R.I.P. Mr. Hope

Above: Mr. Hope enjoys one last moment in the sunshine

We had to put Mr. Hope to sleep yesterday. He was in complete organ failure, a result of a buildup of toxins. While the dental may have sped up the progression of organ failure by a day or two, there was nothing we could have done either way. He was such a great character and a very good dog. You may recall that his beginnings were beyond rough, being a victim of the Whiteford Animal Hoarder, but he persevered and proved he was quite the fighter. He relearned how to walk, he came out of his dementia to recognize & love us, and he lived nearly a year even though the cardiologist had only given him 2.5 months (at most).

Not only that, but he did a lot for his fellow animals. He was a little TV star for a while, putting a face to the problem of animal hoarding. He helped raise money, food, and toys for the other victims, and encouraged many volunteers to come visit and/or adopt them. He participated in walk-a-thons by being pulled in a little red wagon...and nothing prompts people to give than a pathetic sight like that! And he made everyone chuckle when he hopped up to greet them (his stumpy legs wouldn't let him jump up completely, but it didn't stop him from trying). We regret not getting his walks on film - he never understood the lines that marked parking spots and would try to jump over them as if they were an obstacle. We affectionately called him "big guy" and he will be terribly missed.

Caging the Cats

We had a gorgeous weekend outside. Warm temps, sunshine, and time off (turned in my paper for class, so I'm pretty much done). We put Mr. Hope in a wagon so we could bring him on walks with us. We also FINALLY figured out how to have the windows open that prevents the cats (namely, Sati) from popping the screen and making an easy escape for Tasha. We had an old dog crate we weren't using that comes completely apart. We put the walls of the dog crate into different windows, as you can see in the photos. There is still a small gap on the side where the dog crate wall isn't quite wide enough to fill the window, but we'll get a few pieces of wood to close that in. Now, everyone should get lots of fresh air and we won't have to run the A/C all summer long. If you don't have a dog crate and need something similar for your lean-on-the-window-and-pop-the-screen cat(s), our neighbor bought one of those cheap wire shelving units and cut it to fit.

For those wondering about Mr. Hope, we're still waiting on a blood test. That should get done sometime today, along with an x-ray (maybe). But, it doesn't look good. I'll keep you posted.

Please Pray for Mr. Hope

Mr. Hope is not doing well. He seemed a bit out of it right after his dental, but we attributed it to the fact that it was a big dental given the 10 extractions they had to do. But, he's actually gotten worse since then. He doesn't recognize us and is acting like he did when we first took him home (walking into corners and just standing there; staring off into space; legs dragging & being unable to walk much). The vet at first thought maybe he'd had a stroke while under the anesthesia that they hadn't noticed, but then he stopped eating. I took him up to Misty and the vet that day and they ran some tests.

Now, they think he may have had toxins building up in his system that took over b/c of the recovery from the dental. Misty is giving him fluids and force-feeding him, but he's already lost a pound and he still just doesn't seem like himself. There's none of his jumpy spark that makes everybody chuckle. He's getting some B-complex and B-12 to help his neurological system, as well as something to settle his stomach (he's been throwing up the food we've been force-feeding him) and an additional neurological drug. They'll give him a blood test on Monday to see if he is in kidney failure and whether there is any improvement. If it is kidney failure, there's nothing we can do. If he at least starts eating, there's a chance: he's a fighter and he came back from the dementia once. So, keep Mr. Hope in your prayers this weekend.

Cute Pic & Mr. Hope's Adventure

Well, the picture above has nothing to do with Mr. Hope, but it was cute and I don't have a new one of Mr. Hope handy. Mr. Hope has awful teeth, yet another result of his bad time with the Hoarder Lady. We've debated getting them cleaned b/c it requires anesthesia, which isn't always a good idea when you have a bad heart like him. On the other hand, bad teeth means infected teeth and infections are known to shorten your pet's lifespan. He's been blessed so far, extending his 2-month lifespan prognosis to a year and counting. We took the risk on Monday and had them cleaned. Unfortunately for him, he had TEN teeth that were so bad they had to be extracted. He wasn't feeling so great on Monday, but seemed better yesterday. We still have to keep an eye on him for any bad effects of the anesthesia, but he's at least not fighting infections anymore.

PS: I've updated the pet food recall list below

Pet Food Recalls - Summary

Well, it is getting worse. More and more pet food products are coming out as being contaminated in some way...including ones we've fed our lovely napping beauties above. Luckily, we've only fed them a couple treats and a few cans that were split between the three dogs. They all seem fine so far. Here's the most recent list of companies doing recalls (each is linked to the list of products):

• Menu Foods (LOTS of name brands included in this): There is a box on the left-hand side with links to cat and dog food products; click on one for the full listings
• Purina Pet Food: Voluntary recall of ALPO® Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes; no dry food as yet affected
• Hill's Pet Nutrition: One specific product recalled = Prescription Diet™ m/d™ Feline Dry Food; if your cat was eating this, they suggest the m/d canned or other (see FAQ)
• Del Monte Pet Foods: Includes pet treats as well as some canned dog food
• Eight in One Pet Products: Technically unrelated to the other recalls, this involves Dingo brand treats that may contain salmonella
• Natural Balance Pet Foods: The first big dry food recall. Recall includes all Venison dog products and dry Venison cat food products. This one is blamed on a contaminate in their rice protein instead of the wheat gluten suspected in the other products.
• The FDA is keeping a list of all pet food products recalled that is probably your best bet to get info all in one place.
  

Many people are turning toward making their own pet food as an alternative to the risk with commercial pet food products. Right now, "Real Food for Dogs..." is #25 on the best-sellers list on amazon.com and that is certainly not the only book on do-it-yourself dog food available. Misty and I haven't gone that route yet (can you imagine our kitchen trying to make meals for SIX animals??), especially given vegetarians don't know a whole lot about preparing meat. If you choose to go this route, be sure to read up on it and be careful - there are things we humans eat that are very bad for pets (chocolate, dairy, onions, etc.).

Most dry products seem to be unaffected by the recalls. We were reassured that The Goodlife Recipe that we feed the dogs (along with other food made by its manufacturer, Mars Petcare Products) is safe. Peach the cat eats Purina One Sensitive Systems which was not affected by the recall, nor was the Royal Canin Oral Sensitivity cat food that Boulder and Sati eat (and Peach sometimes since he is a little thief).

The Great Bird Escape

As you can see above, we've done a little bit of remodeling to our townhome this weekend. I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of scratching and flapping against the vent next to the bed. The cats were all sitting around it in awe, but I couldn't find anything inside the vent. Last year, we had two birds get into the vent system. We managed to get them out by opening one of the vents inside the house and shooing it outside when they found there way to the opening. After that, the townhome people put cages around the outside vents to prevent more birds from getting inside.


On Sunday, we could still hear the bird scratching & flapping pathetically. We figured out that it was actually inside the walls and not the vents. There is a small separation between our townhome and the one next door, which was probably opened up by squirrels. Misty drilled a small hole in the wall and we shined a flashlight on it in the hopes that the bird would find the hole to escape. We closed the cats & dogs upstairs so the bird wouldn't become anyone's snack if it did find its way out.


Thankfully, the bird did *finally* find the hole. Of course, then it was flapping around inside the house. It took some persuading to get it away from the closed window and out the door that we were holding open, but it eventually worked. The only thing left now is to repair the big hole in the wall before the rental agency finds out.