Olive and friends
OLIVE - Where's the Wabbit?
Jemima says:
“Just thought you might like to see some photos of Olive and her friends this morning hunting rabbits!”
… Anne
Monthly Archive: January 2012
Jan
30
Jan
30
Treadmill – indoor exercise for dogs too!
Spirit
I decided that exercising on these cold, dark, wintry days is no fun, particularly if my arthritis is playing up, so a treadmill in my hall seemed like a good idea. My friend, Phil, very kindly assembled it for me, so I’m now “Up and running” – well walking, actually, but I’m warm and dry!
Good exercise for the dogs too!
… Anne
Jan
30
Bringing a new puppy home – Things you need to know.
Bringing a new puppy into the house can be a chaotic and exciting moment for both you and the puppy. The first 48 hours with your new puppy can sometimes be overwhelming; this experience is a lot like bringing a new little toddler into your home for the first time. In order to prepare yourself, and your puppy, for this moment, here is what to expect in the first 48 hours with your new puppy.
What to Expect
Some of our Puppies
Depending on the puppy’s attitude, the puppy will either be into everything at once or the puppy will be scared and timid. If your new puppy is all over the place, you will have to increase your supervision and make sure that you have effectively puppy-proofed your household. If your puppy is shy and timid, try to quiet the household and let the puppy get to know the home, and you, on its own terms.
Excitable and nervous puppies, and puppies that have just been separated from their mother and siblings, will often bark and wine more than usual. You can expect a lot of barking and whining in the first 48 hours of bringing the puppy home.
As the puppy gets used to its surroundings and new home, the barking and whining should calm down.
Puppy puddles and accidents will more than likely occur multiple times. Excitable and nervous puppies are especially prone to having accidents. Prepare yourself with plenty of newspapers, clean up tools, and if possible restrict the puppy, at first, to an area without carpeting. A change in environment and especially a change in diet, can cause the puppy to experience diarrhoea or loose stools. Good breeders will normally give you some food which the puppy is used to. This will minimise the problem. Introduce new food gradually, mixing it with the food which puppy is used to first in small quantities then in larger quantities over about a week. If the puppy has diarrhoea, make sure that the puppy is getting enough liquids and decrease the amount of food the puppy is getting. If the diarrhoea does not begin to improve within 24 hours, take the puppy to the veterinarian and have the puppy checked.
Preparing Your Home for a Puppy.
A new puppy in the house can cause quite a whirlwind of excitement, chaos, and confusion. These little energetic fur balls want to explore, taste, experience and test everything around them. To reduce some of the disarray of these moments, and to keep your new puppy safe, here are a few ways to prepare your house for a new puppy. Puppies are a lot like babies that are crawling and learning to walk; they get into everything. You will need to puppy-proof your home to keep your puppy safe from injury and harm and to keep your household items intact.
- Check electrical cords. It is not uncommon to see puppies with oral cavity burns brought about by chewing on electrical cords. Either restrict access to rooms with loose cords, or make sure the puppy is closely supervised. Additionally, most pet product retailers offer cord guards that can help alleviate the problem.
- Secure loose furniture. Delicate items, such as picture frames or lamps, can be knocked to the floor by an uncoordinated puppy. If glass breaks, shards can become embedded in paws or fall directly onto the puppy. Heavy items, like a hot iron on the edge of an ironing board, are very dangerous, and strings hanging from blinds can also be sources of potential injury.
- Keep any medication out of reach. Ingestion of prescription or over-the-counter medication can be fatal for a puppy.
- Restrict access to cupboards. Investing in a cabinet child lock can prevent puppy access to harmful garbage and cleaning products.
- Check the yard for small items and chemicals. Toxic plants and flowers? Is the garage accessible and if so are toxic items like antifreeze and oils up on shelves? Walk around the areas that the puppy will be visiting and look for things that are in their reach.
- Invest in a baby gate. If you have certain areas of the home that you do not want the new puppy in, invest in a baby gate or two.
Chocolate Box Pups
Before you bring the puppy home, purchase some items that your puppy will need. Plenty of toys, chewies, a sleeping bed or crate, blankets, and food and water dishes should all be ready at the house. Having these items at the house before the puppy arrives will help the puppy to immediately learn where to sleep, eat, what to chew on, and what to play with.
