fainty_girl

I don't think it is really necessary, but obviously I think employers should be compassionate and understanding and allow a person to take annual or unpaid leave, because it is very difficult to lose a pet. My dog Jess had to be put down 5 weeks ago tomorrow . It was very hard, but she had become unwell and I knew that it was unlikely that she would live for much longer after she was admitted to the vet. I work casually and don't get paid leave. The day after we lost Jess, I decided to go to work, because I thought it would keep my mind off what had happened with Jess. I went to work to distract myself, but ended up slipping over in the hallway (the floor was greasy) and broke my wrist. In hindsight, I wish that I had cancelled my shift for the day, it was the worst week of my life!

I bought 2 of the memory foam pet mats and the dogs seem to like them :). I just walked out and saw that my brother's dog was laying on both of the mats (he is a big dog - 30kg). I bought one of these and Tilly has already been running around the house with it: I had a look at the water bowl, but it felt light and a bit flimsy, so I didn't buy it.

The beds are great! I bought two of the brown beds last time, and my girl Tilly loves it and my other dog Jessie (who passed away) really loved her bed too. I have a couple of blankets in there and Tilly makes a little nest in her bed. They still look like new and they are good value for money. This weekend I might buy the memory foam mat and i'll check out the water bowl and rope toys too.

I did not see it but both police and vet told us the bull dog was died. Thanks for replying, HuskyDrake.

I'm so sorry for your loss, you must be absolutely devastated . Did you see injuries on the other dog? Are you certain that the other dog died? I would just want to be certain that the dog hasn't just been hidden or taken to a different address by the owner (for them to avoid surrendering their dog or paying high fines).

I've watched a couple of the episodes on tv and there is something very off-putting about the guy. I just watched an episode of him working with a husky, and he made it sit by pulling upwards on the lead, instead of teaching a command with a word or gesture. Look at this clip...the poor dog!

I had two desexed girls and then after a while, my brother moved back home with his male kelpie, Rusty (entire). I had Jessie (stumpy tail cattle dog X) for 4 years before I adopted Tilly (kelpie X). I was only wanting to adopt a male, but my family and I fell in love with Tilly when we saw her at the pound. Jessie was always good with other dogs (although she could be a bit too full on with small fluffy dogs). She was never playful and didn't like in your face dogs, but she wasn't dog aggressive and never fought back. Initially, Tilly had issues with food aggression at meal times, so that was something we had to work on. That was totally resolved though and they used to eat dinner side-by-side and then they would swap at the end and clean out each others bowls. For quite a while, they didn't take much notice of each other at home, Jessie kind of ignored Tilly. For quite a while I used to exercise them separately, because Tilly can be a handful. I think they bonded more when they started going out together. Jessie's favourite place was the beach, so if they went there together they got along particularly well and would play chasing games, etc. When Jessie was older, Tilly would look out for her too if Jess went wandering on a walk and Tilly would find her. Over the years we did have some problems with Tilly going for Jessie. One incident was over a toy, so all the dog toys were put away after that. Not too long ago, Tilly went through a stage of going for Jessie out of the blue, when Jessie hadn't done anything. It was bizarre and we really had to watch them together for a while, but everything settled down again. It does depend on the dog though...a male and female won't necessarily get along. Rusty didn't like Jessie, he used to growl/grumble at her all the time. Jessie was very vocal and Rusty is too, so they used to set each other off with barking all the time. Even though they were both working breeds and a similar age, they were not compatible. Even though Tilly can be feisty with some other dogs, she has always gotten along really well with Rusty. Since losing Jess, Tilly has become a bit more dominant over Rusty, because Jessie was the alpha dog before. I wouldn't recommend having lots of girl dogs, but that is just based on my experience.

