I think a note on this is important.
The PROTECT study is an extensive, long-term study on the effectiveness of treating dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dobermanns. This disease - swelling of the heart - is a major issue; it's been estimated that as many as 50% of all males die from it and a significant chunk of the females too (males are much worse affected though, if the stats are anything to go by).
The study is looking at how effective pimobendan (trade name Vetmedin) is at treating occult DCM; that is, DCM that as yet has shown no outward symptoms. It's a sneaky disease - once a dog is showing signs it's usually quite far along and the dog doesn't have much time left.
Under the study, dobes aged between 5-9 (the other age ranges have the numbers they need now) are being scanned free of charge at one of two teaching hospitals to determine if they are in the early stages of DCM. If they are, then they are entered into a double-blind study (so an affected dog would be given either Vetmedin or a placebo, but no-one knows which) and monitored. If not, well, at least we know their heart is healthy. The hospitals do sometimes do repeat scans on unaffected dogs too - Soli is going for her second next month.
It's well worth looking into - DCM in dobes appears to have a strong genetic element so the more that can be learned the better (to that end, any information about the dog's parents, siblings etc that is know is collected - although if nothing is known the dog can still be scanned).
As I've said, Soli has been scanned once, in Jan '08 - although her heart was fine, the hospital run blood tests as part of the study and that was how we first became aware of a thyroid issue with her. Luckily despite that - and her other medical issues now - they are still happy to scan her again.
So on the 9th July, me, Soli, Remy and Paige are all off to Liverpool! Remy is now in the age range - back in '08 he was a few months too young.
I urge anyone who has or knows of a dobe (or dobes), 5-9 years old inclusive, to give the PROTECT peeps a call; leave your details and they'll get back to you very quickly. It's worth it - every dobe helps, and every dobe could potentially benefit from the findings of the study one day.
The number to call is 01344 742 574.
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Monday, 7 June 2010
They've Gone!
Poor Mr Monkey chin has lost his, ahem, 'assets'. He's looking rather sorry for himself but hopefully, this will be the start of a brighter future for him!
In other news, my attempts to give my miserable single male mice some friends - the babies were split today - have failed in 3 of the 4 miseries. They are too dang violent. The 4th is nice though - poor lad was nearly killed, the others beat him up that badly - and he now has 9 new friends!
In other news, my attempts to give my miserable single male mice some friends - the babies were split today - have failed in 3 of the 4 miseries. They are too dang violent. The 4th is nice though - poor lad was nearly killed, the others beat him up that badly - and he now has 9 new friends!
The Dogs: Saffi
My most recent addition. Saffi got here on May 1st under the name of Becky - not the right name for her at all.
I got a phonecall that day from a pet sitter I know, asking if I knew anywhere that could take a lab immediately - she was being neglected, ignored in favour of the owner's own lab (relationship breakup and Saffi was the ex's dog) and the sitter felt it was urgent to get her out sharpish. I said I could foster her here so I went straight round to pick her up.
She was a bit underweight and not happy where she was - we took her round the block and when we got back, her tail flopped and she just kind of 'sank' :-( and glued herself to my leg.
When I got her home, my housemate took one look and fell for her - so I agreed to a one month trial period, the sole condition being that the housemate had to get off her backside and start doing her fair share of housework. She didn't, just as I'd expected, and other issues surfaced too - jealousy over anyone else fussing 'her' dog, encouraging Saff to run or play footy knowing she had bad legs, or walking Saff after being at work all day then shutting herself in her room for the rest of the evening and ignoring poor Saffi.
So last Saturday was the month end, I told housemate that Saffi would be staying but would not be her dog and why... and so I have my fifth dog (btw if anyone's wondering, the two dobes I took on have moved on - not my choice, long and unpleasant story).
What little info there is on her tattoo tells me that Saffi will be 6 in August, she was tattooed as a pup but no details were ever registered - breeder or owner. The last people got her from a rescue last year, and last October she had a litter by c-section and was spayed at the same time :-( She's not been walked much - 5 weeks on and we're just now at the point of walking 20-30 minutes twice a day without serious lameness afterwards, but her back and front left legs are still very sore - getting up is difficult for her. I'm looking into hydrotherapy and a chiropractor visit for her to try and help her.
She's a lovely girl though - she slotted in perfectly here with my lot, even with grumpy Soli, she's very demanding of her fuss and typically greedy for a lab but she is very well behaved and obedient, fab all round.
I got a phonecall that day from a pet sitter I know, asking if I knew anywhere that could take a lab immediately - she was being neglected, ignored in favour of the owner's own lab (relationship breakup and Saffi was the ex's dog) and the sitter felt it was urgent to get her out sharpish. I said I could foster her here so I went straight round to pick her up.
She was a bit underweight and not happy where she was - we took her round the block and when we got back, her tail flopped and she just kind of 'sank' :-( and glued herself to my leg.
When I got her home, my housemate took one look and fell for her - so I agreed to a one month trial period, the sole condition being that the housemate had to get off her backside and start doing her fair share of housework. She didn't, just as I'd expected, and other issues surfaced too - jealousy over anyone else fussing 'her' dog, encouraging Saff to run or play footy knowing she had bad legs, or walking Saff after being at work all day then shutting herself in her room for the rest of the evening and ignoring poor Saffi.
