Some of you will know Kathleen and Neil Macdonald and their little Beagle Nollaig.

Nollaig is very poorly and has been battling for her life for some months now. Nollaig’s body isn’t producing red blood cells and the vets are struggling to find a cure. They’ve worked their way through umpteen treatments but so far nothing has worked. There are still a couple of more treatments to try but Nollaig’s blood count is still dropping.

Until a cure is found Nollaig needs fairly regular blood transfusions. Last time she had one the vets struggled to find a suitable donor. They warned that if she needed another transfusion it might be impossible to find a donor.

Kathleen and Neil have been having a terrible time. The bills are mounting up and they are struggling to cope with one disaster after another. One thing that would give them a little bit of peace of mind is knowing that if Nollaig needs another blood transfusions we have lots of volunteers lined up willing to give blood.

I don’t have the full details right now, but in order to help you would need to meet the following criteria:

1. Be willing for your dog to give blood

2. Your dog must be at least 20 – 25kg

3. Your dog must be in good health

4. Your dog must be up to date with all vaccinations.

If I understand things correctly, Greyhounds make particularly good blood doners as 70% of them have a blood type that is compatable with all dogs. But if you have any breed of dog that fits the criteria please, please, please drop us a line letting us know that you might be willing to help if needed. We’ll keep a note of your details and if Nollaig needs another transfusion to save her life and her vets can’t find a suitable donar we’ll pass on your details.

Please pass this on to anyone that you know with a dog – it could save Nollaig’s life.

If you can help drop us a line at beaniethebeagle@googlemail.com

We’ve bought quite a few “nylabone” chews for our two – they’re about the only toy that stands up to a good chew session, and supposedly the ones we get can help in the battle against tartar build up. While they tend to get a lot of attention at first, the novelty soon wears off and they end up languishing at the bottom of the toy box.

Happily Susan occasionally manages to get some more mileage out of them by boiling them up with the remnants of a joint of meat to add flavor. This time around they got the chicken treatment, and it proved particularly successful..

Behold the gaping chasm of doom that is Biggles’ mouth!

It looks disgusting and it is – all chewed up and covered in grass cuttings

But that chicken flavor just keeps’ em coming back for more..

.. and more..