Pet talk

Well it has been a few days and I thought I would let you guys know how things turned out.  The chicken healed very well and I put her back in with her pen mates on Thursday.  She wasn’t gone too long and they did not all have to re-establish the pecking order.  Which is good for her as she is on the bottom anyway.

The poor dog I found is another story.  No one claimed the pup and not a single soul even visited him.  My husband went on Thursday to check up on him and said he was doing OK.  Not even a rescue group is interested in giving this dog a chance.  So the animal control officers are going to keep him around for a few more days–  if you know of anyone who wants a sweet, energetic young companion, go check him out at the Monroe Animal Control office out by the fairgrounds. 

Well this has been a busy week.  First my dog Kia developed an aural hematoma–which is a blood filled sac in the ear caused by a broken blood vessel.  The usual scenario is that the ear is infected or has mites and the dog shakes his head flapping the ears back and forth until a blood vessel breaks.  Or the frequent scratching of the affected ear causes a blood vessel to break and it quickly fills up with blood between the skin and the cartilage of the ear.  The condition on its own is pretty self limiting.  After a while the blood vessel stops bleeding and the ear, if left alone will contract, along with the blood clot causing what is commonly known as a cauliflower ear. 

Preventing the deformity is pretty easy in that the ear is lanced and a pressure bandage is applied until the ear is allowed to heal from the inside out.  But of course, nothing is easy with Kia.  As soon as the general anesthesia wore off she was trying to get the bandages off.  We put one of those funny looking Elizabethan collars on her which lasted literally 5 minutes.  She panicked, ran down the hallway into the bedroom and got it stuck in a door frame.  By the time she got to the bedroom it was ripped in half.  (By the way it was a pretty nice one and was only about $20 from the pet shop in Flat Rock on Telegraph road)   

So in order to prevent further trauma, we had to keep her lightly tranquilized for a few days until the bandages came off.  Once they were off, and the ear was free to flap at will, she settled down and forgot all about her ear problems. 

Then just yesterday, I noticed my favorite hen had a bleeding area under her tail.  This is a hen I have nursed through two different bouts of pneumonia so she is pretty tame.  I caught her up only to find that she has been pecked by the other chickens until her bottom was bloody and torn.  I immediately put her in isolation and fed her her favorite food–cantaloupe, hoping that she would survive the blood loss.  She did!  But we are not out of the woods yet.  Keep your fingers crossed as she is old, but a real survivor.  I will keep you posted on her progress (hopefully).

While taking the back roads to work yesterday I came upon a large puppy sitting in the middle of the road.  It was still dark and he was at the rail road tracks just sitting there covered in mud.  Of course I slammed on my brakes and jumped out of the car, only to find him casually walking around the back of my vehicle, wagging his tail and dragging a muddy leash.  
He was a friendly pup.  Long dark brindle hair, and looked to be a shepherd cross.  About 35 pounds or so, he went willingly into my back seat.  I turned around and brought him home–much to the delight of my four other dogs.  They thought the new guy was fun to bark at and surprisingly did not show any aggression to him at all.  I put him in the kennel all by himself, gave him a bowl of food and water and left a little late for my job.
At work, I started the routine.  Called the paper and placed a “Found” dog ad.  Called the Humane society but got their machine telling me that they were not open on Mondays.  Called the animal control folks and spoke to a very nice officer who explained that I could not keep the dog–but rather had to turn him over to them for 8 business days in order to give the owner a chance to claim him, (its the law!).  
At work, I worried all day about the poor pup.  Was he dumped?  He was found in an area where a resident told me she had 4 litters of kittens dumped on her front lawn this year alone.  Was he lost?  Was he scared of my dogs?  Would he destroy his kennel in a panic to escape.

The workday dragged on until finally it was time to leave.  I sped home and waited for the animal control officer to arrive and take the pup to the pound.  He had been a very good boy.  Nothing destroyed, food gone, water sampled.  Looks like he slept for most of the day.  He gave me a good bye lick on the hand and the officer lifted him up into the truck.
The good news is that the leash slung around his neck was the exact same kind they give out when dogs are adopted from the Monroe pound.  The officer felt the dog looked familiar as well.  So maybe he was an adopted dog who squirmed away from his owner.  Maybe.  If you think you know this dog, or someone who may know this dog, please contact the Monroe County dog pound.  Then write me and let me know how he escaped.  I would like to know that he is safe and happy in someone’s family.  If he doesn’t get claimed, and you are looking for a sweet, good dog, I know he would be a great addition to your family.  His kisses are free and plentiful, playing is mandatory, and love of puppies required.  But what a price to pay for a new member of your family!   
 

