Life sucks ...

Mary the Vet thinks that the chemo tablets they give Dougal with his injection are causing his hair loss. Her worry is that if they make his hair fall out, what is it doing to his bone marrow?

If all okay we can continue as normal, Dougal will just grow and shed hair in a cycle but if not okay he comes off the tablets. She doesn't know how long he will last on just the injections alone.

Blood test taken just now, result tomorrow.

Toes, paws and fingers crossed for wee Scruffybum.
 
Everything crossed for news on dear Dougal.

Must admit the thought of the fur-less one all tucked up in your lap or in his kitty hammock did make me smile. But sounds serious that he continues to lose fur, hope his bones are okay.

The winter, especially if severe always causes concern for our old or ill pets. We just had to have one of the old broodmares put down as she suffered a roken pedal bone when young and this cold had crippled her. We knew she would not see out another hard winter, and she was in her 20's, so had to take the decision, but still a hard one, will miss her being bossy and all maternal with everything.

I'll try the new stroking instructions on Morphy, thanks. He actually chirps at me in the morning and head butted me when I fed him and bent over to see his little face. Ferals seem to do a lot of head butts so I took it as a compliment!
 
Awful having to make that decision. My pony, Rosie had terrible teeth, and every time the tooth man came out I had to ask him how he felt about her getting through another winter. One year he just turned to me and said 'you know what I'm going to tell you'. The next few months were awful; we were giving her so much food just to let her have one last autum that she got colic a couple of weeks before the awful day that was pencilled in on my calendar. The field lost another horse with colic two days later [no tooth problems with that one]. The vet said it happened a lot at that time of year. I've got 'the ferals' again in two weeks as their owner is working abroad a lot; I'm going over to see them whenever possible so they know me. Whippet's having a rotten time at the moment with it being so cold, so I'm sleeping on the sofa with her at night as a treat [she doesn't come upstairs; whippets don't do stairs very well as they're all legs]. We'd both completely hibernate if we could.
 
Saw two small dogs - one a Westie, one a Dax, out for walkies wearing smart winter coats. The Dax had on a cute little red knitted sweater - I'm fairly sure it was a baby's! Moe, no chance your frozen whippet could wear one of your cast-offs indoors? Short sleeve sweaters seem to go over them quite well, or small tee-shirts - anything that doesn't bag and catch their back feet.
 
She's got quite a selection of 'outdoor wear'. If only she could learn to pull the duvet over her when she's in her crate she'd be ok. Usually gets tucked in at night with just her nose poking out. You can buy all sorts of clothing for whippety dogs, and I think there is an indoor coat you can get. Her crate is covered in blankets and she's got at least two duvets in it as wll. Wonder what they did in the far distant past when we didn't use duvets over here? We've got a family in the village that own lots of Chinese Crested Dogs, and they've got quite a selection of clothes; quite a sight when they take them for walks.
 
Back in the 1960s, friends of mine who had a retired greyhound used to put on her a waterproof walking coat they'd actually made themselves, out of a 'retired' raincoat. But their house was always at furnace heat, so the dog never had a problem with being chilly!
 
Moe, always sad when you know there is a date looming when you will lose an old friend.

Whippets are all legs aren't they? My friend's reminds me of a large spider when attempting stairs! Hope yours (and you) finds a nice warm place. I know what you mean about hibernating ....... :lol:
 
Lovely, leggy whippety dogs! Bonny is all legs, too, like a daddy long legs.

Saw a terrific coat on a dog the other day, it had legs that went all the way down to elasticated cuffs just a few inches above what would be the fetlock in a horse. Dog completely covered in a waterproof "suit" bar head and part of neck.

There are quite a few patterns for cloth and knitted dog coats and sweaters on the internet. Most are free, too. There's even one for someone who cannot sew or knit, you just cut large ties in strategic places to keep the coat in place. Using a fleece fabric would mean no fraying and no need to edge it.

Sorry to hear about your mare Isi. Just thinking about losing a dear friend like that is bad enough, but actually seeing them crippled and needing you to make the decision ... bloody hell.

One good thing about the cold weather is that Dougal has regained his appetite with a vengeance and has scoffed the best part of half a chicken in the past 2 days - not to mention his kitty biscuits, ordinary cat food and a dollop of porridge (with golden syrup) each morning. (Plus anything else he likes the smell of that he can scrounge off me.)

