smooch

Smooch hates loud noises, it will be thundershirt although really the TS has made no difference to him, rescue remedy, does help a little. And a pair of ear muffs. being late t night probably will have Smooch in bed as well with a blanket over his head and holding him very close to me.

excellent result

storm came through at 3am this morning, Smooch was trying to climb under the bed which is only 3 inches off the ground, gave him the RR, put the TS and ear muffs on and in a few min he settled. When that passed I took the ear muffs off. Another clap of thunder came in at about 6am, smooch was cuddled up to me in bed and all of a sudden the bed started shaking, put the ear muffs on (TS was still on him) and he settled again. So far I think the combination of the three is working but I guess we won't really know until we get another storm straight overhead.

Smooch wont eat, its hard enough to get him to eat in cold weather, forget dog food, he won't touch that at all. About the only thing I have never seen him leave is his turkey necks. Getting him to drink is also a drama the latest is add 100 ml milk to 200 ml water and if I am lucky he will have that for breakfast, the last couple days I have been putting 5ml of water in his mouth hourly. Last summer I had him at home on a drip for 3 days due to dehydration.

We have a storm in the mountains behind us atm, Rescue remedy, thundershirt and the ear muffs on. Smooch is a lot calmer tonight hiding in Everythingsshiny bedroom but he isn't trembling. Yesterday's storm was right over us. Weather the ear muffs are helping I don't really know. When I first started the RR and TS last summer I thought it was all working but than again we didn't have the noise straight over the top of us. I guess time will tell.

If its these... http://www.thundershirt.com/Product/ProductDetails.aspx?item_guid=8c07f7d3-f09d-4e95-a82e-0ac16d129a20 I would be concerned if things went wrong and the dogs couldn't see what might happen to them, think you would have to have the dog confined. I never go anywhere when there are storms around, just not worth the risk of Smooch getting hurt. He does forget that he is partially disabled.

I have just altered a pair of human ear muffs, tied them together with hay rope, added more padding to the ear pieces and hopefully if the forecast storms do come around this afternoon it will help, with the thundershirt and rescue remedy.

Unfortunately it hasn't worked for Smooch

Found these..... http://www.safeandsoundpets.com/onlineshop.html I am going to see if I can modify a pair of human ones today and see what happens.

Over the last couple of days we have had some noisy thunderstorms. I have been giving Smooch Rescue Remedy and using the thunder shirt. The Rescue Remedy seems to work a bit if the storms are not really that close, but tonight the storm was right over the top of us, smooch was that bad he tried to climb through the wall. smooch is terrified of all types of noise, he hears the tipper truck in the back of the hardware store before I do, when the air breaks come on he is straight under the computer table. the noise from the gravel sliding out of the truck also frightens him. Than the bang from the tail gate of the truck. Really any type of loud noise sends him under the computer chair. With more storms forecast over the next few days smooch is going to be a complete wreck. Has anyone got any ideas on what else I can try on him.

Woolies always has turkey necks down here - wrapped in a plastic in with the other meat, like chicken carcasses (meat section).. I also get my turkey necks from Woolies, have been stocking up as I have them hard to get for a month or so after Christmas. Smooch won't eat his dinner unless he has turkey neck, the larger ones I cut in half, half for the next day.

Oh Dear

teekay- I didn't have the $15000 up front, but even with insurance most vets won't treat your animal unless you pay a certain amount up front. For me it was $2000 which I did have but took me a couple of days to access. On the spot I could only come up with $500, I had to leave Smooch in Sydney with only basic treatment until I came up with the $2000. I can understand the vets doing this as they get caught with people not paying. I rang my vet the next morning, he got in touch with the specialist and guaranteed the payment would be paid in a couple of days. So basically you have to pay the bill and than claim it back from the insurance company. I am not against insurance Just the very large rise in premium just because Smooch will be 12 half way through the 12 monthly insurance.

Apparently its the age, that is what they told me when I rang them this afternoon, Smooch turns 12 in May

Finding a Vet (that can do the job) is better than an account or insurance. My vet is quite capable, I have full confidence in him, when Smooch suffered the FCE he had only treated a small amount of these and so sent Smooch to the specialists in Sydney, there fore the large bill.

Yes agree, I do have a account with my vet, have had for over 20 years.

Agreed From Dec 2006 to Dec 2012 is 6 years 1 payment per month for 6 years is 72 payments. @ $50 per payment the total of your premiums is $3600. Just the large claim for $15 000 leaves a considerable difference not to mention adding on all the other minor claims. There have been no minor claims for Smooch, and yes I am in front on this one, but say I never make a claim for Jimmy and than he reaches the age of 11 his insurance jumps by $20 per year. Its just such a huge jump in one year. I did expect it to go up a bit as everything goes up all the time but not that much.

Smooch has been insured with Insuranceline since December 2006, insured as a 5yr old. Today I received the renewal and when I opened it I nearly fell over backwards, it has jumped from $50 a month last year to $73 a month this year all because he is 12 months older (age 11) Looks like I will be cancelling my policy, just can't afford it on a pension. I have checked out other insurance options but because he is now 11 I can only get accident insurance with another company. I think I would have been better off putting the money in the bank even though I did have one massive vet bill ($15,000) for Smooch a few years ago when he suffered a fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE). Jimmy my 4 yr old's premium is $40.72 per month. It really makes you think if insurance is worth it in the long run. I am thinking not when they bump the price up so much when they get older.

I bought this arrived a week ago, http://www.brightlife.com.au/store/full-length-underblanket-p-1780.html Its gel filled, a bit disappointed in it as it only stays cool for about a hour when laying on it all night. It actually gets quite warm. But I guess if you were on and off it all the time it works fine, even Smooch got off it through the night as it got too warm for him.

Hope all goes well tomorrow

Smooch learning to walk. The black piece handing down the back is the strap that holds the back legs to the bar of the wheelchair. I had used a wheelchair on Smooch for about 2 months when he had a FCE more so to teach him to walk again, because of my back I wasn't able to hold him up so got a wheelchair but I had it adjusted so his back legs was actually touching the ground and eventually with a lot of phiso he did regain the use of his back legs although not 100%. I bought this cart secondhand from a friend who's dog has passed on, they used it for years, the dog actually loved it, he was able to get around, run etc. The down side was that the dog couldn't lay down with it attached so it a bit of a full time job putting it on and off. To be able to let the dog have a good run around it is fantastic. There are some on Ebay and quite cheap, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DOG-WHEELCHAIR-MEDIUM-40-60LB-ALUMINUM-LIGHTWT-CART-/390334765702?pt=AU_Pet_Supplies&hash=item5ae1c3da86 I paid twice that for mine second hand, by the look of the pic mine has more adjustments where mine was bought originally for a dashound and I was able to adjust it for Smooch who is a small kelpie.

Hope the parents get a good kick up the rear end. I am gland Buckie is home safe.

My dressing table has a sheet of glass on it, I put my horse ribbons under the glass.

My daughter works for a vet as a vet nurse 3 & 1/2 days and as a groomer 2 days. She is on wages.

So so true