So last Saturday was the month end, I told housemate that Saffi would be staying but would not be her dog and why... and so I have my fifth dog (btw if anyone's wondering, the two dobes I took on have moved on - not my choice, long and unpleasant story).
What little info there is on her tattoo tells me that Saffi will be 6 in August, she was tattooed as a pup but no details were ever registered - breeder or owner. The last people got her from a rescue last year, and last October she had a litter by c-section and was spayed at the same time :-( She's not been walked much - 5 weeks on and we're just now at the point of walking 20-30 minutes twice a day without serious lameness afterwards, but her back and front left legs are still very sore - getting up is difficult for her. I'm looking into hydrotherapy and a chiropractor visit for her to try and help her.
She's a lovely girl though - she slotted in perfectly here with my lot, even with grumpy Soli, she's very demanding of her fuss and typically greedy for a lab but she is very well behaved and obedient, fab all round.
The Dogs: River
River's story is pretty short, really.
I stupidly browsed a freead site this time in 07; I spotted a dog that looked rather a lot like Opi. That's pretty much the history - I contacted the owner to suggest Dogpages, we got talking and I ended up bringing River (then Bella, but she's far too stroppy for that name) home. She's 50/50 lab X collie but takes after the collie side - very intense, focused, obsessive.
The owner couldn't keep Riv as her daughter was undergoing serious treatment for cancer - Riv was not only an infection risk but had bad separation anxiety when I got her so couldn't be left behind while her owner went to the daughter's.
That issue is sorted now, and agility is on the cards starting tonight.
I stupidly browsed a freead site this time in 07; I spotted a dog that looked rather a lot like Opi. That's pretty much the history - I contacted the owner to suggest Dogpages, we got talking and I ended up bringing River (then Bella, but she's far too stroppy for that name) home. She's 50/50 lab X collie but takes after the collie side - very intense, focused, obsessive.
The owner couldn't keep Riv as her daughter was undergoing serious treatment for cancer - Riv was not only an infection risk but had bad separation anxiety when I got her so couldn't be left behind while her owner went to the daughter's.
That issue is sorted now, and agility is on the cards starting tonight.
The Dogs: Soli
I'll keep this fairly short; Soli will get her own lengthy article at some point.
Soli is a brilliant example of what not to do when getting a puppy: don't go for a working breed you know nothing about (especially when you know nothing about dogs at all); don't go for the noisiest, bolshiest pup in the litter; don't not bother to train said pup; don't see her be frightened of other pups once and abandon all socialisation of any kind; don't waste money on a behaviourist who knows naff-all.
All these don'ts were ignored with Soli: at 4 weeks old, in a litter of 16, she barked and barked and that is why her old owner picked her, on a whim, when the boyfriend was picking his pup (who was also terrified of other dogs, like their parents, as it turned out - bad breeding at work, ladies and gents).
One or two puppy classes and a scared pup later and all socialisation was abandoned except with the brother - literally. When Soli came to me in Dec 06, she had never met children, was scared of strangers, all dogs to an extreme, and reacted to just about every noise (she still does to an extent).
The owner went on a Jan Fennel course - waste of time and money - she learned nothing helpful and Soli was still a pain in the bum.
At 5.5 years old, her owner's hours increased so Soli was put on Dogpages for rehoming. In 5 months, not one person stepped forward; it took 5 months before I could offer a home but I watched all the while, desperately wanting a red dobe bitch.
She came home and the fun began: extreme aggression displays to frighten off other dogs, on or off lead; severe guarding of sofas, beds and stolen things (had it not been for my thick fleece jacket she would have given me a nasty bite once over a stolen glove); nervousness, so on and so forth.
It took about 2 1/2 years all told to really get to grips with it; there are still niggling issues and always will be, her fear is too ingrained (and too genetic also) to fully solve but she's fine as she is. She's a medical nightmare - to date she is incontinent (from her spay at 2 years old, but the meds work), has hypothyroidism, osteoarthritis caused by bony degenerative disease, a peculiar irritation/inflammation issue on one leg bone, a wonky pelvis (which caused a lot of the initial aggression), and at present is healing from a nasty tear on her leg caused by... wait for it... no, not a dog fight...
...a bush. Sigh. That little episode has so far cost me over £200 - the initial knockout and staples, then the restapling after she pulled some out, then the re-restapling after she caught some on my car seat.
She's also just had samples taken of a HUGE lump in her abdomen - she's plastered in fatty lumps, dozens of them, but this one is tucked inside the bottom of her ribcage and very hard to feel so I've only just found it. It looks fatty but we're checking to be sure.
All in all, blumming heck what a dog! She's also just had a major grump at Saffi for the horrendous crime of touching her while she was asleep (this is a big issue of hers, because of her joint problems she is perpetually worried that a dog will touch her and hurt her when she's lying down). Fun.
