How far would you go...?
How far would you go...?...for your pet??
The budgie thread in Ask Dave reminded me of my grandparent's budgie, Bert. One night they were watching tv and heared a fluttering followed by a soft thud. Poor Bert was on the bottom of the cage, legs in the air. My gran grabbed a straw from the kitchen cupboard and insisted that grandad give Bert mouth-to-beak resuscitation. That was over 10 years ago and I still can't think about it without laughing out loud- not in a cruel way, just in an amusing mental picture way How far would YOU go for a pet?? Waiting to welcome Sunny Clucker to Northern Ireland!
Did Bert rally round then, Babycakes?
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Helping to give ex-battery hens a fresh start! http://thevintagebelles.blogspot.co.uk/ A few years ago, my old cat Mr Dribbles had a mystery virus which ended up costing over £2000 at the vets in the space of 10 days, including 3 operations just to find out what was wrong with him.
I decided to go the extra mile for him as he was only 3 years old. If he had been an old boy, I wouldnt have had the heart to put him through the treatment as it was quite an ordeal for him. He was a mummy`s boy, and didn`t really like strangers. He then had a gastric feeding tube inserted straight into his tummy to help him gain weight as he had lost so much. The vets thought this would be in for 6 weeks. I visited him every night after hours to cheer him up, and clients used to be amazed to see a ginger kittie with a pink bandage still attatched to a drip stand, draped over my shoulder as I helped out behind the desk with emergency phone calls (it was a very busy surgery and I was friends with them)! Then I took him home after a few days, with the tube in as I felt able to deal with the care involved. Within 4 days he was feeling much better, and the tube came out. He made a full recovery within 8 weeks, much to everyones` surprise. We developed a very close bond during this time, and it was worth it to see him climbing trees a few months later as if he had never been ill. I was very lucky to have the time and to be fully insured to be able do this. I would do the same again in the same circumstances, and think most pet owners would do everything possible in the best interests of their pets. Neutered pets are happy pets! Please spay or neuter your pets. There are thousands in rescue waiting for loving homes, and not enough people to take them on.
My cat Dusky was only about 18 months old when he was hit by a car. It tore his diaphragm and the contents of his stomach were in his chest. I found him in the shed in a terrible state.
I didn't even think about the £650 price of the operation, he was going cold in my arms through shock so I told them to get on with it. He pulled through, the vet said he had never had a successful outcome with this operation before but, somehow, Dusky did it. I called the bank and they extended my overdraft so I could pay. Sadly, I found him curled up in a sunny spot in the garden a year later. He looked like he was sleeping but he had gone. I said I would never have a black cat but Dusky was the best pet I have ever had. He was so full of love and life. I'm still happy that I gave him that extra year. Jackie xx
My cat brought home a baby blackbird at 11pm one night! I had no idea where he'd got it from, so I brought it into the house. I was due to go to work for a 12 hour shift the next day!
I fetched the critter container in from the shed and made a sort of nest and popped the bird into it after yelling at the cat for being so stupid and thoughtless! *lol* I cobbled together some food for it - mainly catfood chopped up and bits that I could find lying around. I had to take it to work the next day and sneaked the container in to one of the spare rooms. I told the staff that I was on with, that the bird was there and that I would have to keep popping in to feed it. Well, they all joined in and the kitchen staff gave me some cooked chicken for it! We spent the day feeding it and it was well happy. Back at home I got it some proper food the next day and started the regime of feeding every half an hour. I couldn't go out to the shops and I had to leave it with the neighbour when I had to keep an appointment one day. Well, the bird (Cheep, we called it) grew and grew and grew and turned into a fine thing. I used to put its container outside so that it could hear its friends outside. It used to cheep to me to give it food. The day came when it was time for Cheep to move on, so I phoned a friend who does bird rescues and she knew a woman who could help, so me and my eldest son took Cheep to the house of the woman and she told me that she'd send it over to her friend who had aviaries and did controlled releases of fledglings. I felt so sad saying goodbye to Cheep, but I expect that he/she is still out there somewhere and is living a happy and fulfilled life - hopefully managing to avoid the demon cats! I did the same and bought up 3 blackbirds on whiskas chicken. The had the back bedroom in a small animal cage.They all fledged and left home.
But one came backevery night. So we cleared up the shed and cut a hole in it and she used to sleep in there. Eventually she felt big enough to go off, but would come back more or less daily and see me. She also bought her babies when she had them, they would come into the kitchen to eat food. I had a hard time when I moved after a number of years. But she was a wild bird. Wendy http://www.busheyk9.co.uk
If you can't be a good example........ you will just have to be a horrible warning We paid over £1000 to put our girl right after she snarfed an apple and got it stuck in her throat. We're still paying for it now, and she is still trying to snarf apples, silly girl.
I love animals, and once held a hamster and drop fed it water whilst it passed away (it fell off the top of the cage and broke it's back....it was horrible) Sadly, I've also had to put a bird out of it's misery - I had to break it's neck. My friends dog got it, and it had a huge hole in it's head behind it's beak. It wouldn't have survived, so I did the deed. Not a nice thing to have to do, but best thing all round I think. 'Some family trees are full of nuts'
You've just got to read this fantastic story, with pictures, good ending.
man saving his pet dog Ilona We went for a walk round a frozen lake on Sun and I commented, 'how long will it be before we get stories in the paper of people drowned trying to rescue a dog, which then gets itself out?'.
In that story the man's wife asked if the dog should be on a lead but he thought the dog wouldn't be so stupid as to chase across the ice after the ducks. Fortunately a happy ending this time though. |
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