Three Ladies Looking For Homes ....

...No not me, Gail and Rosie!!! These are 12 year old Nel and her daughters, 6 year old Megan and Floss.


Floss

 Nel

Megan

 Sadly their owner died and his 83 year old mum is unable to care for them. Vicky and I went to visit them today and take some photos. For the time being they will be staying in their home, until we can find them a suitable foster home anyway! All three have only ever lived outside, but I'm sure will adapt very quickly to the comforts of living in a home, lets face it, they all do don't they!!!

Nel and Megan were pretty laid back, and I'm sure both would make wonderful pets. Floss was a lot more active, she has been a working sheepdog and I'm sure she would benefit from an active lifestyle.The girls all need neutering (Depending on health screening for Nel) a dental and some serious de-matting. I've never seen such amazing dreadlocks on dogs before. Though to be fair, they are in good physical condition and their living condition were clean.

Lesley will be back on board later today so I'll now hand the blog back over to her. I'm sorry the posts have been short....but I guess they have also been sweet!!

 Rhian



Meet Jackson

This handsome hunk is only 10 months old and already looking for a new home. Jackson who came to us yesterday is being fostered by Vanessa and has fit in with her family really well. Whilst Vanessa was out yesterday afternoon he had broken out of the crate and she came home to find him fast asleep in the basket with her elderly German Shepherd, Gem. Nothing had been moved or broken in her home, a credit I think to the character of both dogs. Vanessa describes him as a surprisingly gentle dog who has sadly had no training. Anyone considering a new friend in their life could surely consider Jackson?
Barney's home visit passed with flying colours and now that he has lost the "bits" that he no longer needed, he will be going to his new home tomorrow. I'm sure he will settle in brilliantly as we have found him to be the most pleasant of characters.
Talking of characters, I've fallen in love with a tiny black kitten. Larry, as I've now christened him is much smaller than the rest of the litter and has had an eye infection. This doesn't seem to have bothered him in the slightest, I guess what he lacks in size he makes up for in personality.... Anyway, I have tried at home, but sadly Stevie say "NO!"
Rhian

Cats and Kittens

Finally it looks as if some of the cats and kittens have started to find homes. But for everyone that goes out there are sadly umpteen waiting to come in. Taz and her glamorous son Apollo left us on Friday, actually it's lovely to think that they have gone to live with Max, whom they originally came in with. I gather at least one of the lovely grey kittens went out yesterday and two more adults have been reserved.
This morning whilst driving into town I saw Candy the Lab being walked by her new owner.(So sorry I can't remember Candy's new name!)  Gill is a friend who use to come to The Nantlle Vale Dog Training Club some years back with her Collie Cai, she also lives in the same village so hopefully I'll get to see her very often. Mei also informs me that Cleo has been lucky and found herself a home on my days off...bless her, all the luck in the world this time Cleo.
Just before I finish, (well it is my day off LOL) I'd just like to tell you about the cat in the photo. Stevie is about 12 months old, a semi long coat male and believe you me my camera phone picture does him no justice! He has a huge character, he's affectionate, but playful and is just waiting for someone just like you to come and adopt him!

Has Scamp got EPI?

 Despite all our efforts, Scamp one of our resident collies has recently continued to loose weight and generally look unkempt. This week I took him to the vets for blood tests and it was found that he had a low count of amylase, these are one of the major digestive enzymes protein molecules and are stored in the pancreas.

A further blood test was necessary to diagnose Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, but Unfortunetly Scamp had woken up and was unwilling to co-operate with the vet team! (though his symptoms sadly all fit the bill!) This is a condition that sadly affects German Shepherds, and though I've been lucky not to come across it myself I do know a little about it. I'll try and explain it as best as I can...
The clinical signs are usually obvious and fit a distinct pattern, the disorder may come on gradually or very quickly, over a few weeks. Usually the dogs show rapid weight loss and poor hair quality. There is usually diarrhea with the consistency of mashed potato (bet that put you off your tea!) or it can even be watery. Affected dogs seem constantly hungry and eat as much food as they can, they will also often eat abnormal things like plants, dirt etc. The dog appearance and behavior typifies one of a dog starving to death, and in reality he could be!
When the dogs have the disorder the protein, starch and fats in the diet cannot be broken down into small enough pieces to allow them to be absorbed through the intestinal wall. The dog therefore passes the value of the food out undigested in the faces. It is estimated that 90% of the pancreas must be destroyed before we see the symptoms.
Fortunately treatment can be easily accomplished, but unfortunetly it is lifelong and very expensive! If Scamp is proved to suffer from EPI, It would be great if we could find someone to maybe sponsor him and help with his future costs. He's a cracking dog who I love dearly but I'm well aware that he has his "issues" which probably make him "unhomeable," or at least mean he would need a very experienced owner. Anyone?
Rhian

Barney has been Rescued.

