Isabel964

Thanks, yes I see the nutrigel in the big thread. Love the idea of nutrigel or (safe) peanut butter with the medication it smeared on the roof of the mouth - that's brilliant. Question Can I cut capsules open and put the medication in the nutrigel? Is there any down side to this? I have a really sharp that will be able to do it.

Scottsmum thank you! I was sure there was a thread but I couldn't find it. Ptolomy, that's brilliant. That would work with my other dog. Haredown whippets, I've tried that, she throws it up, she resists swallowing, maybe I have to get the pill way down further but it's damn hard work. Yesterday it took two of us 30 minutes of trying and failing, including blowing on her nose and stroking her throat. Compounding into s liquid is good idea. It's so hard when they are unwell, when their appetite diminished and they won't take the pills that are keeping them alive. I'm even using the 'critical care' last resort food I got from the vet to help but it's not working too well. Today is another day and I'm hoping she turns a corner. Thank you so much for your help.????

Jindi my little Westie has a tumour. She is doing well having been given 3 months to live in January. So far she has been quite easy to pill. I'd just put the pills in a ball of mince, or in cheese or something like that. But in the last 24-48 hours she is not having any of that. Her appetite has diminished too. I've tried putting the pill down her throat but she won't swallow it and spits it up. No matter how hard I try. The only way is if I follow the pill with a chaser, something else to swallow - which is not easy. She has two capsules and a little codeine tablet which is very tiny. It's the capsules that tend to be the issue. Any ideas would be appreciated. She's come through difficult times before and I'm hoping she comes through this one too. But she needs the medication.

A bit of an update. All your advice has helped. Our 15 year old kelpie declined and I wanted a vet to come to the house to euthanase. The clinic said they were too busy and short staffed but they would come out first thing in the morning. My mistake here was leaving it too late and not booking the visit in advance. Hard to do though. I decided to wait till morning rather put her in the car - her legs were not good in cars and she hadn't been in one for 18 months. I got home visits for her vet checks. I held her all night. That night she shook at timrs, and hyperventilated. It was an exhausting night. She made it through the morning and was calm and resting when the vet came. She was lovely and was sent to the rainbow bridge in my arms and in her bed, with the family around. I wish it happened the day before and will be wary next time. She lived a full wonderful life and a good number of years. We lost Ellie a week later, our 20 year old ragdoll cat. She had vowel cancer. I did ask her to be sedated, but after the vet sedated her he then said 'she may get nauseous'. Well she did and do her last bit of time was her feeling awfully sick. Seeing her retch again and again was awfull. Wish the vet told me beforehand because I would have chosen not to have it. But she found sunbeams every day. My son fed her teaspoons of food and refused to let her go. I had to work hard to get him to realise letting her was needed and the best thing.bu now I was exhausted after looking after my kelpie and my ragdoll. Jindi my Westie, given 3 months to live in January, is still with us nearly 7-8 months later as today is the 1st of August. Her confition has deteriorated but she is having a good quality of life. She is now on 4 different medications. We had to stop one because if internal bleeding (Poo goes a dark colour, almost black). But then her pain was out of control do she is back on it but only once every 4 days and she is doing ok. I work from home two days a week and she goes to a wonderful Doggy day care 2-3 days a week. They adore her there. They give her midday medication, they really pamper her. She is often sitting in the lap of the receptionist. She wears little booties the protect her nails because two feet drag and the booties protect them from breaking, the discus list jerks giving me 30 days of medication and I have to get it compounded because she is only little, the dose isn't standard. My husband brings her to watch the now 9 month old rescue puppy in obedience training - we don't let have a moment of fret or concern or sadness if we can help it, So she is doing well. We put her on a grain free dry food diet with protein like salmon, chicken, beef. We put her on tumeric. There is so much info out there on fighting cancer. We can't stop the tumour that is growing in her spinal cord but we have slowed it down. She can't have more medication the cocktail she is in from the specialists. Do now it's a matter of time and monitoring her quality of life. My little ray of sunshine doesn't deserve to live with pain and that is heartbreaking. She seems happy still and that's what matters. She will be my third devastating loss this year and it's almost too much. But we have to cope. We find the strength. I'm so glad I found the courage and strength to hold my Kelpue Punpun in my arms. I'm so glad I did that. So j know I'll do the same with Jindi, I will likely be a complete basket case and this will be the hardest of the three. But I'll get through it and thank all the lovely people her for all support. The support on this forum is wonderful,

Such a beautiful BEAUTIFUL post. I'm so sorry, yes the hardest and best thing you did for him. I'm so glad he found you and your son after running away from two homes. What a wonderful life you provided for him, what a wonderful life he gave to you. RIP Charlie, big hugs to your family - I know you'll be watching over them with much love for always xxx

So sweet and such beautiful words. I think many of us can relate. I still get teary when thinking of my Zeus who left us 10 years ago. They leave paw prints on our hearts and a part of them are with us always xxx

How nice. So glad that all went well. Greys are so sweet. Sometimes I think about an Itslian Greyhound. I like their size.