Soli is a brilliant example of what not to do when getting a puppy: don't go for a working breed you know nothing about (especially when you know nothing about dogs at all); don't go for the noisiest, bolshiest pup in the litter; don't not bother to train said pup; don't see her be frightened of other pups once and abandon all socialisation of any kind; don't waste money on a behaviourist who knows naff-all.
All these don'ts were ignored with Soli: at 4 weeks old, in a litter of 16, she barked and barked and that is why her old owner picked her, on a whim, when the boyfriend was picking his pup (who was also terrified of other dogs, like their parents, as it turned out - bad breeding at work, ladies and gents).
One or two puppy classes and a scared pup later and all socialisation was abandoned except with the brother - literally. When Soli came to me in Dec 06, she had never met children, was scared of strangers, all dogs to an extreme, and reacted to just about every noise (she still does to an extent).
The owner went on a Jan Fennel course - waste of time and money - she learned nothing helpful and Soli was still a pain in the bum.
At 5.5 years old, her owner's hours increased so Soli was put on Dogpages for rehoming. In 5 months, not one person stepped forward; it took 5 months before I could offer a home but I watched all the while, desperately wanting a red dobe bitch.
She came home and the fun began: extreme aggression displays to frighten off other dogs, on or off lead; severe guarding of sofas, beds and stolen things (had it not been for my thick fleece jacket she would have given me a nasty bite once over a stolen glove); nervousness, so on and so forth.
It took about 2 1/2 years all told to really get to grips with it; there are still niggling issues and always will be, her fear is too ingrained (and too genetic also) to fully solve but she's fine as she is. She's a medical nightmare - to date she is incontinent (from her spay at 2 years old, but the meds work), has hypothyroidism, osteoarthritis caused by bony degenerative disease, a peculiar irritation/inflammation issue on one leg bone, a wonky pelvis (which caused a lot of the initial aggression), and at present is healing from a nasty tear on her leg caused by... wait for it... no, not a dog fight...
...a bush. Sigh. That little episode has so far cost me over £200 - the initial knockout and staples, then the restapling after she pulled some out, then the re-restapling after she caught some on my car seat.
She's also just had samples taken of a HUGE lump in her abdomen - she's plastered in fatty lumps, dozens of them, but this one is tucked inside the bottom of her ribcage and very hard to feel so I've only just found it. It looks fatty but we're checking to be sure.
All in all, blumming heck what a dog! She's also just had a major grump at Saffi for the horrendous crime of touching her while she was asleep (this is a big issue of hers, because of her joint problems she is perpetually worried that a dog will touch her and hurt her when she's lying down). Fun.
The Dogs: Opi
Dog number 2. Opi - a rottweiler X collie - came home as an 8 week old "purebred rottweiler" from an accidental litter. The accidental part I can believe - the 'breeder' was idiot enough to have an in-season rott bitch wandering around his farm with his male dogs. But purebred? Nosiree! She's at least half rott though, and I suspect 3/4.
She arrived as a companion for Remy when he was 5 1/2 months old - they still love each other very much at 7 years old (Opi is turning 7 on the 17th) and I can't kennel them separately or Remy goes into a severe depression. Yes, dogs get it too.
Opiis my 'trick' dog - she loves to learn tricks and has the best rollover ever - although it can be a tad violent if I ask her to do it as she's running towards me. She really launches herself (literally) into it, it's like something out of an action movie. It would work well with an explosion sequence behind her I think!
She's done a bit of agility but not much; she didn't listen to me 'wait' cue once and ran up the seesaw thinking it was the dog walk and since then, she'll only do a few jumps before she gets worried and refuses to continue. She does, though, love to do heelwork so I'll be starting competitive obedience training with her soon.
She arrived as a companion for Remy when he was 5 1/2 months old - they still love each other very much at 7 years old (Opi is turning 7 on the 17th) and I can't kennel them separately or Remy goes into a severe depression. Yes, dogs get it too.
Opiis my 'trick' dog - she loves to learn tricks and has the best rollover ever - although it can be a tad violent if I ask her to do it as she's running towards me. She really launches herself (literally) into it, it's like something out of an action movie. It would work well with an explosion sequence behind her I think!
She's done a bit of agility but not much; she didn't listen to me 'wait' cue once and ran up the seesaw thinking it was the dog walk and since then, she'll only do a few jumps before she gets worried and refuses to continue. She does, though, love to do heelwork so I'll be starting competitive obedience training with her soon.
The Dogs: Remy
And so to the dogs.
Remy was my first dog. He's a dobermann, but not as we know it: Remy is a fawn, or Isabella, to use the correct term. Genetically, he's a diluted brown/chocolate/red (choose your preference - I prefer redhead myself, it sums them up well). He's badly bred; his sire was a fawn also, and his dam a blue.
Four words: NEVER BREED FROM DILUTES. The result is Remy; he started to lose his hair at less than 2 years old and now, at nearly 7, he's almost entirely bald. He has colour dilute alopecia - very common in the blues and fawns, it's a genetic problem exacerbated by poor breeding. He also has terrible problems with pimples on his back, again due to breeding. Anyone who deliberately breeds for these colours is not breeding in the interest of the dogs: mark my words, they are breeding for the money.
