We have a 'wonky' dog ... and solutions to help her still get out and about (1 Viewer)

[Minxy]

Lily has been pretty much the same although she's excelling on the 'spoilt brat' acting ... mumbling and/or barking at us when she wants something so we have to play a game of 'guess what she wants now'! She's eating as if it's going out of fashion but we've had to be careful so she doesn't put weight on and make it even more difficult for her to move about. She's managed to learn how to get up if she falls over and rolls onto her 'good' side but if it's the 'bad' side we have to roll her over and let her get up, we've been trying to teach her to roll over herself but she'll only do that if food is involved! She creates merry hell if hubby goes out with the other two and doesn't take her as she thinks she's missing out on something good, consequently I get half an hour of torture from her complaining.

We've had a bit of an issue with her today though, she wasn't happy overnight and this morning she's been in a right mood with herself, complaining but for no apparent reason, not in pain, just in whinge mode (definitely related to my Mum!). She had a bit of a no 2 overnight but nothing else so we assumed she was a bit bunged up consequently we spent a fair bit of time 'encouraging' her to go to no avail, in the end mid-afternoon we took her out for a ride in her 'buggy' around the oyster ponds (we're staying at the 'Cite de la Huitre' aire at Marennes) and I don't know if it was because she was 'ready' to do of the bouncing around in the buggy that did it but she did a monster no 2 ... an Alsation would have been proud of it! We were relieved that she'd finally gone and no doubt she was very relieved too!

Her 3-legged walking has got better and she can get quite a trot on now, her pirouetting round to change direction is coming on nicely but she still does nose-dives occasionally however as she's only on grass or sand etc there are no injuries, just hurt pride, but she soon picks herself up again and scuttles off.

There hadn't been any change with the leg, just the very slight bit of movement I reported previously, however this evening she was on the sofa and hubby was encouraging her to give him her wonky paw/leg (of course food was involved!) ... she raised it just under an inch, the leg not the paw which just dangled, but it's the best she's done so far and hopefully means that she's getting more mobility back. We also noticed today that when she was standing she was using it to prop herself up with her paw underneath, something which she hasn't done previously; this is the first time she's stood to eat since she stopped using her wonky leg.

Despite her being an absolute swine today she's been forgiven ... who could be annoyed at this little monster!

 

[Gina M]

Lily has been pretty much the same although she's excelling on the 'spoilt brat' acting ... mumbling and/or barking at us when she wants something so we have to play a game of 'guess what she wants now'! She's eating as if it's going out of fashion but we've had to be careful so she doesn't put weight on and make it even more difficult for her to move about. She's managed to learn how to get up if she falls over and rolls onto her 'good' side but if it's the 'bad' side we have to roll her over and let her get up, we've been trying to teach her to roll over herself but she'll only do that if food is involved! She creates merry hell if hubby goes out with the other two and doesn't take her as she thinks she's missing out on something good, consequently I get half an hour of torture from her complaining.

We've had a bit of an issue with her today though, she wasn't happy overnight and this morning she's been in a right mood with herself, complaining but for no apparent reason, not in pain, just in whinge mode (definitely related to my Mum!). She had a bit of a no 2 overnight but nothing else so we assumed she was a bit bunged up consequently we spent a fair bit of time 'encouraging' her to go to no avail, in the end mid-afternoon we took her out for a ride in her 'buggy' around the oyster ponds (we're staying at the 'Cite de la Huitre' aire at Marennes) and I don't know if it was because she was 'ready' to do of the bouncing around in the buggy that did it but she did a monster no 2 ... an Alsation would have been proud of it! We were relieved that she'd finally gone and no doubt she was very relieved too!

Her 3-legged walking has got better and she can get quite a trot on now, her pirouetting round to change direction is coming on nicely but she still does nose-dives occasionally however as she's only on grass or sand etc there are no injuries, just hurt pride, but she soon picks herself up again and scuttles off.

There hadn't been any change with the leg, just the very slight bit of movement I reported previously, however this evening she was on the sofa and hubby was encouraging her to give him her wonky paw/leg (of course food was involved!) ... she raised it just under an inch, the leg not the paw which just dangled, but it's the best she's done so far and hopefully means that she's getting more mobility back. We also noticed today that when she was standing she was using it to prop herself up with her paw underneath, something which she hasn't done previously; this is the first time she's stood to eat since she stopped using her wonky leg.

