PET'S CORNER

[Stanley]

Thanks Ian. I think we have both survived. Long time since I got the red mist but I had it that morning in the back street! That horrible woman has no idea how lucky she was, all the old instincts were kicking in. What many people forget is that they taught some of us some very nasty ways of hurting people at one time and it's surprising how they are still there buried in my head.

[Cathy]

Our 12yr old Lady has been very unwell for the last few days. Quite stressful all round. Luckily her Vet comes well recommended and he is very thorough. He's the first Vet to tell us that Lady has a heart murmur. On Tuesday he was baffled as to what could be wrong with her and told us to get a urine sample from her (you try getting one from a cat that hasn't drank water for days and eaten almost nothing), anyway after some fun and games she presented me with her first wee in days, five minutes before we had to leave for appointment. Phew.
This morning I told him of a new problem she has /now had that started last night (licking her bottom too much). . He checked her again and found an internal ulcer the size of a golf ball!! in her anal gland. We were all shocked and Lady's only a small cat.
He said in his 10yrs of being a Vet he has never come across it in an indoor cat. It's always the outdoor cats being injured abs causing ulcers thru fighting.
She spent today at the Vets having it lanced.
There haven't been many 'ups' in the last few days but she is home now and fingers crossed all should be well.

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[PanBiker]

A urine sample from a cat! you must be Wonder Woman Cathy, well done. Glad to hear they have found the problem and Lady is doing OK.

[Wendyf]

I hope she makes a good recovery Cathy. Love that "don't touch me or you'll regret it! " look on her face!

[Cathy]

She is on 'calm down' medication for the next few days so she is a bit spaced out at the moment, but she has tried to attack us a few times over the last few days (and the Vet), we didn't realise she was in pain when we touched her.
She has already eaten a small amount of food and lapped a little water so I'm very pleased and hopefully she will sleep thru the night and feel much better tomorrow.

[Stanley]

In dogs it's caused by blocked anal glands which are normally kept open by passing hard stool. In dogs they give advanced signals by skating their bum on the ground. Many people think this is a sure sign of worms but this is wrong, it's an itchy bum more usually caused by a simple blockage. The cure is warm water and stick your finger up their bum! I used to have to do that on a regular maintenance level with Eigg the Jack Russell. Ah, the joys of being a companion animal!

[Cathy]

The thing with cats is that they are very good at hiding their aches and pains.

[Stanley]

[Cathy]

I'm keeping notes of everything and the amounts that our Lady eats (1 Tablespoon at a time) and drinks, wee's etc. She has improved a lot , especially her mood and today she used her bowels for the first time in over a week. Very pleased. I'm still very conscious not to touch her on her lower back. She is doing really well but still needs a lot of sleep and quiet. Next Vet appointment on Monday.

[Marilyn]

It's "in the family" at present with you and your beloved cat, and my son with his beloved dog ( with a knee op last Friday).
Keep an eye out for your nephew and his darling black Labrador, because you live very close and may pass each other coming in and out of the vet's surgery!
( PS...don't be carrying any form of Pizza on your person if encountering my son's Labrador for, as poorly as she is just now, she will detect it, and knock you down to the ground for the merest scrap of Pizza Crust...which is all she ever gets anyway...but it seems a great delight in her life. My son was a bit sad that she needed surgery but I assured him she was not at the end of her days and had not had her last tiny taste of Pizza Crust)

[Marilyn]

Pic to follow. This was her second knee op ( the shaved side) and they kindly gave her a pain patch ( the little wrap above her paw). She sleeps like this all the time. This is "her" couch...because she has slept on it since a pup and takes up the entire space. No one wants to sit there anyway because it smells like a dog bed.

[Stanley]

[Marilyn]

He didn't get much change from £2.000...

[Stanley]

Bloody hell Maz!
Remember my Phantom Piddler problem? Working on the principle that the fault was mine in that I wasn't managing Jack in the best way I changed our routine. For the last ten years I have fed Jack once a day at 3PM and he has thrived off it. I decided to go back to the regime I had with Eigg, the Jack Russell which lived to be almost 20. I started giving Jack a sausage each morning after his walk to fill a corner and fed him slightly less at 3PM. I also introduced another short walk at 3PM in addition to his 6AM and 10AM walks. He also gets a short trot out for a pee at about 21:00. At the same time, when he has had his drink of water after his main meal I tip the water out and put 1/2 a pint in his bowl. I have an idea he was drinking a lot during the night. There is always a little bit of water left in his bowl each morning so he's not getting dehydrated.
The result so far is 100% success, the Phantom Piddler has not returned. Of course I might be wrong..... but I shall live in hope! So I reckon it was all my fault!
PS. I mentioned this to Gillian during the recent unpleasantness and she said that it was exactly the regime she follows.

[Marilyn]

How is Lady progressing, Cazza?
Abby is "not too bad". ( think the pain patch has worn of and she just needs to get moving).

[Cathy]

Lady is doing really well, her personality is showing itself today and her wound looks healthy. Still some way to go but I'm very pleased with her so far. She is now on 2 Tablespoons of wet-food and a few biccies each meal (3-4 meals each day) and drinking about 90-100ml water each day.

[Stanley]

Keep at it Cathy, good nursing can work wonders. They are tough little buggers!

[Marilyn]

Seems like Sausages will be on your shopping list each week from here on in, Stanley.

[Stanley]

Very perceptive Maz. They always were but now I need an extra seven each week. A small price to pay......

[Marilyn]

Abby has a vet appointment today for removing her pain patch and some laser treatment. Don't know what the laser treatment does ( and neither does my son). She is coming good though and begging to go out for a walk...

[Stanley]

I'd need to be convinced that the laser treatment had an essential purpose I think. I'm a suspicious old bugger and it sounds to me like a good way to get an extra fee.... Sorry to sound negative.

[Marilyn]

Whatever it is, everything is included in the price. No more to pay...

[Stanley]

In that case it can't be a scam. Good!

[Cathy]

Lady had her last vet appointment last night and has been given the .

New laws for cat and dog owners and breeders were introduced in Sth Aust on 1 July this year. It is now compulsory for all cats and dogs to be microchipped by 12 weeks of age , or if a new cat or dog is acquired that is not microchipped , it must have one implanted within 28 days . All cats and dogs born after 1 July this year must also be desexed at the appropriate time. Exemptios apply for working dogs and registered breeders etc.

Dogs have always been registered and they will soon be introducing cat registration s.

[Stanley]

Makes sense Cathy.
I identified the Phantom Feline Crapper in the back street yesterday. I caught it in the act of defecation! It has been favouring a different loose infill patch further up the street. It's the small scruffy looking black and white cat which I think lives at No 2.