A Wrst Highland Tertier is a gorgeous dog, great character, and though smallish they are very hardy dogs and could keep up with you on a days hiking. Not sure about an 8km jig. But great wonderful dogs, Note that all terriers will have s chasing instinct to be aware of with cats. I think a red cloud kelpie would be perfect for you and your boxer.

Wish I could help, but not my area of experience. I wish you the best with it. Hope Molly finds a forever lovely and suitable home soon.

Oh gosh, Sarah...15....its so hard. We just lost Punpun in March at 15 (Kelpie cross) and as you know will be losing Jindi this year due to a tumour and going through considerations of whether we rescue again, get another westie, or ... Jindi, our Westie had Punpun as her companion for a decade. Punpun was a large kelpie cross. No idea what she was crossed with but she was quite tall and highly athletic. In her prime we would take Punpun off-lead every day once or twice a day, and Punpun would run like the wind. Jindi would keep up for quite some time! They were absolutely inseparable. I personally think a greyhound could absolutely be a lovely sibling for Andy. Here are some photos of Jindi and Punpun (RIP)

Thank you all, so much great help. Roova, when I said mental exercise, I had heard that you can throw two balls, so while the dog is approaching you to give one ball it then has to work out where you are throwing the second balls...something like that. Spotted Devil thanks for your videos, really great. Pers, I very much agree that walking is great mental exercise done correctly. Lucy and I have been attending obedience training twice a week and learning to lead and communicate and have our dogs listen to us, focus on us, so we guide the walk. 'Take your dog on a sniff' is a great post. The Power slider article is very good. I had never considered 'fetch' as dangerous to my dog - so now I know. Thank you Spotted Devil and Willem. Kavik, good video. I can do more on retrieving rather than 'fetch'.

Is there a known effective way to teach a dog to bring a ball back to you? Is it something relatively easy to teach or quite difficult? I'm not very good at teaching dogs things. I'd love to teach my rescued 8 month old staffy/kelpie cross. It would be great for fun, exercise and mental stimulation. She will run after a ball but she doesn't bring it back. We do go to obedience training twice a week but haven't learned recall yet. We can practice/play in our home and yard. I did check the training section on the forum but couldn't find it.

Thanks Westiemum for sharing about Mark. He was a clever cat. My Atticus is a Burnese a gentle sweet boy, but he runs. And you are right, it triggers the chase. My other cat Jellybean doesn't tolerate any nonsense and senses it well in advance of mischief. I don't know what I'm going to do to give Lucy a new playmate when Jindi leaves us. I'm just going to wait and see. I may not be able to get another play mate soon. Jindi's condition is now deteriorating quite quickly. And it's just heartbreaking. I can't imagine this gorgeous sweet girl not being in my life and it's way too soon. Even at doggie day care the trainers there all say they want a Westie now they have met Jindi. She is just so adorable.

Yes I do separate them. So I guess you make a good point. If I continue to do that anyway then there is no issue, regardless of what type of dog is in our family.

Thank you. Spotted devil you are so funny. Just to clarify, my currents cats are in no danger. We've had Jindi 10 years and we manage it responsibly. And it's true it does depend on the cat. I have one cat it's never happened to, an athletic don't-mess-with-me cat. It's the gentle sweet cat that is the victim in the rare occasions it's occurred. I've had dogs and cats all my life. I've never had this issue except with my terrier. Sadly, very sadly, we will be losing Jindi this year as she has a tumour in her spine. I adore westies, and would love to always have one in my family. Jindi is a very gentle sweet Westie too. So I'm not sure it's a good idea. I'll have to think about it a lot more.

If you do leave your dog with someone, I too encourage the legal agreement. I know a lady at work who went oversea for work. She had people house sit with her dog. When she got back they kept the dog. They felt they couldn't part with it as they became very fond of it. Long story short she went to the police but dogs ate or are not considered property - and whichever way it was m, it meant she had very little chance of getting the dog back through the police or courts with no signed agreement.

Yes some good ideas. Thanks.Guess what's hit me in reading your responses is that these are dogs and cats and there is no guarantee. So I need to fo what I can.

