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Animal companions in our happy homes

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  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    Lily Pad, thank you...sorting her diet Really Did help a year or so back.

    And today? Today the darling thing is moving at some speed around our (very large) garden, only earlier on i heard a rather nasty yowling. Fearing dislocated joints or terror at getting lost, i finally tracked her down in the middle of a small flower meadow With Frogs Hopping All Around Her!

    She was removed back to the vicinity of our home and all has been well now for Hours.
    :)
  • Gill HGill H Shipmate
    Update on Spikey - she's responding quite well to the kidney food, though she still isn't a big eater, and still throws up too often for my liking. Maybe it's an age thing.

    We took her to the park on Saturday for a walk - well, more of a sit really.

    Thought you might like the video.

    To the park with Spikey



  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    It's so great to see and hear you guys, Gill! (I hope we can see each other IRL again sometime!) Spikey is a cool cat, and the park is beautiful!!

    I'm kitty sitting my three grandkitties while D-U and her hubby go away for an anniversary weekend. The kitty love is awesome!

    Dear S-i-L sent a humongous, gorgeous flower arrangement to her workplace yesterday. It is now at my house, since they'll be gone. The grandkitties chewed some of the roses and made rose petal confetti on my dining room table. Silly kitties!!!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Spikey seems to be a cat who knows what she wants (and more to the point, what she doesn't)! Bonny wee thing though. :)
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    As I was walking to the park this morning I was thinking what a big responsibility puppy walking is. They are not our dogs and if anything happened to a pup we’d be devastated.

    Our park is only two minutes walk away and it’s really lovely. It used to be a Manor House and country park. The house just has the facade left now. The gardens are huge and beautifully kept. Lots of big trees, woods, lawns and bushes. A great place for free runs.

    There are roads on all sides and one main road at the bottom, so dogs with poor recall are kept on leads. But you can walk well away from any roads.

    Today Keir went to have a sniff in the bushes as he always does - and flushed up a deer! It ran and he gave chase. I ran after them, it was headed for the main road. Then I lost sight of them. I didn’t go to the road as I couldn’t hear screeching brakes and I didn’t want him to follow me that way.

    So I stayed where I was and called and blew the whistle. I think I blew it three times - then Keir came trotting back. He got lots of praise and treats. I met a man and he said the deer had run in front of the house facade then disappeared into the trees.

    Phew and double phew! I’ve never been in such a panic. Thank goodness for the whistle as he’d never have recognised my panic-stricken voice! My heart hasn’t stopped pounding yet.

    I follow a book called ‘Total Recall’ by Pippa Mattinson for recall training for the pups. It’s excellent and teaches whistle recall just like GDs do, but in more detail.

    Phew again!

    (Photo of Keir sitting in the park after his escapade, tongue out and looking very pleased with himself!)
  • Hope you're recovering now, Boogie - my lab cross raced off in fog one time on Wimbledon Common and I did hear the sound of brakes on the main road (A3) in the direction he'd disappeared. It's not fun.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I'm so glad Keir (what a handsome boy!) is safe, and that he knows to come at the whistle! What a good boy!
  • This morning Molly was in our yard on her side of our fence, when a young deer came up to eat the grape leaves that had grown over the fence to the other side. Molly and the deer had a great time running together up and down the fence side by side for a good five minutes. Watching them it was very clear that they were playing. When we are out on walks and we come across deer, Molly makes no attempt to chase them, she simply watches them from afar. A squirrel on the other hand is a totally different story.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    I’ve seen a similar on you tube @Graven Image Keir gave chase because he wanted to play, a dog would have turned round and chased back, taking turns. I think he was confused that the deer didn’t.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Graven Image, when I lived in the country the young black ca I had (Mr Mid) used to play with the calves in the next paddock. Being raised in suburbia, the first time it happened I was a bit worried, but I soon saw that both parties were enjoying themselves. There was also a horse in the same paddock that came every time I called the cat. The girl who owned the horse came to rely on me calling the cat so she could ride her horse. I don't know what she did after I left.
  • Here's our almost 9yo German Shepherd, Yannie, basking in the winter sunshine.
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Yannie owning the road! Beautiful dog.
  • So like our Heidi whom we were given when she was one. We had her till well into her teens. Adored children.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Here's our almost 9yo German Shepherd, Yannie, basking in the winter sunshine.

    Fabulous.
  • Very cute (and glad you're still posting Foaming Draught)
  • Our dog has recently moved to an area with deer and whilst i can't always tell when one is near....he can. The dozy old thing freezes, looks at me in alarm, then studiously ignores it...while dragging me down the road as fast as his feet can carry him, occasionally looking backwards in alarm.
  • Cat meanwhile....had an appalling morning with her toileting / walking / visuals/ feeding and i really felt that a taxi to the nearest vet was the only option. But by the time extensive clearing had finished , she was strolling round the garden with never a care in the world, nipping up and down the steps like a kitten, purring gently and attempting to lie down with the dog.

