Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts
1.16.2016
Meet Misha
I adopted a cat in very early January. She is very sweet and polite, and is getting along fine with Benny the Beagle.
Misha is a 8-12 month calico. She doesn't know it yet, but she's getting spayed soon. :(
11.10.2009
Benny's Home!
Benny has been spending the last two days at the vet. He came home last night, but tonight when I went to pick him up was the last visit he has to make to the vet for quite a while. I bet he's relieved! I sure am, it was emotional to say the least.Benny was Heartworm positive when he was accepted into ARF in Glen Ellyn, in April. When we adopted him in July, they told us he had undergone treatment in April and he wouldn't be due for another Heartworm blood test until August/September, to make sure the treatments were successful in eradicating this terrible parasite. Alas, two vets and three blood tests later, he was still positive.
So we had to undergo another set of these treatments. There are two shots, one administered one day, and the second the next day--this is because the dosage includes some very powerful poison (arsenic) and the shots in the muscle are quite painful.
He is now on some anti-inflammatory chewables once a day. He can't go up or down stairs, nor get too excited, nor exercise, for the next 7-8 weeks. The next Heartworm blood panel is due in about 6 months.
Here's hoping this treatment, as the vet said, works a little better for him. I really like his vet, he's a calm and knowledgeable person whom I trust (and trust me, it took me 2 other vets before I decided to stick w this one!).
Here's to a healthy future for Benny! Meanwhile, he's enjoying lots of chopped chicken as a treat ;o) to get his energy up.
To learn more about Heartworm, please see the ASPCA canine heartworm page.
7.23.2009
Benny's Gone
My husband accidentally let go of the dog leash and now Benny has been gone 24 hours, as of 1 hour ago.
I am researching GPS pet tracking, because that microchipping bullshit that they keep pressing on people does shit for finding a lost dog. Shit.
I know what I'm talking about. I searched 3 hours until 1:30 am yesterday, then again from 5ish until the rest of the day. I was going almost door to door, and parking lot to parking lot. I have mosquito bites the size of halved golf balls.
Back to the pet GPS. The first step in my search is always a super generic Google search, in this case for "pet GPS." Otherwise, I can search Amazon.com for the same products that sound interesting and this way I obtain a new perspective and additional information.
This page helped me orient myself to the general world of pet GPS devices. From Google and Amazon, I found the following results of particular interest:
I am researching GPS pet tracking, because that microchipping bullshit that they keep pressing on people does shit for finding a lost dog. Shit.
I know what I'm talking about. I searched 3 hours until 1:30 am yesterday, then again from 5ish until the rest of the day. I was going almost door to door, and parking lot to parking lot. I have mosquito bites the size of halved golf balls.
Back to the pet GPS. The first step in my search is always a super generic Google search, in this case for "pet GPS." Otherwise, I can search Amazon.com for the same products that sound interesting and this way I obtain a new perspective and additional information.
This page helped me orient myself to the general world of pet GPS devices. From Google and Amazon, I found the following results of particular interest:
- Petsafe - 4.2 oz, 4-5 day battery life with Internet tracking. Cost of $99.99 for GPS. The service plan is $16.58 a mth ($199/year) OR $19.99 a mth ($239.88/year)
- Zoombak - 2.5 oz, 5 day battery life of collar piece with Internet tracking. Cost of $70 for GPS. The service plan is $9.99 ($29.97 for the first 3 mths, then $14.99 a mth), $14.99 ($164.88 a yr), OR $154.99 per one year.
- DogTracs - 2 oz, 5-6 day battery life of collar piece with Internet tracking. Cost of $219.98 for GPS and 1st year of svce (easy pay available for 3 payments of $74.98) OR an annual service plan at $149.99.
- RoamEO - 6 oz (the heaviest), only 10 hour battery life of collar piece with handheld device. Cost of $499 plus $69/per annum service plan. [Expensive and stupidly lowbattery life. Waste of dough.]
- Garmin Astro - 6.5 oz, 24 hour battery life of collar piece. Cost of $599.99 for GPS. [Way expensive and stupidly low battery life. Meant to be used by hubters, in dog's proximity, and thus, not good for lost dogs. A waste of dough.]
7.19.2009
Meet Ben
Say hi to Ben, he is our new child.
On the outside, Ben's a handsome, if skinny, two-year old Beagle. Inside, he has emotional scars the size of the Grand Canyon.
Ben came to us via petfinder.com and the excellent work that The Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) of Glen Ellyn does. We want to thank Ann and Tom for being the best foster parents in the world.
We don't know what someone did to him, when, or where. We know he was saved from a kill shelter in Southern Illinois. His foster mom provided the possible reason that he may have been beaten into submission during hunting training then rejected. If this is true,we wish the hunter goes hunting with Dick Chaney and gets accidentally shot in a very painful place.