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Despite her being an absolute swine today she's been forgiven ... who could be annoyed at this little monster!

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OMG she melts my heart. She is gorgeous when they look at you like that, you know it is all worth it xxx

 

[Minxy]

Unfortunately things have taken a backward step, or two, with Lily ... she was pretty stable but then on Tuesday we were at Port des Barques having stayed overnight and decided to walk to 'Ile Madame' across the causeway, about 1.3km each way. Due to the rough nature of the causeway, it's not a tarmac road, more compressed rock, sand etc, we took Lily in her papoose. She enjoyed the 'ride' and had a little potter on the Ile for a few minutes as we didn't want her to overdo things with being 'wonky'. All was well when we got back to the MH and she had a nice restful afternoon but overnight it was a nightmare, lots and lots of complaining from her, shaking and panting, very difficult to comfort at all, wouldn't go to the loo and refused point blank to stand at all, not from lack of ability, but just panicking and worrying herself that it would 'hurt', she got herself into a right old state. This continued most of the night so very little sleep was had by use or the other dogs until around 4.30 am Wednesday when she finally tired herself out and settled for a few hours but only if the bed light was on, as soon as it was turned off she's start fretting again.

Wednesday was awful, more fretting and not wanting to go out for a wee/poo, squeaking/whining/complaining all the time, whether we were stationery or travelling, cuddling or comforting her, she was really not a happy bunny at all, nothing we did was right, she was just in that 'mood'. We'd got to a MH parking at a lake near Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis which was lovely and took her out (no walking for her though) which she seemed to enjoy but once back at the MH she wasn't happy again, not as bad as before but there were times then and overnight that the others stopping there must've thought we were murdering her due to the lather she got herself into.

Fortunately last night was better although we did have a couple of 'complaints' from her, but that's all thankfully. Today she's been refusing to walk and stand properly as she'd tensed up panicking once again however I hit on the idea of using the dog buoyancy aid to help her which gives more support front and back rather than just a chest harness, it means we can hold her up both front and rear at the same time to encourage her to stand properly and not let her keep twizzling to get back to the MH all the time; this has worked well today and as she's used to wearing it in the kayak she didn't object. After a long drive today (over 4 hours) to a nice riverside spot at Juille (north of Le Mans) she had a nice long deep snooze in the late afternoon sunshine which seems to have done her some good as she's now much more relaxed and walking almost as she was earlier in the week.

We're back so far north because we've decided to go back to the UK 6 days earlier than planned so are due at the vets at Buchy tomorrow teatime for the worming (€9 per dog) then will cross over via Eurotunnel on Sunday morning and get back home by late afternoon all being well. Its a shame as we've been enjoying the places we've been, the lovely weather and warm sunshine, but trying to look after Lily is very tiring and will be much easier at home and she'll be happier in her 'safe spaces' too.

 

[Minxy]

Did vets tonight, very good English speaking chap which made things easier. Used our tablets so just charged for a standard consultation at €22 instead of €27 with their tablets.

Had a hell of a job getting the dogs to take the 'tasty bone wormers' which I broke in half as no-one told them they can be chewed so of course they wouldn't go near them. It was a case of putting them at the back of the tongue and hoping they were swallowed ... Lily kept spitting hers out and could win a pea shooting competition with her efforts so it took ages to get them down her. Tazzy wasn't quite so bad fortunately once we managed to prize open her tightly clamped mush. Minky was a nightmare, wriggling like an eel, claws out like a cat and nearly biting my fingers off in an effort to clamp her mouth shut, scratches on my arms but fortunately I still have all my digits!

It would've been much easier if an Alsatian puppy hadn't been brought in by its owner as it was barking at every dog and trying to get to them with the owner not telling it to stop, just sitting there with it along with her young daughter (I assume). It totally wound every other dog up, if I'd been the receptionist I'd have told them to wait outside. The flipping thing was still at it later so hubby took our Minky and Tazzy to the camper and, whilst I waited to pay I'd had enough so walked over and sternly told it "Non!", It stoped for a second then started once more so I did it again, the owner got the idea then started doing it but in such a feeble voice and cuddling/stroking it at the same time, it was hopeless. The daughter seemed to understand but wasn't able to do anything, it was obvious to me that the mother was frightened of it by the way she backed off at times ... such a shame.

