End of a Road
I ate lunch at 6:30. Pm, you know. Therefore supper at 9:30 isn’t actually doing a lot for me. Except to make me feel vaguely harassed. Sort of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice of vegetables. Hey! I just finished eating a large bowlful of you! Go away!
It had started out rather a good day: Tuesday is a Connie-riding day. Although it’s true that the phone started ringing as I was trying to leave, undeservedly followed up by knocks on the door, and while you can always not answer the phone, it’s hard to get past Large Delivery Men* standing outside this front door. The stairs are narrow to begin with but not nearly as narrow as they are after my having liberally edged them with plants in pots.** So rather than being fifteen minutes early to Jenny’s yard I was fifteen minutes late.
However Jenny gave me a Magic Strap which is going to Revolutionise My Riding.*** It’s just a little piece of leather, ten inches long maybe, with clips on each end, which you attach to the d-rings on either side of the pommel (the high part of the front) of your saddle . . . and then you hook the little finger of your outside hand into it and it REMINDS you to KEEP THAT HAND STILL.† Good grief. It’s also a surprisingly effective aid to helping keep your seat deep and your legs long: before she gets going Connie does take some driving, and as I have previously observed, the strength to hold the front end of your horse up while she engages her back end†† is transferable from bells and hellhounds. The strength to drive your horse forward with your seat and legs only comes from driving horses forward with your seat and legs. And my legs have a nasty habit of riding up like a hemline anyway. Jenny was at some pains not to make me feel humiliated by the little leather strap–she said that she uses it herself upon occasion–and it’s true I don’t like gadgets, and it’s also true you feel a bit silly being Revolutionised by an ten-inch strip of leather you have your finger hooked through but . . . ask me if I care.
I then had to flee home again to let Computer Man in. He was here probably two hours . . . mostly failing to sort things that refused to reveal themselves so he could discover their local habitations and their names. The computer which lives at the mews has been getting on toward unusable, it’s become so unstable††† . . . and this afternoon butter wouldn’t melt in its grinning little mouth.
Then I tried to feed hellhounds lunch.
Darkness had thrown up twice this morning, which, as I said to Computer Man, who had derived some amusement watching me plunge across my (carpeted) office floor, snatching up a newspaper on the way, to hold it under Darkness’ chin, is not a good sign. They tend to throw up when there are other things going wrong.
And Darkness pointblank refused lunch. I think I’ve told you that while he’s the less erratic of the two, he’s the one who gets something more or less identifiable as colic. If he hasn’t eaten anything, his stomach tends to roar and thunder; if he has eaten something, he tends to be restless and whimpery. I may have told you I rang the (local, emergency line) vet at midnight one night because he was a little too restless and whimpering a little too much. That episode passed without intervention‡, and these colicky episodes usually only last one meal’s worth or half a day.
This afternoon he didn’t merely refuse lunch, he started panting. And then he started whining. And pacing around the kitchen. And lying down and standing up. I fished him out of the dog box eventually, where he had retreated and was panting and whining in there, to feel his belly; nothing to feel, nor did he appear to mind, but I may have stirred things up because shortly after–I having thoughtfully left the kitchen door open against certain eventualities–he went out there and . . . geysered. Squirting doesn’t really cover it. I was thinking about it, in that beyond-rationality stage you get to when it’s your turn to be Fate’s ping-pong ball, Chaos gets the squirts far oftener than Darkness does, but only Darkness geysers.
Meanwhile, I had found the panting–which he’s never done in these circumstances before–plus the whining well over my line and I rang the vet for an emergency appointment, and they said come in in half an hour.‡‡ So since I had to do something to stop myself breaking up the furniture and beating myself with it (I may have been panting with stress and anxiety myself) I paged my homeopathic vet and as I was waiting for him to ring back I did my tummy-prodding and it was while I was on the phone to the homeopathic vet that Darkness went outside and divested himself of his insides. And threw up a few more times to underline the point.‡‡‡
And Mark said, okay, it’s time to talk about antibiotics. –He’d told me when we started that campy is a bastard, and that homeopathy might not take it out, the problem being that antibiotics wouldn’t either. The problem as I see it is the ‘for the rest of their lives’ aspect. Homeopathy always holds the possibility of real cure; using antibiotics on something we already know antibiotics won’t take care of is admitting defeat. Oh sure, we’ll keep trying–using antibiotics is also a way of buying time, if you want to look at it that way–but we’ve clearly lost the battle and it’s not looking good for the war.
