If that is Maltese, go for it. I’ve owned, rescued and fostered many Maltese over the years and they are delightful little dogs and are always up for cuddles. However, they have strikes against them for two of your wishes. 1. They shed and they need regular grooming, particularly when they are puppies as their hair is so fine. Maltese should come with a warning: High Maintenance . 2. I think I contributed vastly to the profits of cheese producers over the years trying to train the various Maltese who’ve lived with me. Spectacular failures one and all and that includes me. I am sure plenty of people have had success, but I’m not one of them. They are notorious for having bad teeth even with a good diet. Here is my Tamar, playing at being The Lion Queen. I put this in to show you that they love going through the bush as much as any dog. She is off lead here and having a wonderful time. IMG_0496 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr Edited to add: Tamar is not full Maltese, she has some Shih Tzu in there somewhere

If your dogs are outside all day and “allowed” into the house only at night, they are being deprived of so much that they need to be happy and adjusted. Dogs should be family. Family isn’t shut outside.

It is really heartbreaking. They do look stunned, poor little babies. What you and your colleagues are doing, @grizabella, is just so heartwarming. Our world would be so much poorer without you.

Yes, you are right. Mezza finds it difficult to go down and does it very slowly. She is now following Simba’s lead and lifting her leg on the deck. I can no longer leave my “downstairs” shoes on the floor

You get Nutrigel from the vet. It smells (and probably tastes - I haven’t tried it ) like molasses. I use a medicine measure like this. I put in a little bit of nutrigel and bone broth, crush up the tablets and then give it to Tamar via syringe. IMG_1001 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

Don’t panic yet. I have a large deck and eight fairly steep steps at the back !! The ramp built especially because the dogs were getting old is hardly used now . Tamar still uses it come upstairs, but she has to get downstairs first. And now the dogs think that the deck is outside ....... no further explanation required. Luckily I have a groomer just down the road who can supply me with mountains of newspapers.

Well, that was my first thought, but examinations don’t show anything and he can bolt down the stairs when the leads come out. Wish they could talk human . . . . .

Hi @PANDI-GIRL. Simba is still with me. So many enquires, so many unsuitable. I guess people don’t read or somehow think they are exempt from certain criteria such as “not suitable for apartments.” Sooty is doing really really well as you will have seen from my thread on her. My four: Mezza, Bunter, Tamar and Jeune go on as usual. Jeune is now 18 and is quite well considering she has a tumour (under relative control with Piroxicam) and has those little granules on her eyes which require eye drops thrice daily. My puppy, Tamar, is now 15 and I think she is deaf now and showing signs of dementia in that she gets “caught” between chairs and walls. Bunter is now about 16/17 and has become grumpy in the past year. I have to muzzle him to groom him and if I pick him up he fights me and tries to bite me. This is so sad because he really wants attention and cuddles. He is always close to me when I am at the dining table and when I am on the couch, he lies so I can drop my hand over and scratch his head. Mezza hasn’t lost another ounce, but he seems to be okay. I had his coat dramatically trimmed at the beginning of summer , but I became used to it. They keep me poor financially, but rich and happy in others............. Just don’t ask me about the toileting habits of old dogs.

She sure is, LG. Strangely though, since those first couple of times, she will not go up or down the stairs . I even bought a roast chicken to try to tempt her up, but even that failed and she LOVES her food. I’ll try again later this evening. Back yard gets north/west sun and is very very hot.