Anyway, we're now sorted so a bit of shopping and relaxing tomorrow then an 8.50 am crossing on ET on Sunday with hopefully an uneventful drive home afterwards.

 

[Minxy]

Got back late Sunday afternoon after a delayed crossing and motorway closure so had to detour, also collected the buggy from funster WESTY66, it's brilliant and I'll take a photo of her in it later as she's fretting a bit at present as I think she's feeling weird from the jab she's had (see below).

I couldn't get an appointment for the vet yesterday as she wasn't an 'emergency' but she's been this morning and the consensus is that it's more than likely a nerve issue with it being trapped and/or a lesion pressing on it. We could do a scan but it wouldn't do much good as they wouldn't operate on her anyway.

She's been given some supplements to hopefully improve things and also a painkiller jab which lasts around 12 hours and tomorrow will be having another one which should last a month at a cost of £70. They would have given her it today but didn't have the right dosage in, worth it if it helps her though.

It's going to be a case of waiting and hoping that she improves ... Gonna be a long hard few days I think.

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[WESTY66]

Hope it will be of some use to lily and she finds it comfortable
It was nice to finally meet you both and the dogs, good luck with lily, hope she gets better soon

 

[Minxy]

Hope it will be of some use to lily and she finds it comfortable
It was nice to finally meet you both and the dogs, good luck with lily, hope she gets better soon

It was great to meet you two as well and see photos of your lovely pooches!

As promised this is Madame Lily in her new stroller ... she loves it ... at first she did her snooty pose and wouldn't look at me but finally relented when I mentioned the word 'biscuit'.

 

[Minxy]

The little monster was on fine form this morning, she'd had been muttering at us and being very 'demanding' whilst we tried to work out what she wanted ... water, food, to be moved, go to the loo etc ... then barking in protest when hubby took the other 2 dogs out and she couldn't go which continued on whilst he was out ... can anyone recommend some good ear defenders?

Hubby took her to the vet this afternoon for her 'expensive' jab (£71.60 ), the vet was very surprised at how alert she was as most dogs in her condition are very sullen and lethargic, not our Lily who 'rewarded' them with some very smell farts ... even the receptionists complained as they were so bad. She's now having natural yoghurt (no sugar) every day to see if it helps with the farting and keep her tummy well seeing as she's not getting exercise which helps her digest food, fortunately she loves the stuff but can be a right messy madam especially as she likes to 'snort' after eating ... care needs to taken to keep out of the firing line at both ends.

She's been fine since the jab, a little quieter fortunately, not sure if it's the jab, having a ride in the car which she enjoys, or just tired herself out from her spoilt brat performance this morning. Hubby's taken her into the bedroom with him (he's gone to watch some sport he recorded) and she's now snoozing quite happily in her soft bed next to him ... fortunately her farting doesn't bother him - she is certainly her "Dad's daughter" in that regard!

 

[Minxy]

Thought I'd do an update on Lily along with a plea ... please save me from this little spoilt brat! She's driving me nuts!

We managed to sort out her 'flatulence' by changing her diet to just white rice and chicken which is much easier for her to digest and she seems to be much happier on it, so are now gradually supplementing it with Chappie to get her back on to dog food as staying on 'human' food for a long times isn't good for her. So far so good and no return of loads of farting although on a night I still get the odd 'cabbage' or more accurately 'broccoli' whiff!

She stayed with 'Daddy' overnight (in a different bedroom from me) for a few night but he got very tired as he was struggling to get her to settle, as it wasn't getting any better a few nights ago I took her into another bedroom to stay with me instead and she was really good, only a couple of little mutters, taking her out once to go to the loo around 4.00 am but that's all then she settled down again. Hubby was very surprised as he thought I'd go through hell with her! I think because I go to bed later and keep her very calm, with absolute minimal talking and when I do being very quiet, almost whispering, this means she doesn't get 'stimulated' so settles down well, he on the other hand chatters to her in a normal voice and interacts with her a lot ... there's a downside though ... guess who's now got the 'night' shift!