So I took them to the local vet in rather a state of numb resignation, and the local vet read the letter Mark had written when the campylobacter diagnosis was first made, and said that that was now several months ago and that he’d like to have the lab tests done again and that campy itself has different strains and the choice of antibiotic may vary with what kind of campy it is.
And the flat truth is that I’m so depressed about the whole situation that even the prospect of riding Connie again tomorrow–two days in a row!§–is failing to cheer me up. Darkness ate dinner, by the way, and is now both curled up and crashed out, so the colic is gone for the moment: yes, I fed him. I know from two years’ experience that these guys are always worse from not eating. So when somebody’s guts are misbehaving he gets half rations of chicken and rice.
I’ll let you know if urgent howling wakens me tonight. §§
* * *
* They and their deliveries are both large. And in truth I don’t want to escape any Delivery Men, large or otherwise, because of the dreaded alternative of the ‘we called while you were out’ postcard lying on the mat. And as I have failed to teach hellhounds any modicum of secretarial support functions, I have equally failed to teach them to sign for parcels.
I would like to report that in this case the Large Delivery was MY AUTHOR’S COPIES OF CHALICE . . . but it wasn’t.
**. One of my first acts of possession upon moving in here.
*** For the better! For the better!
† Very, very basic horsepersonship: if you’re going to the right, clockwise, your left hand is your outside hand. You want that hand steady while you give and take just a bit with your inside hand–your right hand–to produce a very slight bend in that direction, around your inside leg.
There’s lots and lots of horse stuff on the net, if you want to pursue this.
†† Or the strength to prevent her from climbing up the back end of the horse cantering in front of her.
††† And you’re deeply interested in this, because I write a lot of entries on that computer.
‡ And the vet didn’t even charge me, despite the obvious fact that he’d been asleep when the phone rang, and he spent several minutes talking to me. Do I have good vets or what?
‡‡ No, no, having ascertained that no one was bleeding to death first. I assure you these are good guys. I’d just rather use homeopathy if I can.
‡‡‡ And in the middle of all this–I’m standing in the kitchen door telling Mark on the other end of the phone the panorama as it unfolds–and there’s another knock on the door and another Large Delivery Person. This one wasn’t my author’s copies either. Of CHALICE, the reissue of SUNSHINE or for that matter the paper DRAGON.
§ Because her Other Rider is taking her to a show on Saturday. I’m trying to decide if I’m going to go watch.
§§ I realise I’m not in a good mood, but I still feel there’s a kind of paradigmatic irony about my life manifesting in the fact that I had to turn up the CD player so I could hear Vaughan Williams’ setting of the Robert Louis Stevenson poem The Vagabond over the sound of the washing machine grappling with hellhound blankets. The Vagabond begins:
Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river -
There’s the life for a man like me,
There’s the life for ever.
Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me. . . .
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::sigh::
::hands over the eccles cake::
btw, your villany was foiled yesterday. The nursery didn’t have Mme Isaac left in stock…… ;)
Lots of good wishes for you and for success in squashing the campy out of existence, and I hope poor “little” Darkness feels much better very soon
****** Because her Other Rider is taking her to a show on Saturday. I’m trying to decide if I’m going to go watch.
Do go. You’ll enjoy being there in a “I’m not competing so I can chill and enjoy this without being struck by stagefright” sort of way :)
*****The problem as I see it is the ‘for the rest of their lives’ aspect. Homeopathy always holds the possibility of real cure; using antibiotics on something we already know antibiotics won’t take care of is admitting defeat. Oh sure, we’ll keep trying–using antibiotics is also a way of buying time, if you want to look at it that way–but we’ve clearly lost the battle and it’s not looking good for the war.*****
My sympathies. I’ll be wishing the best for him.
