Zoe
Novice
Jan 17, 2004, 4:30 PM
Views: 1371
|
|
Re: [timchan] 'Old' Member, New Intro
|
|
|
Hi timchan,
Pls check yr Yahoo! mbox. Look for someone fr Newsguy. Sent you the day I read yr post requesting so - no reply. Just sent a second (longer) email awhile ago.
I've written a comment/reply to yr post at the "Heaven" forum. It got so long and winded that I've changed my mind and post it here instead. It's more abt Zoe, thus more fitting to be in Zoe's intro thread for easier future reference.
Hello timchan,
I'm v v sorry to hear of your and Jazzper's predicament. It is very sad to continue to see case after case of unscrupulous breeders getting away with their inhumane actions, contributing to sufferings of animals they breed and breaking hearts of owners who innocently bought them and ended up with problems later. I have often lamented what the is doing about such practice.
I'll share some of Zoe's experience with you here so that you guys can make an imformed decision/conclusion.
Zoe a.k.a Delamo Juney came over to us when 4 weeks old, already vaccinated during the 3rd wk! I called up my vet to arrange for a comprehensive check-up for Zoe. (Our first rule, do not trust previous owners, collect your own opinions fr yr own vet.) My vet was astonished that Zoe was vaccinated at such an early age when her immune system is still developing, thus invalidating any vaccination attempts. He gave us an option to continue with it or start all over. We decided to invalidate Zoe's vaccination and proceeded to start all over again. Vaccination dates were adjusted and a fresh new book was opened for her.
Incidentally, Zoe's (current) bf "Bush" (another GR several doors down) was vaccinated by the same vet who jabbed Zoe the first time. My neighbor brought him around to see Zoe when he came to vaccinate my neighbor's 4 doberman pups. I confronted the vet (diplomatically/politely) on him vaccinating Zoe (and the whole batch) at such an early age and mentioned developing immune system in puppies. He just said "it's ok" and brushed this off. I did not want to push further (hey, he's my neighbor's vet, see) and let the matter rest. I just made up my mind not to use his services ever again.
From young, Zoe makes funny snorting noise when she sniffs strongly. I was concerned (Zoe is not my first puppy I've raised) and mentioned this to my vet during her 1st visit. He thought that Zoe had a throat infection (upon checking). Prescribed some mild syrup but no anti-biotics (still too young and dont wanna interfere with her developing immune system). She also had ear mite infestation (vet forced me to look thru the microscope). Well, one thing I like my vet is that he insists that I see some 'proof' before I pay up. Well, we dont know if her throat infection was a red herring. It cleared up during the next visit (for her REAL 1st vaccination). Ear mites gone too. But Zoe continues to make those strange noise. Since she's still too young to do any X-ray, we can only do complete blood work, urine & stool tests and hold our breaths. Eukanuba for Large Breeds (puppies) and no mingling with ANY animals until after her 3rd jab. I dont get to play with any dogs during that time.
Thankfully, nothing untoward (illness) happens to Zoe, but she still continue to make those funny noise. This happens less and less as she grows older.
Well, is this the 'weak lung/heart' which Jazzper was diagnosed with? I'm now worried as Zoe has never gotten an X-ray against my vet's advice - I dont like the fact that they need to knock Zoe out for the procedure and I've been delaying this. Guess I shd make haste after CNY. Thank you so much for the advance warning, timchan. I've inspected Zoe 3 times as I write this.
I guess one thing going for Zoe is that we ignored whatever 'good' things the breeder did for her and assumed that nothing was done, as if we found her by the road-side one day and brought her home. We started on a clean slate.
Some of you may have read about Zoe's 'bad' leg. I succintly remember an incident when Zoe, at 6 wks old, caught her leg on the railings (actually her cage which was dismantled and used as a barrier). The railings (2 pcs linked) were blocking the stairs to prevent her from climbing upstairs. She pulled and BOTH railings fell on her with her left hind leg caught. Big, big, yelp and howl! I feared fractures but found her only limping a little and only for a little while. Immediate checking did not show any broken bones. All parts movable and she exhibited no pain when I tried moving her 'injured' leg. I observed her walk for several hours after that and everything seems normal - no more limping.
It was abt a mth later that we started seeing her walking funny - ducky. She seems to have a lazy left hind leg and seldom want to use it. It became more prominent as she ages.
At the same time, she is also getting a little plump (not really fat but on the fat side). We understood v early the need to control diets for large breeds. Our marble flooring also did not help. We called the breeder up and told them of Zoe's development. They came over 2 days later. They also brought along Zoe's sister. In comparision, Zoe is much bigger than her elder sister. She is already bigger than her sister when we took her back and this is expected. They recommended we restrict her walking by caging her up or not expose her walks on the marble flooring too much. Also recommended "Sure-foot" spray used by show dogs for good grip during dog-shows. Could not find that. We tried to cage her up but could not stand her pleadings/yelpings as she dont like to be alone.