The overnight I can happily deal with but OMG during the day she can be a real pain. He's been taking her with him with the other 2 when he takes them to the field for a romp each morning as she enjoys the fresh air etc so has got used to it, this morning hubby took the car for its MOT and did a bit of shopping so she was obviously still with me. Well she started complaining as soon as he set off around 9.30 am, barking and making a right pest of herself, it was purely because she wanted to be with Daddy and thought she was missing out even though the other dogs were still here too. By the time he got back at around 11.30 am I was ready to let Daddy have her!!!! He took them all out and I had an hour's peace ... bliss. We've had a few instances of her 'brat' episodes, it's hubby's fault for 'teaching' her to be like this as she knows it means she gets attention ... I think the penny has finally dropped with him, it's just a bit late though.

We love her to bits but obviously it is taking a lot of time/effort to look after her as it's difficult for both of us to be able to do much around the house as one of us has to be near/with her otherwise she starts fretting or complaining. Although she's not in pain and alert (too flipping alert!) she's still not using her front legs however she will try to use her hind legs a bit if she's supported under her tummy and 'walked'. I've developed a method of bending over and clasping my hands under her then gently moving forward, it doesn't do much for my back but I'm getting used to it now plus it's a darn sight easier than trying to put a harness on her quickly before she 'performs'.

I got out one of my very large scarfs/shawls and knotted it, putting it over my neck like a sling and popped her in it so it takes some of the weight (she's about 7kg) as it's tiring trying to hold her for anywhere up to 30 minutes when she's having one of her demanding 'moments'. When I've look after kiddies in the past it's quite natural to 'rock' them when they're in your arms so of course I started to do this without thinking about it and has proved beneficial as she really likes it so it helps calm her down, she also likes to go into the garden for some fresh air at night in the shawl which helps too.

She's a warm dog, always has been, but fortunately we have some 'Chillow' cooling pads which have been extremely useful and work a treat. She can't drink easily out of a bowl due to the head tilt so we're using a syringe to give her water which you'd think she'd always used ... it means we also don't have to keep moving her to get her to drink so she doesn't get dehydrated ... Minky gets jealous though so sometimes she has to have a drink from the syringe too. Talking of Minky, she loves, absolutely adores, Lily who mothered her by licking her head, ears etc but at present she's not doing that and poor Minky cannot understand why she she offers her head to Lily she doesn't do so, the poor mite pulls the funniest faces and tries her damndest to get licked but to no avail.

Hubby's taken her to bed for a while so I can do some bits and bobs, have a 'play' on the forum etc, then he'll hand her over to me around 10.00 pm, hopefully she won't be such a madam as she was last night when he gave her to me, if so we'll have to rethink our strategy.

For those who say that some people treat their dogs like children ... I'll take the latter as this 'hairy child' is very demanding!!

 

[Minxy]

Another update, Lily's been 'up and down' a bit, fortunately more the former. She's still fairly vocal at times but not as much as she was now that she's realised we're trying to help and we are recognising the signs/sounds/looks to know what she wants ... most of the time anyway which is usually 'feed me'!

We've settled into a fairly good routine with her but she's still taking a lot of time up so as we can't do a massive amount at home consequently we've decided to go away in the MH up to Scotland again as we enjoyed it so much last year and we know the places we can go/stay and chill-out with the dogs. Lily really loves being in the camper and enjoys just slobbing out on the grass etc taking in the fresh air and of course our being away means we can devote more 'quality' time to her rather than just managing her needs, more trips in the buggy/papoose etc rather than just once a day which Tazzy and Minky will appreciate too as obviously they aren't getting quite as much attention as they normally would. We're having to plan it a bit like a military exercise though to ensure we've got every eventuality covered, eg can we easily wash her if she has an accident during the night, dry towels, give her suitable food (she needs home-cooked stuff as well as tinned/dried to keep her tummy happy), keep her comfortable (taking her favourite dog beds) etc.