Today was our first meeting with Ben, and time just ran away from us because we spent over an hour (!) with him sitting on our lap while we massaged and petted him, and talked up a storm with his foster mom Ann.
We thought he would be too timid because of his emotional scars, but we both felt he is unique and perfect. We called his foster mom about an hour later and told her we were ready to take him to his forever home. Soon after he took his first mommy lap car ride -- where he was interested but suspicious and drooled a little -- and visit to Petco -- where, I might add, he was the darling of every staff member.
Sadly, he doesn't seem to like snacks. Yet.
He just napped on the sofa for a few minutes at a time, between me and his dad, earlier this afternoon. Right now he is sleeping, fitfully, I must say, on his leopard and brown fur two-sided blankie, on the floor next to me and the bed. He often opens his eyes to check that I'm still here. I say hellooo, and he resettles. Once he mini-wiggled his tail.
He has nightmares. He twitches. He squints. He kicks with his legs. Kind of like he's trying to run away from something awful. He doesn't have to run anymore, not unless he wants to fetch a ball or come get cuddles!
We hope that he'll come out of his really thick shell. We finally got him to drink some water with our water-dipped fingers dabbed on his lips. He started licking our fingers. The finger licking is a pretty earth-shattering show of love and trust...we couldn't be happier.
We hope he soon turns into his true Beagle self: funny, cuddly, lively, and inquisitive. We also hope he goes pee and poo. We took him for a longish walk in the nearby grassy park as soon as we came home from Petco, but no sale.
He has adopted me as his mamma, and looks to me to understand what's going on and if it's ok to do as his daddy asks him to ^_^ how cute is that?
Will update more, and probably more than anyone wants to know, on this totally cool and joy-filled journey ahead of our furry forever baby. I've started a PicasaWeb album just for him.
Lessons in Adopting a Pet
I've met lots of neat people, and one not-so-neat person, during our thus far week-long search for a family pet. One of the major lessons I've learned is that, no matter what good intentions are behind it, most foster/shelter ppl have no idea what the real story of the dog is--and some make up stories which have illogical flaws in them. Unless they've spent extensive time with the pet, they will not be able to identify and understand the symptoms of whatever it is the happened to the pet.
This is why it's important to ask A LOT of questions, medical, daily, food aggression, kids/pets reaction, etc. Many of these little guys are in need of serious socialization and bonding, which means intense time and work on the behalf of the adopting family.
Another thing I learned is that pit bulls or American Staffordshire dogs are sweet and very loyal, unlike the dog-fighting and accident news reports would have the public believe. These dogs may become aggressive only if a trigger shoots them off, typically, and therefore, it's of utmost important to focus extremely well on obedience training and bonding with the animal to understand their idiosyncrasies and maintain pack leader authority over them. This requires special types of owners, not for everyone. I love these guys and especially boxer/Am-staff mixes, but I'm afraid that because of their weight and special training needs, I wouldn't be able to take care of one at this stage in my life.
One foster mother said the pet I was interested in, a very shy Beagle mix, slept in her bed. Why on earth would a foster parent who is looking for someone to adopt a pet create a bond with the little guy of that caliber? The pet will become more traumatized than they should when they go to their forever home, and need more help to settle in. This person also told me that she tried to cut the pet's nails but the pet was struggling to such an extent she had to call in her husband to hold the pet down, so she eventually and accidentally ended up cutting a nail to the quick...if the dog is that nervous, why bother at all? Let the dog alone or go to a vet or groomer--a professional. Why aggravate an already nervous pet? I'm very sad to say it, but I got no sense of security, experience, or trust when I talked to this woman over the phone and learned about these incidents. I will not be adopting from her shelter/rescue.
Another very important lessons I learned is that it's very, very important to read as much as possible and learn as much as possible about dogs and their health. Don't be afraid to question your vet, or change vets if you don't trust the answers or the tone of voice yours gives you. You'd change your doctor if you had an issue with how they were treating you, wouldn't you?
Are all those vaccinations really needed? Is that canned/dry food really good for your pet? What role can raw food have in improving your pet's health and immune system? Ask, ask, ask. Never give up! You owe it to your pet and yourself to be an informed consumer, especially after the food poisoning mess that happened a year or so ago with the melamine-for-protein enriched food made in China.
Never give up, and always learn as much as you can when you meet each new person in the search for your forever pet. We're throwing our net widely and then learning and refining our search with each encounter. We're sure we'll make the right decision when the right pet for us comes along!
This is why it's important to ask A LOT of questions, medical, daily, food aggression, kids/pets reaction, etc. Many of these little guys are in need of serious socialization and bonding, which means intense time and work on the behalf of the adopting family.
