Tail Talk

On February 17, 2012, Joe Szynkowski of the Southern Illinoisan published the following article that was so informative I thought it important to share the information with everyone because it’s not your normal pet emergency that’s addressed in online help articles:

Dr. David Lane has seen it all in his three-plus decades of caring for animals. Pets have been carried into his office with injuries from venomous snake bites, vicious dog fights and gruesome car collisions. While unpredictable by nature, pet emergencies can almost always be prevented, says the founder of Lakeside Veterinary Hospital in Carbondale.

“I tell people to be vigilant and get to the vet,” said Lane, who started his practice in 1978 and specializes in dentistry and general surgery at Lakeside. “Especially with the issues that don’t seem as serious as the hit-by-cars. When people see unusual behavior from their pet, they may be too busy or they may think it can wait. I tell them to at least get a call into the vet.”

Below is some advice from Lane on how to handle some of the more common pet emergencies. Lakeside and many other local offices offer extended hours to accommodate pet emergencies that may occur after-hours.

Preventable emergencies

“We will see emergencies that weren’t emergencies three or four days before. When people think their animal isn’t acting right, they need to talk to a vet or get the pet into a vet right away. Most people don’t recognize the sicknesses early on until they become emergencies.”

“People can also prevent emergencies by keeping their pets on leashes at all time. We will see massive injuries like hit-by-car or falling off a cliff, which is not that unusual with hiking. Leash laws are meant to protect the dogs and people. Dog fights are not usually emergencies, but we will see problems with larger dogs killing little dogs. Some of those little dogs think they are big dogs and that can be a problem. Dog owners need to have leashes on all of their dogs.”

 Hit by a car

“Most emergencies with dogs occur during the daylight or evening. Very seldom do we see emergencies late at night, maybe a hit-by-car occasionally. We usually see those kinds of problems when people and vehicles are moving at the same time, usually around dusk. Animals move at dawn and dusk. That’s when it’s most dangerous. You just can’t have your dog loose.”

“Stop any overt bleeding after a hit-by-car. If the dog is unconscious, open the jaws and airways to see if there is any blood or vomit in the back of the throat. You can also blow into the sinuses of the dog. A dog like a short-nose pug would be more difficult. Get the dog onto a moveable piece of board. Roll them gently onto the board and get them into the back of your car and get them to the vet.”

“On a conscious dog that has been hit by a car, you need to make sure they are breathing. Don’t open that dog’s mouth to check for obstructions if you hear them breathing. Odds are, you’re going to get bitten. Keep them warm. If they’re bleeding, wrap the wound and apply direct pressure. If their legs are injured, obviously keep them off of the injured legs. And try to keep them calm. The more they flail, the more they can damage.”

 Snakebites

“Snake bites are extremely dangerous. We see copperheads toward the middle section of Illinois, but we see more rattlesnake bites near the Mississippi River. The most common way to get injured with a snake is when the dog will bark at it, and the snake tries to protect itself and strikes the pet’s face.”

 “The best thing is not to try to cut the dog open and suck out the venom. Just transport the dog to the vet. If the snake isn’t too big, we can usually take care of it with a lot of cortisone and anti-histamine fluid therapies. Get your dog into the vet or emergency hospital within the first couple of hours of a snake bite.”

Cat emergency

 “In cats, plugged tomcat or plugged penis is the one true emergency. A lot of people don’t recognize it at first and it can happen to males or females. It is a urinary obstruction that can lead to big problems.”

“If your cat is sitting in their litter box making unusual sounds, that’s an emergency. Call the vet and get them in right away. There is nothing you can do for that at home.”

Keep this information handy and reread it regularly because in an emergency there is never enough time and you need to react in the right way to save lives.

And never forget, it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.

I received this in an email a few years back and published it but when it came back around the other day I decided it was time for a reprint for a new generation that perhaps had not yet heard the story of Mary and her very best friend:

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’   Lucky was a real character.

Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy.   Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys.     Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer.   Something told her she was going to die of this disease……in fact;  she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders.   The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky.   A thought struck her….what would happen to Lucky?   Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through.

If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought.  He won’t understand that I didn’t want to leave him!  The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks.   Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital.   When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom.    Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap.

Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called.    It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong.   She couldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot.   But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem.  She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned!

While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.

He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying.   Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day.   It’s been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free.   Lucky.   He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

Remember…..live every day to the fullest.  Each minute is a blessing from God.  And never forget….the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.   They are the ones that care for us.