We've found 'puppy pads' to be a godsend, at least if she has an accident everything is contained and the pad can be thrown away - much easier than trying to fit and remove a disposable nappy as they simply slide off her little bum - with her having a stumpy tail it often 'disappears' inside the nappy and it's a pain to try to oik out as she moves it all over the place! She's not walking still but does flick/stretch her rear legs and left front one so there's some function there, she won't stand though so when she needs to 'go' it's a case of our being bent double or kneeling/sitting on the grass to hold her, consequently we've got a mat we can throw on the ground if it's been raining so we don't get wet ... not quite sorted how to toilet her if it's raining but I suspect it'll be a case of the large golf brolly being held by one of us and the other holding Lily ... should give any neighbouring MHers a laugh!

All being well we'll go tomorrow sometime as Lily's quite content now ... how long for I haven't a clue, no need to rush back and if the garden ends up more of a jungle than it already is so be it.

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[AndyPK]

Keep up the good work, Mel……and a tickle for Lily, Tazzy & Minky!

 

[Minxy]

Reading back some of my posts I've realised that I haven't mentioned that Lily stopped using/moving her legs completely before we came away, so wouldn't even stand with assistance to toilet. Since coming away we tried to get her to stand herself but she wouldn't/couldn't, not even a little, so soon decided to change tack and now fully support her by kneeling on the ground and either laying her on the grass or holding her up/on her side to do her business. We also don't now take her out overnight and use puppy pads and nappies instead as she piddles in her sleep but she tells us when she has had a wee so we change them. During the day she still lets us know if she wants to go out though when she's awake.

The bit of good news is that she is very relaxed and has started to move her head from side to side much more, than she has for a long time, and her rear legs now respond to feet tickling so she bends them and pulls them away, curling her toes and straightening them again. Sometimes she also stretches her rear legs when waking up. We're obviously hoping this is a sign that 'something' is recovering but are realistic in that we doubt she'll fully recover, maybe not ever walk again.

Food is a bit of a challenge still as we have to keep tweaking it to get the balance right so she's not fully on normal dog food but mainly veggies, rice, turkey mince or chicken, with some biscuits and Chappie. We're gradually increasing the dog food to see if we can get her back on to it then won't need to have to cook stuff for her all the time but it's a slow process. We've moved on from using a syringe all the time and now have a 'Fruit shoot' bottle for water which Lily licks the end of (works similarly to drinking bottles for rabbits etc) so she has control of how much water she drinks although we still end up getting a bit soggy at times.

We bought her a 'deck chair' , it's a baby chair that is used in a bath so a mesh back which had three positions, the mesh means she doesn't get as hot as when propped up with cushions and she loves it, when we travel she goes in to with the back up against the centre dash area and happily snoozes.

 

[Minxy]

This was Lily a couple of days ago sunning herself on a bence at Ayr seafront ... despite her 'drunken' look she'd only had water in her bottle ... honest!

 

[Minxy]

On the below thread the other day:

Tam & co the great winter escape

My eldest Ridgeback was diagnosed with a heart murmur when he was a couple of years old, I was pretty devastated as part of choosing the breed was their endurance. I cant remember the reason for that visit, I'd seen no signs of anything up with him. I took the next few weeks carefully, but still...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

... this was mentioned:

I'm at a different practice altogether now, my current Ridgeback has back issues, the practice owner suspects an enlarged disc and he has been on expensive anti inflammatories for a year, at a 6 month review I saw a more junior vet who in her words had had Ridgebacks in the family all her life. She asked a very strange question. "Has his bark changed recently" I said I didnt know as he doesn't bark very often. Since then he has barked and it isn't such a "big boy" bark. She said the nerves to the back legs and the nerves to their voice boxes are the longest in the body. (I know, not very logical) But again, contradicting thoughts from the vets but the more junior vet seems to be on the right track.

To which I replied:

That actually makes sense to me as our Lily has a major issue with the nerves in her upper back which is why she can't do anything at all now except move her neck/head and bark (although we 'think' there's some movement coming back to her rear legs but it's still very early days yet). At first she was barking like mad 'demanding' things but now she's virtually lost her bark, we thought it might be because she's done it so much that she's lost her 'voice' but as it's still not come back I suspect it's down to damage to the 'voice' nerve too, whilst it's a blessing not to have the very, very loud barking which drove us to distraction I'd love her to get it back and buy some ear plugs.