That said, his temperament is fab; he's loving, soppy, everything a dobe should be. He is, however, the laziest dog I have ever met in my life, and there the typical dobe nature ends! They should be like Soli: boundless energy, always ready for the next adventure. Remy... well, to put it simply, Remy can't be bothered.
There is a medical issue at play as well; although what it is, we have yet to figure out. He has symptoms of Cushing's disease - his hair loss is increasing now (he's started to lose his fluffy undercoat (which blacks and reds don't have), which he never has before); hair regrowth is very slow - I had to shave a patch on April 12th after he got bitten, and it's still obvious now. His weight is almost impossible to shift - he's been overweight for years now, and what a normal dog could lose in months it's taken my 3 years to get off him (and 2/3 of that went back on in 2 weeks of slightly increased rations to try and curb his insane appetite - another symptom); he drinks too much; he is badly lethargic. But all tests so far say no to Cushing's.
He has hypothyroidism; we are seeing if an increased dose of his meds helps before the next diagnostic attempts but so far, no joy. Next will maybe be x-rays to check for sinister things; possibly a referral to a vet college to scan his adrenal glands (I know of someone whose dog has gone through everything the same as Remy, all negative results, only to have a massive, inoperable tumour on her adrenal gland causing Cushing's). Maybe an ultrasound. We shall see.
In his more healthy past Remy was doing quite well at agility - but following bad trainers, and then a shoulder injury in Nov 06 that took 6 months to get over (and the weight gain from that is still our battle today), it's something he's unlikely to do again. He now has a touch of arthritis in that shoulder, and a hint of hip dysplasia and arthritis in his left hip.
Remy was my first dog. He's a dobermann, but not as we know it: Remy is a fawn, or Isabella, to use the correct term. Genetically, he's a diluted brown/chocolate/red (choose your preference - I prefer redhead myself, it sums them up well). He's badly bred; his sire was a fawn also, and his dam a blue.
Four words: NEVER BREED FROM DILUTES. The result is Remy; he started to lose his hair at less than 2 years old and now, at nearly 7, he's almost entirely bald. He has colour dilute alopecia - very common in the blues and fawns, it's a genetic problem exacerbated by poor breeding. He also has terrible problems with pimples on his back, again due to breeding. Anyone who deliberately breeds for these colours is not breeding in the interest of the dogs: mark my words, they are breeding for the money.
That said, his temperament is fab; he's loving, soppy, everything a dobe should be. He is, however, the laziest dog I have ever met in my life, and there the typical dobe nature ends! They should be like Soli: boundless energy, always ready for the next adventure. Remy... well, to put it simply, Remy can't be bothered.
There is a medical issue at play as well; although what it is, we have yet to figure out. He has symptoms of Cushing's disease - his hair loss is increasing now (he's started to lose his fluffy undercoat (which blacks and reds don't have), which he never has before); hair regrowth is very slow - I had to shave a patch on April 12th after he got bitten, and it's still obvious now. His weight is almost impossible to shift - he's been overweight for years now, and what a normal dog could lose in months it's taken my 3 years to get off him (and 2/3 of that went back on in 2 weeks of slightly increased rations to try and curb his insane appetite - another symptom); he drinks too much; he is badly lethargic. But all tests so far say no to Cushing's.
He has hypothyroidism; we are seeing if an increased dose of his meds helps before the next diagnostic attempts but so far, no joy. Next will maybe be x-rays to check for sinister things; possibly a referral to a vet college to scan his adrenal glands (I know of someone whose dog has gone through everything the same as Remy, all negative results, only to have a massive, inoperable tumour on her adrenal gland causing Cushing's). Maybe an ultrasound. We shall see.
In his more healthy past Remy was doing quite well at agility - but following bad trainers, and then a shoulder injury in Nov 06 that took 6 months to get over (and the weight gain from that is still our battle today), it's something he's unlikely to do again. He now has a touch of arthritis in that shoulder, and a hint of hip dysplasia and arthritis in his left hip.
The mice
In June last year, I took on 38 mice from the RSPCA who had been stuck for a month or so with no interest. The day they came home, there were 5 babies and one very obviously pregnant doe.
The next morning, there were 11 more babies.
12 of the 15 adults were boys; these have been the best of the bunch, very sweet, never fighting with each other as boys tend to do (male mice are an aggressive bunch generally).
I duly split the older babies up as needed, and did the same when the new ones were old enough; things were fine. Then the fun started.
I had a couple of escapees; mice are sods for this, to put it nicely. Scarily smart for such tiny things.
Then one evening, my worst, most persistent escapee broke out of his cage at the very same time that my girls - in the tank below - broke out of theirs. He went in with them for the evening and 3 weeks later, babies galore!
All those litters were grown and split up as before; sadly a lot of the babies were killed - one mum had a terrible mammary lump which caused her to kill, and another was obsessively grandmothering the babies by moving them out of the nest so they starved. I built the girls a 6ft cage at the other end of the house to prevent further mishaps, and things were fine. Then the fun started.
No, that wasn't a typo; it was the start of deja vu.