You will all be pleased to know that the mistreated dog I have been mentioning over the past week or so has finally come into our care and how glad I am too. Had the owner claimed him it would have been a travesty for this animal and now he can be found a truly kind owner. In spite of the terrible treatment he suffered at the hands of his previous owner he is a calm nice natured animal whom Rosie has taken on as  a foster dog. Here he is on arrival .We have named him Barney and he is an Akita crossed with a collie.In fact I have someone interested in him already and pending a homecheck and them all liking one another, he may be off to pastures new very very soon.
Candy the young labrador  is leaving our care later today, there is no doubt she is a handful and I have been completely truthful with her new owners. If she were to be returned and then have to face going to yet another home, with mine it would be 6 places she has had to adapt to in just 9 months of life.Far too much for a dog to cope with, no wonder she is exciteable.What she needs now is stability and lots of patience shown to her but also she needs training and it will all take time.

Just look at these gorgeous kittens, if we could only have more visitors I am sure they would be snapped up. I am waiting now for 3 more to turn up.They have been born to a stray cat and have been living on a caravan site.Unfortunately one kitten has evaded capture so we have had to leave mum to look after that one.Hopefully they will go into the trap tomorrow? The telephone is constantly ringing for help with stray cats and kittens, many of which are strays or abandoned and it is becoming very stressful to  have to tell people that we simply have no more room .I want to help them all but there is only so much can be done with limited funds and facilities. All our foster homes are full now so we must find some more homes.It is always quiet in July and picks up again mid to the end of August when most people have taken their summer holidays(roll on that time)
Speaking of holidays, I am off for a week (5 days in France and 1 staying with friend in Liverpool)so I will hand over the blog for that time to anyone who offers to help! Maybe Rhian again? I will be back on the 15th energised and raring to go!!!!!

A Successful Garden Party and Jojo Finds A Home.

It was a definite YES for Jojo, she has gone to her Manchester home and I hear she is making herself quite at home there ,yet another cat homed through the wonderful Catchat website. Both she and the unlucky (but now lucky) Oscar were homed through them.Its a great site for cat lovers and rescues needing homes for their felines.I have found it to be particularly good for homing the more difficult cats.
(Have just counted the number of times i typed the word home or homing!!! I need to use my Thesaurus more)

Honey has been returned and has gone to a temporary foster home(there I go again) in Pwllheli, there is supposed to be someone coming to see her Thursday,I hope they turn up as they sound as though they would be an ideal home (now im becoming really self conscious!)for her.It appears that she is destructive mainly when there is someone with her although when I had her at my home sh(that word again)e was not at all destructive though had a habit of opening doors which proved a bit of a problem(until I had the door handles put on upside down!) Candy the labrador has the same problem  of ripping up cushions when I am in the room with her.It is an attention seeking act, when I leave her she does nothing! I have someone interested in Candy and they are bringing their own dog today to see if the two get on well together.

I have been asked by a blog reader about the connection between anaemia and veganism. I was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia about 12 years ago after 12 months of extreme lethargy and bouts of dizzinessand then my throat became partially paralysed which was very scary but at least it prompted an urgent dash to the doctors surgery for tests. PA Can be caused by a diet defficient in B12 and this can eventually cause the body to fail in its ability to absorb the vitamin.
Once that happens there is no regeneration, injections are needed for the rest of your life.
When I became vegan there were hardly any products on the market which contained B12 - nowadays, every carton of soya milk has this in its ingredients and my diet was not a good one .There is no reason for anyone becoming vegan to suffer from PA, all that is necessary is a good well balanced diet. The other reason is that it can be genetic, and in my case I suspect that is what caused mine.My brother had Leukaemia and my sister thyroid problems so it is just as likely this was a weakness in our family. I hope this explains it satisfactorily

Now to the Garden Open Day, it was a lovely day, the sun shone all day and everybody had   a lovely time enjoying Catherine and Stewarts fantastic gardens . There was plentiful food and refreshments, lots of dog owners arrived with their pets and Mei and I did quite well on the FreshfieldS Stall.Altogether the magificent sum of £1,260 was raised, a record so far I believe. Catherine puts so much effort into this event and it is good to know that all her hard work paid off so well.

Ember and Fred shetland ponies have gone off to their new home, they were easy to box and travelled well.I am sure they will be well loved and I look forward to hearing about them soon. Today another person is looking at our shetlands, they want a companion for their horse. Heather and Paddy are the next ponies we would like to see leave us - I mean that in the nicest possible way! They are too young and healthy to live here permanently and it would be nice if they could once more have the benefits of a private home one day.See Mother and son here.Paddy on the left was just 2 weeks old when he was admitted here when their owner died tragically.He is about 7 years old now  and a real character.