Just wanted to check with other Westie owners, about Westies & cats. Jindi my adorable 10 year old Westie is a most beautiful girl.. Everyone that meets her just falls in love with her. She is very sweet natured, and vets and groomers say she is very calm and settled compared to some Westies. Our home has two cats and two dogs and all get along gorgeously. But about 4 times we gave come home to hysterical (& and I mean HYSTERUCAL barking), run inside and found Jindi has got a cat bailed up in a cupboard or porthole in a lower section of a tall cat stand , cat terrified, pooed itself, and damage to the cupboard of cat stand. One time the cat had a little nick in his ear - like the dogs teeth got a nip in. (!) It's actually just one cat that finds itself in this situation, our gentle Burnese. The others must manage to get away. We have tall cat stands in the house. Within a couple of hours the dog and cat ate sitting next to each other sharing a pet bed or couch. So recovery is quick. We learned to separate the cats and dogs if the whole family was going to be away for several hours or more. It seems Jindi must chase the cats of she gets a little bored. I had assumed that this must be a terrier instinct thing, and thought I just can't choose any 'terriers' to join our family ever again while I have cats. After-all, the Westie was bred to help chase down foxes. But I just wanted to check with others to see if this is typical of Westies.

I've got a 7.5 month Kelpue and would like to teach her to fetch s ball I've thrust and bring it back, I feel this would be a great game she would enjoy, give her exercise and also use her mind. I've looked in the tricks, sport, obedience section and can't seem to find anything on it. I've tried teaching her to take a ball from my hand and give it back (using treats) but she is so food obsessed she simply tries to find the treat and has no interest in the ball. If I try without treats she just runs off with the ball. Does anyone know how I could teach her?

Many thanks, very helpful. Im aldo looking into diet altogether, including fresh food.

What a special girl she was, and how much she is missed. Big hugs to you and all those that loved and miss her. Its never easy, its devastating. I think I have to stop ready rainbow bridge posts. I lost my Kelpie in March and will be losing my Westie before the year is out and its just so damn hard. Your girl was so beautiful and I love all the photos you posted, absolutely gorgeous.

Oh my, so many tears I have reading through your post. How beautifully written, how much of a big story, so much you tell in just one post. I am so sorry for your loss, what a beautiful special boy and a huge loss. Time will heal and he will forever be part of you. What a special time you had together. in this life. Big hugs.

Im so very sorry for your loss. Benny was beautiful. What a terrific photo that is. what a lucky boy to be rescued and come to you. You did good :) Many hugs. I know all too well the sadness of saying goodbye, and also the time leading up to it. He will be part of you forever. RIP Bennie

Anyone here know their stuff on food for dogs? I did research about 15 years ago and landed on Royal Canin. I use that as dry food and mince fresh meat. Recently someone told me that Royal Canin was imported and therefore was radiated or something like that. So I moved to Proplan - locally made, not radiated. But I have not done thorough research to find out what really is the best. I used to know what to look for on the ingredients lists but I don't know anymore. Would love any advice from people who are in the know.

OMG. I am so sorry for this experience, how horrific and dreadfully sad. Im also very sad that your daughters neighbours decided to be so aggressive not understanding that she was just as traumatised and horrified as they were. We only know what we know. All I can say is research research research. Our family decided to rescue when we lost our beautiful Punpun, a 15 year old kelpie earlier this year. I got to know petrescue.com very well and found the different rescue groups have different rules and ways about going about things. A dog that has been behaviourally assessed and spent time in foster care, with a foster carer that can be met and tell you about the dog, is best. I would also get a well reputed behaviourist to assess the dog. Most rescue groups let you have the dog for a week or two, and you can bring the dog back if its not a match and they will continue to find it a suitable home. In that time you can get the dog professionally assessed, or even before you take it to your home. You can get to know a rescue group, go meet them, talk to them. So - get the dog assessed by a professional behaviourist. - get a private training lesson with the dog after you have had it for a little while - get the dog to obedience training - there is doggy day cares that are good for socialisation - good idea to take it to one of those, I take my rescue twice a week I really wish you well. I rescued Lucy at 4 months of age. She is a kelpie staffy cross. Even at 4 months, without a good start in life, there can be issues. She is a massive handful but we are 100% committed to doing whatever it takes with her. She has had a private training session, then started her at obedience school, lasted two weeks and changed to a better school. we now go every Sunday morning and Wednesday night to obedience training. I think your daughter was very unlucky. Do what feels right for you. Whatever you need to have confidence the dog to being in is ok, that what you need to get done. Maybe make a list and find rescue groups who will work with you. and definitely 100% get the dog behaviourally assessed. OR....you could rescue a puppy. Sometimes pregnant females are found needing a home and then the puppies need a home too. All the best.