One of the younger males, at a couple of months old, disappeared from his cage one night. I set humane traps - by this point, the younger lads had proven that they had inherited the Escapee Genius Gene (the EGG) and I'd had to buy some traps as every fortification I did was beaten. I didn't find him for 3 weeks; he'd either gone out the dog flap (by this point, the boys were living in my lean-to where the flap is open 24/7) or ventured into the rat cage to meet an untimely end.
No such luck. I walked past the girls' cage and noticed one of them had another horrendous lump. Again, no such luck: 'she' had two lumps, and they were indeed horrendous. There was my missing male, happy as Larry living with my then 25 females. Yikes.
That was a month ago; the last 2 of the 37 babies (less 5, having been eaten by another lump-festooned angry girl - there's a real genetic lump issue with this lot of mice sadly) are now two weeks old, and the older ones - 29 now (one male was moved last week) - are to be split up today, to keep some single boys company who have fallen out violently with each other (as I said, they are aggressive little gits, male mice).
I suspect at least one more litter on the way; annoyingly, one of the younger girls has shown evidence of that pesky EGG and has repeatedly gotten out of the 6ft cage (I still cannot work out how), and found her way across the house, through 4 rooms, past 5 dogs, 2 rats, 2 chinchillas, and 7 degus, into the boys' room and to the shelf 3 feet off the floor, to meet up with another EGG possessing boy and be mated.
ARG.
Fortifications on the boys' room and the girls' cage will begin shortly: I will be entirely rebuilding the boys' setup, to go from 'random boot-fair bought cage setups' to 'fitted cage complex' much like I've done with the chins and goos.
And no more mice once the last ones go!!
The next morning, there were 11 more babies.
12 of the 15 adults were boys; these have been the best of the bunch, very sweet, never fighting with each other as boys tend to do (male mice are an aggressive bunch generally).
I duly split the older babies up as needed, and did the same when the new ones were old enough; things were fine. Then the fun started.
I had a couple of escapees; mice are sods for this, to put it nicely. Scarily smart for such tiny things.
Then one evening, my worst, most persistent escapee broke out of his cage at the very same time that my girls - in the tank below - broke out of theirs. He went in with them for the evening and 3 weeks later, babies galore!
All those litters were grown and split up as before; sadly a lot of the babies were killed - one mum had a terrible mammary lump which caused her to kill, and another was obsessively grandmothering the babies by moving them out of the nest so they starved. I built the girls a 6ft cage at the other end of the house to prevent further mishaps, and things were fine. Then the fun started.
No, that wasn't a typo; it was the start of deja vu.
One of the younger males, at a couple of months old, disappeared from his cage one night. I set humane traps - by this point, the younger lads had proven that they had inherited the Escapee Genius Gene (the EGG) and I'd had to buy some traps as every fortification I did was beaten. I didn't find him for 3 weeks; he'd either gone out the dog flap (by this point, the boys were living in my lean-to where the flap is open 24/7) or ventured into the rat cage to meet an untimely end.
No such luck. I walked past the girls' cage and noticed one of them had another horrendous lump. Again, no such luck: 'she' had two lumps, and they were indeed horrendous. There was my missing male, happy as Larry living with my then 25 females. Yikes.
That was a month ago; the last 2 of the 37 babies (less 5, having been eaten by another lump-festooned angry girl - there's a real genetic lump issue with this lot of mice sadly) are now two weeks old, and the older ones - 29 now (one male was moved last week) - are to be split up today, to keep some single boys company who have fallen out violently with each other (as I said, they are aggressive little gits, male mice).
I suspect at least one more litter on the way; annoyingly, one of the younger girls has shown evidence of that pesky EGG and has repeatedly gotten out of the 6ft cage (I still cannot work out how), and found her way across the house, through 4 rooms, past 5 dogs, 2 rats, 2 chinchillas, and 7 degus, into the boys' room and to the shelf 3 feet off the floor, to meet up with another EGG possessing boy and be mated.
ARG.
Fortifications on the boys' room and the girls' cage will begin shortly: I will be entirely rebuilding the boys' setup, to go from 'random boot-fair bought cage setups' to 'fitted cage complex' much like I've done with the chins and goos.
And no more mice once the last ones go!!
The rats
A nice quick post.
I've had something like 70 rats in the last 11 years, but I am now down to my last two - and I won't be getting any more. They are not the animals they used to be - the vast majority have been horrendously overbred and are so prone to health problems and personality problems that I can't go through it any more.
That said, my last two girls are very sweet, if a bit wonky.
Seren is a Pets at Home special, bought as company for Freya, a tiny girl from the adoption section with a permentent head tilt following an ear infection. I lost her earlier this year to respiratory problem (by far the biggest killer of pet rats IMO and an absolute swine to treat), but Seren marches on.
