Rescue Journal

i just couldn't face another death post yesterday

Carol · Jul 4, 2011

so i opted out of posting at the end of the day.

we lost another of the classy chicks...and all of them looked great on saturday....sunday morning one was gone. there are only 5 left of the original 11 who came in a year ago. i have no idea how old they are, only that they are spent battery hens who came here straight from their wire cages.

at least they are having a good life for the time they have...ko and dionne are making sure of that.

i am getting a bit shell shocked...it seems almost every day there is a new crises or death...it is actually starting to feel a bit empty around here right now.
it may feel like that but really..it is not empty...there are still over 100 hundred animals (i have lost count with the recent adoptions and deaths)...let me see if i can add everyone up in my head...

14 rabbits, 11 chickens, ducks, and a turkey, 4 horses, 3 sheep, 2 pigs, 4 goats, 1 llama, 35(?) cats, and 35 dogs....109? but this is just off the top of my head without actually walking around and counting...hope i didn't miss anyone..i always feel bad if i do.

merry is such a mess...she is just ripping her skin to absolute shit....all over her body. i am starting to get frantic about her..she is on so many meds and nothing is helping her. ashley is going to take her into the clinic she works at tomorrow...she says her vet has really good success with skin issues. last night in utter desperation, i wrapped that poor dog up like a mummy, in towels, and torn flannel strips and vet wrap....stuck a cone on her head, put cortisone on the worst of her horribly swollen neck, and drugged the crap out of her so she slept.

we cannot let this continue...i have no idea why she spiralled out of control but if we can't fix it again and make her feel better, i am going to have to end this horrible torture for her. i am just sick watching the torment she is going thru.
please don't let merry be our next death...i can't lose a dog to something as trivial and should be easy to fix as freaking chronic but now out of control skin issues....i am the master of managing skin issues.

Comments

lynne

good for trever. hope all goes well with his wheels. i have not been able to get hold of my friend for any suggestions but hopefully soon.

Carol

i have written out her history for you ashley and called the vet clinics to ok a record transfer request from your clinic if they want the files. see you tomorrow...you will have to unwrap her mummy-ness for the exam and rewrap her again sorry, it is a pain but it is keeping her from self mutilating right now....if he wants to repeat bloodwork or scrapings..i will just give my ok now and save you the call to me tomorrow.

Carol Ann

Great thanks Jenn i will see everyone on Sunday then. The furry gang thanks you too.--now they don't have to be alone at all :)

Ashley

Carol, I plan to be there about 12:30 to pick Merry up :) Please remember to give me a list of what treatments she has had done and when.... Or I can call your vet and have them fax a copy to us if that's ok with you.

Jenn

carol anne no need to switch sunday is fine to come in on sunday instead of saturday.

Carol Ann

poor little merry hope she feels better soon. off the subjects--can someone switch sat jul 9 for sun jul 10 with me in the main house. I am scheduled for sat need to change to sun if possible Thanks

heidi

I am so sorry to hear of all the losses...such amazing animals....thought you might like to hear some good news...Trev is doing much better...he is getting up on his own at times and is able to walk a short distance on his own...this is not good for me in trying to keep him safe and quiet...I get his wheelchair tomorrow and I am going to start swimming therapy as he is going bonkers not being able to exercise...I got a bright red chair for him...gonna trick out his ride....

Amy

Poor sweet girl. Hope you figure this out.

Nancy

Maybe Merry is stressed over all the recent deaths as well. Quite a few of her granny buddies have been disappearing over the last several weeks.

Last fall when our little rescue senior Oliver (or Oli as we called him) passed away, our other little dog, Cocoa, started chewing at himself like mad, he was bleeding and losing fur, it was awful. Cocoa is a Yorkie cross, he is blind from cataracts, and he's always had skin issues (both dogs always ate Hill's ZD Ultra Allergen free food) but was literally chewing a hole in his thigh after Oli passed. The two were like a little old couple, always on the couch or bed, or in some sunbeam on the rug.

It took awhile, but Cocoa seemed to get through his grief, with help from the vet for the itching. But he was left with a large bald spot on his thigh. The fur finally grew back but it is dark, almost black, just the same colour as his buddy Oli (who was a minipoodle cross) - not at all like his own Yorkie colours, grey-beige.
We now call it his "Oli spot".

Maybe the grief and stress is contributing to little Merry's skin condition.

suzanne

My Sheltie used to chew off his paw-pads because of this.

suzanne

I had a Sheltie with yeast-y skin and my brother had a Basset with the same issues. I won't bother to go into the study paper from the University of Michigan Vet School atributing the rise in yeast/skin issues to the vaccines... I will assume yours are getting the Thimerosal-free. I will say that we both had success with the "elimination/allergy" foods. He used Pinnacle Salmon and Potato and I used Royal Canin Venison and Potato and they were both very helpful for our respective dogs so either one might be worth a try.
If she is ancient and wrecked and you are trying to keep her comfortable, you could always boil up some potato or sweet potato and toss in some boiled fish and a smashed up pet-tab. You can get some decent salmon filets in the frozen fish section of Wal-Mart for not too much money... I've done that as well. But my dog was young so I couldn't keep him on that forever because it was not nutritionally complete. I can also highly recommend Marina Zacharias at naturalrearing.com... she has WONDERFUL homeopathic products and probably has something for this as I feel certain she has seen this more than once along the way.
She will also send you two liquids to squirt in their mouths at the time of vaccinations to take the toxins out of their livers (Lyssine and Thuja). She also has a wonderful recipe for home-cooked dog food which is nutritionally complete and might be just the ticket for your ancients. She also might have something which would give Mystic (and maybe my Zig) more time.