If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours!   Live simply. Love seriously.   Care deeply.   Speak kindly.   Leave the rest to God .

Today I saw a video about two dogs that at first made me cry, then made me laugh, then made me cry again, out of fear that no one will come forth to love and care for them because no one will love one as I love my Jackson, and that makes me sad.  Before I continue, you need to watch the video:
http://www.godvine.com/Dog-That-Was-Shot-Saves-and-Guides-his-Blind-Doggy-Friend-1457.html
The lead-in to the video was:
Dog That Was Shot Saves and Guides his Blind Doggy Friend
Here’s a heartwarming story that you might not believe at first. Tanner was on the verge of being put down due to uncontrollable seizures when Blair came along and changed his life forever. The way these two interact is beautiful to watch.
If you watch the video you’ll find that Tanner was blind since birth from cataracts.  At about age one year his owner died, and he started suffering from a mild seizure disorder which became exacerbated by the loss of his owner and best friend, which being blind, he didn’t understand.  So a Golden Retriever Rescue stepped in and had him placed in a foster home, and this is where I begin to come unglued.  The foster mom stated that during his seizures he made a bit of a mess, and the overvoice   talks about how that’s an understatement because they lose control of their bowels and bladder and as they continue to seize the feces can be ground into the carpet.  Yes, it’s a mess.  Yes, it’s unpleasant to have a male dog with urine flying through the air until you can throw a towel over him as his body is seizing because he has lost control of all bodily functions at this time but even more worrisome is the damage that could be happening to his brain.  Who has time to worry about carpet when a life is in danger?  Apparently quite a few people.  So when this “loving” foster mother returned Tanner to the vet where he started his journey the vet recommended to the rescue that Tanner be put down.  Then something magic happened.  A black lab named Blair was at the vet’s office after being shot.  She was skittish around people, but she took to Tanner like he was her long, lost love and picked up his leash and began leading this blind, epileptic dog around the yard, showing him the love he so needed and had not felt since his owner had died when he was just one year old.  What he couldn’t get from man he could get from beast.  They say they have no soul but I beg to differ.  Right here is a perfect example of how an animal is more accepting of the “human” condition than any human on this earth.  I know, because I went through school with a kid that had seizures, extreme seizures, every day.  Every day he fell out of his desk and laid on the floor, between the desks of the kids that looked on in horror as his body went into convulsions, losing control of the very same bodily functions that my Jack and Tanner loses every time they suffer a seizure.  I know he ultimately suffered brain damage from the daily attacks on his brain so I know how damaging uncontrolled seizures can be on a body and a soul.  I think of him often, wondering if knowing him was my preparation for this part of my life, a lesson in how not to respond to the suffering of another, or if it is Karmic justice coming back around so quickly for my horror in looking on as he convulsed on the floor while the rest of us looked on in a mixture of fear and disgust caused by a lack of understand due to our young age.  I believe it is the first, that I was blessed in being given an opportunity to have the experience of knowing so many different people so early in my life that I was prepared to accept and love where others perhaps are not as blessed as I have been to have learned these lessons on how to love through difficult conditions so early in life.   But I still don’t understand why the only soul that loves this poor blind, epileptic Golden Retriever is another dog.  Isn’t there another person out there that could come forth and adopt them both because it would be a crime to not keep them together since it is so obvious they belong together, forever.
Those in the Tulsa, Okla. area interested in adopting Tanner and Blair can fill out an application with the Sooner Golden Retriever Rescue.  Those outside the area can contact the same rescue and ask about what you need to do to adopt them and have them transported to you because there are ways to do this if you are the right person to give them a life.
Whatever you do today, watch that video and take it to heart.  Take the lessons these animals offer the rest of us as a gift and really feel the love, the unconditional acceptance, they have for each other.  Then look within and see if you measure up to the least of them.  I know on any given day I fall down regularly, but with role models like these to look up to I at least have a path in goodness to follow.  And if you can open up your life and your home to these two animals, make that call today.  They need you, and they need you to step forward now.
And never  forget, it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.

Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.  That’s a powerful quote by Albert Schweitzer that we need to remember when going through our daily lives.   Coming up on the 10th is the first of the court dates for the man that shot the dog through the neck with an arrow and allowed it to bleed out, a slow tortuous death that was painful beyond our ability to imagine the suffering.  About a week after that will be the court date of a man that coerced animals into a barn so they were trapped, slaughtered them when they had no chance to get away, then disposed of them in a field.  I plan to be at the courthouse, representing the animals that have no voice to represent themselves except through the animal control officer that felt strongly enough about his job and the animals he protects to see to it that these people had the limit of the law thrown at them.  And yet they still were able to bond out at $500 and $750 respectively.  Not much for the pain and suffering they caused a living creature.  I am hoping that my presence in the court house will cause the judge pause and make him understand that there are people in the community of Randolph County that are committed to the welfare of the animals.  If you would like to join me during the week of May 6 and May 12 at the Randolph County Courthouse, call me through the Randolph County Humane Society office and leave your name and phone number and I will return your call with the time of the court case and location of the court room.  Because in the words of Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
I am the voice of the voiceless;
Through me the dumb shall speak
Till the deaf world’s ears be made to
hear the wrongs of the wordless weak.
And I am my brothers keeper,
and I will fight his fights;
and speak the words for beast and bird
till the world shall set things right.
Should we continue to go along with our days and ignore the horror that is going on in our own back yard, allowing it to continue while giving lip service to the horrors we see in other back yards?  I know I can no longer sit back and do nothing and let these people walk away as if they drove without their seat belt fastened.  They willingly and knowingly tortured animals, allowing them to suffer, and that is against the law.  We need to do more than be accepting of this behavior and let our judges know that we expect them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  And if they don’t, we’ll remove them from the bench and put in judges that will follow the law, limited though it is.

And never forget, it is only though you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.

I thought I’d been shocked by things in my life but never as much as today, so I threw out the Tail Talk I’d written to put these thoughts to paper.  Tomorrow the shelter is having an event to raise money so we can keep our doors open for a couple of more months.  But that only happens if the event is successful.  And it should be a day filled with rip-roaring fun because it’s our 2^nd annual poker run and rally, starting in the morning with those that take part in the poker run and ending the day with a delicious BBQ catered by one of the best restaurants in the area with dancing and fun immediately afterwards.  Businesses have donated prizes for raffles and our auction, and everything is set.  So imagine our surprise when we contacted the DJ only to find out that he had been told that the event had been canceled, so he’s booked another event in its place.

Whoever told him that the event was canceled obviously held enough weight (and I don’t use that term lightly) for him to understand that it was a done deal.  We thought it was odd that the last couple of days we’ve had calls come in to the shelter from folks that had heard that the event had been canceled but they at least asked, unlike the DJ who was told and did not check with the shelter because the person that told him represented the shelter in his mind.  So whoever made this up to hurt the people that work so tirelessly to save the animals that have no one, you’re not hurting us, but you are taking food from the mouths of the animals we’re trying to save.  But here’s where it gets interesting because if there’s one thing I know about life, this is the one thing I know.

You may think that you’re hurting us, whoever you are, but ultimately the only person you’re hurting is yourself because you will pay for the deeds you do against the animals that need this help so to keep our doors open and operating.  You will pay in ways you never imagined and you’ll probably never attribute to your “little” lie about the event.  You’ll spend your days lonely and unhappy, unloved and unlovable, a horrible creature that exists in your body rather than living a full and fulfilling life.  What a poor excuse for a person you are, and you deserve the existence you have, because anyone that knowingly and willingly takes the food from the mouths of the animals we serve deserves no less than the horror that is you.  Karma is only a bitch only if you are, and you qualify.

If anyone would like to help us overcome this setback, you can send donations via your PayPal account to donations@randolphhumane.org.  Or you can visit our website at http://RandolphHumane.org and click on the PayPal link there.  Any help you can give us will be appreciated.  Let’s show these narrow minded people that try to hurt the ones that give the shelter their all that you’re not going to stand for it, because it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.

Loyal Lab

I’m sure by now everyone has seen the video of the dog that wouldn’t leave his friend that had been hit and was lying there, dead in the middle of the busy street.  If not, you can see it here:

It’s difficult to watch, not only because of the loyalty of one dog to another and the love it feels towards its now dead friend, but for all the people that just continue to drive by, leaving the still live dog in peril.  How heartless are people now that they can’t even be bothered to stop and offer help to the least of them by removing the carcass from the street so the still living dog can survive.  What is wrong with people?  I will never understand what happened there.

