MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2000 - A fairly normal day
TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2000- Double trip to vet brings about double lousy news
Hearing lousy (but definitely NOT life threatening) news is just not much fun here at our Happy Home for Strays, and I knew what the outcome would be of the upcoming trip to the vets, even before we got started.
This early morning vet visit was for year-old Briar, and six-week-old, new-arrival Tasha (from the Lab/mix family of five) for the new, separate, health problems that had recently sprung up with these two fellas.
Briar has been limping these last few days and I was worried that she had a second serious knee problem. She had been rescued when she was a feral puppy along with her feral brother, Bobby and their mommy, Mommy Dog, nearly a year ago. Briar has already had knee surgery on her left leg, and sweet little Bobby has undergone surgery for hip and knee problems all of which were caused from birth defects the doctor said.
Now Briar is having trouble with her right knee buckling as she walks. Last fall she had surgery on her left knee for the very same problem. (Bobby has had surgery already for both hips and on February 14 of this year, he went to the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center for knee surgery, and he needs to continue to remain "quiet" while his leg heals for another three weeks.)
At the clinic this morning Dr. Stephen confirmed my thoughts about both dogs. Briar does need knee surgery--the sooner the better for her.
And cute little puppy, Tasha, who I thought probably had ringworm, which would mean that the whole family also has ringworm, does indeed have that very contagious, yet treatable, disease--and so does her mommy, Lisa, sister Dee Dee and brothers Charlie and Shane. This means daily medicine for the family and special bathes every other day for two weeks. Oh Boy! we sure are in for a fun time!
Getting back to Briar -- we'll have to forego her surgery until her brother Bobby is out of "his" recovery kennel which is attached to his mommy and sister's kennel, and he has another three weeks to go. If Briar's leg gets worse tho, we'll just have to attach another separate recovery kennel to the family kennel for her long eight weeks of quiet confinement time.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2000 - Bath day for the new family of five!
This was a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon, just perfect for giving the Lab mix family, Lisa and her four cute fat little puppies who had arrived at our Happy Home for Strays a few days ago, their first bath with special cream rinse for their ringworm problem.
"OK fellas, line up! It's bath time," I announced as I "suited up" to go into their quarantine kennel. (Quarantine kennels here at Straydog are just that--quarantine kennels. Every new arrival spends the first two weeks at our Happy Home in quarantine because even tho all the dogs here are up to date on their vaccinations, we never know what kind of infectious health problem the new dog (or puppy) might have (such as ringworm, which is very contagious). Each quarantine kennel has its "own" pair of overalls to wear over our clothes and special shoes or boots to slide into before going into the kennel with the doggies. And it's "bleach city" around here when coming out of a quarantine kennel. (This is a great disinfectant.)
The four little rolly-polly puppies came tumbling to meet me as I set the small bucket of warm water on the lawn of their quarantine kennel. Mommy, Lisa, was a bit more hesitant, and when I pulled the bottle of cream rinse from my overall pocket, Lisa decided to watch--from the far corner of their kennel. OK then, the puppies go first, and I picked up inquisitive little Tasha and gently put her in the warm water which came up to her tummy. She seemed to enjoy her mini bath as I poured the water over her and then rubbed the rinse into her fur. Five minutes later she was "done" and turned loose to dry off in the warm sun.
Dee Dee was next, then Charlie and Shane. These fellas were squirmy and wiggly during their baths. Finally the pups were done and I stood up and turned around to get Lisa from her spot in the corner, and there she was, with her four puppies cuddled up close to her nursing, as she rapidly licked her babies dry! Geesh!
I hated to interrupt this cozy scene, but I had to get Lisa bathed too. She at least stood still and didn't seem to mind the bath, and when finished, she lay in the sun and licked herself dry! Sure hope this special rinse is "lickable!" Next time I'll have to work something out to bathe the babies in a separate area so mom can't get to them right away.
THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2000 - Another call asking us to take two doggies!