R.I.P. Abbie

They sure do ...Jess had an incredibly strong bond with my mum, she was a velcro dog with my mum from day 1 (Jessie was getting sent to Australian Cattle Dog Rescue and was in a boarding kennel when we met her and adopted her). She was standing on my legs during the drive from Canberra from Sydney and at one point I swapped seats in the car with my mum. Jessie stood on my mum's legs and was glued to her for the next 8.5 years. Last year my mum was very sick and went through cancer treatment with long stays in hospital. When my mum was home, Jessie was incredibly protective of her. If any of us walked into my mum's bedroom, Jessie watched us like hawks and even growled softly at us sometimes! She didn't want to leave my mum's side, even to the point of her just about wetting herself sometimes! Jess was a real character, pretty eccentric and totally different to my other dog. She was such a vocal and noisy dog, so even with 2 dogs still here, the house is eerily quiet now. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your girl . If you don't mind me asking, what kind of symptoms did you see in her before you found out she was sick? Jessie was sick a few months ago, but the vet never knew why. Although I'm no expert, it wouldn't surprise me if that was when Jess's problem started. It was a while ago now (2010) but I think she had some minor stomach upsets and times where she wasn't interested in eating different things (which she hadn't been like previously). She seemed less tolerant of the other dogs and started to struggle with walking, seeming tired. She seemed to be tripping up on her front leg sometimes, some of these things you can put down to old age but she wasn't that old (I rescued her from the pound and she was already chipped). I had her 2.5 years which made her around 11 or so. In the last 2 weeks of her life, she began vomiting food regularly, it was very digested and would happen in the middle of the night. I was in and out of the vet regularly for check ups etc, she'd had a total collapse when I'd only had her for a short while so I was always fearful that it was going to happen again and there was never a diagnosis of what caused it. She remained interested in playing ball which was her obsession, until the last day and I knew it was time. I miss her very much still, she was a wonderful dog in so many ways. Thank you for letting me know. Some of the symptoms your dog experienced were similar to what happened with Jess, particularly with not wanting to eat foods that she would normally eat. When Jessie was sick in December, she went off her food for a couple of nights and when she totally refused her food one night, later on that same night I looked at her I saw that her eye was bulging. She also developed a rash on her tummy and also experienced vomiting too. She never had much stamina (even when she was 1) and was always lazy for a working breed, but in the past year she did slow down when going for walks and she only needed to be walked for a short time. I miss Jess, she was a character! I dreamt about her the other night...I dreamt that she walked into the room and I knew I didn't have her here with me, but in my dream I patted her silky coat and put my face near her fur to breathe in her smell. Jess had a beautiful double-coat.

Thank you everyone, it means a lot to me. They sure do ...Jess had an incredibly strong bond with my mum, she was a velcro dog with my mum from day 1 (Jessie was getting sent to Australian Cattle Dog Rescue and was in a boarding kennel when we met her and adopted her). She was standing on my legs during the drive from Canberra from Sydney and at one point I swapped seats in the car with my mum. Jessie stood on my mum's legs and was glued to her for the next 8.5 years. Last year my mum was very sick and went through cancer treatment with long stays in hospital. When my mum was home, Jessie was incredibly protective of her. If any of us walked into my mum's bedroom, Jessie watched us like hawks and even growled softly at us sometimes! She didn't want to leave my mum's side, even to the point of her just about wetting herself sometimes! Jess was a real character, pretty eccentric and totally different to my other dog. She was such a vocal and noisy dog, so even with 2 dogs still here, the house is eerily quiet now. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your girl . If you don't mind me asking, what kind of symptoms did you see in her before you found out she was sick? Jessie was sick a few months ago, but the vet never knew why. Although I'm no expert, it wouldn't surprise me if that was when Jess's problem started.

R.I.P. Jessie Jess was a beautiful and loyal dog, she will be missed . Jess had a tumour next to her liver and spent 4 nights at the vet. She came home last night and was meant to go back in for another ultrasound on Monday, but she went downhill and our family made the decision to have her put to sleep, so she went peacefully with my dad at the vet .

Tilly recovered really well :), I watched her like a hawk, but she left her ear alone and didn't need to wear the Elizabethan collar. When she had her stitches out the vet was happy with it. As you can see in the photos, Tilly just has a bit of a fold at side of her ear, so she has a slightly wonky ear, but it is absolutely fine. It feels like I spend so much time at the vet. My other dog is sick and is off to the vet tomorrow, I hope they can help her .

Thanks everyone :). Tilly had her surgery today and it went really well. I picked her up in the afternoon, she is a bit dopey from the pain medication, but she is happy and content, she was wanting extra cuddles from everyone here and now she is resting quietly in her bed outside my bedroom door. The vet nurse said the hematoma was very small and that she really had to look for it at first when she was helping the vet. Tilly didn't have an ear infection and there wasn't any kind of foreign body in her ear. She hasn't tried to touch her ear yet, but I will put the Elizabethan collar on her in the evenings or when I can't watch her.

Thanks persephone, that's reassuring to hear! The vet said she will send us home with an Elizabethan collar tomorrow, Tilly's never had to wear one of them before. She already hates going to the vet as it is (after she had surgery on her leg a while ago), so goodness knows what she'll be like after tomorrow. She gets so stressed out that every time she goes she ends up getting a cuddle from which ever vet is seeing her. Fingers crossed that it all goes ok tomorrow though.

When I got home this afternoon my dog Tilly was shaking her head and her right ear was slightly swollen at the bottom, she was in a bit of pain from it and was a bit sooky. I took her to the vet and she has an aural hematoma and is booked in to have surgery tomorrow. The vet swabbed her ear but Tilly wouldn't let her get the swab very far into her ear, so she will swab it again tomorrow, but there wasn't any sign of infection. The vet explained everything to me, but I just wanted to ask here if any of you have been through this with your dogs to hear of your experience with this surgery? Did your dog make a speedy recovery? Does their ear look any different after it has healed? It sucks that my girl needs surgery! She won't be happy being dropped off at the vet tomorrow .

