bunn | Entries tagged with az

Az has been getting steadily wobblier and more tired since my last update, and his heart and breathing were clearly troubling him. I decided yesterday that enough was enough: he was no longer able to enjoy life, he was just going on existing, in a tired, worn-out kind of way. It was very hard to make the choice, when the decline was so gradual, but as my mother told me when I rang her to share my woe, this is the responsibility that comes when you have power of life and death over another being : you make his life good as long as you can, and then you give him a good death. Pp and I agreed that time had come for Az, which was reassuring.

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Get a private prescription for Az's heart medication next time, rather than buying it from the vet. 50 Vetmedin pills from the vet costs £68.95 - from VetUK, it would only cost £30!

( Up and down.... )

Az is home! He's looking loads better than he did yesterday after a night and day getting fluids and all his medication via the drip. He wouldn't eat at the vet, but he is definitely hungry - has eaten a little chicken since he came home and so far has not brought it up.

Vet is pretty sure that it's not a virus, thinks he's probably eaten something horrible. My suspicions focus on decaying rabbit, which he loves. Phew, I am SO relieved. I really did not think he was coming home this time. He has rubbed his nose a bit bald and sore - from being in a crate, I think - but the rest of him is looking good!

Thank you all so much for the kind comments on my last post. I won't pretend I wasn't in a panic!

Current Mood: hopeful

Yesterday, Az was off his food. He did try a little lunch, but didn't keep it down, and was sick several times in the evening and overnight. Off to the vet this morning, he was given an antiemetic shot and antibiotics, and instructions to give him his heart pills by putting them down his throat. He didn't like this much, and soon brought them up again.

He hasn't brought up the antibiotic pills yet, but he won't eat anything, not even boiled chicken. This is all seeming horribly familiar. I am trying not to assume it is the same problem Mollydog had, because really, what are the odds? But it's worrying.

To add drama to disaster, I had a foster dog booked to arrive here tomorrow, a pointer called Danny. He's come from Greece and has tested positive for leishmaniasis, which is not a transmissible disease in the UK, but does mean his immune system is potentially compromised. We don't really have anywhere else to put him, so I am a bit worried I may have to bring him here anyway. I should, I think, be able to keep them separated if I have to, but it's not ideal. Stress stress stress stress.

Edit: 6pm. I've just left Az at the vet on a drip: he's been going downhill all today, and is now dehydrated and I can't get any medication into him orally. I feel terrible. Being left behind is one of Az's big fears and I've just done it to him.

Current Mood: tired

( Says Az, with many cries of 'Woo!' and much bouncing )

Current Mood: amused

I went on holiday to the Spinward Marches, with

chainmailmaiden,

king_pellinor,

ladyofastolat and

pwibethran (trying, not entirely successfully, to escape his LJ username) under the somewhat capricious and diversionary supervision of

philmophlegm, while eating heroic quantities of cake, and drinking surprising amounts of... well everything really, including a bottle of Advocaat and a bottle of Amarula Cream (otherwise known as Elephant Juice).

We found a spaceship of strange design, cleared out the corpses, redecorated it and sorted out the dodgy plumbing. Then, once we had addressed the important issue of en-suite toilets,
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Minor pet upsets of the week :
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Current Mood: tired

Az is being very needy and demanding this evening (usually, this is Mollydog's role). I'm not sure if he's missing Kya, or taking advantage of her absence.

In other news I set up a Google+ account to give it a go - but am fully expecting it to go the way of Buzz, Wave, the automatic moustache protecting device, and the serinette* and pass over and be forgotten.

* a type of barrel organ designed specifically for teaching birds to sing tunes other than those that come naturally.

I had the oddest experience today when I was walking the hounds. We met a nice old bloke with two large random mutts who greeted Mollydog enthusiastically : Az kept clear, as he usually does, but then quite unexpectedly, he came up to the owner, half stood up on his hind legs to reach his face (man was leaning forwards) and kissed him on the nose and behind both ears.

