Tortoise Cruelty Case

This post is not for the squeamish. It is upsetting l know because l am still upset and angry and l deal with death every day but this is for me a very personal death.


I was doing an anaesthetic a couple of nights ago when the locum vet came in and asked for advice on how to put a tortoise to sleep. She had one in that needed doing asap and was worried as they are so difficult to deal with.

The owners thought it very funny when they described how they threw it to their dog to play with and how it ripped into it and vomited up the part it had swallowed of the tortoise a few minutes after swallowing it.
The vet is reporting it but l think it may not get prosecuted due to the fact the owners took it to the vet and how do you prove other than they found it funny and admitted to doing it do you prove it was deliberate.
Time has proved me correct they said almost those words, l know certainly the local rspca attitude it is very hard to get them to do anything, the animal collection officers do try but the higher up the tree the less help you get. Playing devils advocate how would you prove it they would deny it but even so it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

I said if she got one of the other nurses to take over my job l would sort it for her and show her how to pith it. She sent in the spare nurse and l went off to look for some tools, a hammer and sharp longish object/s.

There are only about 3 recommended ways to kill a tortoise but only really one works and if you use the others you should always pith them to make sure as they can shunt blood supply from parts of their body and survive long periods anoxia (without oxygen) cutting off the head is not a way as they can survive for a long time l saw article that said up to an hour. The following is actually the recommended BSAVA method adapted*

First the tortoise was given a very big dose of ketamine. Then *placed in a small anaesthetic chamber (plastic tupperware box with pipe into it that the anaesthetic tubing attaches to. He was in this for about 15 minutes to attempt to help relax him. This may or may not have worked due to my comments on surviving without oxygen,and could well just have been the ketamine kicking in but all means to help are utilised.
When l took him out l hated to do it but still had to pull his head out of his shell but he was by now a lot more lax and did not have much resistance. I got the vet to hold his head.
Then the needle was placed on the top of his skull above the brain stem and driven in l then opted for a slightly larger but very sharp dental drill (unused) which l again hit into the brain stem with my makeshift hammer (an orthopaedic tool) several times to totally destroy it.
The feeling is awful as you crunch through bone and feel and hear it splinter knowing it is driving into the brain along with whatever you are using (needle/drill head).
*Although BSAVA just say once the vet who showed me said to do it several times to make sure.
*I then stood for about 20 mins watching for any signs of life and getting others to check as well. With a tortoise or turtle l stand and look really look hard for any signs of life and gently pull limbs to see if any with draw reflex. In this case it means looking at horrendous injuries. Again this is not part of the standard advice but l want to make sure the poor creature is really dead.

Normally we put an animal down with a clean needle and after the owners goodbyes you then go back and take care of it fast as no reason to stop and stare.

You can see the major injury with the ripped off shell, what does not show up is the damage to the internal section of the body. Underneath the shell is puncture wounds. The skirt where the shell flares out from the body is fractured like a wobbly tooth and lifts up in sections. Smaller holes are in the upper shell as well, some can be seen.

Little Old Staffie

He was a little old black and white staffie. He came in as a stray. A nasty testicular tumour, his skin covered with sores, many infected, there was a suspicious lump in his abdomen of another possible tumour, he was very thin.

On admit he was placed on a drip, given some antibiotics, food and water, of which he drank a lot 3 bowls full. He was given some id (easy to digest) and ate ravenously then slept snuggled up on his bed.
The next day his drip was removed and he was just given water and lots of small meals of id. And finally cuddles and walks.
He was a happy soul despite his health not being good, and he slept 99% of the time. He was not in a fit state to be shipped off to the kennels, and was a “3 dayer”.

On Wednesday night following the vets instructions the auxiliary got the little old staffie out for me and held him while l clipped up his leg and inserted an iv catheter. He was happy to settle down on the prep table with lots of fuss.
I looked at the 20ml syringe of yellow pentobarb l had drawn up although he only needed 10ml at most. With a grim sense of humour l always feel overkill was better than underkill, strange the things you think of, terrible to most people but a fact of life in the veterinary world.

We fussed him and talked gently when he settled down for his long sleep, as his heart ceased we gave him one last hug and thought that whatever had happened before at least his last days had been comfortable for him. Then his body was slid into a bag and placed in a cold area.

Life flowed on around us and we stepped back into the role of helping the living, death slipping from our minds, until at different time’s death called to us to meet him again as his helper.

Tiger

Tiger the tabby cat was mine. All soft and stripy and an excellent hunter, parts of various beasts would be found scattered about the garden from his efforts, he was a bit of a messy eater.

Rhodesia TV had a small TV studio in Bulawayo and l would go on the kid’s programmes in the audience quite a bit.
Several times they had a “bring your pet” night and for some strange reason l would take Tiger instead of any of the dogs.
His behaviour was impeccable but l was very lucky, he would have found escape easy had he wanted to. I wouldn’t have had a chance of stopping him. In fact he would have ripped me to bits. When l see people holding cats in strange places l shudder and think how crazy they are and l was.