My Mastiff bitch has suffered recurring urinary tract infections for most of her life, and a few weeks after I lost my boy she almost died from a nasty reaction to a sulfa antibiotic taken for one. She’s been having a slow recovery from that episode, and after many tests and hospitalization at a teaching hospital, they cultured a bug that had embedded itself in her bladder wall. Turned out that it was sensitive to only two antibiotics in the entire world — one of which had a serious risk of damaging her kidneys, and the other of which would cost $1,000 a week. Guess which one she’s on? With a projected six week course of treatment, and the expenses associated with a new house, I am so, so broke. And the vets say that she will have to be on some sort of antibiotic for the rest of her life as a preventative, and that even then there are no guarantees that she won’t eventually pick up some bug that is resistant to all antibiotics that will eventually kill her.
Dogs. Gray hairs. They go together. :-(
Judith
Gods. Misery does NOT love company. I’m so sorry. I’d rather be UNIQUE.
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Oh Judith, I am so sorry to hear about your girl’s trauma. The more you love them the more gray hairs you get (sigh)
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Ooh, Darkness. *pets him*
Geysered. *sigh* Many, many good thoughts and crossed toes for the hellhounds. I’d send them some duck soup if I thought it would help. (Leanne hasn’t been feeling good the last couple of days, so I have been the Giver of Duck Soup. I bought chicken today so I could make more. Send Darkness over. :)
I hope you *do* enjoy the ride tomorrow. Two days in a row is something to be celebrated.
They’d like duck soup. :)
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They’d like duck soup. :)
I keep thinking I’d like duck soup, too. It smells great. I hear it tastes very bland, though. Do you think the hellhounds would eat some? It’s just a bunch of boiled chicken and hardboiled eggs, blended together with kibble and water and whatever supplements you like to add. Easy peasy, but a little messy to make if you’re me. :D
What’s the theory behind it? Why specifically those ingredients? These guys do get a lot of chicken stock, because *they* create a lot of carcasses, and the stock makes them slightly likier to eat the dog food rather than just picking the bits of chicken out. )(*&^%$£”!!!!!!
For the ferrets, it’s the protein. They’re obligate carnivores.
It’s meant to sustain them when they’re ill, so you feed it to them when they’re healthy, trick them into liking it and thinking it’s a treat, that way they can slurp it up when they aren’t feeling good. It’s very mushy usually. (It looks a lot like throw-up with bits of egg shell suspended like bone chips. Ew.) I’ve been watering it down a little extra for Leanne to make sure she gets enough fluids. I also add tablets of brewer’s yeast, since ferrets are prone to Insulinoma.
That’s just how *I* make it, anyway. It’s easiest for me that way, and still has lots of protein. Some people ground up bones and everything, but I don’t have a meat grinder, just an aging blender. The recipe I originally used said to add a can of Iams wet kitten food, which I did at first, but it didn’t seem to make a difference and Iams isn’t…as good a quality food as I’d like my ferrets to be ingesting regularly.
I add kibble so there’s an extra familiar taste. I forgot to put it in once, and the ferrets were quite suspicious. They don’t particularly like chunks of chicken, either, except to stash in corners. And raw meat is POISON.
They tend to imprint on foods.
What’s in the kibble? Kibble usually has lots of cheap carbs which if you have a high-meat critter won’t do. Gosh don’t I understand about ‘not good quality’ pet food. It’s TERRIFYING what they’re legally allowed to put in pet food. This is why these guys get scraps of ROAST CHICKEN and ORGANIC kibble. (And rice and stock.)
Raw meat is POISON? How the heck do they get that out? what if they lived wild???
Raw meat is POISON? How the heck do they get that out? what if they lived wild???
