Fully Vetted

Nothing like a bit of snow for reminding us how dirty our dogs are…

Spot in the snow

I do love my animals at home.  I do, however, also value a fairly tidy home. I don’t think I’m OCD about the cleanliness of the home, just like to enjoy sitting on a reasonably hair-free sofa.

I am thinking of gathering an online forum (Pet Lovers Opposed to Dirt, PLOD) to discuss and share tips on how pets and a clean home may not be mutually exclusive. My first idea; the i-robot Roomba. A little robotic hoover that merrily hoovers the floor all day, recharging wherever necessary back at its docking station.

So if you’d like to join the PLODders, please comment below.

Rescue centres have seen twice the number of animals dumped for re-homing. A sure sign that the credit crunch is affecting our ability to look after our pets. I have written before about what a financial commitment a pet is - £500-700/year for a cat and £1000+ per year for a dog.  I’m sure no one wants to part with a beloved pet; planning the costs are critical at this time, here are a few tips that could help:

1. Bulk Buy pet foods, flea treatments and worm treatments.  You can’t cut these things out so get the best price you can!  Look for deals; we’ve recently been offering 3 for 2 bags of food and 33% extra on worming and flea treatments.

2. Don’t cut back on preventative healthcare or insurance. These things are vital if you have financial difficulties. Treating a problem is much more expensive than preventing one. Remember also that it’s not just vet’s bills insurance covers.  Third party insurance for canines is very necessary and covers up to £1 000 000 in most cases. One day, like car insurance, it may become compulsory.

3. Be Creative with pet-sitting needs.  If you need to pay a regular dogsitter/catsitter then try to team up with another pet owner and barter favours. The Cinnamon Trust will help elderly or ill people with petcare needs such as walking and overnight care.

4. Speak up.  Let your vet know if your pet needs urgent treatment and you’re worried about the cost.  Discuss different treatment options. In real cases of financial hardship your vet may agree to a monthly payment plan.

5. Help is available if you are in real financial hardship. The PDSA exists to help those on benefits and low-incomes financial support for care of their animals.  Again the Cinnamon Trust can help elderly or terminally ill with pet care and the RSPCA, SCAS  and Blue Cross are other charities to speak to.

Finally,though unlikely to raise big bucks, how about sending your pet to work?  Pets all sorts of shapes and sizes are required for modelling and TV work. They need to be well trained and you need some spare time to take them to the auditions!

Captured a lovely moment between dog and baby today. 

Dogs have shown little interest in the baby on the whole but today Sprocket decided to see if she was up for a game of fetch.

On a Health and Safety note, I did monitor the whole interaction very closely but there was no fear in either party, just curiosity.  Sprocket wasn’t cornered and was free to leave if he wanted but he was very happy to share her lovely quilt for a while.  (NEVER let a baby approach and corner a pet, particularly if they are asleep!)

Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful relationship.

What is a good pedigree? 

The recent BBC1 documentary has highlighted the not-so-wonderful side of dog breeding. Of most concern is the attitude of the breeders that are in it for the vanity of showing, and the money that comes with it.  All will profess to being dog lovers but do they really walk the talk? Read the rest of this entry »

Pesky things, grass seeds. They are almost as sharp as thorns and in such abundance this time of year. I think we have removed them from most orifices in pets; eyes, noses, nailbeds, ears, the list goes on

Even worse, due to their streamline conformation, grass seeds can work their way into the body , under the skin, up legs or even into body cavities such as the middle or inner ear.

Not all grass seeds are the same. Though I’m no gardener the worse ones are the ones that look like this - I think this is a fox tail variety. Read the rest of this entry »

There are some days when I threaten the spaniels that they’ll be posted on eBay.  Their misdemeanours over the past few days are listed here:

Sprocket woke the baby up by barking 

Spot had weed in the kitchen overnight

Sprocket chewed up the baby’s squeaky toy

Sprocket and Spot, in the car park where we stop to walk, found someone’s disregarded McDonalds by a bin and wolfed the lot

Spot rolled in fox poo on his walk Read the rest of this entry »

  I have recently had to keep our dearly beloved cat in a cage to help him recover from a broken leg.  Over the years I’ve prescribed resting in a confinement cage to many a broken cat. The usual reason being that because we make such a good job of repairing our patient’s broken bones and keeping their pain levels under control that they feel great and want to run around. If we let them go about their daily life outside they risk dislodging some of the meticulously placed metal work that is holding the bones together. Bear in mind that bones take 6-8 weeks to knit and tendons/ligaments even longer.  The metal work is stronger than the bones and if dislodged can cause serious further damage. Read the rest of this entry »

I set off today in fine spirits. We’ve had a lovely few days of weather and what could be better than a dog walk by the river in the sunshine? Read the rest of this entry »

Since the arrival of our baby , the dog walk has become a little more complex:

Never have I had to make such a detailed assessment of the weather before the walk ( Metcheck is by far the best tool for this.) I need to work out what gadgets and extra layers must then be stuffed into my combat pants to avoid baby getting sunstroke/heatstroke/drenched/chilled. This is in addition to trying to stuff 2 dog leads, poo bags, dog whistle and ball into the combats. 

If the detailed assessment of the weather and gathering of appropriate attire hasn’t taken too long we can leave the house before the weather has changed, the baby needs another nappy change or it has got dark

The site of dog walk and mode of baby transport must also be considered very carefully.  Steep hills, stiles and fields full of cows are now quite hazardous with a small child and far too grubby to actually take our four wheel drive high-tech buggy that cost a fortune. I have taken to using the babasling as a mode of baby transport. I have no idea what I’ll do when she becomes a big fat baby, perhaps I can buy the boys a dog treadmill (only joking, don’t they look horrid) 

(dogs and babies need to be walked whatever the weather - here is husband modelling baby sling and baby modelling thermal baby gro)