Tiger had a terrible end. I couldn’t find him one Saturday till late afternoon when l found him lying on Mum’s bed.
I took him down stairs sat with him on my lap and started to stroke him, his whole side and abdomen parted
“MUM, DAD” l screamed panic stricken.
My parents rushed in. I was in tears and too scared to move.
“What” said my parents in unison not knowing what l was going to say, l didn’t appear to be dying but was obviously distraught.
I gently moved Tigers hair, my hands shaking badly, again his entire side and some of his abdomen seemed to open up.
My parents paled and my dad rang Mr Roberts the vet, we took Tiger in as an emergency and Mr Roberts thought it was a skinning wound.
Certain “cults” used to skin animals alive and they had probably had Tiger but he escaped.
Tiger was stitched up on the outside but he had died inside. He gave up on life. We tried everything to get him to eat. Prawns, cheese, tuna, beef, pork baby food any thing we could think of but he wouldn’t eat and faded.

This happened about two months before we were due to leave Rhodesia, we had a lovely home lined up but in the end he was put down and buried under a tree in our garden. I used to call it a fairy tree. I never knew what it was but it had little yellow bell shaped flowers l called them “fairy caps” and it always felt to me to be a special tree.
I carved Tigers name into the trunk with a kitchen knife with his date of his passing.

A Bird in the Hand.

I am at a small surgery for August weekdays, no nights and weekends and a lovely group of staff. Well no nights and weekends unless l get a call in like l did last weekend to my old job.
This practice is one of those places where if l go on the motorway it is a big circular trip. No traffic lights but at certain times long tailbacks. Option 2 is straight across a couple of towns with traffic lights but half the distance. I have yet to decide on the best route.

We had a dove in a couple of days ago it had been found collapsed but did try and fly so the decision was made to try and treat it. Yesterday it had a fly round the room till it met the glass on the door then slid down it. The vet decided that it was well enough to be let go, any longer would not do it any good.
A couple of hours later when we had some spare time l took it over the road and threw it towards some bushes to let it live or die as nature would decide. He flew off landed near a bush and walked under to get his breath back.

The aux and l were having a chuckle about it coming back across the road and demanding room and board or something to drink, l got up to get something from the waiting room and stopped dead…. A pigeon was crossing the last steps to the pavement, jumping onto it and walking towards the door. I took a few seconds to realise it was a different species and bird just initially they looked similar. The bird made short work of a bread crust by the door and flew off.

That got the aux. and l reminiscing and she was telling me about a blackbird they had rescued at one of the branch practices she had worked at.
It was very poorly and they carefully nursed it for about 5 days when it was able to fly. She took it to some bushes near the practice, threw it up into the air….. and it exploded in a puff of feathers as the magpie that was nesting in the trees took it out, landed on it and ripped it to bits.
She said he jaw just hung open they did not realise the magpies were there. She wanted to kill the bloody bird for what it had done and also felt very guilty for the end of the poor blackbird. There was nothing she could do except stare in disbelief.

Autopsy

The bulldog had been restless so the owners let it out the back door it had taken 2 steps and keeled over dead. He came into us if the boss could have a quick look for any obvious reason if not he was to go for full autopsy.

Given that it was a bulldog it was cherry pick a reason and that would probably be why it died. The dog was put onto the tub table. (big sink with grid on) The boss opened the dog’s mouth and sure enough the reason it died was because it was a bulldog.

The owners had given the dog a chew. It was large and flat, he had chewed some then swallowed it. The chew had become stuck but because he was a bulldog and his normal breathing was so bloody awful they did not realise that he was choking. All it needed was a quick look in the mouth and pull out the item jamming his airway and he would have been eating dinner that night, not lying cold and stiff on a vets tub table.

Since then l am always wary of any pet chews:
I make sure they are on the larger size.
Once they get small enough for the whole chew to go into the mouth l sling them.
I never leave my dog/s alone with a chew.
I am also wary about how long they have them, because in things like rawhide the bacteria build up and can cause gastro enteritis.

Cats and Steering Wheels

We lived in Lanzerote for about 5months and quickly renamed it Lanzergrotte. We hated it. There was 2 days when there was no wind blasting over it. It was very flat, there was hardly any nice big trees. It was just… grotty.

One morning we were heading into work when l saw a cat injured and alive by the side of the road. Hub slammed on the brakes as l bellowed. I jumped out as did he but moaning at me for scaring the pants off him, should have been more observant then not my fault. The cat scooted into the high grass. We tramped all over, nothing so had to give up.

At work hub stopped and went a bit pale and said “oh no l wonder……”
He undid the engine and there was the cat balanced on it. I managed to grab it and hauled it into the car it was not in a good way. When we hunted it he must have darted back and climbed up under the van.

We went in to tell them that we had to find a vet to take the cat to so it could be put down. Our South American helper gave us advice on where to find the English semi retired vet. l rang her and warned he we were on the way in and we went back to the van. Only the cat had disappeared. This did not make sense as it was firmly locked in.