She's a husky, or roan - light grey on top with a white belly and nose. She's very sweet - she used to lick a lot but as she's gotten older she does it less. She's horribly thin but eats plenty, she has always been that way; but age is catching up with her. She's nearly 2.5 years old now - a great age for a pet shop rat these days. She has neurological problems; if I were to pick her up on my hand without supporting her back legs, she would let them dangle over the edges of my hand. If I were to do the knuckle test - where the toes are bent under to test the animal's reflex to put them flat again - she would leave them there. She has feeling in them - just not the right responses. She is almost totally blind, and deaf; she obsessively hoardes her food for no reason. She knows absolutely no fear at all - and I don't mean she's brave. I'm talking literally - she does not know the concept of fear.
Kismet is another pet shop rat, and proof of what happens when rats are bred commercially. With no handling as a pup, she is still fearful of being picked up. She'll take treats, but that's it. Kiz is around 2 now, and a bit plump; but age is catching up with her two. I suspect senility may be setting its claws into her.
Kiz is a himilayan dumbo: cream body with brown nose, ears and bum and ears on the side of her head. She was an adorable baby and is still adorable now - himis and huskies are my favourite rat breeds by far, and the dumbos have certainly made their mark on me too!
Kix gets annoyed with Seren's food hoarding and buries the bowl to try and stop her; they have handbag, old-lady spats most evenings now. But they are happy.
I've had something like 70 rats in the last 11 years, but I am now down to my last two - and I won't be getting any more. They are not the animals they used to be - the vast majority have been horrendously overbred and are so prone to health problems and personality problems that I can't go through it any more.
That said, my last two girls are very sweet, if a bit wonky.
Seren is a Pets at Home special, bought as company for Freya, a tiny girl from the adoption section with a permentent head tilt following an ear infection. I lost her earlier this year to respiratory problem (by far the biggest killer of pet rats IMO and an absolute swine to treat), but Seren marches on.
She's a husky, or roan - light grey on top with a white belly and nose. She's very sweet - she used to lick a lot but as she's gotten older she does it less. She's horribly thin but eats plenty, she has always been that way; but age is catching up with her. She's nearly 2.5 years old now - a great age for a pet shop rat these days. She has neurological problems; if I were to pick her up on my hand without supporting her back legs, she would let them dangle over the edges of my hand. If I were to do the knuckle test - where the toes are bent under to test the animal's reflex to put them flat again - she would leave them there. She has feeling in them - just not the right responses. She is almost totally blind, and deaf; she obsessively hoardes her food for no reason. She knows absolutely no fear at all - and I don't mean she's brave. I'm talking literally - she does not know the concept of fear.
Kismet is another pet shop rat, and proof of what happens when rats are bred commercially. With no handling as a pup, she is still fearful of being picked up. She'll take treats, but that's it. Kiz is around 2 now, and a bit plump; but age is catching up with her two. I suspect senility may be setting its claws into her.
Kiz is a himilayan dumbo: cream body with brown nose, ears and bum and ears on the side of her head. She was an adorable baby and is still adorable now - himis and huskies are my favourite rat breeds by far, and the dumbos have certainly made their mark on me too!
Kix gets annoyed with Seren's food hoarding and buries the bowl to try and stop her; they have handbag, old-lady spats most evenings now. But they are happy.
The degus
I have 7 degus at the moment (long may it stay that way!).
The girls are Bandit and Lemur, two sisters, both a year old this month, from a local hobby rescuer near me. I adopted them as company for my original girl, Toothy - and Pets at home adoptee - but she was sadly killed when the cage door broke and she got out while I was looking after a rather feisty little jack russel/whippet. Who continues to drive me bananas. I miss Toothy muchly - she taught B&L a lot about being brave and friendly, sadly they have now retreated to being scared again so I am having to work doubly hard to win their trust (repeated escaping by Lemur and me having to catch her has not helped that though).
These two will hopefully soon be joined by Hazel and Squirt, mother and daughter again from the same hobby rescuer who asked me if I could take them. Hazel is 8 months old; Squirt was from an unplanned litter and is now 3 months and ridiculously cute. The introduction is taking time - without Toothy to maintain order, Lemur is being a bolshy little madam to Hazel - but we will get there.
Then there are the boys. I got wind of these when I was looking for company for Toothy - a friend of my housemate's apparently had '2 girls and a boy' together (ARG) and said I could have the girls. He then got stroppy when I refused the boy (I didn't want to try and introduce boys together - I've tried before years ago and still have the scar), talking about him dying of depression from loneliness (it does happen, folks, really - keep your degus in pairs at least!). I relented and took the trio - to discover that all three were boys.
The oldest, Bear, is a sweet old fellow, with quite a grizzled coat (hence the name) - he is Lion's dad and sadly has a full cataract. This is caused by diabetes - very easy for them to develop as a degu cannot digest sugar properly. He'd been fed badly in a previous home (not the last one). Bear is of unknown age - he's an older goo, that's all I know. Lion and Tiger, an unrelated boy, are both around 8/9 months and both in good health luckily. They are feisty lads - they were in a small transport cage for a couple of hours yesterday while I completed their new cage and they were scrapping within a minute. But now they have mucho space they are happy.
