Thurs 28th Dec: Sad (and happy) news

Jolene enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with her family

There's sad news to bring this year to a close, as Jolene the bulldog finally succumbed to the years of forced breeding and the ravages on her body.  Her wonderful adoptive family had known about the cancer and that Jolene had limited time left, but they spent a very happy Christmas together before it was finally very clear that it was time to say goodbye.  As always, the knowledge that the dogs experience the happiest days of their lives, even if for too short a time, makes all of the heartache worthwhile.

Amber hasn't let her illness get in the way of having fun

Amber the golden retriever was surrendered to AFCD at only five years of age, along with a pack of lies about how they were moving to Public Housing, a very common excuse for dumping pets.  The truth was that Amber has lymphoma, and although we found a lovely foster home and sponsors to cover the cost of chemotherapy, sadly Amber hasn't responded to the treatment.  Her time is almost certainly coming to an end and it's really very sad.  At least we can know that she's been enjoying life to the full in her foster home, and when her time comes it will be with love and not the harsh coldness of an AFCD kennel.

I was back at Acorn today with the four tick fever puppies, two of which are now well enough to have their first vaccination while the other two will need to wait another week.  Still they're all improving and that's the main thing, as well as the fact that they all finally have names.  I don't know why I've struggled with this litter but they are now Melba, Toastie, Foxy and Whiskers (and maybe you can guess the reason for that last name).

Melba needed a blood transfusion when she first arrived but she's doing well

I also had Naomi with me, and she's doing a lot better after her Christmas Eve emergency and diagnosed erlichia.  I can't say Naomi likes going over to Hong Kong Island, but she's happy enough to jump into the van by herself and at least this time didn't take a dive off the end of the pier in a bid to avoid getting on the sampan, which she did on the previous occasion.  By the way, you can see from the photo of Naomi that the dogs on Lamma enjoy the donations of bedding and sofa cushions, especially during the winter months.

Naomi (red collar) happy to be home

Minty as a baby

I almost always meet ex-HKDR dogs when I'm at Acorn and it's always good to see them, but today's catch-up was an especially lovely surprise.  I would never have recognised the little dog that was there for desexing and was waking up after surgery, but Dr Seems told me it was Minty.  Do you remember her and her friend Waldo?  I can't pretend that Minty recognised me or was happy to have a strange face in front of her when she was already scared from the surgery, but I was thrilled to see her looking so well and took a photo.

Minty's expression is the same but look at her now!

It was also the first time for me to meet the pointer puppy Dolly, and she is a beautiful girl, very big and happily without the hip problems that her brother has.  He will be having his X-rays on Friday and then surgery soon afterwards.

Dolly at Tai Po