Another thing I learned is that pit bulls or American Staffordshire dogs are sweet and very loyal, unlike the dog-fighting and accident news reports would have the public believe. These dogs may become aggressive only if a trigger shoots them off, typically, and therefore, it's of utmost important to focus extremely well on obedience training and bonding with the animal to understand their idiosyncrasies and maintain pack leader authority over them. This requires special types of owners, not for everyone. I love these guys and especially boxer/Am-staff mixes, but I'm afraid that because of their weight and special training needs, I wouldn't be able to take care of one at this stage in my life.
One foster mother said the pet I was interested in, a very shy Beagle mix, slept in her bed. Why on earth would a foster parent who is looking for someone to adopt a pet create a bond with the little guy of that caliber? The pet will become more traumatized than they should when they go to their forever home, and need more help to settle in. This person also told me that she tried to cut the pet's nails but the pet was struggling to such an extent she had to call in her husband to hold the pet down, so she eventually and accidentally ended up cutting a nail to the quick...if the dog is that nervous, why bother at all? Let the dog alone or go to a vet or groomer--a professional. Why aggravate an already nervous pet? I'm very sad to say it, but I got no sense of security, experience, or trust when I talked to this woman over the phone and learned about these incidents. I will not be adopting from her shelter/rescue.
Another very important lessons I learned is that it's very, very important to read as much as possible and learn as much as possible about dogs and their health. Don't be afraid to question your vet, or change vets if you don't trust the answers or the tone of voice yours gives you. You'd change your doctor if you had an issue with how they were treating you, wouldn't you?
Are all those vaccinations really needed? Is that canned/dry food really good for your pet? What role can raw food have in improving your pet's health and immune system? Ask, ask, ask. Never give up! You owe it to your pet and yourself to be an informed consumer, especially after the food poisoning mess that happened a year or so ago with the melamine-for-protein enriched food made in China.
Never give up, and always learn as much as you can when you meet each new person in the search for your forever pet. We're throwing our net widely and then learning and refining our search with each encounter. We're sure we'll make the right decision when the right pet for us comes along!
7.11.2009
Of Dogs... and More Dogs!
Significant other unit finally has given the green flag to acquiring a family dog. This is quite an eventful occasion, since he's been reticent of dogs all his life. Wasting naught a second, I've begun the search in earnest for the little happy furry baby that will become part of our family life for many, many years to come. *jumps up and down with pure joy*
Here's what we are looking for:
- male dog
- around 1 year of age
- good connection with us
- healthy
- tends to be a little quieter
- well behaved
- emotional features
- medium sized
- shorter hair
We promise to:
- walk and exercise as much as possible
- structure and schedule
- obedience training
- crate and potty train
- insure and provide all vet care needed immediately
- provide lots of cuddles, hugs, kisses, and as much love as a little doggie could take
- Plus! Car trips, road trips, comfy bed in our bedroom, lots of healthy fresh food and treats
This one-week-long search (thus far) has been quite a lesson for me. I am clear on my capabilities and expectations, and am aware of the realistic time, emotional, and financial investment that a pet is. I've have always had a keen sense about dog attitude, personality, and thought processes. What I was unprepared for, was the diatribe that is the adoption process. We've opted for adoption from one of our many local shelters, humane societies, and rescue centers, because we know that pet stores source from those awful and nightmarish puppy mills.
After a week of looking online on petfinder.com and communicating via email with some shelters and such, we've not received much reason to be optimistic.
Angel4Cause Rescue in Burr Ridge IL
Friday I went to visit one shelter where I found out they not only shelter terriers and pit bulls and mixes, but also foster children. It was quite a shock to realize that they are in dire need of funding (state, local, volunteer, philanthropic, etc.). In theory they run a fantastic operation where they foster children that are high-risk and teach them discipline and structure through their work with the fostered dogs.
They have a lot of need for some expansion of their space as all their dogs are right now held in the garage. If you or someone you know can provide some funding or resources, this would definitely make for a fantastic feature story for a newspaper.
ADOPT in Naperville IL
Visited first thing on Saturday and were impressed. This is by far, hands down, is head and shoulders above the rest. This is a clean, efficient, organized operation. These are professional pet lovers and they're here to get these little unfortunate guys all the care they need, as well as find them their forever homes.
There were a few dogs at ADOPT that we liked a lot. We had to narrow down the list because some were not feasible. We chose to spend some one-on-one time with a pekinese mix little guy. However, we realized he would be be a bad match for our home and lifestyle, and that he would require too much grooming.
Naperville Humane Society in (where else) Naperville IL
I was very disappointed in how small this place turned out to be. Since I'd been seeing their website for years now, it had given me the impression of a far larger affair. There were no dogs here that we found to match our requirements or lifestyle.