The next day, we rug up the sitting room area and went seeking quotation for carpeting. The next day, went to Giant hypermart and bought 2 doz pcs of those rubber-foam alphabet jigsaw-like thingie for kids - 1 sq ft/pcs and laid them all over the dining/living room, connecting with the living room rug. Zoe had a gala time walking/playing/chewing/peeing on them. We gave up on full carpet flooring and went and bought a large carpet made of syntactic material. Still there today.
When she's 6 mth old, we started her on Glucosamine (she's got a 3 yr's supply now) and other supplements. Not just any Glucosamine, but Glucosamine HCL with shark cartilage & sea cucumber plus a host of other nutrients. Today, dosage is 500mg/80lbs.
Between then, Zoe's appetite started waning and she looks thin and lanky. Grandma had to spoon feed her when we were away in Canada. So afraid that we may return to a skinny dog and report her to the SPCA. She hates Eukanuba with a vengence. We went thru a series of kibbles (all those supporting this web site) but to no avail.
Finally settled on Atta Boy and still not so keen but at least she munches on them fr time to time. Finally home cooked food - rice (base), chicken neck (pressure cooked), beef, pork, spinach, celery, carrots, pumpkin. Rotate meat. Veg rotated, carrots present almost all the time. Fish sometimes. Turkey when we cannot find beef and she's sick of other meat. Still, every meal time becomes a 'celebration' of some sort to pump up her enthusiasm to get her to eat. Today, on one meal a day, she's on 1.5 cups rice, 1 lb meat & veg. We no longer force/coerce her to finish altho she'll look at us sheepishly whenever she cant finish it. We're also continuously watching her weight.
Very early on, I started her on cod-liver oil capsules - Seven Seas which us humans take. Started with 1 then 2 until finally 4 per day as she grows older. I had a brother who had asthma and dad drowned him in cod-liver oil. With Zoe making that funny noise, I thought I'd do the same and hope it'll help. Furthermore it's good for her eyes and coat too not to mention bone development. Stopped that when she's 1 yr old and switched to "IN" until today. Zoe ptwee (literally) anything with yeast in it, so Vetzyme (my original fav) had to be thrown away.
Zoe dont jump up sofas. She'll just put her two front paws and expect us to pull her up. Same with our bed. And the back seat of the car when she goes 'sit pok-pok' - gotta lift her up by the pet-pet. After she started going on Glucosamine (and her continued bone development), she now jumps up sofas on her own - the 2-seater is hers while mommy & daddy uses the 3-seater. She only jumps up the right side of the back seat of the car but still puts her 2 paws if asked to go in fr the left. She jumps up the bed whenever she feels like it but often put her 2 paws up and expect us to lug her up.
As she develops, at around 1-yr old, her walking improves. Slow walk, she'll be ducky. She prefers to increase speed until she can trot. When that happens, she'll just do a slight jump and a shrug on her 'bad' leg and trots normally like any other dog. She now runs and bounds normally and you can see that she has a bad leg only when she does slow walks. Because of this, we dont put her on leash for walkies (we do carry it along just in case). Trained her to behave when out, walk on side of road all the time, 'car coming' means run back to base, 'this side' means cross road to the other side, 'wait for me' when trotting too far ahead, 'follow, follow' means walk beside, etc, etc. Not easy but over time she learned. It's either this way or she cant go out for walks as it may hurt her 'bad' leg.
So, overall, I'll say we're coping. Health wise, we couldnt ask for better. Other than the 'bad' leg, muscle & bone development, we couldnt be happier. Temperament, she loves kids. All dogs are her friend unless they growl or try to bite her. Character, she has a strong one and can have a mind of her own unless I say not. She's allowed to lead, and we'll follow. But when called to follow, she must.
I still harbor hopes that Zoe gets to be a mummy some day (to complete her cycle as a doggie). But at the moment, due to her leg, it's a definite no no. Even if she's certified HD (God forbid!) I'll still not nix her, altho she'll never be a mummy then.
Well, this has been v v v long. If bad breeding ever happened, we're hoping that we might somehow mitigate that by taking our own precautions and leave nothing to chance. We're sharing what we've done here in the hopes that others may glean something useful from this.
timchan, we'd like to think that Jazzper is now enjoying himself at The Rainbow Bridge rather than suffering on Earth. Please remember his funny antics, remember the times when he made you guys laugh and happy. Remember the good times, the times when he touched your hearts. Those are his legacy he left you. Make it worth his while in the short time he's with you. You have tried your best to give Jazzper a happy life. There is no doubt. Remember that. In time, long perhaps, you may forget the bad.
Take care & thank you again.
|
Home:
Members' Area:
Members' Introduction:
Welcome 
Re: [mackmack] 'Old' Member, New Intro