LOL the native tiny critters would probably be very happy if the ferrets considered them to be POISON!! hehe
Mum’s mini-foxy refused to eat raw meat until moving to the farm and realised that he was missing out on the all the fun… and then the “pack dog” mentality awoke within him. LOL Maybe the ferrets haven’t learnt to eat raw meat because “no one ever did so we never do” ….
What’s in the kibble?
I’ve thrown away all my bags. Let’s see if the internet knows what’s in it… It does!
This is the food I use: http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1502
It’s not *perfect*, but it’s the best food available to me. Lots of the ferret food you can buy in stores is horrible. Fruit and veggie crunch? [insert your choice of confused cursing here] Even the kind the big ferret breeder company makes has lots of crap in it…and fish oil. Urgh. Before I started the ferrets on Evo (which I have to call the vet to order for me, since they don’t sell to big chain stores and none of my local small stores can get it through their distributors), I tried a few other high quality ferret foods from PetCo. Once I made the mistake of trying that big breeder’s food when they were out of the other kind.
EW. I opened the bag and it smelled like dead fish. It was awful. Miss Suzi would *not* eat it, and we had to go right back to the store to buy something else. *Anything* that didn’t smell like that.
But this is good food. They like the taste, and it’s a good shape. The other kind I’d used (before Evo, and is somewhat more expensive, too) had a shape that sometimes caught in the roof of ferrets’ mouths. I never had a problem with this, but I know a few people who had to go rushing into their ferrets’ rooms to save them from their kibble.
As for living in the wild? Mine wouldn’t. They’d die in a week. (This is why the California law about no ferrets because they’ll upset the ecosystem is STUPID.) Some people can get their ferrets to eat raw — or even live mice like you’d buy for snakes, but that’s a little scary for me — but I think they start very young. Not all ferrets will take to it, anyway.
Ferrets in the States are *not* like UK ferrets. They do not work, do not hunt. They’re, ahem, rather inbred, thanks to that big company I keep mentioning. *stabs*
I’m gargling quietly to myself here about the things people do to animals. It seems to me very sad that if you want to have ferrets in the US you’re under the thumb of The Ferret Microsoft. And there isn’t even a Ferret Mac, I guess.
But fish oil is good for critters like it’s good for us? Not ferrets? The hellhounds’ kibble has fish oil in it and it does smell faintly, rather oddly, of fish, but it doesn’t smell dead or spoilt. You don’t add fish oil yourself?
LOL the native tiny critters would probably be very happy if the ferrets considered them to be POISON!! hehe
I’m sure! Though, because of our healthy supply of ferret poo, we don’t have very many small critters hanging around the house, in spite of the fact that we live with lots of open land around us, and the national park just ten minutes east.
I could probably force the ferrets to eat raw meat by starving them for a few hours. (They have short digestive tracts — three hours and it’s through, so they’re hungry again.) But I’m not sure I trust the raw meat available to me. I’d rather cook it and be sure it’s safe.
I could probably force the ferrets to eat raw meat by starving them for a few hours. (They have short digestive tracts — three hours and it’s through, so they’re hungry again.) But I’m not sure I trust the raw meat available to me. I’d rather cook it and be sure it’s safe.
************ Yes. I also wonder if my brief abortive effort to feed my new puppies raw meat is where they got the campy. You really can’t win. . . .
It seems to me very sad that if you want to have ferrets in the US you’re under the thumb of The Ferret Microsoft. And there isn’t even a Ferret Mac, I guess.
There is, kind of. They’re smaller and harder to find, though. That’s where we got Leanne. (Although she was sent to the petshop WAY TOO EARLY, so I’m not sure I trust them very much, either.) All the boys are from the Ferret Microsoft, unfortunately.
I haven’t heard of the fish oil being good or bad for ferrets, honestly, but it makes their poo stink *horribly.* Like, worse than regular poo.
