Thursday 24 November 2011

God Bless America

As the Bulldog Nationals finds itself well underway and the fact that our Chairman Vicky is once again enjoying her week in the States reminds me that it's been 13 years since my one and only trip to the American Nationals. 1998 - Reggie the first wasn't even a year old and I was the only UK Bulldogger on the internet, in those days the only choices you had for chat groups were American ones and I had joined the Bulldog-FX group where in time I was invited to go out there. I remember sitting on the plane and the chap next to me asking me where I was going to stay "with a lady I met on the internet" was the reply - can you imagine saying that these days LOL. It was an absolute fabulous week and I really hope that I get the chance to go again some day as I made some wonderful friends over there. But as the week progresses, the New York Times has jumped on the breed bashing bandwagon with their article "Can the Bulldog be Saved", a quick look on Miss Puddleducks blog shows she's relishing the fact that her anti bulldog lobby has crossed the pond, it will be interesting to see where this one ends up as I can't see the yanks rolling over and playing dead quite so easily as us Brits did.

Saturday 5 November 2011

The End

Before we begin this blog, you may want to remind yourself how it all began back in March
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-you-sitting-comfortably.html
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-i-did-at-weekend-by-edward-aged-2.html
http://bulldogrescueuk.blogspot.com/2011/04/time-ticks-by.html
Saturday 5th November 2011 - the day none of us thought would happen, and the day all of us have been working towards. Edward has gone to his new home. We've been looking back over his time here this morning and apart from the fact that the 19.1kg dog that arrived left here weighing in at 26.1kg is probably the one thing that makes us all want to punch the air and shout - we did it!!!!
Last night, I shut Edwards kennel door for the very last time, this morning I let him out knowing he would never be shut in a kennel ever again, he, of course, had absolutely no idea how the morning was going to unfold
As usual he was demanding to be let out this morning so he could go through his usual routine of deciding which toy to play with today
Next stop the Bathroom

Don't forget my feet

Look who came to say goodbye - my fairy godmother Kate - where would Edward be without this wonderful lady

Goodbye Annie - I lubs you
Goodbye Edward

So many dogs have left here but I don't think any of them have left the mark that Ed left, today is the first day of the rest of his life and boy what a great life that is going to be. We've all just been stood around with a "what shall we do now" expression remembering the highs and the lows of the cheesy wotsit who arrived as a bag of bones, the worries that he wasn't putting on the weight, the fear that his fur would never grow back, the princess that demanded to be let out before the chickens of a morning. The idiot that stuck his face in the nest of flying ants and gave us all the shock of our lives as his face swelled up before our eyes, the charmer that would never let you forget to do his feet and the sweet gentle dog that had come out of goodness knows what and is on his way up to leafy Surrey, where his arm chair awaits - that's after he's cocked his leg up it of course. Have a great life Ed, you've left a paw print on all of us and we look forward to hearing of your antics with your fantastic new mummy who will do an absolutely amazing job of completing the long long journey that has been your recovery - you are one special bulldog and don't you ever forget it.
Edward March 2011
Edward November 2011

Friday 4 November 2011

Maybe people aren't so bad

I've always joked that I'd much rather be surrounded by dogs than people, but yesterday we witnessed the fact that people actually aren't so bad.
The story began on Wednesday when I was approached by a lady who's 5 month old Bulldog Rex had been seized by Animal Health for being illegally imported. She'd bought him from an advert on Pets4Homes and had no idea that what she had purchased was illegal until the vet that checked him over noticed the blood tests were missing in his pet passport. What followed was horrendous for all involved when she arrived home to find her dog being seized as being imported illegally and moved to a quarantine kennel in London, made worse by the fact that he would have to stay there until January 2012 and if the family couldn't pay the £1000 bill he'd be put to sleep. I spoke to the kennels (who wish to remain anonymous) directly and they confirmed the story as true and so the campaign began to raise the money to pay the bill and get Rex off of death row.
The following day I spoke the Animal Health Officer in charge of Rex's case, she confirmed that this happens on a regular basis and that there's been at least 20 cases in London alone this year - and that's just the ones that got caught! But she also confirmed that if we could raise the money he would definitely be released to his family in January and seemed quite pleased that we had got involved to help the family in question - it was at that point she let on that as part of a documentary for the Discovery channel she was being followed around by a TV crew, and that the crew had filmed Rex's removal and that they wanted to follow up the story by filming his reunion in January with his family and report the fact that thanks to Bulldog Rescue, 100s of complete strangers had put their hands in their pockets and raised the full amount in just 24 hours! Yes, we did it, the bill is paid and Rex goes home after Christmas and the happy occasion will be filmed and hopefully aired next year.
But there's a more serious side to this tale, if 20 people have been caught, how many go undetected? You know I'm not a fan of ePupz, Pets4Homes and the pet sections of GumTree, Loot etc etc and we're pretty good now at spotting the scams that insist that they are people of God and it's not their fault that the litter of cute bulldog pups are stuck in Scotland when they've had to rush to Nigeria. I asked the AHO yesterday what would be the one piece of advice to give to a prospective buyer and she confirmed "See the pups with their mum" but is that enough? I know of people that cross reference the advert with the Kennel Club lists, all litters that are registered via the KC can be traced, follow your gut - if something doesn't feel right then don't do it, make sure you buy from a KC registered breeder, preferably an "Assured" breeder and if the dog has been imported ask questions - lots of questions and make sure you sign for the dog because there may come a time when you need to prove it wasn't you that smuggled him into the country.
I'll keep you posted on Rex's progress, but what a lovely way to end a very long week

Wednesday 2 November 2011

What do you know about Canine Meningitis?

