New dog

[Ezdaar]

It seems like it has been awhile since there was a pet thread and since I got a new dog I figured I would take the opportunity to start one.

Her name is Mint, she's a 6 year old greyhound who used to be a racing dog before retiring and being put up for adoption.

[Trippy]

Are you sure she wasn't a castoff from the Umbrella Corporation?

[Ezdaar]

That would be very bad for mankind as greyhounds can go from 0-30mph in 3 strides and top out at about 45mph. Only thing faster is a cheetah.

[Llava]

I think your dog's eyes just devoured my soul.

[Righ]

Only thing faster is a cheetah.

And other faster things like Humvees, AV-8B Harriers and Linear Launchers.

[stray]

Neat dog. She's only 6 years old, you say? So the white on her face isn't a sign of age or anything, right?


Not meant to depress anyone, but as I briefly mentioned (under bad circumstances) in the Erwin thread, I tried taking care of a stray kitten recently. Not a young kitten, but a fairly grown one. Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong and she died. Not sure if it was due to me, health problems, or a combination between the two. When I found her, she was extremely malnourished. She could barely even walk. She was almost all bone. She might have been abused too, since the end of her tail looked broken (unless some cats are born that way?). Another strange thing: She was missing a little hair under her chin and around the whiskers area.

Anyways, for about a week and a half, I did my best feeding her and trying to clean her up. She seemed to perk up a bit, and was starting to come around. She seemed happy, like she was living at a 24/7 feast. She wouldn't even sleep in her little bed. She slept with her head right on the food bowl.

She also had internal problems though, since she'd pee on the floor a lot (sometimes she'd make it to the litter box, so I don't know if it was due to her strength or kidney/bladder problems). I was going to get her checked out.

All of the sudden things went wrong. About 2 days before she died, I got a flea collar for her. I didn't notice at first, but realized later that it was making her sneeze every so often. Then about a day before she died, she wasn't getting up at all. She looked drugged up. I took the collar off immediately, and hoped for the best.

The next morning she was dead.

I don't know. I've dealt with pet deaths before, but they were all due to old age. This one really shook me up. I'm still upset. For one, because she was discarded by some previous owner and didn't have much of a chance to begin with -- she almost starved to death, and two, because I might have been responsible for the death itself.

Tell me it wasn't the flea collar please? Has anyone heard of such a thing?

[tdean001]

Stray-
Hey man...  I'm a doctor, finished three years of surgery residency.  I really doubt that your cat died because of the flea collar.  Unless, of course, she ingested parts of it.  Even then, not sure.  Regardless, it WASN'T your fault man.  Think where that cat would be without you (dead).  You gave it love and a chance and that's important.  Society needs people like you to get stray animals and help care for 'em.

Most likely, she had an infectious disease she acquired during her previous life outside of your house.  Sounds like feline immunodeficiency virus (a lot like HIV in humans, but not contagious to us).  Could be any of a number of other diseases, though, and I don't pretend to be a vet.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/resources/brochure/fiv.html

tom

[Signe]

Pretty dog.  I've known a few people who take in greyhounds.  There are quite a few shelters for them in Britain, probably in the US too, I should think.  They can be some of the most emotionally uncared for and abused dogs and, once past their prime, they are often tossed out like rubbish.  It's good when people take them in.

I"m sorry about your kitty, Stray.  My mom took in an adorable stray kitten once.  She seemed fine but had actually already contracted distemper and the symptoms started soon after .  It was very sad.  It's the same virus that causes Parvo in dogs and it's really hard to get rid of.  We had to bleach every thing the kitten came in contact with  because my mom had another kitten.  Both my aunt's cats were allergic to their flea collars, by the way.  They got runny noses and eyes, sneezy and itchy for a week or so, until they were removed and then it cleared up.  It doesn't sound the same and you shouldn't blame yourself.  You were kind and it's very nice she had someone to care about her for that time.

[Ezdaar]

Sorry to hear about your kitten Stray. On the subject of flea collars, they can actually kill greyhounds since they don't have enough body fat to deal with all the nasty stuff the collar puts into their blood. Same with normal doses of anesthetics.

A lot of the black greyhounds have white/grey on their snout, especially the females it seems. I saw it on very young dogs who were still racing as well.

I think the care of greyhounds has changed dramatically in the past decade or so. The ones here at least spend the first year of their life with their mother and litter mates having to do absolutely nothing but play. After that they learn to run and are sent to a track. The state has really strict guidelines for how they have to be cared for, what they can be fed, how they can be transported, etc. I'm sure a lot of them are still abused but I think it's getting better at least.