I was picking up poo today, as I so often am, and thinking that it’s just not a big deal, and given that it is not a big deal, why don’t I ever pick up any of the OTHER poo that OTHER people who should be shot, and probably have large aggressive off lead out of control dogs, do NOT pick up, I would thus be contributing to society. And the answer is at least part the SMELL. Sure, the hellhounds’ poo stinks. But it stinks LESS than dogs fed on . . . you know, standard-brand dog food. Which is to say horrible . . . crap.
Cooking meat (by convential means) will only affect certain bugs/parasites. There are some problems that will not be solved by cooking and, of course, you remove all the real benefits of meat by cooking such as the vitamins and enzymes.
Knowing the source of the meat is important. Most meat sold for human consumption should be perfectly fine. I’m selective what my dogs eat but they have also built up strong immune systems by “playing in the dirt” (disugusting creatures…..). So carrion is to be avoided and offal most certainly. Poultry products – most important that it is human quality as I know someone who lost 6 whippets due to salmonella infected turkey carcasses (NOT sold as human quality).
Good heavens. I feed offal. But I am also totally paranoid about provenance. If I don’t have its name, rank, serial number, and the names of its best friends, I don’t use it. And I only feed ORGANIC offal because of the toxin build up in the liver.
But it stinks LESS than dogs fed on . . . you know, standard-brand dog food. Which is to say horrible . . . crap.
Yep. Yep, exactly. I know my ferrets’ poo stinks. It isn’t as bad as ferrets in the pet store, though, where they have to feed the Ferret Microsoft brand of food. (Which, I forgot to mention, contains CORN as well as fish oil, and corn causes blockages in ferrets. They *totally* cannot digest it. It doesn’t even just turn into waste like carbs and other veggies. It *blocks* them. And they *die* from it. (Now you know how to get me riled up. Talk to me about basic ferret care and how people *don’t*, mostly because the companies *don’t.* Gah.))
Anyway, I don’t know if you went to the Evo website (they make dog food, too, btw — don’t know if that would be worth trying for the hellhounds…), but they list out every ingredient and, if you click it on the side bar, why they include it in the recipe. So I *know* what’s going into my ferrets, and even though there are seven and they go every three hours (sooo much poo), it doesn’t smell bad in here. It smells, certainly, but not like a room full of crap.
I did, but I didn’t get into details. I’ll have to look again. Yes, the dog kibble I use (Burns) also lists EVERY INGREDIENT. And they published a whole blinking (short) book on why their kibble contains what it contains. They even have an ORGANIC kibble.
The stuff they put in standard dog food *ought* to be a criminal offense. It’s full of stuff that’s bad for dogs. And FOOD COLOURING?? Uh, WHY???
the dog kibble I use (Burns) also lists EVERY INGREDIENT.
Oh good to know. We don’t have a dog — you’d have heard all about it by now if we did — but every so often we talk about what if we had one. If we ever do (and it’d be far in the future when we had fewer small fuzzy mammals), now I know a good food. *grin*
The stuff they put in standard dog food *ought* to be a criminal offense.
Seriously. I wouldn’t eat it. Why would I ask my fuzzy mammal to eat it?
you’d have heard all about it by now if we did
******** Well I should HOPE SO! Hmmmmmph!!! :)
I wouldn’t eat it. Why would I ask my fuzzy mammal to eat it?
********* *fellow* fuzzy mammal! :) Mind you I don’t much want to eat the Burns either . . .
*fellow* fuzzy mammal! :)
I don’t know how fuzzy you are, but I am not as fuzzy as a ferret or Kippy. ;) But I guess that is one of the things about being a mammal: at least slight fuzziness.
Actually, I suspect once Kippy gets off my lap, I’m pretty fuzzy. Okay, you’re *absolutely* right. *Fellow* fuzzy mammals. ;D
I don’t particularly want to eat the Burns or the Evo, either, but I would try a piece if need be. You couldn’t pay me to eat some of that other stuff. :)
Fuzzy is only . . . fuzzy! We’re all fuzzy! We are just not HAIR FACTORIES like some mammals we could name!!!