A very nice gentleman called this morning hoping we could take in two dogs from his neighborhood. This is the same man who had rescued "Jack" (the beautiful black Lab) last year, and Jack came to our Happy Home and was adopted by a wonderful family (see the 9/5/99 edition). Now this gentleman was hoping we could take in these two fellas who desperately needed a home. He had called every animal shelter he could think of and they were all full. We are full too . . . really full!!
So when this happens. we try everything we can to help place the dogs elsewhere. I told the man (whose name happens also to be "Jack") to try and keep the dogs for a day or so while we tried to find them homes.
This is practically next to impossible, and I had already exhausted all of our sources of possible homes for strays, which is why we had to take in the two newest families just two weeks ago.
I turned to a wonderful new friend, Arlene, who lives in Fort Worth, who had recently heard about our shelter and had made Straydog Inc. (along with two other no-kill shelters) a part of their up coming Funds for Furry Friends "silent auction." I know Arlene from phone calls only, but when she heard of this new problem she flew into action! "Give me a few days" she said, "and I will find good homes for these dogs." I called Jack back and told him to hold on! And I gave him the numbers of several animal rescue groups that he could try in the meantime.
SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2000 - Great news! Rottweiler family is out of quarantine AND Arlene found homes for two needy doggies!
This is a great day! The Rottweiler family, Trixie and Buddy and Betsy (see photos on this week's homepage), have gone through their two weeks in quarantine, and they did not come down with any new health problems. Boy are we happy! Now they can be moved from their small quarantine kennel into a new, bigger doggie kennel, and better yet: no more "suiting up " every time we go in to care for them! Tomorrow we will move Trixie and her pups into what used to be Pokey's kennel, which is vacant now because Pokey just moved in with Silver, because Silver's companion, Blackie, just moved in with Bishop, whose previous kennel companion, Nickie, was recently adopted. (See past issues to get filled in.)
The second bit of great news is that Arlene called saying she's found two great homes for the two doggies in need. Plans to place the dogs are now being made. This makes us all extra happy! Thank you Arlene!!
NOW WE ARE TRYING HARD TO FIND HOMES FOR ALL OF "OUR" NEW DOGGIES AND THEIR PUPPIES:
TRIXIE: Rottweiler mommy dog, 3 years old, 55 pounds, vaccinated, will be spayed April 5. Friendly, very playful, full of energy, immediately friendly to women and takes a little while to warm up to men. Is a great watch dog.
BUDDY puppy: Rottweiler with waggily tail, 7 weeks old, 12 pounds, vaccinated, wormed. An adorable, playful little puppy.
BETSY puppy: Rottweiler with waggily tail, 7 weeks old, 10 pounds, vaccinated, wormed. An adorable, playful little puppy.
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LISA: Mix/Mix/Black Lab mommy dog, approx. 5 years old, 35 pounds, vaccinated, will be spayed when able. HEALTH PROBLEMS: Lisa has heartworms and will undergo treatment after weaning her pups. Lisa is a short little dog, maybe part Lab. She is gentle, quiet, affectionate and playful.
Lisa and her puppies will be treated for ringworm until April 4, 2000
TASHA puppy: Mix/Australian Shepherd, white and brown, 9 weeks old, 7 pounds, vaccinated, wormed. Adorable, playful little puppy.
Dee Dee puppy: Mix/Australian Shepherd, mostly brown with tips of white on paws, and tail and white on tummy. 9 weeks old, 7 pounds, vaccinated wormed. Adorable, playful little puppy.
CHARLIE puppy: Mix/Australian Shepherd, all brown with short tail, 9 weeks old, 9 pounds, vaccinated, wormed. Adorable playful little puppy.
SHANE puppy: Mix/Border Collie, black and white, 9 weeks old, 9 pounds, vaccinated, wormed. Adorable, playful, little puppy.
If you would like to adopt one of these wonderful puppies or dogs, please call us at 903/479-3497
SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2000 - [TO COME: Another rescue in process]