Jeanne

Thanks for your address Diane I will probably post the tablets today as I have to go out. As far as the donation, yes whenever you are able to is fine. Could you pay Oldies direct? I will leave the amount up to you but off the top of my head I should think not less than £10 but if that is a problem do what you are comfortable with. Well done for your work with the poundies too! Many thanks for your interest and I hope your elderly boy continues to keep well.

Yes Diane I still have the PLT and you are welcome to them. I'll post them as soon as I have your address.

I have posted the tablets today 2nd class so I hope they arrive safely.

Tag has asked me to say thank you to her kind Secret Santas for her gifts. She loved her treats (hasn't eaten them all yet!!) and now has two new dresses (?) to wear which fit her perfectly. Are these for me? I love this collar.... and this one too. I need some excercise now to burn off some calories. And this one because I liked it. She also asked me to say thank you for the book and she is looking forward to me reading her a bedtime story!! Many thanks.

Poor Rosie, it's good that you've seen her since the attack. Sending good thoughts that there are no serious injuries and she regains her confidence (such as it was!).

I would be more than pleased for you to have the Rimadyl HLGS, is your address on the Dogstar website? I guess it may be wise to wait until after the Christmas post to send them to you. Can I leave it to you to arrange a donation to Oldies, far too technical for me!

I have some of Joes tablets left from when he changed to PLT from Rimadyl and also a delivery of PLT which arrived the day he passed away. There are 105 PLT and 128 Rimadyl (so a complete bottle of each + some). I hate waste and wondered if I could offer them to anyone in return for a donation to Oldies Club, I would post them to whoever. I'm not sure if this is absolutely not a good idea, your comments would be welcome?

Amy I'm so sorry to hear your news, thinking of you at this sad time.

A recent photo that I love.

Joe had a very peaceful passing at home this morning. No more pain and discomfort little man. You have taken part of me with you but also left part of yourself here. Night night my darling. X

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y Melissa I hope you have the very best of days!! :partytime: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

The dog was a very striking blue merle lurcher with a short coat (stupidly I now realise I didn't check to see what sex it was but the vet will know) it didn't look very old at all, possibly 18mths to 2 yrs. It was quite a large dog and looked to have been in good condition and only recently died. I could not see any sign of an injury at all although I didn't move it to look underneath. It was lead on it's side in a completely natural position. There was a collar next to the dog which someone had obviously taken off, I wondered if someone had taken any disc to notify the owner but I now think not as the dog was only taken to the vet today. The collar was a dark blue leather greyhound type collar (looked quite an expensive one). The vet I phoned was The George Vets at Malmesbury Wiltshire and their phone number is 01666 823165 they said the dog was not microchipped. If you do find out any more about this dog Owl could you let me know?

It's probably a complete coincidence as I don't know which area you or the lost dog are in but I was driving to the Oldies Club Winter Walkies at Westonbirt on Sunday and passed a dead dog at the side of the road. I was unsure what to do because it was Sunday and no-one would be open but I phoned up a local vet today and the dog had been taken to them this morning by the council I think. Did I do the right thing? It was a lurcher too.

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, thanks for organising it Amy, thanks also for Tags Secret Santa presents. Tag enjoyed herself even though she kept forgetting where I was. I was very proud of her she stuck the course and behaved herself too. Here are some of my photos they are not very good I can't seem to walk and snap at the same time!

Joe has severe arthritis and is struggling a bit now, he is currently on full dose of Rimadyl. Nick our vet has said he could change to PLT but this is frowned on nowadays. I remember years ago one of our greyhounds was on PLT when her back legs were getting very weak and it made a huge improvement to her. I suppose the side effects of PLT make it less favourable than before but wonder if it is worth the risk. Has anyone had similar situations and what did you decide?

Many thanks Mrs Mop, here is my beautiful boy.

I agree with you Ian it doesn't add up about the arthritis and I don't think the vet does know what the cause is. He ruled out a couple of things but as there are no clinical signs to help him it would mean more intrusive investigation to try to discover the cause and we still may not be able to treat him. As Joe is 15 yo and has other problems (i.e. arthritis) I am reluctant to put him through too much purely so that we know what is going on. Also Joe does get a little anxious when something different, like vets appointments, happens. We don't have video/camera phones but when I said to the vet 'would it have helped if you witnessed the episode?' he seemed to think he wouldn't have learnt any more than from my description. It's so hard knowing what is the right thing to do.

Just back from the vet tonight after a similar episode where Joe collapsed again. He was conscious but trembling and unable to get up. By the time we got him to the vets (after waiting for them to call me etc.) he had recovered so there was nothing to see except his heart rate was a little fast which could be anxiety of being at vet. Coming home after getting him out of the car he was quite bright and even ran a few steps up the garden! The vet said to give him an extra Rimadyl in case it was his arthritus causing him pain.

Fee that's truly impressive that Benji is still going strong at 17 years old. I treasure every day with Joe, knowing that they are not never ending makes it more valuable. It is such a privilege to be able to care for a vulnerable older dog (or any pet), when you think they put all their trust in you.

Jazz I want to cry, I went for one today they couldn't do it so I've got to repeat the whole process again later.

As someone who regularly looks at the Oldies club website I have just given myself a bit of a jolt. I am recognising many of the dogs who have passed on as having been on the site both before and after I adopted Joe. I think it is one of those reality moments, combined with the fact that a work colleague had to have her 11 year old border collie put to sleep this week. It has all had an effect on me. Joe is still with us but quite frail (except where food is concerned:biggrin: ). Think I need to have a Joe (not forgetting Tag) type cuddle to make me feel better.

I am hoping to attend the Westonbirt walk on the 5th. Joe will probably only put in a token appearance (for the sossages!!) and stay in the car if it isn't too cold for him and Tag may venture on the shorter walk.

Yes Peter our neighbour was quite shaken up about it. They have now got guard dog called Thorn!!!! Trouble is as an 8 week old labrador pup it will be a while before he is any deterrent!! Lol

Oops I haven't got the hang of this obviously! Billymalc could I swop dogs with you? We woke up recently to discover things not quite right outside and later found out that next door had been burgled. Not only that but they had used our patio chairs to climb over the fence so had been in our garden. Did our dogs protect the place, not a bit of it? Joe is deaf bless him (so I can't blame him) and Tag couldn't be bothered (if she did hear anything). Seriously though it is a horrible feeling to think that someone unauthorised has been on your property with malicious intentions. At the time my biggest concern was that they didn't put the chairs back when they had finished with them:rolleyes: I think that was shock though.