What I do understand, though, is the undying loyalty that animals feel towards those they love, whether it’s toward the people that protect them or the other animals they spend their lives with, when they give their hearts they give 100% of their heart and soul.  They are completely selfless in their giving.  And it’s not just dogs that act this way.  When our cows live together, day after day, and it’s time for them to fulfill their ultimate destiny and the first to go is painlessly taken down, the others that were his friend are distraught beyond my ability to describe.  It is not as others would have you believe that they just look and go on eating grass as if nothing happened.  They know.  They know where there was life earlier in the day there is life no more, and this animal spirit they’ve spent every day with no longer embodies this mound of flesh and they feel the pain of loss.  They are distressed and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see they are distressed.  Animals are so much more than what we currently give them credit for being because we don’t understand how much they understand and feel.  We are willing to acknowledge that our dogs feel joy when we see them play ball but we don’t acknowledge that cattle feel joy, yet you should see them when we put a new round bale out for them.  They run and buck, then they run around it and chase each other for a while, showing their complete and utter happiness at the new round bale we’ve just put into their pasture.  I’ve been told that only animals that are well fed can experience play, and I would imagine they’re also the only ones that can experience joy, because when you spend every moment searching for something to fill your stomach to survive you can’t think about having fun.

Lately I’ve read more than one story about a dog that is put into a crate or attached to a chain and left to starve until it is found, nothing but skin hanging on bones, so weak from malnutrition that they can’t stand without help because there is no muscle mass left to support their bodies.  In some of these cases there are other animals in the household that are well fed and well kept, making you wonder why this one was chosen to suffer so.  After they are removed from their tortuous situation they are fed and loved and brought back to health, but there is always a sadness in their eyes that never leaves because they always know that it is just the luck of the draw that put them in that situation and the same that would put them right back there.  I know because our sweet Girlie Sue was an abused dog before she came to us, as was Action Jackson, but Girlie never lost that look.  She never lost the fear, and she was with us for over 16 years.

So no matter what, give your love as wholly and completely to every living creature you come into contact with, even if you don’t understand whether they are deserving of it or not.  When you sit down to eat your meals, give thanks for the animals that live out their ultimate destiny that you might live and prosper.  Be grateful for them.  When you play with your animals, be grateful that you have them in your life and they bless you with their joy, their love and devotion.  There is no place else on this earth where you will be blessed in this manner.  Don’t take it lightly.  It is a gift from God.  Enjoy it as such.

And never forget, it is only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.

Bubby

Last night about 3 am Tim woke me up saying something happened to Bubby, our kitten/cat that is the other half to Sissy, the brother sister pair we adopted from the shelter about a year ago.  I got up and went to the dining room table, and there was our little Bubblelicious, bleeding from the nose and rectum but with no other discernible injuries other than some minor facial scratches.  So what on earth could have happened to our poor baby that could have injured him so badly to cause internal bleeding that is now bleeding out in this manner?  Did he get hit by a car down our country lane so late at night?  Or did a bobcat or coyote get our little guy.  Whatever got him really did a number on him, and at moments like this don’t think that the first line of defense shouldn’t be the power of prayer because when you don’t know what you’re dealing with sometimes asking for help is the best way to begin.  At first our thoughts were to put him out of his misery, but since his Sissy was right there that’s not an easy thing to do.  The reason why Tim found him in the first place was all the cats had gathered around him outside in the rose bushes, the place at the fence where he normally crosses from the outside yard into the dog’s yard to make his way into the house.

In the middle of the night last night Jack woke me up to go outside and bark.  I don’t remember what time it was because I was sound asleep, but I got up and let him out but now I wonder if his sudden entrance into the dog’s yard with barker ablazing and the lights coming on didn’t save Bubby’s life by interfering in whatever was taking place outside our warm and safe bed where Bubby should have been sleeping.  We’ll never know because he’s not talking, and that’s the rub.  It’s heart wrenching when your baby is suffering from something that happened outside your line of sight and you have no way to know how serious it is except to know that the symptoms all point to something with fatality as the outcome.  It’s not a pleasant place to be and no matter what you consider the considerations are equally distasteful.  So you set off on a wing and a prayer, and you act on faith alone and that gut feeling you have to guide you.

Even when everything is telling you there is no chance if life seems to shine from his eyes, I have to listen.  I would never let him suffer, but this guy got to the vet’s office and stood up, turned a couple of circles, rubbed everyone hello, then laid back down on his bed from home that we put inside the carrier for the trip to the vet.  We decided to bring him to the vet because even though a lot of country folk would end their cat’s suffering quickly and painlessly with a bullet when they sleep with you at night it’s difficult to find that spot where it’s right to take care of business.  So it would be best for the vet to take care of it.  And here he is, still bleeding but acting like nothing is wrong, so we’ve decided to investigate it further.  Because he’s our baby.  He’s our Bubby.  He’s Sissy’s Bubby.  They sleep together, arms and legs intertwined, family at its best in the animal world.