    Most of the time this elderly cat is fine but it's those odd times which nearly finish me.....but don't seem to affect her in the slightest.





  • TubbsTubbs Admin Emeritus
    edited June 2018
    My fellow cat owners may appreciate this one.

    A pigeon fell down our chimney and was stuck behind the fire place. The first we realized was when I had to prevent our cat, Mufasa, from climbing into join him. Because bird! He spent the next few hours hanging round the fire looking hopeful and yowling.

    We had to get an engineer out to dismantle the fire so we could get the bird out. Thankfully unharmed. Days later, Mufasa is still wandering up the fire, sniffing the air and then wandering away looking disappointed ...

    [The pet shelter named him. But he's a big, part Bengal cat and it kind of suits him so we left him]
  • Lol @Tubbs - my best one of those was aunt's visiting cat lived with us for a while when we moved into my parents' current house, the one with time-served wiring. The ongoing work meant that there were floorboards up in various places, including what became my bedroom. Visiting cat disappeared into floorboards. My very distressed sister had her head down the hole calling for the cat, which had reappeared out of another hole and was now interestedly sniffing my sister's upended bottom. I was laughing too much to tell her.

    Same cat climbed the outside ladder and then cried for help. My father went up to rescue her and was not amused that the cat just climbed higher.
  • NicoleMRNicoleMR Shipmate
    Just a quick report on my turtle. She is doing much better, still getting her antibiotic shots.
  • Boogie wrote: »
    Isn't he just!

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Glad to hear about the turtle, Nicole! :)

    My brother and sister-in-law were cat-sitting a while back and the cat got into their (unlit!) fireplace (it's a gas-powered coal-effect thing) and must have got far enough up the chimney to dislodge some ancient soot (they live in the ground-floor flat of a Victorian tenement in Edinburgh), as they came home to find the sitting-room (and the cat) covered in it ... :grimace:
  • NicoleMR wrote: »
    Just a quick report on my turtle. She is doing much better, still getting her antibiotic shots.
    Thank you so much for posting the update. Had her in mind. Almost feel as though I know her now. That is if anyone can really "know" a turtle.

  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Nicole, glad to hear about Christie getting better.

    Boogie, he is *such* a handsome boy!

    Mufasa sounds as if he has a great memory. Whereas the pigeon may tumble down the same chimney again out of avian absentmindedness.
  • TubbsTubbs Admin Emeritus
    MaryLouise wrote: »
    Nicole, glad to hear about Christie getting better.

    Boogie, he is *such* a handsome boy!

    Mufasa sounds as if he has a great memory. Whereas the pigeon may tumble down the same chimney again out of avian absentmindedness.

    He is very intelligent. And blooming noisy! Here are some pictures ...

    @Curiosity killed that's hilarious!
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Mustafa has a tigerish presence, especially peering between banister railings. Also very sweet-faced, quite irresistible. Damn, I miss having a cat.
  • TubbsTubbs Admin Emeritus
    MaryLouise wrote: »
    Mustafa has a tigerish presence, especially peering between banister railings. Also very sweet-faced, quite irresistible. Damn, I miss having a cat.

    Less peering and more attempting to his body and paws through the gaps so he can give you a good fanging and a swipe!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    From that picture he could be the long-lost brother of Tabby, the cat we looked after when we were house-sitting for her usual serfs humans.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Georgie-Porgy has been complaining about the quality of staff a cat has to endure living with, I almost forgot her medication this morning.

    Yesterday's visit to the v.e.t did not improve her disposition at all - I could see her thinking what on earth were people thinking bringing dogs? and hedgehogs even? Fortunately a nurse came and took her away for her blood tests because she was trembling.


    She has put on weight (good) but seems to have some vision problems which may account for missing the windowsill a couple of times when she jumped for it. This is probably age related and I may need to look at enclosing her outside bench so she can't go wandering. She will hate that as will the visiting cats who enjoy sunning themselves on it.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    NicoleMR wrote: »
    Just a quick report on my turtle. She is doing much better, still getting her antibiotic shots.

    Oh, good news!

    Tubbs, thank you for the introduction to Mufasa.

  • BelisariusBelisarius Admin Emeritus
    Boogie wrote: »

    Yes, very--Grew up with Golden Retrievers myself. Though English Golden Retrievers are more robust--almost like Labs compared to the American variety.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Belisarius wrote: »
    Boogie wrote: »

    Yes, very--Grew up with Golden Retrievers myself. Though English Golden Retrievers are more robust--almost like Labs compared to the American variety.

    And Keir is 1/4 Flatcoat which makes him more slender and thinner of face than some.