Hub stood outside and turned the air blue with his mental thoughts, he refuses to swear aloud if people are around. When we met he would apologise to me if he even said buggar, he has moved on since then, he doesn’t apologise to me but still won’t swear in company. I am the one that can and does out cuss a trooper. I saw a tail hanging out of the dashboard. Oh well at least l found it.

Enter the toolbox and stressed husband. The more hub took the front of the van apart the higher it climbed and it finally became obvious that it was not coming out conscious. Hub put the dashboard and steering wheel back as best he could so that he was able to drive (just) and we set off.
This was Lanzergrotte and not UK so we had a roadworthy vehicle. I mean the steering wheel was solid even if everything else was hanging apart what more was needed?

Finally about 4 hours from finding the cat arrived at the vets. The vet was semi disabled took one look and declared no chance. She couldn’t bend her body to even see it properly, and agreed it was not coming out alive. She gave me the pentobarb and asked me to inject it as best as l could. I managed into the abdomen.
It is an area used if needed and is just a very slow way of introducing the medication. It doesn’t hurt and given the state of the cat was the only option. After about 30minutes the cat was dead as the drug had worked it’s way slowly through the cats system. We managed to pull it out even then there was a lot of bending and tugging. The pelvis, which 99.9% of the time in cats involved in RTA’s was fractured, in this cat was in bits. At least it was now out of it’s pain.

The horrific thing was that until the vet had arrived on the island in the mid 80’s any animals that needed putting down they injected strychnine into it, refusing to believe anything else worked. The vet was so horrified and upset she started to treat animals despite being disabled and in a lot of pain all the time.

A Broken Heart

Back in Tenerife, Elsie and l had gone up to Adeje the main town in the council area. I have forgotten what the reason was but this lovely little brown bitch trotted up to us.
I asked Elsie to ask people around if she belonged to anyone. The answer was no she is just a street perro (dog) well not any more l said she comes with us.

Bella settled in very quickly she was so loving and just wanted love in return. She had spent the first week with us when a family turned up, took one look and fell in love.
Bella went off to her new life, for a week when they turned up again.
“She is dirty, she steals food, she is smelly”
I said l had been through her history with them. I had explained all possible problems, that she had only known the streets and they had accepted and understood what l had told them. I said that l would be happy to help train her up and so she could stay with them.
“No” said the woman “l do not want her… we will have that one” pointing at one of the other dogs and treating Bella as though she did not exist.
I left them in no doubt that they would never have one of my rescue dogs, they are not disposable and to get off the property.

Bella struggled in my arms as they drove off. When they had gone and l shut the gate she ran up to the gate digging and crying. I carried her back her cries were heartbreaking. I put her in with a couple of quiet but loving Podenco’s l had in to see if she would settle with them she just went flat and stared at the door. When she got out at playtime she went straight to the gate digging and crying trying to get out.

Within 2 days l was force feeding her with food and water. Her weight fell off her and she went from chubby to a skeleton in what seemed like a day.
If a car came to the gate she perked up looking for her family. As soon as she saw it wasn’t them she collapsed again, silent.

I thought of taking her home to help her but then l would have put her hopes up again and then have to wean her off and l couldn’t do that. I couldn't not get her on an emergency flight to Germany for a couple of weeks. Assuming she survived.
My guilt looking at her was and still is so deep l will always carry it.

Tony came out a few days later and l went straight up to see him. He did not actually believe me until l got there. While we were talking his wife and a friend of hers came towards us out of sight, their voices and footsteps carrying.
Bella jumped up and yipped, saw Wendy and collapsed again in despair.
Tony looked at me, then at Bella. “She won’t make it you know. I would never have believed a dog could die of a broken heart but she does not want to live without those people"” he said quietly.

I knew that but lived in hope he may have some magic cure for her even though in my heart l knew he didn’t.
“I know l told him, she won’t even survive the trip to Germany and even then….”

I carried her into his consult room and she slipped quietly away. She loved to death a family that had no doubt forgotten her within days. I know she has found the peace and love that was denied her on earth.

Christmas Stray

I have been debating with myself about posting the following. The dog a German Shepard cross is a Christmas dumped dog. He was tied up and brought in a couple of days after Christmas day by the dog wardens. The vet checked him then asked me to put him down on humane grounds as he was in pain.
He had a lovely temperament, he licked the nurses hands who was holding him then gave me a final calm look as life faded from him when l injected him.

I think there may be 2 reasons for him to have been dumped, there could be others but this seems to me the main 2 reasons:
(1) I do wonder if he was owned by an elderly person, family visited and did not like the “smelly dog”. They made an excuse and got rid of him, probably by telling the relative they would take him to the vet to be “put out of his misery”, then saved the money it would have cost at the vet's by dumping him.

Often old people have dogs and cats that end up in a state. They are scared to ask for help and or can not afford it. If you do know someone that is elderly then offer to help clip nails (if you feel confident enough) or even groom or walk the pet if they need help.
If you see a problem then contact the charities and local vets ask what their policies are regarding helping the elderly, some vets may be willing to do things on a pre-payment so a few pounds a week to build up a help pot.
Basics like nails and anal glands are nurse’s jobs and if it is a special case they are often happy to do that as a free clinic.