Rather whiffy kitty when he makes a sudden movement! :lol:

Good news yesterday. Dougal's bloods came back, white and red cell counts were on the low side of normal, but Mary is happy enough with that to continue the Chlorphosphamide therapy. She didn't give them to him the other day when he went for his chemo session, so I have 2 pills and a feeder to administer them (apparently I mustn't let it have any contact with my skin (or his).

This should be entertaining.
 
Just getting ready to go to a Bellowhead concert tonight when the S.O. shouts upstairs [I was in the bath at the time] 'Hattie's eye is all swollen'. About 40 minutes later we were at the vets; from past experience you don't hang around if it's an eye problem [I was seriously concerned that I was an article, or several articles of clothing missing] having all sorts of injections. Worryingly advised not to leave her and given an emergency number to phone in case her condition worsened [she was swelling up all over the place at this point]. Swellings seem to be moving around her head; the other eye is affected now, but she seems ok in herself. Back at the vets tomorrow very early. Found a bread wrapper in her basket that had the remains of a french stick in it..wonder if the colouring on the plastic had caused a reaction of some kind. Whippets are incredibly healthy dogs, having no known genetic problems, but they are the worst thieves and scavengers of any breed I've known. Turn up their noses at the food in their bowls but will eat anything else [and I mean anything]. Looks like it's another night on the sofa with the dog for me!
 
Great news about Dougal and sounds like we will have reports of more adventures for you and he!

Oh no Moe! Does seem it might be the dye in the wrapper. Funny enough I have a low functioning liver, genetic, and I suffer form ink dye in newspapers and magazines - and yesterday I ate some choccies and rubbed my eye afterwards and bingo - big red thingie.

Fingers crossed she will be okay in a fgew days, as you say eyes are not something to mess with.
 
Vet said nothing in a food wrapper meant for humans should have anything to cause a reaction [not sure about that, though, especially after what you've said] and that it was probably an insect sting. Was fine when we got to the vets at 8.30 Sat morning, but by Sat afternoon her whole body was coming up in lumps. Thankfully I phoned the emergency number and found that the clinic wasn't too far away. Seems ok now. Had an insect bite myself in the summer and kept coming up in lumps for days afterwards, so these reactions are funny things. She's on Piriton 4mg twice a day now, and advised to always kep some at hand in case it happens again [ has to be Piriton]. Although the vet said it shouldn't make her drowsy I read that cat breeders give Piriton to their queens to calm them down, so her lethargy is probably due to the tablets. Someone I know bought a little miniature pony from a horse fair. Bought it to the field before she'd sorted out insurance...got kicked by another pony the next day, advised by someone else that it 'would be ok; put some milk in it'....ended up losing the eye and costing the girl a fortune. Like you say, never mess with eyes. Was only just wondering why I'd bothered with insurance as only ever insured ponies before. This could've cost a fortune with out of hours stuff. Sympathize with having to give cats pills; hope I never have to do so with 'The Ferals' [they sound like something in a Raould Dahl story'.
 
Oh, poor dog, sounds very nasty! I'm not sure what insects are around this time of year, but we have some sleeping wasps in our sheds. Maybe one of those got her. Or even midges. They were still about biting me until a few days ago. One of my horses who has never been allergic to them has now developed a massive rash, with big lumps.

Allergic reactions to common things are happening more often. All the vets and doctors I know say they think it is because of all the pollutants we eat, breathe and touch nowadays, so we are all a little run down all the time. There are crazy things happening!

Piriton knocks me out, I had to take it for a long time and spent a whole year like a dormouse!


Just hope she will be okay, know you will give her plenty of TLC.

Ha ha, really like the sound of 'ferals' as something from Dahl. We were thinking that about Harry Potter too, Luna Lovegood keeps going on about 'narls' or smething like that. :lol:
 
I need Dougal news .... how is he getting on with little fur in this (brrrrr) weather? :<3:

Mine are fine, Minnie the girlie with the bit through tendon does not go out much, the leg bothers her so she is snuggled up. The wild and crazy guy goes ..... and comes back giving me dirty looks as if I have some control over the state of things! His coughing is worse due to the heating, he sits under a table outside where the ground is not as frozen and it's as if he just enjoys the fresh air.

Isabella the bad Tortie kitten (who is 3 1/2 now bit still a kitten) got locked out today. They have the cat flap but it's in the conservatory and it is cold, so I let them out, get them back in and close the actual back door of the house leaving the cold ..... out there. Unfortunately I made a mistake today and left her out there too. What a row! I thought she was dying, good God. And now she is sulking upstairs. :lol:
 
Poor Isabella!

