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Oct-12-2005 14:27

Yesterday morning at 6am, Texan, Woody, Zech, (our Yorkshire Terriers), & I, got up to get ready to leave for Katy, TX, to see our Pain Control Specialist, when Woodrow & Zechariah started coughing none stop. I became frantic because we had to go see our doctor, & couldn't take them to their doctor until we got back. So, to help stop the coughing I gave them small doses of Tussen DM, a cough formula. I gave this until we got back & rushed them straight to the Vet, at which time Woody was coughing continuously & having tremors. I was afraid Woody's trachea would collapse because a dog bit him on the neck years ago & damaged it. After the doctor checked them from head to toe, his prognosis was Bronchitis. Bronchitis has an incubation period from 5 to 10 days, then when symptoms are noticed, there's a harsh dry cough, aggravated by activity or excitement, sneezing, plus mucous in the throat that keeps one coughing & gagging, in an attempt to clear it, as well as a temperature. Neither of our boys had a temp or was sneezing. By getting treated right away this prevented the infection from elevating into a secondary bacterial infection or pneumonia. He had to give Woody a narcotic cough suppressant shot, to help him relax & stop coughing. He also prescribed an anti-inflammatory drug & anti-antibodic pills for the infection. He said to keep them dry & warm, but not too hot, plus rest for seven days. Said we should see a difference by tomorrow, which we have, thank goodness! Today, Woodrow has coughed when excited, or when he wants something to eat, so in order to keep him calm I had to give him a small dose of Benadryl, & yet he's still been whining & barking to go see his friend Sunny, who lives across the street. All day long Zech & Woody have went back & forth to the sliding glass doors, looking outside to let us know they want to see their little friend. Everyday they are use to going over to see Sunny &, in fact, my spouse carries them over there two or three times daily to see him, & when they don't get to go, they let us know about it..lol. Sunny's Mom sa

Oct-13-2005 14:51

Oh, Moonshh, it would have been so funny if you could have caught"The Swamp Thing/Bella," on tape and mailed it to "Amercia's Funniest Video's," ha!. I believe you'd win first prize..hehe.

Oct-13-2005 20:43

We've always had pets.
Rabbits, dogs, budgies, canaries, goats, cats, a mexican walking fish, guinea pigs, a variety of hens, horses and stick insects.

We had a big rottwieler when my sister was a baby and only just crawling. One day, Mum was just chillin' when she heard an intense growling. Abbie was no where to be seen. So, she walks into the hallway. Dan was backed up against the wall with his hind legs trying to scramble at the wall as my baby sister, Abbie was trying to tug the dog biscuit from his mouth and growling at him!
I don't think it was just because she was teething either... she ate the catfood all the time too.

Another time our uncle was housesitting for us...and vacumned up Abbie's yellow canary. So, being that one yellow canary looks like another and that he had time to replace the yellow canary with another yellow canary, he replaced it. With an orange canary.

We used to swiiming down at the river after school. At one stage, the chickens, Billy (angora goat) and George (ugly goat), Mouse (who was a cat) and Tor (dog) would come down to the river with us.

Another time when Sam was about 13.. got up one night horrified. He went to Mum, "Mum... I think I've wet the bed!" It was only Mouse having kittens in his bed.

Oct-13-2005 20:55

As for animals in the bed... well.

I saw a mouse in my older sister's room. I told her and she thought I was joking. We ended up having a BIG fight.

My sweet revenge came about 2 in the morning with the terrified screams of my sister because there was a mouse in her bed.

When I left home, it wasn't long before I missed having animals in the house. So, I decided to get a cat. I wanted a little grey kitten and so when there was an advertisement in the paper for grey and white kittens, I was off. There's was this cutest little grey kitten but as I was playing with her, a little grey and white furball curled up on my lap, started purring and fell asleep. I fell in love so we got him. Jools was soooo affectionate. He hated being left alone and would cry.. so right from the start he ended up sleeping with us. His idea of heaven- curled up betwen warm bodies. So, anyhoo, we broke up and Jools seemed to take this rather presonally... he wanted to share his bed with two people, not just me!
He started sneaking throught the neighbour's catdoor. They'd wake up only to find Jools nestled between them!

Jools is now living at my Mum and Dad's and while he's pretty much got Dad twisted around his little paw, he's still working on the whole "How to wheedle my way into the bedroom" scheme.

Oct-13-2005 23:36

Another Bella story, which actually happened whilst I was chatting with some of my old Underground companions and possibly even sleuthing.

Bella, who is a skilled huntress (She can even catch birds and snakes!), was barking outside with her "I've got some prey trapped here" bark. And I was merrily chatting away online.

And then I realized that the barking was coming from the living room, and I wasn't sure when it had come inside. Remembering how Bella had recently presented me with a small dead mouselike rodent, I assumed she had a mouse trapped behind the easy chair.

