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Everyone's awfully quiet recently- hope it's only that you're all enjoying festivities!
Is everyone ok?
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Hen-Gen
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Alls fine here. It’s a quiet time for hens. I bought some pottery eggs last week ready for the coming season. Have to say though I hate the new format of this site
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It's different, but with a bit of practice, I find it easier to use on my phone than the previous incarnation.
How's the weather with you, Hen Gen? It's been mild enough here, but very wet and windy!
How's the weather with you, Hen Gen? It's been mild enough here, but very wet and windy!
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It’s very difficult here at present. Our lovely Poppy was diagnosed with mitral valve insufficiency two years ago. This is a progressive inoperable condition, always terminal, very common in middle aged and elderly dogs - Poppy is nine. The leaky heart valve allows fluid to pass into the dog’s lungs, causing congestion and lack of oxygen. She’s been on medication since she passed out on a gentle walk back in July, which has helped her, but she’s had one or two distressing bouts since then, and yesterday she suddenly became a lot worse. She was so ill that we thought it likely she would die in the night, so I sat up with her, but she made it through until this morning. She’s not in apparent pain but is moving very slowly, not her usual lively self at all, only doing the absolute minimum to get around as far as the back door to have a pee. Part of the treatment is a diuretic, which helps drain some of the excess fluid, but this means she drinks an enormous amount and pees accordingly - this can add kidney problems to the mix.
As it happened, I’d already made a vet appointment for Friday morning, for her next checkup and prescription renewal, so we’re just gently living with her whilst we can.
I don’t think we’ll be needing that renewed prescription. It’s truly terrible, planning for what has to be done. She’s the sweetest little dog, such a beautiful nature, and we just can’t imagine life without her - and without a dog at all, probably, at our age.
I don’t know what will get me out of bed in the morning when she dies.
As it happened, I’d already made a vet appointment for Friday morning, for her next checkup and prescription renewal, so we’re just gently living with her whilst we can.
I don’t think we’ll be needing that renewed prescription. It’s truly terrible, planning for what has to be done. She’s the sweetest little dog, such a beautiful nature, and we just can’t imagine life without her - and without a dog at all, probably, at our age.
I don’t know what will get me out of bed in the morning when she dies.
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Oh, Marigold, I'm so very sorry. It's awful when we have to say goodbye to our furry companions. ? Will be thinking of you tomorrow. x
Margaid
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Only just read this as my sister is staying with so things get neglected. So sorry to read this Marigold, I remember the photographs you posted when she was a tiny puppy. Will be thinking of you tomorrow.
Hen-Gen
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Very unpleasant experience Marigold. Thinking of you.
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Thank you.
Poppy was quite poorly at 6.00 yesterday when I got up and went to see her, so I gave her an increased dose of Vetmedin, her heart pill. Within a couple of hours she’d perked up enough to toddle gently down the road a few hundred yards and have breakfast.
So we went to talk to the vet. He said increase the dose and see how she gets on re quality of life in the next few days/week/s. He agrees she hasn’t got long, but is coping atm. at her own pace. He said maybe a week or two, so long as she’s not apparently in pain.
So we’re all 3 of us home again, for now. She’s brighter today, and I actually had some sleep last night.
I’ve been out in the garden digging her grave the past two days. I have a friend with a Great Dane - lovely as this dog is, there are advantages to having a very small dog! But even so, getting down deep enough into a 2 ft by 1ft hole isn’t very easy on one’s back. At the moment the weather here is wet and stormy, so I felt it would be best to be prepared, and in a way the work is cathartic.
Poppy was quite poorly at 6.00 yesterday when I got up and went to see her, so I gave her an increased dose of Vetmedin, her heart pill. Within a couple of hours she’d perked up enough to toddle gently down the road a few hundred yards and have breakfast.
So we went to talk to the vet. He said increase the dose and see how she gets on re quality of life in the next few days/week/s. He agrees she hasn’t got long, but is coping atm. at her own pace. He said maybe a week or two, so long as she’s not apparently in pain.
So we’re all 3 of us home again, for now. She’s brighter today, and I actually had some sleep last night.
