The pets thread aka my house smells of cat/dog/other piss

So comfy for the wunty hound.

I've been meaning to pick up the slack on here due to dogbot not being around but I've been slipping

So to catch up











Looks like the little bugger's going to cost us 6 grand this year to sort out his dodgy knees. So frustrating as we've been to the vet several times insisting he's got a problem, and each time they weren't entirely sure, we eventually get xrays done and they agree he's got luxating patellas in both legs. Then we've started hydrotherapy and the therapist instantly could tell he's got issues just from watching him walk, and then in the consult stage she felt his kneecap go more in the one the vet said was the least worse one, so now we're really concerned whether the vet really now what they're doing. They reckon it's a stage 1 luxating patella, but Fitzpatrick Referrals (supervet place) say you shouldn't do surgery on stage 1s, but then his knee came out more often than what would be categorised as stage 1 in the consult.

Yeah that’s such a shame about his knees. Poor Dudley. That’s a lot of money. Must be a stress. Love the photos though.

Oh yeah, he just often chooses not to at the moment unless there's a cat/squirrel/dog he doesn't like.

Bloody inconsiderate cat. Amazon deliver two months of food and she up and dies before eating any of it. To be fair to the old girl though, I did think it was being a bit optimistic when the subscription email arrived.

Ah nuts. Sorry rob.

Thanks, she had a good run though, 18 is a ripe old age. Going to miss the grumpy sod.

Spent 2 hours driving to a rescue to meet a dog who we thought might be a suitable match for Dudley. The dog had been in a less than ideal situation with 3 other dogs and all 4 of them are in the early stages of rehoming.

Long story short Dudley and the prospective dog weren't quite the right match. But the man who was rehoming the 4 dogs asked if Dudley could interact with the other dogs as they hadn't had much socialisation yet, sort of using us as guinea pigs, which we were happy to help with. Turns out that one of them and Dudley really hit it off and she's such a sweet girl. We said we'd have a think about it and return next week to see how they get on then, and maybe after that they're open to us fostering to begin with, with no firm commitment to see if it's a good match. So we'll see.

Have to say goodbye to my amazing girl Smurf this morning. She has has heart trouble for a while now and took a turn for the worse last night. Got her to the vets and she seemed much better but got her home again and within an hour she was declining.

She has been an incredible friend for almost 15 years and there have been a couple of really dark times where I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here without her.

I'm utterly broken and I am losing the last link to my mum today.

Sleep well girl and thank you for being better than me.

So sorry Frog (& Rob) losing pets is always heartbreaking and Rob losing a link never diminishes the blessed time we have in life with family and friends (while it may feel that way). Time will help and good times will come again. Better to live and love than to not always despite the pain. Always remembered.

So sorry Frog and Rob. Literally welling up sitting here at my desk reading that. Before we got Penny I would never have imagined a bond so strong, and now I can totally empathise with how you both must feel.

Really sorry to hear that Frog and Rob

So sorry

This is Mokka. We took her home yesterday to begin fostering her for the next couple of months.

It's been a bit testing truth be told. She seemed to be more friendly with Dudley the first couple of times we saw her, but she's become quite bossy with him and you can see Dudley is being quite wary round her and is stressed. It's slowly getting better, and she's no doubt stressed by the whole situation of new home and everything, but I have a niggling doubt in the back of my mind. Like maybe she ought to be in a single dog household.