My Gummy Babe and a Story

Dear sweet Harvey has had a big week, On Saturday he went to the vet, the first time THE VET was to touch him, and was vaccinated among other things, boy was THAT an experience.
I planned carefully, put some catnip in his carrier, took Archer with us and arranged to go in just before usual hours so he could avoid crowds.
Oh the best laid plans of mice and men...
My lovely vet gave him a sedative to make checking his ears and teeth easier, and said, 'I will be back in ten minutes, he will be out to it then'.
Ten minutes later the vet walks in,
I scoop Harvey out and hold him loosely,
The door opens...
Out the door...through the now crowded waiting room...past reception...through the cages and kennels, then the operating theater... back through the waiting room....up the stairs....through the staff room...and the store room...into the office. All the while I am saying, 'please don't chase him' and " I am SOOOO sorry' about 50 times each. Eventually he jumps onto Jim's chair and sits waiting for me to scoop him up and take him back down the stairs.
We treated his ears on Saturday and he has been Mr Smoochy all week. His reward, I took him back today to have all but a handful of his teeth out. And again, the vet visit has made him really appreciate home and his Mum, it should, do you see that sludge in the background? Chicken breast, poached and blended with organic rolled oats and little sea salt.
It's hard to describe how much I love this little fellow, and the journey he has taken me on. I have grown as a person because I have him, because I have had to earn his trust.

A Special Place ...

While in Perth I visited the very special shelter Harvey was chosen from. This shelter houses 65 cats and 25 dogs – at any time, plus kittens, and is staffed by some amazing volunteers. I took the opportunity to let some of the wonderful ladies know how well Harvey is progressing. A couple of ladies told me about their surprise when they saw Harvey’s name on the list of re-homed cats, you can imagine how that made me feel. I took the opportunity to take lots of photographs at APS (The Animal Protection Society). This is a no-kill shelter and is always in need of volunteers, funds and donations.

This young cat was very affectionate, I seemed to find it wrapped around my legs everywhere I went, look at the gorgeous colours: ginger, black and white.

As I wandered around patting and clicking two of the ladies apologised that the lawns were due to be cut, however I delighted in the cats playing in the lush grass. On Monday there was an elderly lady sitting in the cat enclosure with her grand daughter, they spent a happy hour patting some very grateful cats, another ‘smile’ on the inside picture. Meanwhile one volunteer was raking through the sandy areas and litter trays (no more detail needed there) and another was washing food bowls. Looking around it was clear that these cats had lovely clean bedding, healthy coats and a safe environment.

However, none of the beautiful animals in these pictures have their own food bowl, heater to lie in front of or human to cuddle. I was, of course, more than tempted by several of the cats and wanted to bring them home with me, so I resisted asking (or checking) gender but I did fit in as many cuddles as possible, which may explain why I looked a little hairy when I arrived at Annie’s, oops.

Monetary donations can be made through the APS website and are tax deductible in Australia; these can either be general donations of take the form of a pet sponsorship – some of the long term residents (such as my Harvey) have benefited from this type of gift in the past. Both the website and blog are updated fairly regularly with pictures of the animals who are looking for forever homes.

Look at this old puss waiting on the table to be petted, so sweet and needy but dignified too.

The animal side of APS is headed up by Dawn’s lovely Mum, Clare; I will blog them later and perhaps you will find some of my other cat photo's appearing in the coming weeks.

This adorable old cat woke up when I took its photo, and I am so glad, because we enjoyed a long smooch and cuddle, just one more?....

Macadamia Toxicity in Dogs

I heard that Macadamias were bad for dogs, just as I had heard that onions and chocolate were bad for dogs. Our farm dogs ate a lot of Mum’s stew (full of onions) and were healthy old darlings. Most of us have snuck a piece of chocolate to our dog and it has been fine too. As few as 6 macadamias can send a dog into toxic shock.

On Saturday my fridge moved on to that great hole above which the seagulls circle, after 19 long years of service. It was a sudden end. My brother lent me his old fridge so I would have time to choose a new one – what a star! I dashed out to replace my vegies without securing the house from the canine Hoover. He found a bag of macadamias on a side table – and I guess the smell called him; he ate a lot, about a cup and a half!

By early evening Archer was choosing bed not my company. By late evening he was staggering his back legs unable to hold his weight, had a temperature of 39 deg C (yep I have a doggy thermometer for that place) and his little body was wracked with tremors. I Googled the Macadamia nuts and was shocked to read that this was a normal reaction. A late night trip to my vet was frustrating – the vet on call-out had not heard of the problem and could not get any information from sources she considered reliable.

A chat to my regular vet this morning has confirmed my reading from last night. I must keep Archer’s temperature down (to prevent organ failure), or he has to go in and be on a drip. The rear end paralysis/weakness, tremors and major signs will resolve themselves with 48 hours. The associated depression could last a little longer! Lucky for Arch’ the garbage guts had actually swallowed most of the nuts whole – don’t ask me how I know that, but as he can’t hold his own back end up to ….

As we come up to Christmas with bowls of nuts sitting around at parties this becomes a real risk. My past posts have led me to a sisterhood of doggy Mums who despair at their eating habits. Please take care and let anyone with a dog know about this one.