Soggy Bottoms
I haven’t blogged for a while so this may be an epic one as I try to update you on everything that’s been going on! Firstly lets talk about the weather because well being British, we love it don’t we? I cannot believe how much rain we’ve had and it only amazed me when last weekend, I was looking at some photos I took this time last year and it was glorious! Let’s just hope that we have an extended dry Summer, I’m expecting it to last well into October! At least we’ve had three full dry days so far so fingers crossed that’s enough rain for a week or so. I've just ordered a new pair of waterproof trousers so it is bound to stop raining now!
Talking of soggy bottoms, that is a very tenuous link to my boy Buddy-Love as so many people have been asking after him. He’s doing amazingly well, in fact so much better than I am but then dogs are much better at coping with anything than we are because they don’t have the same emotions. His baboon bottom is almost grown back although it is a bit fluffy at this time of year. Yes, March and April the time when my vacuum cleaner seems almost surgically attached to my right arm. Whose idea was it to get not one, not two but three dogs who seem to shed heavily all year round? Anyway, back to Buddy-Love, is he being spoilt? Well, yes but then I’m not sure that’s any different to how he was before, he’s always been very spoilt or as I like to call it “privileged”. To him, its business as usual and all the while he can continue to love his walks, his dinner and life in general he’s not going anywhere. Our first aim is to get to our holiday in Cornwall in May. He loves it down there and so do we so let’s hope he's well enough to enjoy it. Thank you to everyone for all your well wishes and thoughts, we very much appreciate it.
Since my last blog, I’ve been trialling a new product – the Nagayu CO2 Bathing System. You may have seen the video I took recently of my Peach being a somewhat unwilling model. I’m very impressed with this having only used it once on her. In a nutshell it is a rinse that I put on the dogs after shampooing and helps with all sorts of skin and coat conditions. I’m led to believe its been very successful on humans for years treating ailments such as psoriasis, eczema and reactions to insect bites. For dogs it is effective on yeast conditions, fur loss, itchy skin, hot spots etc etc. I’m adding this as an additional service to my normal grooming routines for an extra cost of £5 to cover the cost of the pucks and extra time required.
Also, I’ve just taken delivery of this new nail grinder. Having seen a few Groomer demos I’m interested in trying this for dogs that are typically a bit nervous for nails. As with all my products, my own dogs are the guinea pigs and it will be the big boy Buddy-Love who is first in the queue for this trial. He is an absolute nightmare when it comes to nail clipping and is definitely a two-man job and normally the peanut butter jar is an integral part! If I can have success without stress with him, I know I can confidently use it on other dogs.
I attended a talk given by the local Vets at Brinsbury College just before Easter about Alabama Rot. The disease seems to be rife at the moment although that’s perhaps because of all the press coverage about it and that Vets are getting smarter at reporting cases. That said, I know it is worrying for a lot of dog owners at the moment. Especially as the Vets cannot pinpoint a cause for it. The best advice at the moment seems to be to avoid wet muddy woodland and wash off dogs feet and legs after every walk. The latest case which was in Worthing, was a poor dog called Alfie who was only exercised on their own land, a local farm. Their other dogs were fine but Alfie didn’t make it. The worrying thing is that it seems to take hold very quickly and poor Alfie lost his fight after just four days after lesions appearing on his legs. Be vigilant, check your dogs over thoroughly and anything you’re concerned about, go straight to the Vets. Sadly the symptoms could so easily be mistaken for many other illnesses but any lesions that are ulcerated and have a black centre are of concern. If you notice any changes in your dog namely lameness, inappetite or lethargy that is unexplained, get it checked out. Better to be safe than sorry.
Talking of being safe rather sorry, I had to take Daisy Basset to the Vets last month having got myself into a stew convincing myself she had Leptospirosis after doing the fateful thing of getting a diagnosis from Dr Google! Our neighbours cat had brought home a dead rat a few days previously so the man from the Council had been out and set some traps up in the garden. Living very close to the river, we were told there is an influx of rats at the moment and with all the recent building works going on, they had probably been disturbed and were looking for alternative living quarters. Well not in our back gardens thank you very much! Anyway around 3 days after the traps had been set, Daisy suddenly became very unwell. She was shaking and shivering, holding her head down, not wanting to go out or play. She was still eating OK but did have a very upset stomach. I was convinced she had somehow managed to get into one of the traps or indeed had tried to catch a rat. She is such a hunter that one (someone needs to tell her she is not a Jack Russell!). Anyway having spoken to the Pest Control at the council, he was pretty sure she could have Lepto as I was. So off we toddle to the Vets (who as nice as they are, I’m spending rather too much time in their company at the moment!). Well, she walked in the door, tail wagging looking as though nothing was wrong with her and making me look a complete fraud! Vet suspected she had more than likely eaten something while she was out that had disagreed with her and confirmed that Lepto is extremely rare even with a high population of rats……phew! Note to self – do not look on the internet at anything ever!
Usual day to day running of business here at Furry Towers is well and truly busy as Spring gets into full swing (even if the weather is yet to catch up). I now have no available appointments for grooming until well into June and because of this I have had to close to all new customers for the time being. I’m simply finding it too difficult to service all my existing clients that are on a regular schedule and it wouldn’t be fair to take on anymore right now. I'm also struggling with a very sore shoulder at the moment which is making work very difficult. It seems years of having dogs pull me and lifting heavy ones has taken its toll. I'm waiting for a pain killing injection which I hope is going to sort it out. Getting old sucks!
Buddy-Love’s bucket list is coming along nicely and we’ve had visits to West Wittering, Coast in Worthing and this weekend I’m hoping to take him to Chanctonbury Ring (again something we have never done) that’s if it stays dry.
Stay in touch and I’ll keep you posted on all our goings on. Thank you for your continued support of my little business, I appreciate it.
Much love Sally xx