You could have knocked me down with a feather : Az is normally very cautious around strangers, particularly men carrying sticks. Normally if he's feeling really friendly he might sniff their hand and let them just touch his ears.

The chap was visibly moved by this. When I said how surprised I was, he said 'he must have sensed my loss, I lost my old greyhound lurcher last week'.

Chap was certainly a lurcher magnet.

Current Mood: surprised

Az and Bob have been in for their vaccination boosters. Az, as usual, behaved like he expected the vet to hit him.

Bob, as usual, behaved like he wanted the vet, the vet nurses, the receptionist, and random people in the reception area, to give him a big hug... Eventually, most of them gave in, and did.

Az has cracked one of his big canine teeth, it has died and needs to be removed. Vet thinks there is probably a little abcess under it. On the plus side, I did renew Az's vet insurance this year, as it's still significantly cheaper than Mollydog's so will only have to pay the excess. Which is something.

At the farmer's market on Saturday, I bought some steaks, and the gentleman on the stall then gave me 3 giant beef bones, and a huge bag of gristle, wobbly bits and offcuts of steak - all free! The hounds were delighted. I tried feeding the meaty stuff raw, but it gave Bob the runs (my two have cast iron stomachs!) so I stewed up the rest of it and served it cooked, which they liked very nearly as much.

We have a volunteer to do Bob's homecheck so with a bit of luck he will be able to go home soon! (the people in the vet were asking if he had become a permanent fixture!)

Current Mood: cheerful

I've just agreed to take a foster lurcher for Bristol Dog Action Welfare Group for a change rather than Oldies (Oldies has no dogs needing foster in the SW at the moment, they are all up in the North East where we have piles of them and very few foster homes. Most frustrating.
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Current Mood: nervous

( The new home )
( Corgipix )
( Susie, flies and loud noises. )
And speaking of dogs behaving differently, I just had one of those odd moments with Az, when I wonder what he makes of his people and suspect it might be more than I generally give him credit for.

I was looking for my wallet, which I'd once again put down somewhere, as you do. Az was standing near me, so I asked him where it was - not really expecting a reply. He wagged at me.

philmophlegm then told me that he,

philmophlegm, didn't know where my wallet was, and I told him that actually, I was asking Az, not him.

philmophlegm then alleged that a) Az was less likely to know where I had put my wallet than him and that b) Az was also less likely to reply to a conversational question of this kind.

So then we (ie, me and

philmophlegm) had a brief discussion about how handy it would be if I trained my dog to find things I had lost, such as my wallet, and how this would be an uncharacteristically useful thing for me to train my dog to do....

Az is standing there listening to all of this. And wagging. So, I said to him 'you could learn to find my wallet, couldn't you Az?'. At which point, he trotted over to my shopping bag, which I had hung from a hook, and prodded it in a decided manner. And he was right, that WAS where the missing wallet had got to! I've never even thought about teaching Az the word 'wallet'!

Good grief.

Current Mood: surprised

( I posted a suggestion to the new Your Freedom site about the ludicrous and costly Dangerous Dogs Act section 1. )

( I have grown a number of aubergines )

( I didn't deliberately plant tomatoes this year )

( I took Az and Perl to the vet yesterday. )

( Airships are the future! Or maybe not. )

( The Pandorica (without spoilers) )

And finally... the Oldies Club is currently considering an application to adopt from our oldest adopter yet. She's 97! The dog she's interested in is no spring chicken though - and she's an experienced owner (VERY experienced!) so they could be a good match.

Current Mood: lethargic

( dog is broken. again! )

In other news, the dratted BRAND NEW Vaillant boiler has developed a problem and is leaking and not working. The installer came today and could not fix, tomorrow comes the man from Vaillant under the warranty. I think our entire heating system is under a Curse. Thank goodness for the gas fire.

*our practice has several vets. Some I don't know well enough to have classified, but I have classified Rude Craig as useful but irritating, and Useless Martin as irritating and, yes, useless.