There were so many animal stories in the new this week!  Some sad, and some just plain horrible.  Like the guy who set his dog on fire.  And the Freep actually had a picture of the animal–showing its burned face.  Very sad.  Then the story about the man saving the dog who got swept off the peer by waves.  The dog rode a surf board back to safety.
I guess the big stories are the ones about dogs killing 3 people this week and the 200% increase in rabies cases this year.  Both very serious, and both worth commenting about.
Firstly, getting attacked by a dog is no picnic.  And surviving an attack by a pack of dogs is pretty rare.  But there are things that you can do to increase your chances of survival especially if attacked by a single dog.  Dogs instinctually look to be members of a pack.  They either lead or submit to a leader.  And the decision to submit can be made very quickly if you know what to do.  If you come upon a loose dog that looks like it wants to challenge your being there, stand tall and move very slowly.  Face the dog and in a loud, very low voice, yell “NO!”.  Repeat as necessary.  Do not turn away and do not stop looking the dog in the face.  If you do, you are telling the dog that you are submissive and will take whatever punishment it is going to give out.  If they dog comes at you in an attack mode, give the dog something to bite.  If possible a foot with a shoe on it is the best thing as that is the hardest thing to bite through.  That also leaves both your hands free to jab the animal in its most vulnerable place–its eyes.  Poke the eyes hard and repeatedly to get the dog focused on its own pain.  If that does not get the dog off you, your only other choice is to strangle the dog until it passes out.  Pit bulls are notorious for ignoring their own pain and sometimes poking out an eye doesn’t do anything to stop the aggression.  Only passing out will stop the dog long enough for you to escape.  I have been attacked by a few single dogs and have come through with just a few bites.  It is scary as hell, and I don’t wish the experience on anyone.  But I am also happy to say that most of the dogs have backed down when I faced them and growled “NO!” as loud as I could.
Most people do not think rabies will affect them.  Your animals never leave the yard, or the cat is always in the house right?  Well, the sad fact is that those are the most probable ways your pet will have with their first contact with the disease.  The most common animal infected with rabies is the bat.  When bats get rabies, they do not fly well, and end up on the ground in somebody’s yard.  You let your dog out and it comes back with a bat in its mouth because it was so very easy to catch.  Same with the cat.  The bat isn’t feeling all that well, it was living in your attic anyway and somehow finds its way through a duct into your living area.  The cat plays with it until you get home and is exposed to rabies.  Please get your pets vaccinated for rabies even if they never leave your house/yard.  If you don’t, when the health department comes out for a sick bat call, they will euthanize your unvaccinated pets to test their brains for rabies.  Vaccination is the only way to save your animals from certain death–either by the disease itself or by the testing method used today.  Even livestock can be vaccinated for rabies and it is highly recommended that horses get their yearly shots as well.

PS Don’t forget about Hawkfest this Sat at Erie Metro Park.  And say “Hi” to Dave Hogan  who is one of the master falconers there giving demonstrations.  He is very knowledgeable about the birds of prey and rehabs several each year.  Or you can ask him about chickens–a hobby we both share!  (sorry about the font trouble–I have no idea why it does the strange things it does…..)

Yesterday, WWJ had a short news story about the insurance company called Progressive.  They have started a program that will cover your pet if it is injured while riding in your car during an accident.  How cool is that?  It seems more and more companies are realizing that the relationship between pets and their owners is more than what it used to be.  Pet clothes, pet Halloween costumes, dog beaches, dog parks, pet friendly stores, pet strollers, pet bakeries, (like the great one in downtown Plymouth!), are all proof that pets now occupy a prominent place in our families.  And in my case, they are my children.  Spoiled rotten little children…..yep.  But who cares?  As long as we are happy…….

In todays Freep, the front page has a story about dog fighting.  Within the story, and several pages toward the back of the section,there is a large amount of print and graphics devoted to the training of pit bulls.  One of the drawings is of a dog pulling a sled piled high with sand bags.  But just because your neighbor has one of these in his back yard, doesn’t make him a criminal. People have been inventing ways to compete with animals probably as soon as they domesticated them.  Horses were raced, pigs were judged on their weight, and dogs were prized by how well they could hunt.  And really nothing has changed, except for the multitude of competitions now available for your pet.

I am a big fan of pets with their own space.  Pets feel safer when they have a quiet place to go when they are scared, or tired.  A place where no one will step on them or nothing will “get” them is perfect for peace of mind—both yours and theirs.