Everyone knows how I feel about animals being given away on free sites online.Well there was a 30 years old mare being offered!!!! I emailed the owner immediately but received no reply. One of the free sites eventually responded to my compaints and it was so infuriating and patronising, apart from justifying their decision to allow pets to be included in this form of advertising they also suggested that if we were that bothered we should contact the owners and offer to take the pets. Well actually both my friend and I have done so on numerous occasions and have not had a response.One such person had a 10 years old cat, she also placed an ad on our facebook page(which is not allowed) stating that I  had said I had no room so what else could she do?
I did not have room at the time but since then I have telephoned her to say the cat could come in and she has not bothered to answer my messages.\This is what we are up against. I understand that some people are desperately seeking homes for their pets but surely it is better to wait (and most are able to do so if the truth was known) for a place at a reputable animal shelter than to give a pet away to a total stranger who may or may not want the animal for the right reasons and could give a false address.

I must go nowto collect three cats which have been neutered this morning, even the drive to the Vet surgery is a pleasure here, the views everywhere are so stunning.Although I still have my roots planted firmly in Liverpool soil, it has to be said that a drive to Orrell Park is not quite as scenic as the one I am about to take to Pwllheli! Its like being on permanent holiday(apart from the work!)

Will Jojo Find A Home?

The old staff caravan has been demolished this week, it was falling apart - I am surprised it didn't fall down of  its own accord! We will be replacing it with a better (second hand)one next week so once again we will have a staff canteen.It has been odd not having somewhere to sit and have a panad(cup of tea) fortunately it has not rained much and we have been able to sit outside and enjoy our tea breaks.
When it was being pulled down there was some fibre glass floating about for a short time and several of the staff have had allergic reactions (including me)but the worst affected was Lucy the 11 yrs old office dog who has had to have a trip to the vet for treatment, she was scratching so much she made herself bleed. Deadly stuff that fibreglass.

A lady brought in a young staffordshire bull terrier for me to asess and takea photo of for advertising purposes. Its so very hard to home these dogs as we all know but there are 5 on my waiting list at present including one in the Dog Pound so I want to try and evoke some interest in the breed. This dog (pictured here) seems a very nice natured dog and he likes other dogs too which is a bonus.He was taken off someone trying to sell him in exchange for drug money. How sad for the innocent animal!

There is another urgent case at the moment,I am trying to find a home for the dog I mentioned about 2 weeks ago.I did not explain the full details because it was so distressing but let it suffice that the poor dog in question is now away from his brutal owner and even better news - he has failed to claim him.I am delighted so will be going all out to find him a loving home. Once he is in my care I will be able to post a photo .Speaking of dogs in need , does anyone know a person who could give  a home to a 13 years old yorkshire terrier? That's another one which is urgent due to the owner moving soon to a flat where she cannot take her little dog.

Honey lurcher who was homed not so long ago is being returned I'm afraid, she is another with separation anxiety, I have no idea right now what I will do with her though hopefully an amazing plan  will pop into my mind at exactly the right moment and with a bit of luck that moment of mental clarity will occur BEFORE she arrives!

On the cat front, our kittens have had a week of being up and down with feeding and some have had the runs so we are unable to take in or rehome any until at the moment .Thankfully they are all getting better  and we have not lost any which can always be  a possibility with a room  full of youngsters, many of which have not had a good start in life.

This year our beautiful nesting swallows have been successful rearing all their babies and it is a joy to see them swooping over the fields, they have nested in the agri building and even the upheaval going on has seemingly left them unconcerned , they are still in and out of their nest and thriving. Isn't nature wonderful. When I was walking in the fields last night there were dozens of Ghost moths flitting in and out of the damp grass , they seem to enjoy the dampness and are always more prevelant at such times.

When you look closely at them they have a  furry head, there must be a reason for it but I have yet to find out the purpose - maybe it is to attract  female moths?If there are any moth and butterfly experts out there let me know or I could just look it up on the net!

There is a couple from manchester coming up to the shelter tomorrow to meet Jojo our lovely white cat who had ear cancer and has had to have her ears amputated like old Eric.Its such a common problem with pure white cats, really if they cannot be kept out of the sun(if and when we have some!) they should always have high factor sun protection on their  ears which are very sensitive and vulnerable to  extreme exposure.Pictured here is Joj shortly after her operation. She is such a nice cat,I do hope they will fall in love with her.

I have been told that a team of people who work at Pets At Home  headquarters in Cheshire are planning a sponsored trek up Mount Snowdon to raise sponsorship for us. if we had more of these sort of events going on throughout the year it would make such a difference to us financially so every effort made by supporters is so much appreciated.

Don't Forget -Catherines Garden Open day is this Sunday at Gell Farm in Criccieth.(on the main road from Caernarfon to Criccieth.)