Also, Umbrella Corp greyhounds can fly and eat AV-8B's for lunch.

[Big Gulp]

Pretty dog.  I've known a few people who take in greyhounds.  There are quite a few shelters for them in Britain, probably in the US too, I should think.  They can be some of the most emotionally uncared for and abused dogs and, once past their prime, they are often tossed out like rubbish.  It's good when people take them in.

A little bit high strung, but otherwise Greyhounds are great dogs.  Whenever I've adopted a dog I've usually just gone down to the animal shelter and gotten a mutt, mainly because I just like their personalities better; purebred dogs have strange quirks.  Well, the first dog I ever adopted was half beagle, half huskie named Yogi.  A very sweet dog, but the absolute biggest coward you've ever seen in your life.  He'd get scared at the drop of a hat.

Well one day I'm taking out the garbage to the front of the curb and a neighbor's rottweiler comes over towards me with obvious intent to do harm.  At that point Yogi showed his true colors, came running from the backyard, just nipping and running away from this dog, nipping and running away.  Gave me all the time I needed to get my ass back in the house, and then Yogi came running in like a streak of shit.  Best pet I've ever owned.

[stray]

Heh, sounds like my old dog. She was an adopted mutt. Spitz and a few other things. A big wimp. Perpetually had her ears down like wimpy dogs do. My favorite pet as well though.

...

Thanks for the info on flea collars, guys.

Does anyone know about the missing patches of hair I mentioned (under the chin, around the whiskers)?

[tdean001]

Could've been the feline immunodeficiency virus I mentioned, which can cause patchy hair loss...  More likely, just old scars from street-fights with other cats.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Congrats, Ezdaar, she's a beauty.  My younger brother adopted 2 greyhounds once, and they were the most laid back dogs I'd ever met  Even more so than the Saints we grew up with.  He ended up giving them back to rescue though because he was working some really long hours starting his business up and didn't feel it was fair to the dogs that he was away so much. 

There are a few greyhounds that go to the same dog park I do, and they are beautiful to watch run.  My poor Golden just looks like some complete wimp when he's chasing along with them.  At a canine carnival we recently had, the Greyhound rescue and Great Dane rescue clubs where there, and each and every one of those dogs just leaned into me when I stopped to pet them.  The Danes were the worst because of their size, but there was one of the Greyhounds that kept pushing the others away because he didn't want me to stop rubbing his ears.

Some dogs go grey earlier than others for assorted reasons, just like people I guess.  My first Golden was about as grey as Ezdaar's dog at about the same age.  He had a completely white face by the time he was 9.5 and we had to have him put to sleep.  On the flip side, I've run into dogs at the dog park that are 8-9 years old and just barely starting to get grey.  Just depends on guess.

[Lantyssa]

It was unlikely to be the collar, Stray.  You provided comfort and love to a kitten that would have suffered an otherwise miserable end.  I know it seems unfair but take your own comfort in that..

[Raging Turtle]

I like how in the second pic he looks like he was walking and just fell over without changing his position at all.

[Signe]

I think he's drunk.  He has a big silly smile on his face.     Too cute.

[Merusk]

Cute dog, tho I'm with Gulp on the mutt thing, were I to ever get a dog.

As for your Kitty, Stray; my family's had a ton of cats they've cared for over the years. (I think we're up to having had 20)  That's included more than a few strays.  From the sound of it that cat probably had mange and anemia in addition to the obvious malnutrition.  The tail thing was definatly a break, but not necessarily a sign of abuse.  It could have come from fights w/ other animals, too.

You did the best you could.  If you'd taken it to a vet I imagine he could have given you a fairer assessment of what was actually going on with it, but told you the chances didn't look good.   Anything - person or animal - so starved that they're just bones need a hell of a lot of care to even attempt to recover. 

(Thinking about it, the hair/whiskers might not have been mange, but actually the body shutting-down due to starvation.  I recall reading that hair fallout is one of the things that happens to people who are starving; no resources for the body to produce it. Makes sense the same would happen to animals)

[Megrim]

Heh, Ezdaar is a ninja. You know how to use those things?

Also: cute dog!

[Ezdaar]

They belong to my girlfriend, who holds some high belt in Shaolin kung-fu. I've been learning some Italian longsword and rapier to compensate.

[Xanthippe]

Mint looks like a happy dog.  She is certainly a lucky dog.  A woman in my neighborhood has a greyhound, and the dog wears a sweater in the wintertime on their walks.