The girls are Bandit and Lemur, two sisters, both a year old this month, from a local hobby rescuer near me. I adopted them as company for my original girl, Toothy - and Pets at home adoptee - but she was sadly killed when the cage door broke and she got out while I was looking after a rather feisty little jack russel/whippet. Who continues to drive me bananas. I miss Toothy muchly - she taught B&L a lot about being brave and friendly, sadly they have now retreated to being scared again so I am having to work doubly hard to win their trust (repeated escaping by Lemur and me having to catch her has not helped that though).
These two will hopefully soon be joined by Hazel and Squirt, mother and daughter again from the same hobby rescuer who asked me if I could take them. Hazel is 8 months old; Squirt was from an unplanned litter and is now 3 months and ridiculously cute. The introduction is taking time - without Toothy to maintain order, Lemur is being a bolshy little madam to Hazel - but we will get there.
Then there are the boys. I got wind of these when I was looking for company for Toothy - a friend of my housemate's apparently had '2 girls and a boy' together (ARG) and said I could have the girls. He then got stroppy when I refused the boy (I didn't want to try and introduce boys together - I've tried before years ago and still have the scar), talking about him dying of depression from loneliness (it does happen, folks, really - keep your degus in pairs at least!). I relented and took the trio - to discover that all three were boys.
The oldest, Bear, is a sweet old fellow, with quite a grizzled coat (hence the name) - he is Lion's dad and sadly has a full cataract. This is caused by diabetes - very easy for them to develop as a degu cannot digest sugar properly. He'd been fed badly in a previous home (not the last one). Bear is of unknown age - he's an older goo, that's all I know. Lion and Tiger, an unrelated boy, are both around 8/9 months and both in good health luckily. They are feisty lads - they were in a small transport cage for a couple of hours yesterday while I completed their new cage and they were scrapping within a minute. But now they have mucho space they are happy.
The chinchillas
At present, I have two chins in my life: Spank, a standard, and Monkey, a beige, 2 year old brothers.
I found these guys at my local Pets at Home - a little sign stickied above the chins there said '2 males for rehoming out back, ready in a week' or words to that effect. Unfortunately I had my new housemate with me - her favourite animals are chinchillas. What do you know? A week later...
They are lovely boys, they really are - very inquisitive and they love their treats. Sadly their brotherly love did not last; shortly after I got my first degu girls, Monkey decided he did not like Spank anymore and attacked him rather badly. Poor Spank had a bald back and still has a lot of scars and a ghole in his ears. They've been separate since, and Monkey has today gone in to be castrated in the hopes of calming his aggression a touch so I can find him a new friend. Spank has been a darling all the way through - he never so much as squeaked a word against his brother to defend himself, just hid or took the attack without moving. At the moment he's living with two of my degu girls (the other two are being introduced at the mo, they are newish), but he will get a new friend too soon.
Both boys - and all my goos - live in a newly custom-built, fitted cage at the end of my kitchen - floor to ceiling, four cages all of roughly 4ft x 4ft x 22". The build was inspired by Lemur, my irritating, infuriating, lovely little escapee goo who insisted on sitting on top of the old cages where I couldn't get her. Her escapades have cost her half a tail so far so for her safety and my sanity, the Chingoo Mansion was created. Pictures will follow!
But I digress. At present, all is calm; once Monkey's hormones are in check I will be on the lookout for a new friend, assuming he still hates his brother (as he most likely will). In the meantime, I have offered to start fostering some chin boys for a nearby rescue; I have a large cage spare so I can help out some chins in need, and I might just find the ideal companions for S&M in the process.
I found these guys at my local Pets at Home - a little sign stickied above the chins there said '2 males for rehoming out back, ready in a week' or words to that effect. Unfortunately I had my new housemate with me - her favourite animals are chinchillas. What do you know? A week later...
They are lovely boys, they really are - very inquisitive and they love their treats. Sadly their brotherly love did not last; shortly after I got my first degu girls, Monkey decided he did not like Spank anymore and attacked him rather badly. Poor Spank had a bald back and still has a lot of scars and a ghole in his ears. They've been separate since, and Monkey has today gone in to be castrated in the hopes of calming his aggression a touch so I can find him a new friend. Spank has been a darling all the way through - he never so much as squeaked a word against his brother to defend himself, just hid or took the attack without moving. At the moment he's living with two of my degu girls (the other two are being introduced at the mo, they are newish), but he will get a new friend too soon.
Both boys - and all my goos - live in a newly custom-built, fitted cage at the end of my kitchen - floor to ceiling, four cages all of roughly 4ft x 4ft x 22". The build was inspired by Lemur, my irritating, infuriating, lovely little escapee goo who insisted on sitting on top of the old cages where I couldn't get her. Her escapades have cost her half a tail so far so for her safety and my sanity, the Chingoo Mansion was created. Pictures will follow!
But I digress. At present, all is calm; once Monkey's hormones are in check I will be on the lookout for a new friend, assuming he still hates his brother (as he most likely will). In the meantime, I have offered to start fostering some chin boys for a nearby rescue; I have a large cage spare so I can help out some chins in need, and I might just find the ideal companions for S&M in the process.
A little about me and mine
An important post, I suppose.