(2) I may be totally wrong about the dog and he is owned by the same people that dumped him. He became a Christmas casualty because a new puppy had his place.

For the second problem especially, if there was a tighter control on breeding and owning, then a lot of this would be brought under control. It could be self financing if a large enough amount was paid to own and or breed. Special rates could be brought in for elderly people as animals are often a vital part of their mental and physical health.

I am afraid though that animals like this and also healthy animals young or old will continue until a politician steps up to the bat, and brings animal ownership and breeding under control, and people start to see pet owning as an honour and not a right.

Close up of the tumour


The tumour was situated under the front leg.

Poca, Santa and Wibble

I decide to give a short history over the next few days of my last 3 dogs from Tenerife as their photo is at the header of the blog.

Poca

Small hairy in the middle in the main blog photo. She was the first of the trio. We went to help some folks who moved onto a banana finca (farm) in Tenerife. The farm worker who also managed it moved out and left her. He could not afford to look after his family let alone the dog. We arrived to see this little dog sitting miserably by the gate. I fell for her from the start although never a “small dog” person she got to me. I used the water on rock technique on hub to get him to agree we could adopt her.

She was a fantastic ratter and we would sit and look at her after rats in the banana groves very fast and the rat was dead. Because the finca worker was so poor he did not feed her other than the odd scraps so she had had to forage for food. She would hold her own against any dog that wandered into her territory. When we got the other dogs they fell under her protective remit. Heaven help any animal that scared her pack.
Like me she did not think much of children or babies but she was not biased Poca added animals to the list she just did not see a reason for children or babies, human or animal to be on earth.

We had her when we moved from Tenerife to Lanzerote. On the boat trip over she ambled to the side of the ferry looked over and her eyes went as wide as saucers, she shot to the other side to be confronted by the same site and moved into the middle shaking. I had to chuckle while l gave her a reassuring cuddle.

She has been in the news papers world-wide. We lived in Lanzer’grottie (grottie because we did not like it, very flat, few trees, very windy) for 6 months.
While there we were commissioned by a TV station to cover the Gorbachev’s visit.
We decided to use some bait to get some nice footage so when they went out for their morning walk Poca trotted along with me as we filmed. Raisa noticed Poca as soon as she set foot outside the gates and homed in on her, asked a few questions and permission to walk her then set off leading her.
I have never met power walkers before, everyone else was almost running to keep up with the Gorbachev’s apparently normal walking pace. The results of the set-up were in papers around the world, several friends reported seeing her and as far as l know TV’s around the world carried the pictures also. If got us a couple of meals from the Daily Telegraph reporters who had been in on things and were grateful for the shots, mind you we did a lot more for them than that so it was the least they owed and l never once looked at the cost of the meal and ordered the cheapest meal. I went for the tastiest.

She would not tolerate animal visitors unless we brought them in. Her biggest cull was about 14 starlings one day. Don’t how she got them but she often killed birds, till they learnt to stay away. If we brought an animal in then into the house that was fine. Well apart from puppies or kittens did we really have to thrust these useless bits of fluff into her orderly life “ick” She would never hurt them but would lie on the settee or window ledge out of their way.
I would leave her to lay down the food bowl rule. Santa and Wibble’s bowls were for anyone. Pocas bowl was for Poca she would watch them go to her bowl and then dash over, lift them with her nose and throw them across the room. Then eat her food. That was all it took to teach them and easier than me keep saying no to them.

There was only one way to cut her nails. I would take her into work and would gas her down. While she was asleep l would also give her a good grooming. It was the least stressful way for both of us. As soon as she saw scissors, comb or brush she was gone..... Although she had a long coat she kept herself groomed and l just needed to undo the odd snarl in her coat, thank goodness.

Poca passed on about 3 years ago at about 18years of age. Up till she was15 she had always been fit but then she started bouts of pancreatitis. One night it reoccurred and l took her into work and we popped her onto a drip.
I was busy that night and did not look at her to close. In the morning she had a very small bit of blood from her nose. We ran bloods and her renal parameters were bad but we had to keep a high flow rate for a dialysis.
I looked at the vet and said “It isn’t fair is it”.
He said “Well we can possibly pull her through, give her a few more months maybe more maybe less, but it is up to you, but no she is not good and it will only be temporary whatever we do”
I rang hub who doted on her as well and he left the decision to me, l asked the vet to speak to him and hub still wouldn’t say as l was the one with knowledge and with her.
I held her while the vet gave her the injection and asked one of the newly arrived day shift to take care of her body.
If we had kept her going it would have been for us not her and l owed her more than that.

Needles and Volcano's

I was in Tenerife running the rescue kennels. It was the end of lunch. I had Pat one of the committee members/helpers with me and we were at the local garage that had a small café attached, when Elsie rang me.

