Mon 24th June: That damned tick fever

Luckily Baxter's anaemia isn't too serious

Tick fever, tick fever, tick fever, those damned ticks cause so many problems and it's certainly not only the stray or rescued dogs that are affected, it's all dogs.  Puppy Wilby, who has been in a foster home for a couple of weeks, suddenly stopped eating and a blood test showed his anaemia was so severe he needed an immediate blood transfusion, while another puppy I'd noticed looking a bit on the thin side on Sunday also needed to start the "liquid gold" treatment today. 

It's incredibly frustrating, expensive and time consuming, not to mention the fact that we can't home puppies who are affected.  I was discussing the problem with Dr Joe today, saying that there must be many strays who are infected but can live with the disease, and of course they will be carriers.   It's such a huge issue in Hong Kong, and elsewhere I assume, and it seems to get worse every year.  I can only remind all dog owners to be vigilant and to make sure your dogs are protected.  If you're worried that tick prevention products are toxic to dogs, just consider how serious tick fever itself is and weigh up the pros and cons.  Personally I would choose the prevention any day.

William, Bruno and Gabriel are chubby and healthy boys

Happily the three new puppies I took from AFCD today are all chubby and waggy-tailed, and I'm assuming they are also healthy.   All new dogs and puppies are taken straight to the vet for a check up, and if their gums looks a bit pale or they have ticks, they're given a blood test before being vaccinated.

3 previous Stanley Barracks fuzzies

There were more new dogs at AFCD today, and three of them are from Stanley Barracks.  I suspected they were as soon as I saw how sweet and lovely they were, because all of the adults and puppies that come from the PLA-occupied barracks are like that.   One is a large and fuzzy dog, reminiscent of the previous Stanley Barracks fuzzy litters but much bigger.  Of course I will take them all but that doesn't mean that they will eaily find homes, as we still have Ivory and Tusk at Tai Po despite the fact that they are also very lovely dogs.   I keep being reminded of just how many amazing dogs are waiting to be chosen, and amongst them a lot of purebreeds too.   I can't wait for the summer to be over and for people to start coming back from their holiays and giving more dogs a chance of a home.