So I've posted it on here for anyone who reads this with a dog with similar issues, however things have changed for us ... see next post.

 

[Minxy]

Unfortunately last night around 7.30 pm Lily passed away.

She enjoyed her trip in the car to the park in the morning and a push round in her buggy, sniffing the air etc, ate her lunch but in the afternoon she'd was a bit fretful, something which we'd had with her before on occasion but as she had a fat tummy we put it down to wind again and once she had some paracetamol she settled for a while. She got a bit fretful around tea-time and although she had a bit of her dinner she wasn't that bothered and didn't want water either but happily had a cuddle and tummy rub and snoozed in my arms for an hour. When she woke I took her out for a wee, laying her on her side across my knees as I knelt down on the grass, eventually she had a little wee and I gave her lots of praise. As I turned her onto her back towards me she did a bit more then her head flopped and she went very limp so I put her lengthwise on my knees with her head towards my body at which point she weed extensively ... I knew what this meant ... she had 'let go' and was likely passing away.

She was taking occasional breaths but her eyes were fixed and dilated and at first I could hardly hear her heart then I couldn't so I tried to bring her round with CPR hoping there was a chance, after about 10 minutes I went to get hubby who was totally unaware of what had transpired, I hadn't got him earlier as I didn't want to leave Lily whilst there was still a slim chance of recovery, and shouting for him wouldn't have been any good as he wouldn't have heard me anyway. I continued with CPR but to no avail and she passed away.

Needless to say we are both extremely upset at our 'baby' passing away and will miss her terribly but at least it happened quickly so she didn't suffer.

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[AndyPK]

So sorry, Minxy

 

[Suenliam]

So sad for you.
Run free little Lily.
Sue

 

[Gina M]

So very sorry for your loss.

Gina

 

[Minxy]

We buried her about half an hour ago in a nice spot which shouldn't ever get disturbed in the future, just have to stop Minky from digging there as she likes freshly turned soil, hopefully the stones etc we've put on top will prevent her from doing so.

She was a beautiful little girl right to the very end:

She really did enjoy her holidays this year and we're so glad we got to spend so much time with her, here she was chilling out in France

Minky's really gonna miss her as she loved cuddling up with Lily

 

[WESTY66]

So so sorry Mel Minxy we’re coming home a day early as we’re missing Dolly our bulldog, we will give her an extra special hug tomorrow when we get in, they are so special regardless of breed, colour etc
Run free at the bridge lily

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[Zoobec]

I’m so sorry Minxy.Thinking of you xx

 

[Phill D]

I am so sorry to read of your loss.

They are such special friends that share thier all too short lives with us.

 

[Odd job]

So sorry to hear of your loss, reading this post I can see you gave her a good last few months. It's still going to hurt, but you did everything you could.

 

[Minxy]

Hubby is still in pieces about Lily and finds it hard to think or talk about her without ending up very upset, he's very emotional with things like this whereas I am able 'detach' to some extent, it's just how I am from dealing with things in the past as one of us had to be able to think straight, it doesn't mean losing her hasn't affected me, it obviously has, I just don't show it much externally.

It has felt very strange not having to look after her 24/7, no need to feed/water/toilet etc as we have been doing for the last couple of months so we've been trying to occupy/distract ourselves but of course that only works for so long and being at home has made it hard, consequently we went away in the camper yesterday morning to Hornsea to have a night away. We'd planned to go with Lily as she so enjoyed the seaside, obviously that wasn't a possibility but Minky and Tazzy enjoy it too so we decided to still go anyway but beforehand took all Lily's bits out of the camper (buggies, chairs, nappies, pads etc) and have just put them all in the spare bedroom for now to be 'dealt' with at a later date when we feel more able.

We dropped a load of stuff off at the Hull Greyhound Rescue shop in Hornsea in the morning and had a potter round the various shops before taking the pooches for a nice long walk on the beach and a 'dig' in the sand, as expected they really did enjoy themselves so worth the trip and we did too to some extent. We also went to the large car boot sale/market at Skipsea this morning which was okay (not as good as it used to be) but it was difficult as we saw so much 'baby' stuff that we were constantly reminded of Lily's prior situation and the kiddie bits we'd bought to make life better for her (which they did), I know it'll get easier but I think we might avoid car boot sales for a while, or at least those where we know there are going to be lots of baby/kiddie things for sale, I'll be okay as I can 'handle' it but hubby found it very difficult.