“Oh hello dear” said Elsie “I have just been to the kennels with Frau Weigner and dropped a dog off there. Her English neighbours dumped him when they went back to UK. The thing is he is a bit nasty and only the neighbours and Frau Weigner can handle him. He may need putting down, she understands this. I will leave it to you goodbye dear”

I had learnt by now that Elsie’s little problems made me work. We went straight back to the kennels and found a white German Sheppard locked in a kennel. Blanco as he was called hated the world. Elsie was right this was a PTS dog, and had to be done ASAP l needed the only empty kennel for a dog due in later that day. No way would l trust Blanco in with any thing animal or human.

Pat stood at the bottom of the passage staring in horror at the dog. I pulled up a couple of syringes of Rompun a very strong sedative and got my homemade dog grab ready.
“Right l told her, when l grab and pin this bastard in the corner you stick those in him where ever you can and inject him” I told her.

“What? no way” she said going whiter than Blanco. “I am scared of needles and l faint when l see them, and no way am l going near that, it isn’t a dog it is a demon”.

“Belt up and get a grip on yourself. This needs sorting now so stop pissing about. Use these to practice with and get the feel of” I snapped with all the deep understanding l could muster. I shoved an empty syringe a needle and bottle of antibiotic into her hands.

Pat managed to draw up and inject it back into the bottle a few times but looked very ill.
**At this point health and safety shut your eyes and don’t read on**

“Right l said lets get this sorted” and got Blanco out and pinned in a corner. To be fair Pat was doing her best. I was not to keen but it was a case of needs must. A scared person waving a large amount of dangerous drugs around with a dangerous dog is not smart but had to be done.

There was one very close moment. Pat almost fainted. I pushed her backwards into the kennel walls so she wouldn’t go into the passage back/head first. This nearly allowed Blanco to get a hold of me as l had to loosen my grip on him, and while she was going into her faint Pat almost rammed me with the needle.

Still she didn’t faint, l think slamming into the kennel side woke her up. We got it done. When Blanco was asleep l put him down, and notified Elsie. Later l placed his body in the bins on the way home. In Tenerife there is no where to put bodies other than the tip. No animal crematorium and with volcanic rock no real place to bury bodies unless it was a farmers field or a beach. Somehow l think people would complain at those 2 areas. The other option was an area exploded with dynamite, again not viable, anyhow no sane person would let me loose with dynamite.

This should have been it, problem solved. Until 7am the next day when Elsie phoned me.
“Oh hello dear”
“What” l asked suspicious?
“That’s not very friendly dear”
“Elsie you never ring me at 7am and after yesterdays little gift l am very suspicious, back to my question what are you trying to do to kill me now”
“Oh dear” She sighed. “I did say he was a bit nasty, oh well all sorted and done. Anyway Frau Weigner wants to come and visit Blanco’s grave. She is very religious and feels she wants to see him on his way and say sorry it needed to be done”
“No problem l will take her to the bin l threw him in” I said
“No dear don’t be like that, she wants to visit his grave, can you not just do something”?
I drew a deep breath ”I can easily find the Basura wagon that collected the bin, the lads can tell me what part of the tip he went on how’s that”
“Not funny dear she will be with you later in the morning but l don’t know what time, l will leave you to sort it please be gentle she is very upset and religious”. Elsie rang off very quickly, by the time l could call on all the saints to drop a bomb on her.

My trip to work was done at about 90mph l did not even finish the coffee l was drinking. I rang Pat up on my way out off the house. She had been due in that morning. Her mother was on holiday staying with her and she was under extreme stress. A day with me was apparently less stressful than her mother. “I need you there now we have an emergency” was all the info l gave her and slammed the phone down before she could ask what was wrong.

Pat stared at me like l was crazy. The place was sitting on top of solid rock, only dynamite was going to dig a hole that’s why the animals went in the bin. Ok what about we pile up rock. Not easy the rock was attached to the volcano. So we settled for sweeping up sand and carrying it over to a clearer part between the cactuses.
I forgot to mention those didn’t l thousands of them in all the spare spaces very big plants with very sharp thorns. They made a rhino horn look small. Dead sections of cactus spread by wind lay all over "clear" areas. We managed to clear a section and pile up sand, pebbles and rocks to look kind off like a grave, assuming you were drunk, half blind and cross eyed that is.

We were just walking in when the Frau turned up. She was in tears, carrying a HUGE bouquet of flowers, a big black bible and a smaller book. Pat legged it and left me to handle things, the traitor. I took the Frau around the back and left her. She spent about 3 hours there. Reading stories saying prayers and singing hymns. She left the flowers on the grave. I threatened the council lads around with excommunication if they touched the flowers. Frau Weigner came back every day for about 3 days then once a week for almost a year until l left. She would sit by Blanco's "grave" and read peacefully with her umbrella up to shade her from the sun.

I do not know if she realised the grave was empty or not. I felt awful lying to her, but it gave her comfort and she was so grateful she gave the charity a huge donation.

The Stray Puppy (Part 1)

I was at work last night. The dog warden brought in a staffy puppy. He is very sweet. Someone found him Sunday and kept him overnight. They finally rang the dog warden Monday evening to say when they had found it and it had been limping.

