OUR DOGS
We have had two dogs, John-Henry, who died aged 14 and Max an apopted dog, who had lung cancer and died in November 2001 at the age of 13.
 John-Henry |
 Max was never too fond of water! |
On 6th February 2001,we adopted two dogs Barney and Sheba, from Maxicare - Death Row Dogs , both 9 years old and brother and sister fom the same litter.
When the owner of Barney and Sheba died she left poor Barney in a dreadful state. Grossly underweight, a flea infestation had caused him to lose two thirds of his fur, in addition to which he had ear infections, conjuctivitis and mites.
Barney - 6th Feb | 
Sheba - 6th Feb |
His hairless skin was scaly, red and sore but even so he greeted everyone with a frantically wagging tail. As soon as we saw them we knew we had to adopt them there and then. An hour later they were curled up snugly on a sofa in their new home.
A visit to the vets that evening revealed the full extent of Barney's
problems. Sheba apart from being overweight and worm-infested seemed in
good nick for her age. There was no vetinary record for them, and it looked
like they may never have been inoculated. After their recent traumas
and half an hour in the vet's surgery, the vet thought they'd had
enough for one day, and deferred their inoculations until the next visit.
One of the big problems of having no fur was that in the winter, you get very cold when you go out for a walk or up the garden to do your business, So Barney got wrapped up snug in his duvet when he came in from the cold.
A fortnight and several medicinal baths later, Barney's skin condition
improved tremendously. He still seemed to have the mite infection in his lower
legs and feet, but treatment with "Stronghold" soon cleared that up.
With treatment his conjuctivitis and ear infections also
went, and on his once completely bald skin patches of fine hair
began to appear. In the first two weeks he gained 6Kg (nearly a stone!) in weight.
When their inoculations became effective these two charming dogs could go
for walks at long last, although Barney had to wear his cardie, as well as his doggie coat.
He may have looked silly, but it did keep him warm!.
Just in case you think we've forgotton about Sheba, she's fine and well, on a diet and very' licky'!
Well we've now had them for 14 months and as you can see from this before and after shot (9th Feb and15th Nov) his fur has grown in a treat. It's amazing what a bit of TLC, time and conditioner will do.
The pair of them can still be a struggle when out walking. Barney is very obedient, but Sheba has a will of her own. They still want to go and say Hello to everyone including me, if I try to photograph them. So as yet I have not manged to take any decent pictures, all shots are either in the garden or indoors.
Something which was recommended by Maxicare was Devil's claw, a
herbal extract from a South Africann plant, which is useful in the release of athritic joint pain.
We can HIGHLY recommend this stuff - it's like a miracle! I only wish I could find out dosages for myself!
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Catch it Barney!
I need a rest after all that exercise!