One of my neighbours who hadn't seen Dougal for a few months saw him the other evening as he charged up the road yelling, to greet me. She said that he looks like "one of those animated cats" that you see in kid's films. He is all legs and eyes because of the fur loss, but still enjoying life.

When we had snow a couple of weeks ago, he would just dash out through the catflap, do what he needed, then charge in and stand on my legs to warm his paws. Don't mind me, Doog!

He spent most of his time wrapped up in a big microfleece blanket either in a large box that arrived just before the snow (you can take the cat out of the alley ...) or curled up in his hammock that is suspended from the radiator - with a small rug over him to keep the draughts out.

On the first morning of snow he had a little play on the lawn, but once he realised that parts were deeper than he thought he made a huge leap and landed on the path, all wild-eyed and scatty.

Hope all the cats are well, Isi. The latest cold snap will really get them dug in for the winter.

Matilda was really sweet when we had the hoar frost. She has a very thick, quite coarse, coat and when she fluffs it up to keep the cold out she almost doubles in size.

She managed to stay in for the best part of 24 hours but eventually nature won and she asked to be let out at about 8.00 in the evening. After about 10 minutes I heard her scrabbling at the front door and when I let her in she looked so pretty!

Her little pink nose was the colour of a raspberry and she had completely fluffed up, but every hair-tip had frosted, so she was all fluffy - and sparkly too.

That was the only occasion that she has ever let me wipe her down with a bit of kitchen towel.

Talk about cats having funny tastes ... I bought some ready-to-eat prunes last week. I opened the carton last night and she sat up in her bed and started to purr and lick her lips - which means that she likes whatever it is you have. Damme if she didn't immediately try to hook a prune out of the carton when I let her have a sniff (just to show her that she didn't really like them)! I let her have a very tiny piece - and she loved it.

Her previous owner (my sister-in-law) must have let her have some, because she definitely recognised the carton before I had even opened it.
 
Oh so glad to hear some news on Dougal! Was worried. So you are a paw warmer now?

Matilda sounds so cute too. Prunes? :lol: Never heard that one before. Cats can be odd though, for sure. I had one ages ago who liked broccolli and sweetcorn. He would steal the old cobs out of the bin and carry them about with him growling. Nutter!

Our cats are mostly in at the minute, Morpheus still trying to be wild and crazy but not liking it when he sinks in the snow. He pretends to be all brave and demands to go out, then sits under a table on the only dry grass in the garden and as soon as I stop looking he sneaks back through the cat flap, upstairs and in his cat basket under the bed. Our bed is victorian and very high so there is a mass of storage stuff under it. We found that he liked having an old dog basket piled with cushions and a crocheted baby blanket. It is his secret hiding place made even more fab because the heating pipes run under it, Cat bliss!

Cats adore cardboard boxes. Cannot keep ours out of them. Have a mate who spent lavish fortunes on buying hers beds and found to her total disgust that he would find a spare packing box, hop in and sleep for hours. I did try to tell her......
 
Sounds as though Morpheus is gradually coming round to being .... errrrr ... domesticated? Life indoors is definitely much better than out in this weather and even though he obviously doesn't want to admit it ...

The Doog is in his hammock now. It is in a good position for him because it is right inside the door to the kitchen, so he gets to inspect any plates coming through.

Never met a cat who liked sweetcorn, but next door's Rosie loves processed peas. Mattie says that he always leaves a few in the tin, just for her, because he loves to see her fish them out.

Matilda (Tilly), I must say, is not always the sweetest-natured of cats. Nigel Twiston-Davies used to train a horse that I swore was named after her - Grumpy Stumpy. (She is deep in the body, but somewhat short in the leg.) She can be very affectionate, but usually wants something from you if she is making up to you.

To quote Mam from Bread "She is a tart!
 
ha ha! I remember Stumpy!

You are right about Morpheus getting slightly domestic.

I'm insomniac sometmes and sneak downstairs to use the PC so I do not keep my partner awake. Morphy was in the sitting room. He looked at me but did not leave. He jumped up on some boxes I had down from the loft full of ornaments and junk. I'd sat a crocheted blanket over the top of them. He was lying on it, kneading!

Never seen him do that, ever. He is usually so scaredy cat he can't relax. I was very pleased and spoke quietly to him. He kneaded on for sometime. It was so funny to watch him because he is nothing like a kitten, he is a huge stringy rangy kind of cat with gigantic paws! :<3:
 
That sounds like progess, Isi! Only happy cats knead, so he is gradually coming round. Looks like you might be winning.

