Mon 2nd April: Still life in the old boy

I thought I had a foster for the mother dog at AFCD and her seven newborns, and was told by the intermediary that they could be dropped off at their temporary home in the early evening.  Thinking that I needed to get everything prepared (like special food and so on), I said I would get today’s business sorted and then take the group out tomorrow.  It turned out to be just as well, as the potential foster had evaporated by late afternoon and I would have been left stranded with the whole family at the last minute and nowhere for them to go, and now I’m back to just hoping that all will be well with the babies.  They are teeny tiny, at least one of them ridiculously small, and I’m not sure if it’s just because they are so young (maybe just a week old) or that they are going to be smaller sized adults.  The mother is medium sized, and as I’ve mentioned before we’re seeing more and more small and medium mixed breeds these days as the effects of free-roaming or abandoned small breeds filters through to the general canine community.

It’s hard to believe that people can simply throw their pet out onto the street, or even worse in a country park or the hillside, and there was a good example of this at AFCD today.  An old pom, blind and wobbly on his back legs, had been found on the street and taken to the Pokfulam Animal Management Centre.  I asked when the vet would be round (to do what I felt needed to be done) and was told that there had been a staff change and a new Veterinary Officer, name as yet unknown, and therefore a new schedule too.  Not wanting to leave the poor old guy in his confused state, I said I would take him to have him euthanised, the most I thought I could offer.

Arriving at Acorn with the pom in my arms, plus a Sheltie that had been surrendered (standard excuse, number 4, I think), I was told that the vet was busy in surgery and would I mind waiting a bit.  I noticed that Old Pom was taking an interest in what was going on, the sounds and smells at least, and ended up putting him down on the ground so I could see how he did.  He busied himself sniffing and checking out the waiting room, and watching him bumbling around happily I felt there was still life and fire in the old boy and he wouldn’t want to leave just yet.  After having had the Sheltie checked (he’s overweight and needed a dental as is usual), I asked Dr Tony to have a look at the pom.  His eyes are white and he’s totally blind, but his heart and even his legs and hips were fine.  He has no teeth to worry about and his main issue was the knots and lumps in his coat, and the fact that he was pretty smelly and badly needed a shampoo and haircut.  In the end I just couldn’t find a good enough reason to have the old boy put to sleep, so I sent him to Ap Lei Chau for Iris to sort out (in terms of a makeover) and then I’ll have to decide what to do with him.

This is how you do it

Iris, our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre Manager,  isn’t just a pretty face and a tip-top groomer, she’s also a quick thinker. On Sunday one of the schnauzers, Obi, inhaled his food too fast and it got stuck in his throat causing him to collapse and stop breathing.  Without any actual knowledge of what to do, Iris stuck her fingers down Obi’s throat to pull the lump of food out, then used CPR to get him breathing again.  Thanks to Iris, Obi is now back to normal and is acting as if nothing ever happened.

The puppies that I’d taken out last week and had immediately tested positive for parvovirus, were ready to leave hospital so now I had another problem to sort out, where to put them.  Once a puppy has recovered from parvovirus it’s pretty much guaranteed to make a full recovery, so it’s just a matter of getting weight on and finishing the course of antibiotics.  However, the virus continues to be shed for some time afterwards and the puppy is still infectious to other unvaccinated puppies, so it’s important that there is no contact, even indirect.  That’s a bit of a problem when I have so many others, but at least I don’t have a houseful of babies at the moment (but it’s just one of the many reasons why I can’t even think about bringing the mother and her newborns to Lamma).  This is where and why foster homes are needed, but they’re thin on the ground at the moment with so many people taking advantage of the Ching Ming holiday on Wednesday, combining it with Easter, and disappearing off for a holiday.

This sweet bunny boy is in urgent need of a new home

It wasn’t just dogs that I was dealing with today as there was yet another rabbit at AFCD that needed to be rescued.  This one is a beautiful adult lop-eared (neutered) boy, and he’s in urgent need of a home.  I know from the questionnaires that I receive from potential adopters that quite a few people keep rabbits as house pets, so surely there must be a place for this sweet boy somewhere?  Right now he’s staying at Acorn but he will need to move very soon.

Costa is a very lucky boy!

We’re having good luck with our black dogs at Tai Po at the moment.  Actually black dogs aren’t as difficult to home as multicolours or two-tones, and sharpei mixes are the hardest of all, although I love their personalities.  We have some fantastic ex-Lamma sharpei crosses at Tai Po and I keep hoping that someone will notice Alison and her sister Jersey.  Like others I still have with me – like Potato -  sharpei crosses are affectionate, loyal and totally lovely.  But today was Costa’s day, and I’m as happy for him as I could be for any of our lovely dogs that find their forever home.

Potato is an incredibly sweet boy

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