I feed offal. But I am also totally paranoid about provenance.
Given that offal is a prime source of tapeworm infection (several kinds) it is something that we are encouraged to be paranoid about here. :)
Can’t avoid a bit of scavenging (lambing is a highlight of their year I can tell you….) but overall we do our best being paranoid. ;)
I don’t tend to worry about toxins because I know what I use (and *don’t use*). So we butcher our own lamb and it will be better than anything you ever get in the shop….. ;)
Oh no! Oh horrors!
MANY Hugs for Darkness! Feel better, Darkness! Be WELL!
And hugs for Chaos too, so he doesn’t feel left out and start sulking or something.
And many, many hugs for you, Robin! You seem to need them today.
When I first started reading, (i.e. after the first sentence) I was going to say something to the effect of “And you scolded ME on MY eating habits!? You need to take care of yourself, dear Robin!” kind of thing. But then all attempts at being funny-if-slightly-impudent flew away. What a DAY!
I’m off to sing in a concert in about 45 minutes, but I need only walk downstairs, out of my dorm and about two minutes up the path, so I’ll be here offering sympathy, chocolate, hugs, and ridiculousness as per usual!
Hope tomorrow is a better day.
Get some rest. [eventually]
–Julia
Sing well! :)
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Thank you!
And, if I do say so myself, we did!
:)
–Julia
Good!
Duck soup is made with chicken? And egg? Not real ducks?
Consider me disillusioned.
Is there a recipe for duck soup for humans? I have to say that, minus the kibble, it does sound very good. Anybody want to post a recipe or two for it? I am NOT a cook, but for something this delicious, I might ask my husband to give it a try. He keeps saying that he’s going to cook in the new house, and if he wants me to help pay for the massive remodeling job he wants in the new kitchen, he’d better start proving that he’s serious about cooking…. ;->
Judith
You wouldn’t like to post some PHOTOS of all this, would you??
*****You wouldn’t like to post some PHOTOS of all this, would you??*****
Photos of my desire for duck soup? Or of my husband? Or of the kitchen he hates and wants remodeled?
Well, I DO actually have a photobucket account that I’d completely forgotten. I just have to figure out how to reduce photos so that they don’t take people hours to download them. The photos I have are a few megabytes apiece….
Judith
Well, I had the kitchen in mind. But I wouldn’t object to the husband. :) But Before and After photos are always good. I could get inspired and do some of the cottage.
Oh! You’re talking about remodeling projects!!!! oooo! You might enjoy photos of my 1970s bathroom with lime green sink and lime green counter and lime green tub and lime green tiles sprinkled randomly here and there. Admittedly, lime green can be fun when used in the right place and in moderation. But this was just SAD. So SAD. It was old and worn and it was never going to look good again, if it ever did. So, we ended up stripping the entire bathroom out to the studs. It turned out so well (IMHO!!!!) that I joke that I need to hang a little velvet rope across the doorway so that people may look and admire my new bathroom from the door but may not actually enter to use it. Heh heh heh. They can use the – ahem – outhouse. ; )
I hope the hellhounds get better. I’m sending lots of good thoughts.
Have your vets looked at their immune system in general? I don’t know about dogs, but in humans, individuals with compromised immune systems have a much harder time getting rid of the pathogens. Maybe there’s more to the story than just a gut bacterial infection.
I’m under the impression that antibiotics don’t due much for Campylobacter (I didn’t look up Campylobacter specifically – but most enteritis doesn’t respond well to anitbiotics) but there might be some way to boost immune system function?? Maybe some dog interleukins??
Also did your vets determine a species? The type of media the lab used to culture bacteria can affect what species and numbers they would find. Maybe try some different culturing processes might change the results.
I have to say that I’m not sure I see a difference between homeopathic remedies and pharmaceutical drugs. In both cases, they involve using chemicals to fight illness. The precision with which the chemicals are administered probably differs as does the economic intentions of the practicioners. (I have a big problem with big pharma and their lack of ethics.) I’m a physiological ecologist and tend to look at the big picture and never the bottom line.