So, I moved the chair and came face to face with a HUGE possum! I went crazy! I was expecting to see a small living creature, but nothing like this! I ran around screaming, then went and typed to my sleuth friends for advice. The possum was, of course, "playing possum." After I calmed down a little I realized I had the repository of all human knowledge at my fingertips (the internet), and that surely I could find some advice on how to get this possum -this great big huge monster possum - out of my house.

I learned a lot, but in the end I isolated the dogs and waited for my husband to get home. Various tactics I tried by myself just did not work, no matter how well-researched.

The final solution was to put on our fireplace gloves, cover the possum with an upside-down laundry basket, and scoot him out the door under it. We haven't seen any possums in our yard since, so he must have warned all the ones in the area that we weren't worth messing with.

But I am still amazed that Bella brought that creature in through the dog door. And she's probably still mad at me for taking her special "prize" away...

Oct-14-2005 08:49

Thanks Daru for this tread, I also love reading about people's pets. The way that peopl treat their pets is a barometer of what kind of people they are.


I have a Jack Russell Terrior (Terror) named Jaxon. He is 6 years old and was purchased for my son for his birthday (his very first one, the dog is 5 months older than my son) by my father. Jaxon was, from the moment we got him, a bundle of energy, except when he was tired. Then his ears get droopy and he gets red around his eyes and very grumpy just like a little kid. He sleeps between my feet every night and if you dare move he grumbles and growls. When he feels it is bed time he will look towards his people and go to the foot of the stairs and sigh. After a few moments he will return to the couch and sigh again. He repeats this every few moments until we go upstairs to bed.
Jaxon is very special because he is blind. He lost his second eye to glaucoma in March while my husband and I were on vacation in New Youk City. Our neighbor Layne was looking in on him and he was staying in the garage while we were gone. We came home and his eye was swollen up and he obviously could not see and was very confused and in a lot of pain. We rushed him to the 24 hr. vet and his ocular pressure was 89. The doctors said that it was sudden and nothing Layne could have done could have saved the eye because the glaucoma would have been building up for months and dogs that lose one eye usually lose the other within a year. Jaxon has adjusted very well to his blindness. He no longer runs through the house but he can still find his favorite toy and bring it for a fun game of tug of war. He sleeps a lot more and has to be careful on the stairs. He still has his Napoleon complex and the same terrific personality. He has recently decided that old blind dogs should not have to walk themselves around and will lie on my bed and bark when he wants to get up in the mornings.

Oct-14-2005 08:54

He still causes the cat's lives to be very difficult (though they pay him back by jumping over him when he is on the floor and scaring the dickens out of him. He barks and growls and chases them, but it is not hard to hide.) Sometimes he will forget where the furniture or the last step is and will jump straight up in the air with nothing to jump onto.

People have questioned me about putting him down as his "quality of life is not good". But when he gives that last contented sigh before falling asleep after spending a lazy day in a comfortable home with food, water, and attention of the people who love him, I know he thinks his life is darn good.

Oct-14-2005 13:13

Sorry for this being late but: "You're very welcome, DaRu!" And, yes, Whiskey and Jayjay are doing quite fine.

Oct-14-2005 15:19

Gena, I think that is terrible for anyone to suggest putting him down just because he is blind. He still has alot of life in him,and being blind doesnt change that. :) I dont agree with putting animals down unless they are in complete pain and suffering, and there is nothing that can be done for him or her.
We had an Airedale Terrior named King when I was a kid,and what a gorgeous dog he was. Very hyper but a good dog! He would get loose,and the only way we could get him home would be to get in the car and go after him,even if it was just two houses down lol Thats the only way he would come.
He was fascinated with gloves and scarves, and would chase anyone who had one on! One time he got loose,and started chasing a poor kid down the street. He didnt want to hurt the boy,he just wanted his scarf but you sure couldnt explain that to that to him. The poor kid was scared to death lol Its not nice to laugh but I laugh about it now, just thinking of it. :)
King got cancer in his foot,and his toe was removed. That cured it for awhile,then years later,it came back and it was in his hip. He couldnt get up,or anything. The vet told us that they could take his whole leg,and bide him just a few more months or put him down.
That was a hard decision but King was such an energetic,lively dog that it wouldnt be fair to watch him hopping on 3 legs,only to die a few months after that so we decided to just put him to sleep. It was heart breaking but we couldnt stand the thought of watching him hopping on 3 legs. So sometimes, I know, it is for the better of the animal to put them down if they are suffering but a dog who is blind, well...thats not a good reason to put him down. :)

Oct-14-2005 15:21

Man for a split second I thought the title of this thread was "Share things about your past?"

......phew thank god, I am not being coaxed in to any shameful admissions. It's just about furry little persons.

Oct-14-2005 15:24

I was already wondering why people were sharing long stories about their past.