He was limping all right, the femur was fractured and the leg was literally "swinging in the wind". It is too high a fracture for us to put a supporting dressing on so he has had a strong dose of pain relief and anti inflammatory. He may have a concious x-ray overnight if he lies still enough.
He had some food when he came in so a GA is out. If not then he will have a GA Tuesday and the surgeon will assess him. I do not know what will happen to the pup, chances are it will be repaired and rehomed but that will depend on the x-ray.

If you find an animal and there is anything amiss please make sure that you contact the dog warden or rspca, as soon as you find them. Even if they are fit they need to be taken to someone (vet, rescue centre,dog warden, etc) that deals with strays who can scan them for a microchip and hopefully trace the owner.
The RSPCA in the NW are often slow at collecting, blame the head office not the ACO. They do a bloody hard job in the face of extreme abuse often over how long they take. There are about 4 ACO (animal collection officers) and they cover a huge area, the whole of the north west UK.
The local dog wardens may also be slow. Help them all by arranging to take the animal in to a vet, ask them to let the vet know you will take it in and they can arrange collection from there.

By law UK vets have to offer first aid, even if that is just putting an animal to sleep. I know some practices that begrudge even pain relief and l have had to sneak it to them with a junior vets ok on the strong drugs l have used. Nothing is noted and drugs given passed on verbally so only the nurses and one vet knows what’s been given and when. A nurse or vet will sneak back overnight unpaid to give more pain relief. Yes it is shameful but the animals will always have someone in the practice to supply their needs above or below the management radar.

Where l went last night they are the opposite. Blood tests, x-rays and general anaesthetics, chest drains, feeding tubes, oxygen therapy, fluid therapy about 90% of the strays need iv fluids and all drugs are supplied.
Each animals needs are assessed. Uninjured strays are shipped off to rehoming /rescue centres as soon as possible. Terrible injures to animals means put down on admit. Those too old, too old and ill, young and too ill, if they are dangerous, or it is just not cost effective to repair them. The animals in these categories are given 3 days, this allows for owners to come forward. The 3 day patients are the worst ones. You nurse them, often intensely over 3 days, then they are put down.

If an operation is possible then major operations are carried out. Amputations, eye removals (one only eye if both needed removal they would be put down) Legs and pelvis are repaired, wounds repaired, spay or castrate is done, and the nurses arrange re homing.
3 nurses tend to specialise and have “black books” although all of the nurses join in.
There is an internal stray fund and anyone that gives a donation, the money goes into that and is put to good use. Check if your vet runs such a fund. To be fair someone has to pay for the drugs used, they are not cheap.

On the other hand when you see the amount of healthy strays that are destroyed, are you doing right by major operations and taking a home a healthy animal may have gone to? That healthy animal is often then destroyed?. Many agree, others see those that agree as cruel. Generally those who think it is cruel, have not had to deal with the sharp end. A rescue centre that is snowed down under healthy unwanted dogs or strays. No where to put them and seeing long term animals getting cage sick.
If anyone has any answers please let me know.

Putting anything down healthy or ill is not easy. You learn to sit hard on your feelings and make excuses or you would tear apart. Even so all of us have those moments when emotion takes us and when it does it is a really hard belly kick. Stress and depression is rife in the veterinary profession. I understand vets have the highest suicide rate. A lovely vet l knew committed suicide about 4 weeks ago. Veterinary Nurses also have a high suicide rate.

The problem is not easy to resolve and until breeding animals and unregulated sale and ownership of animals is brought under proper control it will continue.
Dogs Trust and Cat Protection League (CPL) and some of the smaller charities have packages to help with neutering contact them and do not let your pet have even one litter. Each of those "sweet babies" will grow up and someone may well breed from them and continue the problem.

The stray puppy snuggled under a blanket.

Parvo Virus and Vaccinations

As the subject of Parvo virus came up in the replies of an earlier post l thought l would put a bit up about it in this posting.
Parvo is one of those avoidable diseases if your dog is vaccinated. I think that anyone that does not vaccinate their dog should be forced to smell a jar of Parvo and watch the steady downward destruction of an animal.

Some people advocate a herbal vaccine. Would you tell me how many Parvo dogs they have nursed or treated? How many years veterinary university they have passed or how many years of veterinary nursing college have they done?
I am all for herbs, but in their place, after all a lot of medications are plant based, however anyone that has dealt with Parvo will tell you. It needs proper prevention and herbs are not it.
Unless you have something you can burn to mask the smell of a body rotting from the inside.

Yes patients can have reactions to vaccines. If they have had one then a different vaccine can be used and other steps taken with future vaccines.
Treatment can be started if your pet has a reaction to a vaccine, provided the vet is informed, all too often they are not told though.
To say that vaccine made my dog sick or killed your dog as some people have done and so you are never using it again is like saying. ‘My relative was killed in a car crash so l am never riding in a car again’ it is illogical. It does not take into account what caused the car crash and what caused the death. If they were wearing a seat belt what was the car safety like, what happened to the car during the crash, what caused the crash, who caused the crash etc.