I’m sorry, I haven’t got time to answer this. A lot of it has showed up in previous posts.
There is an *enormous* difference between homeopathic remedies and pharmaceutical drugs.
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Hells bells… what a day. Thoughts are with you and the hounds–
On a lighter note, what do you do with your author’s copies? Throw them as largesse to the populace? Holiday gifts for everyone on your list? Local library?
Thanks for writing this blog.
You’re welcome!
Mostly they go into the attic, which is why we both have this little attic problem. . . .
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During the summer I tend to be places where my computer won’t talk to me, but am now home and lighting candles in downtown Brooklyn: I believe they’re shining the wrong way for you and hounds to see them (i.e., toward Manhattan) but maybe they’ll go all the way around the world to you–
Candlelight spreads infinitely. :)
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Have you tried the product these folks offer? http://www.petwellbeing.com called Plantaeris? I have no experience with it (having cats), but it may be worth a try. It sounds as if rather than attack the bacteria, it works on the digestive system. Kind of like Imodium for dogs, maybe?
I was surprised to read how very little of the bacteria it takes to make an animal sick. No wonder it is so hard to get a “cure”. Apparently dogs will get the bacteria in their coats … and a bit of licking could be all it takes to get re-infected. It’s also discouraging to see how many ways it can be transmitted. (Puddles, food, eating poo, and its presence in the guts of most mammals kept as pets/ domestic animals/poultry would seem to mean that it’s everywhere) It’s enough to make one paranoid.
I don’t think you have mentioned the possibility that it might be a case of being re-infected over and over again rather than a chronic state, but given the sequence of events you describe, I would consider it as a possibility.
I hope I haven’t wasted your time … I just hate that you and the hounds are suffering so much. My best to all of you.
I call it chronic because that’s how I experience it. It may well be reinfection. But as Mark says the question is *why* does it knock them for a loop, since it IS one of these things that we all carry, like e coli.
Don’t know Plantaeris. I’ll ask.
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Would probiotics work on dogs?
I certainly have done, but whatever is chewing on them just blows it out again.
do you ever find that you expend so much creativity in your blog that there is not much left for your “official” writing?
Not yet . . .
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Oh, Robin, no. :( Many hugs and good wishes for your poor hounds, and for you as well.
Sending up prayers for Darkness (and Chaos). And for any other blog reader’s animal companion in bad health circumstances. I went through it last summer with my oldest cat (and he’s really not old, he’s only 7 now) – nearly lost him to a urinary tract infection. He had to have drastic surgery, which did save him.
The darnedest thing happened, though, and our vet is at a loss to explain it – Boychik’s urethra completely closed up, yet he’s still peeing at what seems to be a normal rate, and everything else seems fine. Other vets on vet message boards have been making dire predictions about his fate and suggesting more surgery. My vet and I are saying no, we’re just going to keep a close eye on Boychik and monitor him. He’s already on a special diet he’ll have to eat for the rest of his life (darned cat loves the food, go figure), but for now there’s no need for any other medication. I spent more on his medical expenses than on the rest of my human family for the past two years!
Anyway, prayers going up. I know they work. I prayed over Boychik for almost two months and he came out of it in good health after one vet wanted me to put him to sleep (I’ve left that clinic to follow the vet who saved Boychik against her boss’s wishes).
Thank you! I believe in prayer, even if I may have different ideas of who’s listening. And I *hate* people who tell you not to TRY. You have to try. Sometimes you have to stop trying and let someone go, but YOU HAVE TO TRY. Well done Boychik!
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Sending good thoughts and health wishes for you and the hellhounds!
I wonder if we could try voodoo on campy…
Just tell me how . . .
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*Hugs* to both you and Darkness – hope he feels better very soon. You, too. (And a hug to Chaos so he doesn’t feel left out).
thank you. Chaos thanks you too. :)
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I’m sorry that you’re going to have to resort to the antibiotics. But it will get you some breathing room I think…Maybe enough that the homeopathic anti-campy stuff can get a foothold.