Aurora Animal Control in Aurora IL
This was the least pleasant experience. Dogs were howling, yelping, and crying continuously. The cages were not labeled, and most of the cages were empty. However, behind a very large, green tarp separating the room into two parts, one could hear many more dogs.
We had liked two potential candidates, but one turned out to be excessively nervous, and the other one, we later found out, has her adoption already underway.
Petco store in Naperville IL
Did you know that Petco and Petsmart stores team up with local shelters to feature lovable animals ready for their forever homes?
Fortuitously, after what was becoming a long day of sad news, we then happened upon the local Petco store, which was hosting one shelter's show-and-tell with a few dogs available for adoption. We noticed two dogs we liked a lot. The gentleman in charge let us know he was on his way out and that he would be at the Oswego Petco tomorrow, so we can continue our discussions there. I was already looking at this shelter's website and had identified some potential candidates. The two dogs we saw today were very very close to what we are looking for, but we need to learn more.
This has turned out to be quite an epic undertaking, and I will maintain updates on this blog of what comes of this search at each turn. I hope that these experiences are of use to other families searching for their forever furry babies. Stay tuned for more!
Here's what we are looking for:
- male dog
- around 1 year of age
- good connection with us
- healthy
- tends to be a little quieter
- well behaved
- emotional features
- medium sized
- shorter hair
We promise to:
- walk and exercise as much as possible
- structure and schedule
- obedience training
- crate and potty train
- insure and provide all vet care needed immediately
- provide lots of cuddles, hugs, kisses, and as much love as a little doggie could take
- Plus! Car trips, road trips, comfy bed in our bedroom, lots of healthy fresh food and treats
This one-week-long search (thus far) has been quite a lesson for me. I am clear on my capabilities and expectations, and am aware of the realistic time, emotional, and financial investment that a pet is. I've have always had a keen sense about dog attitude, personality, and thought processes. What I was unprepared for, was the diatribe that is the adoption process. We've opted for adoption from one of our many local shelters, humane societies, and rescue centers, because we know that pet stores source from those awful and nightmarish puppy mills.
After a week of looking online on petfinder.com and communicating via email with some shelters and such, we've not received much reason to be optimistic.
Angel4Cause Rescue in Burr Ridge IL
Friday I went to visit one shelter where I found out they not only shelter terriers and pit bulls and mixes, but also foster children. It was quite a shock to realize that they are in dire need of funding (state, local, volunteer, philanthropic, etc.). In theory they run a fantastic operation where they foster children that are high-risk and teach them discipline and structure through their work with the fostered dogs.
They have a lot of need for some expansion of their space as all their dogs are right now held in the garage. If you or someone you know can provide some funding or resources, this would definitely make for a fantastic feature story for a newspaper.
ADOPT in Naperville IL
Visited first thing on Saturday and were impressed. This is by far, hands down, is head and shoulders above the rest. This is a clean, efficient, organized operation. These are professional pet lovers and they're here to get these little unfortunate guys all the care they need, as well as find them their forever homes.
There were a few dogs at ADOPT that we liked a lot. We had to narrow down the list because some were not feasible. We chose to spend some one-on-one time with a pekinese mix little guy. However, we realized he would be be a bad match for our home and lifestyle, and that he would require too much grooming.
Naperville Humane Society in (where else) Naperville IL
I was very disappointed in how small this place turned out to be. Since I'd been seeing their website for years now, it had given me the impression of a far larger affair. There were no dogs here that we found to match our requirements or lifestyle.
Aurora Animal Control in Aurora IL
This was the least pleasant experience. Dogs were howling, yelping, and crying continuously. The cages were not labeled, and most of the cages were empty. However, behind a very large, green tarp separating the room into two parts, one could hear many more dogs.
We had liked two potential candidates, but one turned out to be excessively nervous, and the other one, we later found out, has her adoption already underway.
Petco store in Naperville IL
Did you know that Petco and Petsmart stores team up with local shelters to feature lovable animals ready for their forever homes?
Fortuitously, after what was becoming a long day of sad news, we then happened upon the local Petco store, which was hosting one shelter's show-and-tell with a few dogs available for adoption. We noticed two dogs we liked a lot. The gentleman in charge let us know he was on his way out and that he would be at the Oswego Petco tomorrow, so we can continue our discussions there. I was already looking at this shelter's website and had identified some potential candidates. The two dogs we saw today were very very close to what we are looking for, but we need to learn more.
This has turned out to be quite an epic undertaking, and I will maintain updates on this blog of what comes of this search at each turn. I hope that these experiences are of use to other families searching for their forever furry babies. Stay tuned for more!
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