Until yesterday I didn't know much about canine meningitis, but one of the dogs at the kennel was put to sleep last night after displaying the symptoms and rapidly went down hill in the space of just 24 hours! Dear sweet little man was only 6 and was picked up from his previous home where he was living in the garden, thank goodness he wasn't still there because his only real cause for concern yesterday morning was that he refused to get out of bed and his temperature had gone through the roof. None of us really thought it was terribly urgent, he wasn't vomiting and he was happy to see us, he just didn't want to get up, but we called the vet and later that afternoon he was taken to his appointment. We'd been battling an ear infection so we'd assumed the infection had spread and a course of anti biotics was all we'd need, but when I went to get him, despite being excited at the prospect of going for a walk he couldn't stand up, the look that just said "hang on a minute, my legs don't work" was probably when I realised this was actually a little more urgent, I carried him to the van and the nurse helped me carry him in on the stretcher, but when we put him down we realised that he'd pee'd himself and his fur was falling out in absolute handfuls. Realising this was actually more serious I offered to stay with him whilst the vets finished up their other appointments, I cleaned him up the best I could but he really couldn't move, he still wagged his little tail at me though and seemed fine in himself. A while later we're in the xray room, xrays on his chest and abdomen both normal, bloods - reasonably normal, a slightly elevated white blood count was nothing unusual as we knew there was an ear infection, urine syringed up from the stretcher was off the scale but he was starting to become aggressive - very very unlike him. His temperature was still very high (over 40 degrees - normal temp is 38) but efforts to insert a drip failed as his veins were just shutting down as soon as the needle went in. With a temp that high you'd expect a high blood pressure and very prominent veins.

Now he couldn't walk at all, his legs just crumpled underneath him and he was now in obvious pain, we were watching him deteriorate before our eyes but had no idea what was wrong with him. Bless him, he was so brave but 2 hours later he was becoming agitated and quite aggressive and it became clear that the most likely cause was in fact meningitis. Without being able to get the drip in there was very little we could do to help him so "the meeting" was held - 2 vets, myself and a nurse all agreed if we couldn't make him comfortable his condition would continue to worsen and so at 8 o'clock last night he was peacefully laid to rest.

So what is meningitis? PetWave.com describes it as: "a non specific disease" that refers to the pathological condition of inflammation of the tissues surrounding and protecting the brain and spinal cord. The causative agent can be anything that triggers an inflammatory process in a particular dog, including bacteria, virus, fungus, chemical toxins and/or other agents. Meningitis is a very serious condition, and if a dog exhibits signs associated with this disorder it should be taken to a veterinarian immediately.

And lists the symptoms as
High fever (elevated body temperature)
Muscle stiffness
Musclee spasms in the back (often painful)
Rigidity of the muscles of the neck and forelimbs (often painful)
Extreme sensitivity to touch (hyperesthesia); may jump or yelp when touched
Loss of appetite (anorexia; inappetence)
Lethargy
Nausea
Vomiting
Stiff, awkward stilted gait
Inability to bend legs
Head tilt
High fever
Depression
Vision impairment/ blindness
Progressive paralysis
Seizures
Confusion/disorientation
Agitation
Loss of coordination (ataxia)
Aggression

With the exception of Vomiting he went through pretty much every single one of these symptoms in a 12 hour period. The article goes on to say

Meningitis can be fatal. Advanced cases of meningitis can cause extreme depression, blindness, progressive paralysis, seizures, confusion, agitation and/or aggression. Severe cases can also cause ataxia, which basically means lack of muscular coordination. Affected dogs may be unable to coordinate their movements. They might move in uncontrollable circles, stand up then stumble when trying to walk, or stand and walk with their front legs spread abnormally far apart. The clinical signs of meningitis can mimic those of other disorders. In order to successfully diagnose meningitis in dogs, a series of tests and examinations will need to be performed by a skilled and perceptive veterinarian.

Dogs at Increased Risk include dogs of any age, breed or gender can be equally affected. Newborn puppies are especially at risk. Affected animals are almost always systemically ill. They develop a high fever, a stiff awkward gait, painful back spasms, rigidity of the neck and forelimbs and extreme sensitivity to touch. They become lethargic, anorexic and nauseous. Advanced meningitis causes extreme depression, blindness, progressive paralysis, seizures, confusion, agitation, ataxia and/or aggression. It can be life-threatening

We talk alot about the condition in children but no one really talks about it in dogs and until yesterday had no idea what to look out for. I hope that if just one person can learn from this tragic and untimely death it won't have been in vain - run free sweet man, you were a big teddy bear who didn't deserve to leave that way, but thank goodness you were where someone spotted you didn't feel well and you weren't still out in that garden with no one to notice until it was too late.