Mrs Mop

Ellie has had me awake most of the night, she couldn't settle, she isn't eating either and won't take her tablets. She has been given skullcap and valeria to help keep her calm, as she wouldn't take them I gave her Stay Calm during the night as she was getting upset. Stay Calm is a liquid so was able to put it into a syringe and into her mouth, she did start to settle then. Just spoken to the vet, Ellie is also on Metacam which needs to be take with food, he has asked me to put it directly into her mouth, he thinks she really needs this, tomorrow is another day, hopefully she will be eating then. Ellie is exhausted, she keeps falling asleep sitting up, I have to move her front legs so she can lie down, she has just fallen asleep now and is resting, think the Metacam is working. If I can't get her to eat I am to take her back to the vets this afternoon. My other 3 dogs are very willing to eat the food I am making for Ellie This is the first time anything like this has happened since she had the tracheotomy put in, she had to have this chance to live, I can cope with it blocking but don't think I can cope with this again. I don't think it would be fair to Ellie to put her through this again. I don't know her age, she must be at least 13 and could be older, she is an ex breeding bitch that was kicked out when she needed help.

Ellie is home, it has taken me 2.5 hours to get her to lie down, she doesn't stay down long, she keeps falling asleep sitting up and nearly falling down. I have put an old pillow under her chin so there is a gap between the pillow and her chest so she can breath easier. She is really tired, the vet warned me about that because she has been in intensive care and they are working 24 hours a day in there. Last night they are unusually busy as well. The nurse who has had most of her daytime care I know really well, she also does hydro, Ellie has been giving her the run round, pretending she needs help by coughing then sitting grinning at her, she couldn't take a chance of her needing help so is much fitter now than she was at the beginning of the week, that sounds like my Ellie. No exercise only toilet breaks, she is to be kept calm all the time and is on skullcap and valeria, they have also given me some other tablets in case she starts to get stressed. Ellie is back at the vets on Friday for a check-up. Thank you so much for your support, yesterday I was waiting for a phone call to say she had gone, thankfully it it was she is doing well instead.

Ellie has come through the operation well, the vet is really pleased with her, they have put a bigger one in and it is working. He was surprised at the amount of scar tissue there was. He also said that even though they are watching her constantly, the nurse turned her back, heard a thump, when she turned round Ellie was unconscious and had stopped breathing. This is why they decided to operate.

I have just phoned the vet, told him that Ellie is not to be kept alive for me, if she can't have a good quality of life then to let her go. It is better for her to go like this than to suffocate because she can't breath. She is loved by the staff at the vets, they all adore her and love having her in, she gets lots of kisses and cuddles off them, probably more than she gets here.

Ellie collapsed earlier and they are going to have to operate, the final bill is expected to be in the region of £2,500 which I don't have. A few months ago it wouldn't have been a problem but I have done my house up, Ellie has had her teeth done, a chest infection didn't help, she is over the limit on her insurance for her breathing, and the car broke down, all were paid for immediately. Now I need to see how I can raise this amount of money, lots of thoughts for me to raise it please.

The vet has phoned, Ellie is breathing on her own, the temperary trach has been taken out and left out. She did get a little stressed at first so has been given a small seditive to keep her calm. She may be home later today or tomorrow. Joachim the vet said that Staffies are prone to stress, She will be on calmers for the rest of her life, he has suggested skullcap and valeria or something similar. My house is so empty without her.

Vets can do a lot with a dog with something wrong with their hearts, my Joe had a good quality of life for 18 months after he was diagnosed with an grade 4 heart murmour, leaking valve and an enlarged heart, it was so big it was pressing his windpipe onto his spine when he coughed. Joe loved to run and was able to continue running when out. Good luck with Joe on Thursday.

Ellie has the vets just where she wants them, she is in the front with the receptionists getting lots of attention because she refuses to be in one of the kennels. She is feeling fit and well.

Thank you all so much for your healing thoughts for Ellie, just spoken to one of the vets and she is her normal self, refusing to stay in the kennel so is with the receptionist getting lots of fuss. She is back to her normal self, when she stays in the kennels without a fuss the vet knows she is ill. It is difficult to give information on the phone especially when you are in the state I was in, I am still in shock with it all, at least I still have Ellie. I never want to go through this again and hope nobody else goes through it, all I kept getting from the vets was, "How did you manage to get her here". On Thursday I arrived back from shopping to find several stressed dogs, didn’t think too much about it, Ellie’s tracheotomy was red and swollen, I thought she had been scratching it again. Friday morning I was inspecting her to see if she had any lumps and found a sore on her back, I then noticed that Bonnie had some sores, I think they had a fight while I was out, Bonnie always goes for the throat and I think this is what started this. She will never have the chance to do this again, it was a terrifying experience I hope I never go though again. I don't know what happened when I was out but I suspect that they have been wound up by someone either deliberately or trying to put something through the letterbox and pushing it and pulling it. We were going away for the weekend, all 4 dogs were in the car, 3 on the back seat and Ellie in the passenger seat as normal, the caravan was hitched up to the car. As I got into the car to drive off, Ellie couldn’t breath, I tried to pull the tracheotomy open but it wouldn’t, it was blocked and swollen. All I could think of was to get it unblocked but there was nothing there to unblock it apart from my mobile phone charger, the thin end that goes into the phone was used to unblock the trach and it worked. It wasn’t completely clear but clear enough for me to keep open. I was stuck, there was nobody around shout to and I couldn’t leave Ellie, she would have suffocated if I had. I set off to the vets, driving with one hand and trying to keep the trach open for Ellie. Every so often I had to pull over and stop to unblock it again so she could breath. It was a nightmare journey, traffic was heaving on the main roads so I took the back roads, these were narrow and very twisty in parts, vehicles coming the other way had to pull over to let me pass, I wasn’t stopping for anything. I did have to come off these and onto the main roads for about 2 miles and as expected was stuck in traffic but did get through by taking another road that goes the back way. As I got near to the vets there was a parking space just round the corner, I pulled over and stopped. I couldn’t take the chance of the car park being full and not being able to part. I picked Ellie up, all 15kgs of her, and tried to run. One of the receptionists was coming back from her lunch, through her bag at me, asked what was wrong, took Ellie and ran. I will always be very grateful to Linda, I wouldn’t have made it in time, she did When I got to the vets Ellie was already being treated, she had another tube in and was breathing well, sitting up and more her normal self. Talking to the vet later I asked if I had done the right thing by using the mobile phone charger to open up the trach, he told me that it was more important to open it up than what you use. Keeping my hand pulling the skin round the trach kept it open even if it did block from time to time so I had to stop to redo it. This was last Friday about noon, Ellie is still in the vets, they are just watching her at the moment hoping the swelling will go down enough not to need another operation. They may have to take some of the skin round the trach, it seems that over time the hole can reduce enough to need enlarging, this isn’t a big operation, more maintenance. A lot depends on how good a healer a dog is, it seems Ellie is a good healer. It was very scary but Ellie is still alive, fit and healthy, just the trach to sort out now and all I want to do is cry.

