Beetles kittens are well and truly up and running, all 3 are super friendly and very confident. The weather was lovely today so we took them into the garden for a couple of pictures. Fawlty came to check them out, but decided not to hang about, possibly worried about being stung for child maintenance payments!
Whoopi's recovery is proving to be nothing short of miraculous. Her most recent xrays show that she is healing very well. Although she still circles to the right, every day we see a slight improvement. She will be going to see the specialist in a couple of weeks and we expect that surgery to fully stabilise the neck will be the next step. She is one hell of a puppy.
Meanwhile the other dogs are still needing time and attention, they are all still getting their usual walks and Florin is continuing her trick training. This week she learnt how to ring a bell, took her less than 2 minutes to work out what she had to do, smart pup :)
Almost exactly a week ago Whoopi was at the vets, unconscious, rigid and bleeding from the nose with a broken neck, today she has regained use of her legs, can wee and poo normally, wags her tail and is responsive to her name. Last week I was asking the vet if we should euthanise her, today I am so thankful he said no. She still has nerve damage causing her head to turn to the right, which in turn means she mainly walks in circles, but the expectation is that this too will gradually improve greatly with time, yesterday she was walking tight circles, today she is managing a few almost straight steps. I cannot believe the dramatic improvement in this puppy, she truly is a fighter, and without wanting this to sound like an Oscar's speech I have so many people to thank, it goes without saying that my veterinary practice tops this list but I really would like to thank each and every person that has left positive words on her posts, those that have pm'd or phoned me to offer support and those that have visited us to offer help and support. I would also like to say things to those who have gossiped to others about my decision to not have her pts and questioned my ethics yet haven't had any direct contact with me to know what I based my decision on, but I won't. We are now looking forward to, and working on, Whoopi getting back to leading a normal life.
This weekend has quite possibly been the worst weekend I have ever had. On Saturday Whoopi had a terrible accident resulting in a broken neck and jaw. She was rushed to my vets straight away, she was unconscious, rigid and was bleeding profusely from the nose. She received the best care from both vet and nurse she had a neck brace fitted and was kept in on major pain relief, fluid therapy and oxygen for the rest of the day. She came home on Sat night, as being an ex vet nurse I was capable of continuing her care and medication, and has shown good signs of recovery. She is now very aware of her surroundings, has regained feeling in all her limbs and can stand to urinate. She is managing to eat, despite the very obvious discomfort from her jaw (which can't be fixed at the moment as the manipulation required could have very serious implications to the neck injury). When she sleeps she is relaxed, and although she does have periods where she cries and is scared, these periods are lessoning in frequency/time and intensity. My own vets are in contact with specialists and her care is being constantly reviewed and we will be guided by them. We are also very lucky to have a friend who can offer complementary healing alongside the veterinary care and drugs she will have. We have a very long road ahead of us, and nothing is promised, but today we are hugely more optimistic than we were on Friday. Huge thanks goes out to Moorgate Vets who have been so supportive in her (and my, lol) care.
After a stressful time with Whoopi everything seems to be back on an even keel. A few weeks ago Whoopi stopped eating, she would go 24 -36hrs without touching a thing, then she would start to pick at her food for a few days before stopping again. She was taken to the vets where blood tests revealed she was anaemic and x-rays were inconclusive. At this point she was approaching 72hrs from her last small meal and was close to requiring intravenous fluids. I was obviously very concerned about this as we still had no idea as to the cause. That night she vomited up several large hairballs (consisting of Florins coat). The following day she ate reasonably well for her, though she carried on vomiting the odd bit of hair. I phoned the vet to discuss and we came to the conclusion that she had ingested enough hair to cause a partial blockage. This would also fit with the blood tests as anaemia can be caused by malnutrition (she hadn't eaten properly for quite some time). I had to make the sad, but practical decision to take Florins coat off, as Whoopi wasn't purposely eating the fur but was ingesting it during their play sessions, so short of stopping them playing I couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't ingest more fur. I am pleased to report that since Florins haircut Whoopi is eating for England :)
The kittens are growing at a pace, the two tabbies have been reserved, the chocolate and white boy is waiting for the right family to find him.
The weather has been glorious recently, so it would have been rude not to have a beach visit.
Audrey celebrated her 10th birthday last week, with all the grief she has given me in those years she was lucky to make it to 10, lol
With the sunshine the chickens have come back into lay, I am a self confessed egg snob. I like to think my chickens have a good life and my reward for this is a selection of the best tasting eggs you can get.
And finally, this made me chuckle. Spirit is so done with being a mum, but Whoopi likes to think she will get special treatment from her. Here she wanted the bone that Spirit was chewing, Spirit steadfastly ignored her so Whoopi had a meltdown, think child throwing themselves on the floor in a supermarket because they weren't allowed something :)
Beetle was an absolute star yesterday, not only did she produce 3 strapping babies, but she did it during the afternoon when I had nothing else planned!! At first glance she has a male tabby, a female tabby and a male choc/white. They are currently all available so please contact me if you would like more information.