He’s the cat answer to Jack; he’s the lover of all animals.  We looked outside one night and there sat Bubby, sitting on the outside table with an Opossum, like they were chewing the fat and enjoying the night air.  There is no animal that is not his friend and that might be what got him into trouble.  How do you teach an animal that loves all animals that bobcats and coyotes are not part of the lovable group?  I guess I’m grateful I can’t teach him that, because just like in my life, if I had to live worrying about which people are the good people and which ones aren’t I’d have a desperately unhappy life.  So I go under the assumption that all people are good and will like me, right up until you tell me you don’t.  I’ve been told I’m not liked, and it’s always a surprise because it’s not something I look for in life.  So I guess Bubby, Jack and I will continue to go through life being surprised by those people and things that don’t like us.  Fortunately for me none of my encounters have almost cost me my life, even though the pain in my heart feels that way at the time.   Hopefully Bubby will be resilient and recover from whatever got him and will live to love another day.

And never forget, it is only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.

I was reading Reader’s Digest and they had some suggestions for a well behaved pet.  Since bad behavior is one of the main reasons for owner surrender I figured there is no time like the present to get these out there, and perhaps keep a couple of animals in their homes, so if you have any of these problems here are some solutions to help:

Problem: Your cat has accidents around the house.

Solution: After cleaning up a cat “accident,” wipe the area with a cloth moistened with ammonia. The pungent odor will kill the smell of cat urine and will prevent the cat from returning to the same spot to relieve itself.

Problem: Your cat keeps digging up the plants in the garden.

Solution: Stockpile orange, grapefruit, and lemon rinds in the freezer over the winter. In the spring and summer, poke the rinds into the soil of flower and vegetable gardens, then cover them with a light dusting of soil.

Problem: Your dog repeatedly digs up the same spot in the yard.

Solution: Scatter a crumbled cake of toilet freshener over the area—the smell will keep the dog away.

Problem: Your cat jumps onto all your furniture.

Solution: Place strips of double-sided adhesive tape on tables and other surfaces that are off-limits to your cat. Cats hate the feel of the adhesive on their paws, and will soon learn to keep off.

Problem: Your dog keeps gnawing on its paw, tail, or fur.

Solution: Paint the spot with clove oil, available at pharmacies and drugstores. The horrible taste will discourage the chewing.

Problem: Your cat avoids the litter box.

Solution: Dip a cotton ball into some lemon juice, then put the ball into a lidded tea strainer, and hang it where the cat has chosen to urinate—the smell should discourage the cat and send it  boxward.

Then another article caught my eye, and since I’m ambi-animal and go both ways I thought I’d see what the difference was between cat and dog people, just in case it sounded better to side with one or the other.  Turns out I’m about half and half.  How about you?

Dog People vs. Cat People: The Surprising Differences

Hunch.com recently polled more than 200,000 pet owners to find out if they were dog people or cat people. The site then crossed those responses with lifestyle surveys and arrived at the following conclusions. Anything sound familiar?

Dog people: 15% more likely to be extroverts

Cat people: 11% more likely to be introverts

Dog people: 36% more likely to use a pop song as a ringtone

Cat people: 14% more likely to cling to friends at a party

Dog people: 67% more likely to call animal control if they happen upon stray kittens

Cat people: 21% more likely to try to rescue stray kittens

Dog people: 11% more likely to say they’d support cloning, but only for animals or pets

Cat people: 17% more likely to have completed a graduate degree

Dog people: 18% more likely to consider Paul McCartney their favorite Beatle

Cat people: 25% more likely to consider George Harrison their favorite Beatle

Dog people: 9% more likely to think of zoos as happy place

Cat people: 10% more likely to send messages on Twitter

Dog people: 30% more likely to enjoy slapstick humor and impressions

Cat people: 21% more likely to enjoy ironic humor and puns

Both dog and cat people:

- Talk to animals of all kinds

- Are equally likely to have a four-year degree

- Dislike animal-print clothing

So, no matter which way you decide to go, just make sure you go to your local shelter and adopt.  Every time you buy from a breeder a shelter dog loses his life.  And never forget, it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.