www.Straydog.org Update - POSTED EVERY DAY AT NOON

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

MONDAY FEBRUARY 2 2004

Diagnostic Center in Dallas can't see Rudy till the 16th, unless ...

     We told them we can't wait that long, and they said the referring vet will have to tell them that this is an emergency if we want Rudy to get in any earlier. We've contacted Dr. Morton, and he has a call into Dr. Bronstad at the Dallas Veterinary Diagnostic Center, and Dr. Bronstad will call Dr. Morton as soon as he gets a chance.

Tom, the feral cat, is at Dr. Morton's being neutered this morning

     Erin (and the rest of the caregivers here at Straydog) have been spending lots of time with Tom trying to "tame him down" so that the entire surgical process will go more easily and so that we might be able to find Tom a home. In order to give Tom the anesthetic they have to squeeze him to the back of the little cage that's especially made for this purpose. They then give him the injection and wait for him to go to sleep before taking him out of the cage for his surgery.

Jack (of the Jack and Jill duo) might have an infection in his totally blind eye (or eye socket)

     It's been very red and crusty since Saturday, and Jack hasn't wanted us to clean it or even touch it. I've made an appointment with Dr. Paulsen at the Animal Eye Clinic in Arlington (Texas) for both of these Australian Shepherd "Lethal Whites" to make sure both get the eye care they might need. We've been wanting to take them in for a long time just to get an assessment of the condition of their eyes, but we've never felt we could justify the expense as (until now) there's never been a problem (other than being almost blind) with the eyes of either of the siblings. (Our local vet, Dr. Morton, has, of course, always checked their eyes during routine visits to the clinic.)

Lots of kennel swapping Sunday afternoon gets Jordan and Baby Girl a kennel

     After posting yesterday's update we remembered that Colby had at one time "roomed" with Kerry, so we re-introduced them in the park, they got along, and we moved Colby from his and Sasha's former kennel into Kerry's kennel. (You'll remember that after Henry was adopted last week, Kerry was left a single dog in a big kennel--the kennel with the electric wire around the baseline of its fence.)

     Next we moved Tipper back into her original kennel (which Colby and Sasha had been occupying since it was a dig-proof kennel). Next we moved Krissy and Boomer II into the kennel Tipper had been in, as Krissy had originally been living there. Next we moved Russell (a single because he hasn't been able to get along with anyone) into the kennel Krissy and Boomer II just vacated--better for Russell since it's right next to the park, which will eliminate the skirmishes Russell's been getting into on his way to and from the park as he would pass by other occupied kennels. And last we moved Jordan and Baby Girl (the two dogs with mange who were dumped at our gate a week ago in the middle of the night) into Russell's vacated kennel.

     If the above sounds confusing, it is. It took us a long time to figure out the plan, which we finally executed.

     We've disinfected the little six-foot by 12-foot puppy kennel where Jordan and Baby Girl had been staying, and it's ready for emergencies and for outings for Ojay and Jeannie, who have been having to stay in separate hospital kennels since Jordan and Baby Girl arrived.

     And people who call with a rescue (which happens at least once a day on the average) wonder why we can't just squeeze their rescued dog in.