If you have very young children in your household, talk to them in advance about the puppy’s arrival. The children will need to know to watch for the puppy so they don’t step on it, to keep the doors closed so the puppy does not escape, and how to interact safely with puppy.
… Anne
Jan
29
Food Intolerance/Allergy
Fin soon after arrival
Food intolerance may be the underlying cause of many of the health problems in animals. We have found this in Fin who is allergic to many and various stimuli. Adverse reactions to ingredients in the diet may well be one of the most common but least recognised causes of ill-health both in pets and humans. In theory, any dietary ingredient can cause an intolerance. In practice, protein (e.g. beef, lamb) dairy (e.g. milk) or carbohydrate (e.g. wheat, rice) sources are the most likely causes although it is possible that chemical additives such as food colourings, yeast and preservatives could cause a reaction. All the above apply to Fin, resulting in inflammation and sensitivity of the skin, constant ear and eye infections, and loss of nearly all his fur.
Understanding and recognising dietary intolerance is not helped by pet food legislation which allows pet food manufacturers to declare ingredients such as “animal derivatives and cereals” rather than naming the actual ingredients. This means that you cannot know precisely what you are feeding and the ingredients can be changed at will, without notice. There are, however a few manufacturers eg Burns, who list all their ingredients and inform clients of any changes to be made.
Fin at his Worst
In general, adverse reactions to food can be divided into those which act through the immune system (allergy) and those which do not (intolerance). Although the mechanisms of the two are different, the symptoms are indistinguishable. Signs of intolerance (symptoms) vary widely and are not well understood or documented. A reaction can be instantaneous or delayed, even for several days. It can be mild and ill-defined causing signs of ill-health such as lethargy, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, stiffness, failure to thrive, unpleasant body odours, bad breath, discharge from orifices and so on.
An anaphylactic reaction can cause shock and death. In theory, any organ or system can be affected and this can give rise to a wide range of symptoms. In pets, dietary intolerance most commonly affects the skin or digestive system causing disease/disorders related to these organs. This might be eczema, itchy skin, dermatitis, otitis (ear inflammation), vomiting, diarrhoea, colitis, gastroenteritis, pancreatitis, hepatitis, abdominal discomfort etc.
Fin
Other organ systems can also be affected e.g. immune system, musculo-skeletal system, nervous system, endocrine (hormonal) system. Any symptom or disease affecting any of these organ systems could be caused by a dietary intolerance. This would include arthritis, convulsions (epilepsy), abnormal behaviour, allergic (pollen, house dust mite) and inflammatory reactions (pancreatitis, hepatitis), susceptibility to infection etc. Long-term unrecognised dietary intolerance may be the underlying cause of degenerative diseases such as heart or kidney failure and cancer. It is probable that dietary intolerance is much more prevalent than pet owners and veterinary surgeons realise.
There are diagnostic tests but these are only possible for the minority which involve the immune system.
Any symptom of ill-health which persists despite treatment or which recurs after treatment should arouse suspicion of food intolerance. A feeding (elimination) trial is a reliable method of diagnosis. This involves eliminating the existing food from the diet and replacing it with a food which is new to the animal. Home-made food allows more control over ingredients but a commercial food like Burns may be more suitable for long-term use. If symptoms improve when the suspect food is eliminated then it can be presumed that a dietary intolerance was responsible. Confirmation would require the reintroduction of the suspect food to see if the symptoms recur but, of course most pet-owners will be understandably reluctant to take that step.
Disorders of the digestive system which are due to dietary intolerance often disappear within a few days of eliminating the food which is responsible but most disorders will take 3-4 weeks to respond to removal of the offending food.
Most cases of dietary intolerance (those where the immune system is not involved) are dose-sensitive. This means that the amount of food can determine whether or not signs of intolerance will disappear. This is why it is important that whatever food is given, it should be fed sparingly.
… Anne
Jan
28
Wilton Park Refurbishment Plans
The “Friends of Wilton Park” are planning to refurbish the Lake’s Duck Island. The Duck Houses need sprucing up and repairing or replacing and the plants on the island will also need replanting. Funding has been applied for from the Batley, Birstall and Birkinshaw Area Committee but it will not be known until the March meeting whether funding has been granted. The Scouts have also offered a Helping Hand as part of the Scouting Association’s community projects initiative.
