Tues 28th June: Tick season in full swing

The dreaded disease-carrying tick

The tick season is obviously in full swing as there are so many cases of Babesia Gibsoni (to give it its real name) around.  There are other types of tick fever but they all have one thing in common and that is that they are caused by dogs being bitten by infected ticks.   It seems that Ginny's problem is tick fever too, despite the fact that I have never seen a tick on her and they should be easy to spot.  Having started on "liquid gold" (Atovaquone, a human malaria medicine) on Monday, Ginny's red cell count had already started to show improvement when she was tested again today, and hopefully that is all that is wrong and we'll see a full recovery.  Regardless of her weakened state Ginny refused to be left behind for the morning walk, and thankfully it was relatively cool after the heavy night rain.   Only Gershwin is now refusing to go into the woods after the boar attack, although he's back to his normal self even if the neck wound will take some time to heal fully.

You almost need a microscope to see these tinies

Wellie is a very sweet and still-active boy

The Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre is being made ready for the arrival of the new tiny dogs on Wednesday, although it seems that the Yorkies might be gone before even reaching us judging by the interest in them.  Nevertheless we have to make sure that we can separate any new arrivals from the boisterous older puppies who delight in teasing the smaller dogs, and that means rearranging the areas where they sleep.  We have many very sweet smaller dogs who are still waiting for homes, but it seems everyone wants puppies or at least young adults. That's understandable in a way, but small dogs live for such a long time that even a ten year-old is still active and sprightly.   I know many fifteen or sixteen year-olds who are still in very good health and enjoying long daily walks, my own Murphy being a prime example.   Wellie, a miniature pinscher, is one such Ap Lei Chau dog who should be in a home.  He's a lovely boy with no health or behaviour problems and there is no good reason for him not to be chosen. 

Cinnamon was today's lucky pick

Continuing with our dog-a-day winning streak at Tai Po, today's lucky contestant was Cinnamon.  It's actually just a foster for now but we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed that it will turn into a forever home.