I'll get the little bits out of the way first: I love dogs first and foremost, but I also have chinchillas (two brothers, Spank and Monkey *ahem*), degus (4 girls (Lemur, Bandit, Hazel and Squirt) and 3 boys (Lion, Tiger and Bear), rats (2 girls, Seren and Kismet), mice (60 odd, and no, I will not be typing names!) and goldfish (52 of, outside). All of these except the rats and half a dozen of the goldfish are rescued/rehomed - I see no need to support breeders when these animals are looking for homes.
On to the main stuff then. I am a practising, qualified canine behaviourist, specialising in dog-to-dog aggression. I was pointed in the direction of this fulfilling work by my experiences with my own dogs; it started with Remy, my first dog, back in 2003. He got me into training - I had my first clicker before I had him! - and I started agility with him. My second dog, Opi, taught me a lot about socialising a nervous pup, and about learning to read a dog's boundaries for frustration and worry in training sessions.
My third dog, Soli - the big one - has been the driving force behind me becoming a behaviourist and moving into my specialist area. I'll be writing a little blog on each dog, but Soli will be getting her own full article - there's a lot to tell about her, a lot to share, and a lot of lessons to teach that will - I hope, and pray - save many people and dogs from going through what she and I have been through in the last 3 years. Long story short, for now; she came to me in Dec 06, with severe fear aggression to all other dogs and severe resource guarding (beds, sofas, stolen things, chews) to me. She's tried to bite me many times, with no warning. She is now a true dobe - soppy, loving, if still a bit antsy, but the aggression is gone. She is testament to the power of positive reinforcement and she is why I do what I do today.
Dog number 4 - a smidge unplanned - is River. She's taught me about the obsessive collie trait (she's half collie), and about working with a very high-drive, highly focused, reactive dog.
And dog number 5, my darling Saffi, who has been with me just 5 weeks. She was another neglect case, and reminds me how with no planning or intent, a dog can come into your life in a moment, steal your heart and never leave again. Much as River did!
So that's my lot. I shall add blogs for each of them as I go, maybe today, maybe tomorrow; and of course Soli will have her article. A website perhaps. There's just too much to put in a blog for her.
I'll get the little bits out of the way first: I love dogs first and foremost, but I also have chinchillas (two brothers, Spank and Monkey *ahem*), degus (4 girls (Lemur, Bandit, Hazel and Squirt) and 3 boys (Lion, Tiger and Bear), rats (2 girls, Seren and Kismet), mice (60 odd, and no, I will not be typing names!) and goldfish (52 of, outside). All of these except the rats and half a dozen of the goldfish are rescued/rehomed - I see no need to support breeders when these animals are looking for homes.
On to the main stuff then. I am a practising, qualified canine behaviourist, specialising in dog-to-dog aggression. I was pointed in the direction of this fulfilling work by my experiences with my own dogs; it started with Remy, my first dog, back in 2003. He got me into training - I had my first clicker before I had him! - and I started agility with him. My second dog, Opi, taught me a lot about socialising a nervous pup, and about learning to read a dog's boundaries for frustration and worry in training sessions.
My third dog, Soli - the big one - has been the driving force behind me becoming a behaviourist and moving into my specialist area. I'll be writing a little blog on each dog, but Soli will be getting her own full article - there's a lot to tell about her, a lot to share, and a lot of lessons to teach that will - I hope, and pray - save many people and dogs from going through what she and I have been through in the last 3 years. Long story short, for now; she came to me in Dec 06, with severe fear aggression to all other dogs and severe resource guarding (beds, sofas, stolen things, chews) to me. She's tried to bite me many times, with no warning. She is now a true dobe - soppy, loving, if still a bit antsy, but the aggression is gone. She is testament to the power of positive reinforcement and she is why I do what I do today.
Dog number 4 - a smidge unplanned - is River. She's taught me about the obsessive collie trait (she's half collie), and about working with a very high-drive, highly focused, reactive dog.
And dog number 5, my darling Saffi, who has been with me just 5 weeks. She was another neglect case, and reminds me how with no planning or intent, a dog can come into your life in a moment, steal your heart and never leave again. Much as River did!
So that's my lot. I shall add blogs for each of them as I go, maybe today, maybe tomorrow; and of course Soli will have her article. A website perhaps. There's just too much to put in a blog for her.
Welcome!
Good morning, and welcome to the Fleabag and Fishface blog - your stop for articles and info on pets, breeds, products and so on; as well as random blogs on my own menagerie!
I'll be adding articles weekly on pet species, and dog breeds; this week's chosen breed is the dobermann, my own breed of choice and heart and will be published very shortly.
Each week I will add articles from experience people in the different pets out there, and all being well, I'll be adding snippets from rescues and breeders too to give the best possible write-up of the pros and cons of each pet or breed.
Watch this space for new things!
I'll be adding articles weekly on pet species, and dog breeds; this week's chosen breed is the dobermann, my own breed of choice and heart and will be published very shortly.
Each week I will add articles from experience people in the different pets out there, and all being well, I'll be adding snippets from rescues and breeders too to give the best possible write-up of the pros and cons of each pet or breed.
Watch this space for new things!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)