Just trying to think of the good times - at least we have our other two monsters to cuddle when we need to.

 

[Gina M]

Hubby is still in pieces about Lily and finds it hard to think or talk about her without ending up very upset, he's very emotional with things like this whereas I am able 'detach' to some extent, it's just how I am from dealing with things in the past as one of us had to be able to think straight, it doesn't mean losing her hasn't affected me, it obviously has, I just don't show it much externally.

It has felt very strange not having to look after her 24/7, no need to feed/water/toilet etc as we have been doing for the last couple of months so we've been trying to occupy/distract ourselves but of course that only works for so long and being at home has made it hard, consequently we went away in the camper yesterday morning to Hornsea to have a night away. We'd planned to go with Lily as she so enjoyed the seaside, obviously that wasn't a possibility but Minky and Tazzy enjoy it too so we decided to still go anyway but beforehand took all Lily's bits out of the camper (buggies, chairs, nappies, pads etc) and have just put them all in the spare bedroom for now to be 'dealt' with at a later date when we feel more able.

We dropped a load of stuff off at the Hull Greyhound Rescue shop in Hornsea in the morning and had a potter round the various shops before taking the pooches for a nice long walk on the beach and a 'dig' in the sand, as expected they really did enjoy themselves so worth the trip and we did too to some extent. We also went to the large car boot sale/market at Skipsea this morning which was okay (not as good as it used to be) but it was difficult as we saw so much 'baby' stuff that we were constantly reminded of Lily's prior situation and the kiddie bits we'd bought to make life better for her (which they did), I know it'll get easier but I think we might avoid car boot sales for a while, or at least those where we know there are going to be lots of baby/kiddie things for sale, I'll be okay as I can 'handle' it but hubby found it very difficult.

Just trying to think of the good times - at least we have our other two monsters to cuddle when we need to.

I lost my Stanley in August last year age 14. Steve is fine now as he formed a bond with our other dog Jack. But I am still struggling. I looked after my Stanley, in the end all he could move was his head. I used to lift him and carry him for his toilet needs, he was 35kgs and I thank god I could lift him and help him. In the the end he was doubly incontinent. I had decided that I was going to phone the vet on Monday to come and put him to sleep but he collapsed and died in front of me on the Sunday night. I sometimes feel I am going insane with the grief, even now.

Gina

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[Carol]

Minxy Mel so very sorry to read about Lily she was very much loved but now she is at peace and no one could have done more

 

[Swifter]

How are the other doggies doing ? Are they ok or acting differently ?
I think your way of detaching and thinking of the good times is the best way .
Sounds like Mr Minxy is suffering . I hope he cheers up soon .

 

[Minxy]

How are the other doggies doing ? Are they ok or acting differently ?

Tazzy was a bit quiet for a few days before we lost Lily, whether she sensed something I don't know, Minky was certainly more 'careful' with Lily, not being quite so insistent on being licked etc and on Thursday afternoon, as dogs do, she had a really, really good sniff of Lily's nether regions, much more than normal so I think she was 'aware' that something was different as she'd never done that before. Looking back I don't think anything would have prevented us losing Lily that evening, obviously we didn't know it would be then but Tazzy and Minky, if they could talk, would no doubt have told us something was going to happen.

They're okay though - they were able to say their 'farewells' on Thursday and were a bit quiet that night, then on Friday they saw where we put Lily and since then have got back into their usual routine and don't seem affected which is a good thing. Obviously with Lily taking so much time they didn't get quite as much attention as they should have so we're make up for that now, lots of treats, play and cuddles and another holiday if we can manage it as they couldn't do as much as they would normally when away.

 

[Gina M]

When Stanley died I left Jack upstairs in the bedroom as I didn't want him to see him. But thank god a friend of mine called me and he told me to let Jack see Stanley as he would always be looking for him if I didn't. So I did, Jack went over to Stanley and he sniffed his face, then his paw, then he just skipped over to me and licked my hand

Gina