    :)

  • BelisariusBelisarius Admin Emeritus
    Ah, interesting. Read relevant info on Wiki after the fact, but the English Dog I encountered face-to-face was indeed quite stockier than Keir.
  • LuciaLucia Shipmate
    Our poor cat is very disconsolate and unimpressed by the cone collar I have put on her this afternoon to stop her scratching a sore patch on her head. She's had it for several weeks as she won't leave it alone. Everytime I think it is healing up she scratches it open again. I hope this is going to work... She's managed to get it off once so I've put it on one step tighter fitting. She won't be able to go outside with it on so I am preparing myself for several days of complaining from her. It will be interesting to see if she can manage to eat with it on... Poor cat! She has been walking around the room backwards trying to get away from the thing and is now sitting looking miserable. She is very unimpressed at this latest development in her life!
  • DormouseDormouse Shipmate
    Here's a blog post with photos of our four cats
  • I haven’t been posting for quite a while but Pooka my probable labradoodle (I got her from a refuge and her original owners bought her from a puppy farm so who knows what else is in her) is still going strong. She turned 11 in February.

    Her main maintenance is that I give her a course of injections to stave off arthritis every six months or so. But the vet wants me to get her checked by an ophthalmologist because one of her eyes is a bit odd. I don’t mind if her vision goes (although I don’t think it has - she can still catch fast-moving food reliably) but I don’t want her to be in pain so I think it’s worth seeing what they say. Then after the eyes are sorted the vet wants to do a dental check up/clean under anaesthetic.

    She is just so delightful and has mellowed a bit with age. She still goes out with her dog walkers and buddies every day and gets ultra excited when the little white van pulls into the driveway.

    The biggest change for her this year is that she now has a dog door and is greatly enjoying her freedom to be on whichever side of the door she wants.

    There are some photos on my Instagram account if anyone is interested: https://www.instagram.com/lotsofyarr/
  • What a sweet face. She looks like a wise old soul.
  • Lovely, Yay. I remember when you first got her.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited June 2018
    I’m going to do a vlog for the next puppy, so I’ve been practicing with iMovie :smile:

    Keir, Guide Dog Puppy.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    What a beautiful, special dog! :heart:
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    What an awesome video, Boogie!! He's a beautiful dog!
    I took my dad to his doctor's appointment at the VA, and there was a golden-doodle guide dog in training there! It makes me so happy to think of the person who will have a better life because of a special dog like these are.
  • Boogie wrote: »
    I’m going to do a vlog for the next puppy, so I’ve been practicing with iMovie :smile:

    Keir, Guide Dog Puppy.

    Beautiful! Lovely puppy, lovely puppy walker. Thank you for what you do.
    :smile:
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I'd love to follow a vlog on your next dog, Boogie.

    Dormouse, your cats really express themselves at home, don't they?

    Pooka doing well at 11!

    A friend of mine is thinking about starting an Instagram account for her Norwegian forest cat who has only one expression (somewhat peevish), sprawls around like a dishcloth and can't be bothered to get out of bed before 11am but looks like a quilted glamourpuss and the camera loves her.
  • OK...after a roller coaster of a week.....it's the vet on Friday.

    This very ancient cat is either happy as anything, purring away and blissing out in the warmth of the sunshine.
    Or
    Unresponsive.

    My nerves can't stand much more.
    Prayers for a sensible vet
    Please.
  • Molly the dog has to stay in the house for 4 days as we have a new fence installed. She is unhappy about house confinement, and unhappy with strange men in her yard, big delivery trucks in front of her house, and noise lots of noise. It is going to be a long 4 days with much to whine about while running back and forth often growling under her breath. Also the street is to hot to take her for a walk other then morning and evening, so the trips on leash midday to front yard and back to the house are not making her happy. May we all survive this, to welcome a nice new fence through which she can no longer escape to the neighbors yard and beyond.
  • Ah we got a new fence recently but thankfully it was only a day and Pooka apparently hung out with the fence guys and helped (probably in case they dropped a sandwich or something). Don’t know how she would have gone with four days!

    I took her to the veterinary ophthalmologist on Monday. I wanted to make sure that whatever is causing her left pupil to be dilated is not something that will cause her pain. The eye vet agreed with my assessment that she can see pretty well and was happy that there’s nothing sinister going on, just normal age-related stuff.

    But the best part of going to vets is having Pooka admired and told she is lovely by new people! She was so cooperative that the vet intern also examined her eyes And told her she was lovely.

    So now we just have to do a dental clean and check under anaesthetic with our regular vet. Which will be expensive but again I just want to make sure that she doesn’t have preventable things causing her pain.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited June 2018
    We have a date for Keir to go to Big School - 18th July.

    We also have a date for the new puppy to arrive - 3rd July.

    🐾🐾🐾🐾
  • Puppy!
    :heart: :heart: :heart:

    It will still be wrenching to part with the lovely Keir.
    :cry:
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Pigwidgeon wrote: »
    Puppy!
    :heart: :heart: :heart:

    It will still be wrenching to part with the lovely Keir.
    :cry:

    Yes, it gets harder with every puppy 🐶

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