If you take an unvaccinated dog/puppy into a house that another animal has had Parvo in even several months later, you will probably give that animal Parvo. Parvo does not need direct contact between dogs to be caught/transmitted.
If you walk through a place that an infected dog defecated up several months before, even though that spot was washed. You can still carry the virus back to your dog, if it is not vaccinated.

The course is 2 vaccinations or sometimes 3 depending on the dog’s age and your vet’s protocol on vaccination, and which vaccine brand he uses with a yearly booster. Again there is some discussion on boosters. Different vaccines have different regimes your vet will discuss what theirs is with you. However a primary vaccine and yearly booster does not just cover Parvo but several other virus as well and the yearly booster also means that your pet is having a health check at the same time, in this world of cost it is really a more than 2 for 1.

Parvo is a virus that originally showed back in the late 70s. It appears to be an offshoot of a feline virus that jumped species. It took about a year to sweep round the world.
Parvo presents in 2 forms one affects the heart the other intestinal. The cardiac one is not seen that much now, in the UK anyway. The intestinal one plagues veterinary practices.

The initial diagnosis pretty much goes as follows:
A puppy or adult dog that is un-vaccinated.
May have had contact with a Parvo dog or the owner may have**
With or without vomiting and or diarrhoea.
Smell from the animal.
General demeanour.
Test performed in house -Negatives of these tests are not always believed when the above is taken into account. The patient may still be treated as a suspected Parvo case.

The patient is placed in an isolation area and on a drip. Usually the initial drip rate is very fast maybe 2 to 4 times maintenance. Maintenance is 2ml/kg body weight.
If you are lucky your vet will have infusion pumps or syringe drivers. These give a set amount of fluid/hr.

Gravity fed drips are subject to stopping due to folded legs or general body position. They may flood the patient as they have to be a higher rate than needed if the patient lies in a way that stops or slows the drip. A move to a different position can cause overload of fluids as the higher rate flows in if a close eye is not kept. It also means that you are continually moving the dog because you can bet what is comfy for the dog is not allowing a proper fluid flow.
This means placing other dogs at risk that are in the main hospital section as you need more contact with the Parvo patient.
Mind you contact is needed anyway you spend a lot of time cleaning them but it is extra contact that could be avoided.

A Parvo dog pours out a mix of blood and gut lining as a diarrhoea. They often vomit a lot as well, these losses cause dehydration. The D+++ and V+++ also upset the electrolytes.
The damaged gut lining allows blood to leak through and anaemia can result.
Secondary bacteria get in to the bloodstream through the damaged gut. What’s friendly when it is under the body’s control becomes unfriendly when a balance is upset. Dying gut bacteria gets into the bloodstream via the damage, which in turn can cause septic shock.
Temperatures are hard to take. The animal’s anus where the thermometer is inserted is very painful and so temperature taking is kept to a minimum.
We try and keep them warm, it is impossible to keep them dry they are wet with the stinking bloody mess they are sloughing out of their anus. (Diarrhoea has a bit of voluntary push behind it Parvo has none)
Young puppy’s have about a 95% death rate. Older dogs have about 80% death rate.
The best way to describe all the above is very simple:
The dog shits its self to death in a bloody, stinking, septic sludge that is almost unstoppable.

Treatment is apart from lots of fluid is pain relief, antibiotics, anti vomit medication and other drugs as the vet feels is necessary. If people have the money to pay then to pay then Virbagen Omega which is an interferon has been helpful, sometimes, in fighting the virus. Nothing can be guaranteed once a dog has Parvo. Virbagen costs around £200-£300 for the treatment (possibly more at some vets). That is on top of the bill you are already paying. It is not a substitute for any fluids, pain relief, antibiotics, etc. the patient still needs those. Virbagen is just another treatment against the Parvo virus.

Often if the virus does not kill the animal directly then the cost will. Many animals are euthanised on the grounds of cost and because there is no guarantee that after £800 to £1000+ of treatment you will end up with a live patient. Good old insurance comes in again. Provided you do not have a clause that says they won’t cover unvaccinated animals.

If you are really lucky your vet has an active veterinary staff on 24 hours a day. Not just someone that pop’s in a couple of times during the night. Or your vet practice uses an out of hour’s clinic. These have staff on 24hours a day. They are on the spot with critical patients and can take steps that may mean the difference between death and living and in some patients that is a very fine line.

To avoid the results of Parvo have your dogs vaccinated, and also your cats against the various feline viruses. A vaccine for dogs or cats covers more than one virus. It covers against the main ones for that species.

You may think that l have gone a bit overboard with the description of a dog with Parvo virus. Once you treat one you realise l have been understating what happens.

The puppy below did not make it through the Parvo and he died shortly after l took the photos. He is standing as l had just cleaned the bed out and tried to dry him off a bit from the mess he was covered in.

A cliché

A few days ago work brought to mind an old cliché, if you know old folks in the neighbourhood then keep an eye on them. If you do not see them go and bash on the door.

