Sat 27th Jan: Tears and smiles

Betty is still a baby!

Betty was the first of the three very large-sized and beautiful ex-breeder puppies to be adopted from our Tai Po Homing Centre, and if you hurry you could be lucky enough to choose one of the two remaining, Syrup and Hank.  I really don't know what kind of breed mix these youngsters are but they are exceptionally large, especially the two girls.

Syrup, Hank and (now adopted) Betty

Chelsea-Chess is now called Moses

The newly-surrendered poodle boy (who arrived with the girl's name of Chelsea which was changed to Chess) was also adopted, so he was very lucky.

We had a tragic loss at the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, and one which upset me deeply because in retrospect it was avoidable.  It was very strange that out of eight puppies in one litter, the pair that went first to a short-lived foster home and then went to stay with one of our volunteers turned out to have tick fever.  They were treated in the usual way but one of them, Viola, didn't respond to the drugs as successfully as her sister Cello.  As a last resort I agreed to Viola having an injection of Berenil, which in the past was the first option for any tick fever case as it's quick and easy.  However after a few deaths following the injections I said no more, but for Viola it was the only thing left to try, and as Berenil had safely been used so many times over the years I thought it worth the tiny risk.  I was wrong, and when Viola started to display the symptoms of  Berenil reaction I immediately recognised what it was, and knew there would be no way of saving her.  From now on the drug will not be used again on any of our puppies.

I know that there's a growing group of dog owners who feel that tick prevention products are toxic and to be avoided, but in my experience it's the tick fever itself and the drugs used to treat it that are truly dangerous.  My own feeling about spot-on drops and good quality tick collars is that they are safe enough to use, and certainly the lesser of two evils when the alternative is risking infection.  Of course no tick products are guaranteed to kill every tick, and in the summer when there are so many ticks around it's important to check your dog manually every time it has been out in grass or any greenery.  However reducing the risk of tick fever is really important and I would personally recommend prevention every time.  It's also my opinion that the drugs used to treat tick fever have a long-term detrimental effect, based on the shortened life-span of my Lamma dogs who have at one time been infected and treated for the disease.  I have no scientific proof of that, but it's either true or a huge coincidence.

Back to the present, we have so many puppies now waiting for homes, from smaller sized to large, and while the two smallest of the new intake (Herbert and Lilo) were taken for fostering today and will skip this week's puppy Sunday, there are lots of other eager and lovely candidates.

Olive is almost 3 years old now

Corgi-cross Olive will also be back at Whiskers N Paws hoping to find her forever home after over two years of trying.  She's such a sweet girl, always eager for cuddles and back scratches if she knows you, but admittedly shy of people she doesn't know.  Surely it must be her turn soon?