I’ve been out in the garden digging her grave the past two days. I have a friend with a Great Dane - lovely as this dog is, there are advantages to having a very small dog! But even so, getting down deep enough into a 2 ft by 1ft hole isn’t very easy on one’s back. At the moment the weather here is wet and stormy, so I felt it would be best to be prepared, and in a way the work is cathartic.
bigyetiman
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We have been away in Norfolk for a week and just got back.
I am so sorry Marigold, remember poppy sitting on my lap in Wales, she's so lovely.
It is one of the hardest things watching a much loved member of the family slip away. Thinking of you all
I am so sorry Marigold, remember poppy sitting on my lap in Wales, she's so lovely.
It is one of the hardest things watching a much loved member of the family slip away. Thinking of you all
bigyetiman
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I am glad she is home with you, much more peaceful and relaxed for her, being in her normal surroundings with family.
That is very brave of you, digging the grave. Our neighbour has Labradors and Airedales, and luckily being a farm can use a tractor with a bucket on the front to dig a hole. They get wrapped in their blanket from the basket. Then a rose gets planted and a she has a slate plaque. As Jean is now 80 there are a quite a few dogs in there, a couple of the gate guardian geese, and her favourite Buff orpington that lived to 18.
Come summer the garden is a delight to be in, smells wonderful and is alive with insects.
Thinking of you
That is very brave of you, digging the grave. Our neighbour has Labradors and Airedales, and luckily being a farm can use a tractor with a bucket on the front to dig a hole. They get wrapped in their blanket from the basket. Then a rose gets planted and a she has a slate plaque. As Jean is now 80 there are a quite a few dogs in there, a couple of the gate guardian geese, and her favourite Buff orpington that lived to 18.
Come summer the garden is a delight to be in, smells wonderful and is alive with insects.
Thinking of you
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There's a Pet Crematorium near me. It opened a year or two ago. They can handle anything up to, I think, the weight of a shetland pony or thereabouts.
You're very brave, Marigold, to dig Poppy's grave. It's one last gesture of love and care for her. A thank you for all she's given you over the years.
You're very brave, Marigold, to dig Poppy's grave. It's one last gesture of love and care for her. A thank you for all she's given you over the years.
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Thank you all for your kind words, much appreciated. We seem to be into ‘how long is a piece of string’ territory - who knows how long - she’s just living a very quiet life, sleeping a lot, walking slowly. However, she was immediately alert when some dogs appeared in a film we were watching on TV last night - she’s a screen addict, likes her daily fix of YouTube, and has an internal scanner that works even when she’s apparently asleep and alerts her to the presence of any animals on the TV. Toddled over to the telly, and put her paws up on the unit in front of it, to make her tall enough to see it properly. Over the years her claws have worn the varnish off the unit by doing this.
bigyetiman
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Bless her, she is obviously very content
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Our beautiful Poppy died last Saturday.
Her quality of life had remained good in her last two weeks, slowing down a lot but she was still responsive, patrolling the garden and interested in investigating the latest outbreak of rats under our neighbours shed that kept popping through the hedge into our garden. We had just been taking things gently at her own pace, but the medication got steadily less effective and on Saturday morning she was clearly much worse. I got an appointment with the vet, but before it was time to take her, she collapsed and just died, quite peacefully, with both of us with her. I’d made a small patchwork quilt to wrap her in, and we buried her under the birch trees. The ground had frozen hard, so it was good to have got ready beforehand.
We were both exhausted and devastated, both in tears most of the weekend.She was such a sweet dog, it feels so terribly quiet and empty without her.
Norfolk Terrier pups are hard to come by. They have very small litters, and are mainly bred by a group of breeders committed to high standards of breeding and lifelong care - no Norfolk is ever found in a rescue centre, they are all rehomed by the Club, and very few puppies are actually advertised as they just go to Club members. However, if like us you’ve been a member of the Club for 26 years, it’s a bit easier to find a puppy, so I started to enquire about possible future litters, being gloomily prepared to wait weeks or months.