One old dog whose owner had been found dead 3 months ago after being dead a few days, the dog had been in rescue kennels since was put down as no relatives were found.

There were 2 old dogs whose owner was found dead the other day. The elderly owner had been dead for at least a couple of weeks.
Luckily there was a ripped bag of dog biscuits and a bath full of water, not all animals have this.
The 2 dogs look like brother and sister. RSPCA have said they will take them on but they can not stay together so they are being separated and sent onto different rescue homes. I understand there is no relatives.
After all they have been through l find this awful. They are at least 12years old possibly a bit more. The female gets very stressed without the male. Even if re-homed l doubt they will settle. And as old animals re-homing is in question anyway.
In answer to the question what happens if there is no obvious food. We collect faeces for police forensics. After a few days the animals go to rescue centres.

We had 3 cats brought in as their elderly owner was found dead after about a week or so. The cats will be sent to a rescue home. I think there is an extra one to come from that group but the house was a tip and they could not catch the cat.

Now the unsavoury subject of human death. People seem to think that everyone will know what to do when they go. Well the government takes care of your kids and your money till either the will sorts. And if no will then the court takes care of the arguments, not as you would have wanted but what the hell, you did not want to leave a will so don’t bitch about it.

Animals are forgotten though. All to often the animals are re-homed in a rescue home or in the case of the old pair above, separate rescue homes.

As old animals they will probably be put down without the re-home chance, no one wants old animals. Even if re-homed they may end up on a spiral of re-homing as it is more difficult for them to settle in what will probably be a noisy home with kids. Generally animals like the ones in the post are elderly, owned by the elderly, who have few friends and absent relatives.
Some places keep animals till they die. This to me is cruel, from loving home to a cage until you die because it is too unkind to put you down.
Life in a cage, no soft furniture that you are used to, strangers looking round all the time, a noisy environment, with who knows what for bedding, wire or bars to look out from is worse than death.

The animals can spend several months in an uncomfortable rescue centre while relatives are being traced who may or may not want the animals, assuming anyone remembers to mention them.

A will makes all the difference to what happens to your money, children, home and chattels, all too often people do not think about their pets. They may have been much loved family members no matter if they are cats, dogs, rabbits, fish, birds or whatever but spare a thought about what happens to them when you die.

Leave written instructions with someone so that immediate arrangements can be made. Discuss it with your relatives and friends if you or they have animals. A will can take time to be sorted but your loved animals will be safely cared for in their new home.

You have a voice when you are dead, but you need to speak before you die or no one will hear your voice.

The Body Bag

Death is a common sight in the veterinary profession. It may “only be an animal” but l have known extreme behaviour after the pet has died.
At least 2 different family’s l know who have had a suicide after and as a direct result of the pet’s death.
In another case the marriage split up as the husband could not cope with his wife’s behaviour at loosing her dog, she was sectioned.
So while it can have serious consequences it can behind the scenes have humour in, although the humour is usually only apparent later.

At my old job when l first started from 22:00 when l went on duty there was the vet, myself (vetnurse) and until 23:00 we had a receptionist on. After that just the vet and the vetnurse till 8am.
On the night in question it was a very busy Saturday. The vet had a huge Rottweiler to put to sleep. The vet then used the other consult room while the owners had a few last minutes with their family member then left. After the owners had gone l had to run in and place the dog in a bag then drag it up the passage to the freezers. No way l could carry a 45-50kg dog.

The bags are not human body bags they are simply slightly stronger black bags, only this batch was not that great but l did not know that. Those that do nights regular know that day shift NEVER pass anything onto nights except abuse.

I shut the passage doors between the waiting and consult rooms so no one could see what was going on. Grunted pushed and sweated to get the dog in the bag. Waited until the vet took the next clients into consult then proceeded to pull the bag out the room and up the passage. That was the plan.

The reality was
Dog placed in bag .. ok
Check passage doors closed ..ok
Listen to confirm consult ongoing.. ok
Pull bag into passage but it was so heavy it took longer than intended.
Ignore door opening into waiting room as receptionist came down the back and held the door open as she was talking to someone.
Suddenly realise door was open and about to yell quietly “Shut that door” while giving the body bag a hard pull to get it moving.
Clients came out of other consult room as consult had ended early.
Bag split
I went flying backwards waving empty bag.
Clients see “flying” vetnurse give despairing scream slamming backwards into, and sliding down, second set of doors separating ops and kennels area.
Body of Rottweiler lying on floor
Vetnurse flat on back and struggling to get upright, trying to check for broken bones and remember not to swear.
Everyone in waiting room, the vet and her clients in passage and receptionist stares horrified at drama unfolding.
The vet pushed the owners out.
I crawled up the passage on all fours back to the dog (quicker than standing) snarling shut the F**** door at the receptionist.
I managed to pull the dog to the kennel area and solitude while l sorted it.
Vet and vn and spend the night in mix of horror and hysteria groaning and giggling at the looks on faces, and cussing “bloody day shift” for not warning us about the bags.

Yes even in death there is humour