Some Good News for Nollaig

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Susan

Finally we’ve got some good news to post. Kathleen asked me to let everyone know that they’ve managed to find a blood donor for Nollaig. In Kathleen’s own words:

“They have found 2 units of blood to match Nollaig and they only need 1 but both are being sent up from Petblood bank UK.Vet decided instead of buying in lots of bags and having them sent up and then checked for crossmatching that he would ask bloodbank that if he sent down sample of Nollaig’s blood would they test her blood against all the blood there which to be honest makes more sense in a situation like Nollaig’s where a match is harder to find.

Blood will arrive tomorrow lunchtime so as long as Nollaig ok they will transfuse her tomorrow.
She has been hosp 10 days now and has come back from the brink as a life threatening infection set in due to her white cells going too low with that last drug that they tried on her.Her white cells back to normal now but at one point they were 0.9 instead of over 3 and she had to be put into an isolation ward and on iv antibiotics due to the high risk of catching further infection and full blown septicaemia setting in.What a brave little fighter she is!

However since last Thursday her pack red cell volume has been 9.9 and it should be between 35 and 55 so she was running out of oxygen in her body.She had to have 2 bags of oxyglobin to keep her going until they found a match that oxygenates the body for a day or two but doesn’t last like red cells.
We had the police dogs ready tomorrow for blood to be taken and then Susan I would have been calling on you for help to get dogs brought in from the park dogs trust etc etc…

I just wanted to thank you soooooooo much for getting the word out there about Nollaig in fact Rory Nollaig’s vet just asked me if I knew about a dogsey forum as someone in the vet hosp must have seen your plea for Nollaig and let Rory know that there were people on there willing to help.Thank you so much.

Now we need to hope and pray that this final treatment will be the one that works it did for another dog same condition as Nollaig who had tried all drugs same as Nollaig and then this turned it around.

Also could you please post a message on your site and the dogsey forum and pass on my immense thanks to the people who sent messages of goodwill for Nollaig and those who offered to donate. Although if we could get more dogs to donate we could perhaps get our own Scottish canine blood bank set up.

I will let you know how things go.

Lets all send positive vibes to Nollaig and hope and pray that this treatment works!

Bailey

Posted on July 26, 2009 by Susan

We had some terribly sad news over the weekend. Gillian Mitchell’s lovely little Beagle boy Bailey was killed in a tragic accident aged just 19 months old.

Bailey had always been an incredible athlete that loved to run and chase. He really knew how to live life to the full and gave mum Gillian plenty of heart-stopping moments! He was a joy to know. Here he is at the end of last year playing with little Biggles – he was one of Biggles’ first friends:

Like most Beagles owners, Gillian was always on the look-out for safe places for Bailey to play and worked hard at keeping him safe and under control. She had made fabulous progress and Bailey had been very good off-lead recently. However, a few days ago an incredibly unlucky turn of events lead to tragedy. Bailey was playing in the park and suddenly set off hot on the heels of a fox. The fox lead him through bushes, through two fences and onto the railway line where he was tragically hit by a train. It was quick. Bailey died doing what he loved most.

Bailey will be missed by so many people and dogs. He was a lovely little boy that knew how to live life to the full.

The Rainbow Bridge

There is a bridge connecting Heaven and Earth. It’s called the Rainbow Bridge because of its many colors. Just this side of the bridge there is a land of meadows and hills and valleys with lush green grass.

When a pet dies, it goes to this place. There is always food and water and warm spring weather. The old and frail animals are made young again. The crippled or maimed become whole. They play with each other all day long. There is only one thing missing: the special person who loved them on Earth.

So they run and play for days on end, until suddenly one stops and looks! The nose twitches! The ears are up! The eyes are bright and expectant! Quickly, this one runs from the group.

You have been seen, and when you and your special friend meet, you take him into your arms and embrace with unrestrained joy. Your face is kissed again and again, and you look into the eyes of your trusted friend who has been waiting for you.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be separated.

Biggles’ First Agility Lesson & Beanie Shows Off

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Susan

Biggles had his first agility lesson yesterday and did very well!

Rather than start him in classes we decided he’d do better just joining Beanie in her weekly private lesson. Teacher Carol says it will be fine to teach him the same things that Beanie’s currently learning. And for the past two or three weeks Beanie has been working hard on distance control. Here she is practicing in the garden this morning:

She doesn’t quite know what “Left” means – she’s taking her cue from the direction my body is facing. Also, you’ll notice little tennis balls placed around the course. When I send her away from me I’m actually sending her to one of the balls. Right now, she wouldn’t go if the balls weren’t there, but soon we’ll wean her off them and she’ll be working only to commands.

Unfortunately Biggles wasn’t in the mood today so we didn’t get him on video. But he’s already starting to get the hang of this and can manage to go over the first two jumps and back through the tunnel. We’ll get a video of Biggles in action ASAP!