Stray, I'm sorry to hear about your kitty.  It wasn't your fault.  I have never heard of a flea collar causing what you describe. Your kitten was already ill.  Healthy cats do not pee on the floor when there is an alternative.

Good TV show for dog owners:  The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan (National Geographic Channel).  I know it sounds really hokey, but check it out.

And better than flea collars - Advantage - a topical that is applied once a month, a few drops to the nape of the neck.

We - my husband and I - are on our second generation now of cat and dog.  The old dog and cat died at ~15, and within a year of each other.  We got them as kitten and pup within a few months of each other, a golden retriever and shorthair pound cat, they were buddies.  We have since gotten a golden retriever/standard poodle mix pup and another shorthair rescue cat, who are buddies.  (We do have the perfect family, I think.)

[Cyrrex]

Stray - Whether or not you find answers to your questions, or if those answers absolve any residual feelings of guilt you may have (real or imagined), I'd just like to say this:  You gave that poor creature, who had probably never experienced any such thing before, shelter, food, care and a measure of dignity.  By the sound of it, maybe even a little bit of love.  In my book, that is no small act of heroism.  That you would even do such a thing (and be so upset about it ending poorly) says volumes about your character.  Cheers to you, bud.  I hope that whatever you find out will be tempered by your knowing that you did a Good Thing.

Damn, I'm getting all weepy.  I need to go do something manly now.

[stray]

I'm not sure about the heroism thing, but thanks.  Everyone here sounds just as animal loving as I. It's just too bad, due to whatever constraints (space, time, money, other pets, etc), that people like us can't help them enough. I have another cat, and she wasn't happy with our new visitor at all -- She was downright crazy. I had to feed her and lock her in another room just to take care of the new one. Before the other cat passed away, I still wasn't sure how I'd make that work out.

Still upset when I think about it. It's just a heartbreaking situation in general, but it does help knowing that it probably wasn't my fault. If anything though, I'll probably not use a flea collar on an animal again (at least not one so weak). Just as a precaution. Because it sounds like they could be a burden either way.

-------

So how much extra exercise are you getting with this dog, Ezdaar? Seems like a greyhound would be more active than usual. Definitely more than all the lazy mutts I've had at least.

[Llava]

So on Saturday I was driving to work and I noticed a pug walking around with no one nearby.  It was a residential area so I thought at first that maybe someone had just let him out to walk around the front yard, but I couldn't see anyone out on the street at all.  I stopped the car and called him over, he was very sweet and friendly, though he looked tired.  I checked his collar and, thankfully, he had tags.  There were two phone numbers and an address.

The address was about 8 miles away.

Also, he was wet, which meant he was likely outside when it was raining which was over the previous night and early morning.

I called the first number on the tag.  Answering machine.  Second number, same thing.  Luckily, though, the numbers were correct.  I could tell because the owner's name was, of course, on the tag and the second answering machine gave the same name.

I was a bit stuck, though.  I couldn't bring him to work.  I couldn't take him back to my place and leave him there for 8-12 hours alone.  So I had to knock on doors until I found someone willing to take care of him until I could come up with something else.  This lady had two cats and a dog already, and they all looked pretty good, so I wasn't concerned that she was a crazy dog torturer.

Someone took him in, and I started calling my family.  My grandparents, luckily, said they'd take care of him as long as was needed.  Given that I had no idea if the owners were out of town or what, that could have been a while, but my grandma is a dog lover and watches our family's dogs all the time, so she had everything needed and would enjoy it.  And he was really well behaved.

Just as I got a moment to go pick him up and transfer him over, I called the person who was holding on to him and she let me know that she had managed to reach the owner, who had come to pick him up.  The owner was rude, was unconcerned that the dog had been out so long, and acted as though we'd done something wrong by finding and taking care of him.  The lady who had watched him for me told me I was a great person for being so involved and to have a great day.

It's funny that all these people can come together in an effort to help someone out to spare them a great deal of heartache, just out of pure altruism, and that person can be completely ungrateful.  Not so much funny, as irking.

Not like I was expecting a reward, but a "Thank you for saving my dog" would have been nice.

Hell, my grandparents didn't even end up doing anything, but I think they deserved a "Thank you" for being willing to take in the dog for weeks if need be.

[HaemishM]

I see entirely too many dog owners around my neighborhood who let their dogs just run around. No leash, no fenced yard, just open the door and let them walk scott free around the neighborhood, shitting anywhere, running in front of traffic, tearing into trash. Pisses me off, when I make such concerted efforts to keep my dogs leashed and somewhat controllable when they go outside. Either get a fucking fence or walk the damn dogs yourself, you fucktards.