One of my dogs is super anxious when she goes to the vet and the last time I had to take her, she jumped up on the seat next to me a couple of times. I made her get down straight away, it didn't even occur to me to let her sit up there. At home she loves relaxing on the lounge and even hops up on office chairs sometimes, but I wouldn't allow her to sit on the chair next to me at the vet if she is well enough to be on the floor.

Yes they did a blood test and her results were fine, but they haven't done a urine test. I explained what happened in the beginning with her being off her food for 2 nights in a row, then the 2nd night was when her eye bulged. The red mark was somewhere at the back, I can't remember which side she said. She was only able to have a very quick look in Jessie's mouth.

Here's an update of what happened at the vet...the vet doesn't think that Jessie has an abscess. She opened Jessie's mouth and had a look and could see a small red mark, but she said it wasn't anything that would really concern her. The rash that flared up the other week when Jessie was at the vet was very red today and the vet said it really looks like an allergic rash. The rash was also on the skin behind her front legs and near her nose too, which was something I hadn't noticed. The vet asked me if we have any wandering jew in the garden so I will get someone in my family to check (I don't have a green thumb!). To treat the rash the vet applied Cortavance spray to Jessie's tummy and behind her legs, and I have to keep on applying it once a day. The vet thinks that Jessie could be off her food because of the antibiotics. The vet was going to try Jessie with a different and more palatable tablet, but she saw firsthand just how difficult it is to get Jessie to take the tablet, and she put one in as far back as she could and tried to hold Jessie's muzzle, but Jessie spat it straight out. Apparently the cephalexin tablets can be very difficult to administer to, so I'm not the only one who has had problems with them. But then she said that she could have a long lasting injection instead, so that was a heck of a lot easier than trying to force tablets on her! I also have more Meloxicam to give her each day, because we had run out of that. If Jessie's eye bulges again, I was told that I need to bring her straight in to the vet because she said it is very painful for them. Jessie was very good and the only time she started fussing was when the vet touched Jessie's paws, because she is used to just having her nails clipped!

Jessie is going back to the vet today, I have booked her appointment. The vet who saw her the other week is away on a long holiday so we'll be seeing the vet who clips Jessie's nails. She knows Jessie and is really great with her. Her eyes aren't bulging but they are red, she is off her food (wouldn't eat dinner last night) and she vomited twice this morning. She is definitely not herself, so hopefully I can get some answers and find out what is going on.

My vet recommended using comfortis when advantix/frontline wasn't working on my dogs for fleas. They haven't had a flea since!

Nothing was really ruled out, but when she was examined last week the vet had said the next step will be to sedate her to examine and x-ray her if she does not improve. Jessie wouldn't eat anything last night and I had no chance of getting antibiotics into her, but I put aside her food and she ate it this morning (the tablet was crushed in there) and I also gave her Meloxicam this morning. She was very tired last night and a bit lethargic, but this morning she has perked up and seems more normal.

Jessie's right eye looked a bit red today and it was a bit swollen below the eye , but it went down fairly quickly (probably took an hour). Her eye didn't look as bad as her other eye did last week. I tried to open her mouth to see if there was any pain (this is something the vet had me do last week) and Jessie didn't want to open her mouth very wide. I opened it to a certain point and then she resisted and growled. This morning she had her antibiotic in food and I gave her 1.5mL of Meloxicam, but tonight she wouldn't eat her dinner. Last week it was her left eye, now it was her right. It is so frustrating not knowing what is going on. I will keep a close eye on her and will take her back to the vet if she still won't eat.

Rusty gets washed with the hose (using shower setting on hose trigger), he swims in cold water all of the time and he is a big dog so it is much easier to wash him this way on the deck. Tilly & Jess get washed with warm tubs of water outside on the deck. I fill up a large tub and use a smaller one to get warm water from inside.

I'm really sorry to hear about your dog . Last year my Kelpie X tore her cruciate ligament and severed her meniscus as well. The recovery process was long and the trickiest part was trying to keep her quiet because she is a very energetic dog. She recovered really well and the vet who operated was very pleased with the result. Your decision would be a very difficult one, but hopefully your vet can offer you more advice about what the recovery process would be like for your dog.

Thanks Piper, that is a good idea. To be honest, I could never have imagined Jessie not wanting to eat so I never had to force anything on her. She normally loves her food and spends a lot of time hanging out in the kitchen in the hope of getting some scraps. She did well with her dinner tonight and ate everything, but I had to feed her beef mince with a fork. I think the mushier food is still easier for her to eat, but she happily ate the mince when I fed it to her.