… Anne
Jan
28
Vaccination – the view of an holistic vet
I was interested to recently read the view on Vaccination from Holistic Vet, John Burns BVMS MRCVS, who developed Burns Pet Nutrition which I feed to all my dogs and cats.
Many pet owners who are interested in holistic medicine or who are concerned about using drugs and chemicals on their pets are reluctant to have their pets vaccinated. In theory if a pet has the correct diet and lifestyle it will be naturally resistant to disease
and therefore need not be vaccinated. However, theories do not always work in practice. My policy is that a puppy/kitten
should be vaccinated by conventional methods in the usual way. Distemper, parvovirus and leptospirosis are too dangerous to be treated lightly and I do not have sufficient confidence in Homeopathic vaccination.
The question of booster vaccination is much more emotive and controversial. Current veterinary advice is that dogs and cats should have annual booster vaccinations. This is backed by the advice of vaccine manufacturers and one expects the suppliers of medicinal
products to supply accurate advice on the use of their products.
In the USA and in the UK some veterinary practitioners now recommend distemper vaccination every three years with an annual parvovirus and leptospirosis booster. Many years ago I stopped recommending annual booster vaccinations. I believe they are unnecessary and may be harmful in that they may over-stimulate the immune system. This is only my opinion, which I am unable to back with solid evidence but I am sure many dogs with skin disease suffer flare-ups after being given boosters.
Carys and Winston with pups
Also, I do not recall a single case where a dog which was vaccinated as a puppy but had no boosters ever caught distemper
or parvovirus.
Vaccine manufacturers argue that there are variations in the effectiveness of immunisation and an occasional animal may not be fully protected. This is probably correct but for me this does not justify wholesale repeat vaccinations of already immunised pets.
My view is a personal one which is not shared by most vets in practice. Circumstance may vary by country and even region so it is probably wise to seek the view of your own vet on this complex and highly charged subject.
Those of us who use Boarding Kennels and the like when we take a holiday, find it necessary to produce a certificate of vaccination when boarding their pets. Some will accept Homoeopathic vaccinations – personally I have total faith in these vaccines which I have used for over a decade, obtainable from Charles Barrett, Homoeopathist.
At the end of the day it comes down to personal choice and whichever method you feel is safest and most effective for your pet.
… Anne
Jan
26
Sad News – Manny
Manny and Toby
There is some sad news about Heronbank Mannanan Beg (Manny) who collapsed on Tuesday morning and died at 6am on Wednesday. Tests are being carried out but it is thought he died of an undiagnosed pancreatic tumour. Manny was ten and a half years old.
His companion Toby is a little lost right now. All who knew him are saddned by this unexpected tragedy.
… Anne
Jan
26
Biscuit at the Vets – Update
Biscuit & Cookie
Biscuit is still a bit snuffly but I guess the antibiotics will be kicking in any time.
Biscuit has been trying to clear the mucus from his throat so we have a little sachet of decongestant powder from our vet to add to his food.
My vet, Andrew, also suggested I lock Biscuit in a steamy bathroom for 5 to 10 minutes!!! It’s worth a try!
… Anne
Jan
24
Biscuit at the Vets
Biscuit & Cookie
I have two cats who are brothers – Biscuit and Cookie.
Biscuit started snuffling the other day so I took him to the vet, who gave him antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory jab. It hasn’t affected his appetite though!
Here’s a video I did of Biscuit in the summer
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucs0yMaQM30
… Anne
Jan
22
Police Dog Puppies – Isle of Man – Update
Cumbria Constabulary will be taking delivery of three 8 week old German Shepherd Puppies. These are part of the litter bred by the Isle of Man Constabulary – see previous article – which were surplus to the Manx Police Force needs. They will spend 6 months on a training course bonding with their handlers and will join Cumbrian Force’s drugs and explosive sniffer dogs.
… Anne
Webcam
We have a webcam operating in our dog room from time to time, please click in this image to see the live webcam (if it's operating)
