Fri 25th Nov: Lima and Turner

I often wonder how Lima would have turned out if she had been adopted as a puppy

I had a much-earlier-than-usual meeting to go to, and had initially thought that would give me the whole afternoon free for personal errands which I rarely have time for.  Of course it didn't work out like that, and the first thing to change those hopes of some free time was discovering who it was that was leaving copious amounts of watery and blood-tinged vomit for me to clean up.  One of the difficulties of having a lot of dogs is that when something like this happens, it's really hard to know who it is that is obviously sick because they rarely do it when being watched.  On previous occasions it has ended very badly, simply because by the time I realised who it was it was too late to do anything.

Anyway, this morning I happened to be around when Opal and Griffin's sister, Lima, threw up nothing but blood and water, so I send her straight over to Acorn.  I guessed she wouldn't be an easy dog to handle away from home just from previous experience of Opal and Griffin being quickly returned from their new homes after having been adopted, and it's the strangest thing because they are so sweet and easy with me.  In fact these are the only times I have ever come across this strange behaviour, but since they are no problem at all with me - in fact quite the opposite - it doesn't matter. Lima had never been adopted so I wasn't sure if she would behave in the same way as her siblings, but suspected she would.

What an adorable boy this is.

After my meeting, which took place in Ap Lei Chau, Andrea asked if I would be able to take two newly surrendered dogs to AFCD for change of ownership.  They were the still-unnamed terrier (because his potential adopter asked to be able to name him), and Nico the bichon frise, both of whom are now up to date and ready to go.  However, while the terrier is the sweetest boy, not to mention incredibly cute, Nico may not be the easiest character even if he was very happy to sit on my lap as we were driving around, barking at everyone we passed.  Sometimes this type of behaviour gets worse, often it improves as the dogs settle and become less anxious, so we will wait to see which way this goes.  At least I didn't have any problem holding or carrying Nico, so maybe it's just a question of getting to know him.

Nico

The next stop was my home-from-home, Acorn Veterinary Hospital, where I spoke to Dr Tony about Lima and her possible problem.  I had suspected a foreign body inside but X-rays showed nothing, and because she had proved to be difficult (impossible) to handle without sedation, I brought her back for further at-home treatment.

Turner is running free now. 

I also had to make the difficult decision about Turner, a senior cocker spaniel who had suddenly become very weak and stopped eating.  After talking to Dr Tony and given all of the symptoms as well as Turner's advanced age, I knew it was time to let him go.  It's very sad, but seeing the photos that regular volunteer Harryn posted of Turner running in the dog park, at least he had some happy times with us before he left and I'm grateful for that.