Both Tommy and Dixie would chase sheep if they had the chance, we researched how we could stop this but wasn't happy with the methods used so we decided to make sure that they never chased again. It wasn't difficult, we just put them on a lead if there was sheep about and planned our walks to avoid them if we could. They were able to walk past sheep without any problems but I would never trust them off the lead. You may be able to stop your dog chasing cows but if a rabbit ran through them with the dog after the farmer is going to think the dog is chasing and take action.

Thank goodness you are Thanks for the information

I thought it was dogs had to be undercontrol on the highway Mel,it will make things a lot easier if they had to be on a lead. Before I moved house there were 2 dogs that would come racing out their owner's garden, they were reported by someone, not me, but still let their dogs do this. According to their owner their dogs were under control. Gracie was only 10ins high but she wanted to kill every dog she saw when I first got her, the rescue said she was dog friendly. It is much easier to pick her up than train her but that wouldn't have achieved anything.

I used to have a Lab/Rough Collie Samantha, we had to pass a house with a Boxer bitch every time we took her out, Sam was always on the lead on the roads. This Boxer would run out barking at Sam, if she got close enough she would jump on her. All I got from her owners was, "She just wants to play." I had many arguments with them over this, Sam was frightened. One day it happened again only this time Sam attacked, unfortunately one of her teeth caught the Boxer's eye and she had to have it taken out. I was terrible upset that Sam had done this then realised that these owners had continually ignored my requests not to let their dog race out to mine. I refused to pay the vet bill so they sent the police, said Sam was out of control. Thankfully we had a lot of witnesses over the years that I continually asked these people not to let their dog do this and this was the only time that Sam retaliated. The owners were told to keep their dog under control in future. It is very stresful for you but she is responsible for her dogs not you so I wouldn't muzzle my dog especially a Staffy who do have problems with muzzles.

I would contact the Dog Warden anyway, it will give her more incentive to get a gate fixed or it may take several months or years before she gets one. Joe used to have panic attacks if a strange dog ran up to him, these would often lead to him having a seizure later in the day so I don't tollerate any owner who allows their dog to run up to mine. It was through being attacked by "only wants to play" dogs that got him this bad in the first place. If I had been less tollerant of the owners he may never have got like this, yes I do blame myself to quite a degree.

Daisy was under control, it was her dogs that weren't, she is responsible for any vet bills including your if you have any. Telling owners of out of control dogs that they are responsible for any vet bills including mine as my dogs are on the lead is one way of getting the owners to get their dogs. It is always the dog that suffers not the owners, I feel so sorry for dogs like this.

Brenda. Feeling guilty like this is normal, it is all part of what you have all been through, you will both come through this.

Reiki is still coming for your little red girl. Last year Ellie had 6 lumps taken off, 4 of them were cancerous and you saw her last week. The last one taken off last August I thought I wouldn't have much time left with her, she is still here but 3 others have gone and she went walkabout yesterday.

Nickname - Candy Breed - medium cross breed Colour - brown and white Sex - bitch Approx Age - 1 Description - Very loving young dog however quite scared of being in the kennels. Shown no aggression. If you can offer Candy a rescue place, please telephone Andrea on 0751 540 8748 I am going on holiday for 2 weeks.

Reiki on the way for Murph to help he make a full recovery.

Dolly Mixture has the wrong name, it should be Little Sh**, we went away for the weekend in the caravan, Friday she ran out between my legs, Saturday she jumped out of the window to say hello to 2 Staffies and jumped over the door, Sunday she jumped over the door back into the caravan. She had several runs round the field, the first time she was very nervous and wouldn't come back to me, after that she was fine. She rolls over to have her tum tickled but if you rub her chest you are warned of by being mouthed, I wonder why? How come Cher gets nice, gently little dogs that never do anything wrong and I get hooligans.

I am so pleased you have Trixie, she will fill the hole that is left, Dolly has done this to me and is the best thing I did, I hope it is the same for you.

Reiki on the way. I hope the news is good,

I am so sorry Laura, dogs and cats that have learnt to escape can be a nightmare, often it is why they become strays. Run free at the Bridge Jasper.

Kathy lives in Keighley, West Yorkshire. I am so sorry you are having to rehome your wonderful girl Kathy.

Well done Laura and Tess, Tess looked adoreable in her bandana It was lovely to see Staffies being recommended as family pets as well.