I can’t help but wonder if there is still something else undiagnosed going on. Campy’s a mofo for sure, but these outbreaks are *so* frequent. Could an allergy of some sort be contributing to the problem?
I’ve got my fingers crossed for all three of you.
Campy COULD be all of it. Somehow we have to find SOMETHING that we can MAKE GO AWAY so we can see if anything’s left. . . .
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So very sorry. My best to the hellhounds, and you. Whatever hope, prayers and good vibes can do, consider done, at least.
Also… I’m wondering *which* CD you were listening to… I must go scrape around the ‘net, find that song. I am woefully ignorant in many musical ways, but hey, enthusiastic.
The Bryn Terfel one should be dead easy to find. I think it may even be called The Vagabond. I was listening to the Naxos (CHEEEEEEAP!!!) English Song Series #14, which is Vaughan Williams, sung by Roderick Williams. There are lots of them out there though.
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I’m so very sorry to hear that the hellhounds have had a bit of a relapse and that you’re all going through such a horrible time.
I wondered – you’ve probably already checked this – are their litter brothers and sisters suffering in a similar way? If they are – is it known what is being done for them and is it working? If you’ve already posted about having done this at some point and I’ve missed it, my apologies.
They will get better, of course, at some point. You will then be able to look back with a sort of ‘…then shall I strip my sleeves and show my scars…’ shudder. Fingers crossed all round that that day is now approaching.
They will get better, of course, at some point.
****** Please keep believing that.
No, so far as the breeder knows, ONLY WE are having problems. Siiiiiigh.
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No, so far as the breeder knows, ONLY WE are having problems. Siiiiiigh.
So what do they do differently? If some things *are* done differently does this need looking into?
::ponders::
That’s the direction I would take if it was me…. :)
Here… have some sunshine ….. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21742944@N05/
::hugs and chocolate::
Well no, because it’s too late. This is a well established whatever it is.
Oooh, lambykin! :) How’s your rescue? Did he finish recovering?
Well no, because it’s too late. This is a well established whatever it is.
Hey… I was clutching at straws!! ::sigh::
Sometimes it is useful to go back to the very beginning. Afterall, one must make sure that ALL straws have been suitably clutched.
It’s EVERYWHERE. I personally think they picked it up by their extremely unpleasant crap-eating habit. They liked fox, hedgehog and cat the best. But this is one of the things that puppies DO. So why are mine–???????
How’s your rescue? Did he finish recovering?
No unfortunately. :( There are so many lambs this year though there was bound to be a few casualties. :/
Oh . . . I’m sorry. It sounded like he was really doing well.
Hope the poor boy gets better soon. Your subject line had me worried a lot more.
I see that, but giving up on a ‘cure’ is a real kick in the head.
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::HUGS:: to all. Have a better day!
JM
Dear sweet gods, you are having a month of it, aren’t you?
Yes. I know we’ve just got into September (time, *stop taking that caffeine NOW please!*). It still seems like a nasty month.
We never HAD August. We had September. It now appears to be October. Sigh.
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“However Jenny gave me a Magic Strap which is going to Revolutionise My Riding.*** ”
Amazing how little things that distract our roving minds can help and correct our bad habits. Well, they say that habits are things we do without thinking, and that is why we have so many of them, so a little reminder nudging you is a good thing. One of my Pilates teachers pointed out that I would get a whole lot more from my (very light) weight exercises if I wrapped my little finger tightly around the bar. This activates your triceps on a permanent basis and you get double the result. The exercises feels much more different and you end up using your shoulder blades to lift the weight rather than the top of your shoulders. Such a little tip, such a good result.
I am sorry about Darkness and Chaos, geisers and rivers and other unfortunate running liquids. My positive thoughts are most definitely with you.
Thank you!
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How do they *get* it in the first place? Just bad luck?? That just seems so totally excessive.
Good luck… I hope the vet can come up with a workable solution for everybody.