Dougal has a huge mound of wrapping paper to play in at the moment and is currently scuffling around under it, chasing his new catnip mouse. Tilly is where she has been all through this week of snow - in bed and going nowhere.

I had to clear a path for Dougal to the hedge at the back and a big area of grass at the front for Tilly. Luckily the snow was the light, wet, fluffy sort, so didn't take much shifting, problem was that there was sooooo much of it, well over a foot.

Both cats are confused, but enjoying the fact that I have been at home for a week because of the weather (it has rather frightened them). The only problem is that I won't get paid for last week (on holiday this week), so who's earning the Felix?!!!!

They will start to get fed up with me in a few days and begin pestering me to get back into a normal routine.

Merry Christmas to everyone and your animal companions!
 
I've been so careful not to slip on the ice over the past few weeks, because I've got a dodgy knee. Today I rushed into the garden to put food out for the birds, bent down to grab a piece of apple from the lawn thinking to put it on the bird table and tripped over the branch that I leave lying across the lawn for the birds to sit on. Straight onto my bad knee. To add insult to injury, when I looked outside the bloomin' pigeons were eating it [I know they need food but not as much as the song birds]. Am consoling myself with a glass [or two] of advocaat and a load of chocolate.
 
Poor Moehat! That must have hurt, especially after you had been so careful during the bad weather.

Your prescription sounds a good one!

Haven't had advocaat for years, used to love it and so did my old cat, Freddie. He used to go around washing out the glasses, then lie in a corner smiling and purring fit to bust. A p*ss*d puss!

It has rained here overnight and there are only a few patches of snow left now. I went to put some food out for the birds this morning and was very sad to find one of my female blackbirds lying dead on the path, next to some of the food that had been blown off the table.

I had food hung in the apple tree for the family of long-tailed tits that comes to visit, but I haven't seen any of them yet. Hope they've survived.

I lost a whole family of blue tits a few years back because we had freezing fog, I was distracted by the phone and rushed off to work without feeding them. Guilt!!!

Hope your knee is better soon Moehat. Keep taking the medicine.
 
I watched a wildlife programme last night and they were looking for winter moths..these moths are the only active moths during winter and breed at that time, but what concerned me was that, at the end of winter they become the main food sourse for baby blue tits. That really bothered me because I'm not sure how these moths could have survived the recent weather. Knee seems ok; rubbed loads of lavender oil on it and took a torpedo sized ibuprofen tablet [along with advocaat and chocolate, as you shouldn't take ibuprofen on an empty stomach....]
 
Hoping everyone enjoyed a lovely Christmas with their pets, and/or memories of past pets. And that we all have a Happy & Healthy 2011!

Hope your knee is better Moe!

First cat task of 2011 for us is to hold down the cats and clip their claws. Have got like needles in this snow/soft ground and they are getting stuck in everything. This ought to be fun - not! :(
 
I lost my old whippet, Fliss before I had grandchildren, but bought another from the same breeder [hoping for the same sweet nature in the new pup] so that my grandson would grow up with dogs. Till now he's been terrified of her. Tonight he stroked her for the first time. It's taken three years! I've never tried to cut a cats claws; I just can't imagine how to go about it. Memories of wrapping them in towels and wearing motor bike gloves spring to mind when I remember worming sessions.
 
Kitty manicure time. Such fun!

Oscar was brilliant. He used to sit on my knee and let me press the pads of each paw so that the claws slipped out, then I would use a large pair of ordinary nail clippers and just take about 2mm of the end of each. He didn't like it much but didn't complain too much (only bit the clippers once).

My brother's brats ruined poor Tilly as they used to press the cats' paws until they cried, bloody little beasts. When I caught the eldest girl doing that (aged about 5) and administered 2 sharp slaps to the rump. Such a shock! (She'd never been disciplined - even verbally - before.) Since then, Tilly has been neurotic about having her paws even touched and will hiss and bite if I try. Problem is that she is so inactive these days that her claws get caught in bedding or furniture and she gets caught up, panics, then gets vicious when I try to free her. I've finally managed to work the fabric from under her claws without actually touching either her toes or the pads.

Dougal has kept active, so his claws are not too bad, but he quite likes having his paws handled and I could probably get away with clipping his claws (one paw at a time, though) should he need it.

Good luck Isi!
 
Back
Top