Then on Monday, two days after Poppy died, her breeder rang me to say that she had a seven-week-old puppy due to be collected next week at eight weeks old, reserved by prospective buyers, who had just rung up to say they couldn’t collect him until the end of March and would she keep him until then? Of course she wasn’t prepared to do this, a puppy needs to be in his new home before then, so she offered him to us. We are going to collect little Pippin next Thursday.
I’m unwilling to use the old roller-coaster cliche, but it’s hard to think of a better one. We’re still grieving for our lovely Poppy, but a lot of the desperation seems to have gone, and it’s OK just to watch videos of her and remember her with love. She loved puppies, so I’m sure she’d have been glad to know that Pippin is coming to live with us. He’s booked in to his first puppy training class, with the excellent trainer who helped us with Poppy, so that’ll be fun for all of us.
Lots of pics to follow, I hope!
Her quality of life had remained good in her last two weeks, slowing down a lot but she was still responsive, patrolling the garden and interested in investigating the latest outbreak of rats under our neighbours shed that kept popping through the hedge into our garden. We had just been taking things gently at her own pace, but the medication got steadily less effective and on Saturday morning she was clearly much worse. I got an appointment with the vet, but before it was time to take her, she collapsed and just died, quite peacefully, with both of us with her. I’d made a small patchwork quilt to wrap her in, and we buried her under the birch trees. The ground had frozen hard, so it was good to have got ready beforehand.
We were both exhausted and devastated, both in tears most of the weekend.She was such a sweet dog, it feels so terribly quiet and empty without her.
Norfolk Terrier pups are hard to come by. They have very small litters, and are mainly bred by a group of breeders committed to high standards of breeding and lifelong care - no Norfolk is ever found in a rescue centre, they are all rehomed by the Club, and very few puppies are actually advertised as they just go to Club members. However, if like us you’ve been a member of the Club for 26 years, it’s a bit easier to find a puppy, so I started to enquire about possible future litters, being gloomily prepared to wait weeks or months.
Then on Monday, two days after Poppy died, her breeder rang me to say that she had a seven-week-old puppy due to be collected next week at eight weeks old, reserved by prospective buyers, who had just rung up to say they couldn’t collect him until the end of March and would she keep him until then? Of course she wasn’t prepared to do this, a puppy needs to be in his new home before then, so she offered him to us. We are going to collect little Pippin next Thursday.
I’m unwilling to use the old roller-coaster cliche, but it’s hard to think of a better one. We’re still grieving for our lovely Poppy, but a lot of the desperation seems to have gone, and it’s OK just to watch videos of her and remember her with love. She loved puppies, so I’m sure she’d have been glad to know that Pippin is coming to live with us. He’s booked in to his first puppy training class, with the excellent trainer who helped us with Poppy, so that’ll be fun for all of us.
Lots of pics to follow, I hope!
bigyetiman
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You know from our e mail how sorry we were.
I think Pippin has had a lucky escape, if the prospective buyers wanted to collect him at their convenience, not thinking of what's best for the puppy. I guess Pippin was destined to come to you.
You will have fun at the dog training, and I have no doubt Pippin is drawing up a human training programme as well.
I think Pippin has had a lucky escape, if the prospective buyers wanted to collect him at their convenience, not thinking of what's best for the puppy. I guess Pippin was destined to come to you.
You will have fun at the dog training, and I have no doubt Pippin is drawing up a human training programme as well.
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Thank you, Mark and Ruth, and Margaid, for your kind messages. It would be lovely if we could get together again one day, and you could meet Pippin as well. If you, or anyone on here, is ever near to Whitchurch in Hampshire, do please message me. You’d all be very welcome.
Margaid
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I quite agree BYM, the prospective owners seemed to treat him like a piece of furniture they'd ordered.
We know from having seen Poppy with Marigold and her husband that Pippin will have a wonderful life.
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Aw, I'm so sorry to hear about Poppy. I'm sure she'd be delighted that you're giving another puppy the same wonderful life you gave her.
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Sigh! How is it that there are 365 days in a year - but 4,760 of them are in January? ?