My pets and I

Discussion in 'Pets and Animal Lovers' started by drradha7, Aug 19, 2014.

  1. drradha7

    drradha7 Bronze IL'ite

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    I am a human doctor but my passion is animals. I like all animals and like to bring them home!
    I have 3 dogs, a boxer, a Dalmatian, and a terrier-indie cross. My boxer, Lizzy, passed from Cancer (Non – Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) 2 weeks back. The Dalmatian and the terrier are adopted dogs from the local animal shelter. I recently, as recent as 2 days back, adopted another abandoned boxer from the local animal shelter.
    The journeys that my pets and my 2 human sons take me through is a subject of most of my articles and blogs!

    We found a baby squirrel on the road one sunday morning! My son had taken the dogs for a walk as he does every sunday. He found Lizzy, my boxer, and Sandy, the Dalmatian, very interested in some object on the ground, and high pitched squeaks coming from it. He bent down to investigate and found this tiny sweetheart on the ground, near a vehicle tyre, screaming bloody murder for all he was worth! My son lovingly brought him home to be looked after, after searching all around that area for the mother somewhere up the tree.

    It was a he, and a mighty tiny soul at that, hardly moving around. I checked him out for any injuries, broken bones, and i couldnt see any. It was really tiny and not opening its eyes fully. There were also no obvious signs of open injuries. I reckoned it must have fallen off the tree after a predator got its mother.

    We placed it in a shoe box initially, packed with paper and cotton, a small cup of milk and some nuts (!!). It lay there snugly without moving. I then fitted a rubber tube to an injection syringe and force-fed 1 ml of milk to the baby every 2 hrs.

    I continued to keep a watch on the baby on and off. It snuggled right inside the towel, cotton, paper i had kept and i was a tad worried it would suffocate! I kept the shoe box half closed to keep bright light out. It did not budge but kept sleeping.

    By late evening, there was some squeaking and activity in the shoe box! My father was also very worried about its well-being and he also periodically kept checking. Having 3 inquisitive dogs around did not help matters, even though the shoe box was kept at a height to keep their noses out of the squirrel’s area.
    After some 4-5 milk feeds, it finally opened its eyes fully, and started moving around its new home! We decided to call it “Jerry” after Tom & Jerry!
    Now my dad was apprehensive about its activity attracting undue attention from my 3 brats and the neighborhood wild cats. So we refurbished an old cage i had for my previous Lhasa apso dog, which i was using for air travel, as a new home for Jerry. I cleaned it, re-plastered its side walls, which were giving way, with able help from my enthusiastic son, and made it comfortable by putting my terrier, Rufus’ old bed, the same towel used earlier and the small soft cloth with which Jerry was familiar. I now had space to put in a small bowl of water as well.
    The 2 hrly feeds were extended to 3 hrly ones. He now struggled against the rubber tube being inserted into his mouth!! I had to pry open the mouth! Boy, he had sharp teeth! And sharp claws as well! Ultimately, he got the hang of it and started clutching the rubber tube with his cute little front paws and suckled the tube as i pushed the syringe to deliver the milk! Boy, do we learn fast in the animal kingdom!
    During one of the feeds, Sandy came to investigate and almost gobbled him up! She got multiple raps on her nose for that and finally resigned herself to her corner! Lizzy, who’s a mortal enemy of all creatures scurrying around, kept licking the baby as it scurried into my arm! She did not pose a danger. She only wanted to investigate as to how a squirrel really feels like!!!!
    Rufus, the gentleman, took one perfunctory sniff at the baby and then decided it wasnt worth fussing!
    And so we kept the squirrel, Jerry, for almost 2 months, inviting lots of curiosity from my pet dogs and probably some jealousy too. My son and I and even my father, we took turns to feed him. He progressed to solid feeds, mainly sapota and banana. He became a creature of habits and would wake up on cue, excrete on cue and sleep on cue. He was even allowed on the tree in our house under supervision, in case he become a delicacy for the neighborhood cat!
    2 months later, we found him lying still in side his cage. We conjecture that he must have had some internal injury during his fall, and that must have led to his demise.
     
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  2. periamma

    periamma IL Hall of Fame

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    very sad.when my pet dog kuttima died i cried for a long time and even now i miss him a lot.Recently another one left this world due to Prostate cancer .Both incidents affected me much
     
  3. kanaka Raghavan

    kanaka Raghavan IL Hall of Fame

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  4. drradha7

    drradha7 Bronze IL'ite

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    I agree. Demise of a pet is really really traumatic. I lost my boxer Lizzy, to cancer (Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma) just 2 weeks back. She was my baby and I adored her. It was horrible seeing her just melt before my eyes in the last one month. so yeah, I empathise with you.
     
  5. Denni

    Denni Gold IL'ite

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    Our pet of 10 years , a mix breed of spitz had to be put to sleep after suffering from canine distemper which made my dear pet paralysed . She was too old and doctors recommended that we end her misery as she was unable to control her bowel movements and obviously suffering. It was the hardest decision we have to take. Even to the last day of her life....she did her job dutifully. She tried to bark at the postman but couldn't bark so much. It brings tears to me even after 10 years of her passing.

    I've lost many pets, a large black dog died due to poisoning. A cat died after being hit by a car. A baby bird that my brother rescued and loved so much died after drowning in our bucket full of water........

    It breaks my heart thinking about my fury friends. Losing a pet is traumatic and it takes time to heal the pain. I still think about my spitz and some time dream about her too. Only a pet lover would understand my feelings.
     
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  6. drradha7

    drradha7 Bronze IL'ite

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    My heart goes out to you. You have had a really harrowing time with fate! When Lizzy my boxer died 2 weeks back, on 04 aug, Monday, I thought I had reached the lowest point of my life. She was only 5 yrs. old and the last one month, she literally melted before my eyes. :-( But I find solace in saving new animals from a bad life. On sunday, 17 Aug, I adopted a 2 1/2 yr old boxer, badly abused and abandoned. I will never ever forget or yearn for Lizzy but.
     
  7. Denni

    Denni Gold IL'ite

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    Toby, daisy and Buddy are my precious pets. Losing them was like losing a family member. After daisy died, I couldn't bring myself to have another pet. The loss was so severe till I became phobia of animals. I don't allow my son to keep a pet , for the fear of losing them. I don't hate them , I just couldn't go through the pain again. Don't want my son to go through the pain either.
     
  8. drradha7

    drradha7 Bronze IL'ite

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    hmmmmmmmm..........I will only tell you what was told to me by a very wise old lady belonging to a leading Animal welfare group. God in His wisdom chooses to give and take away. If he has left a vacuum in your heart and home, you need to follow His advice and fill the vacuum with another desiring soul. :)
    Phobia of animals is a tad too drastic. There are plenty of dogs / pets that are abused by our species which we need to be savior to. :) Take heart.
     
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  9. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear drradha
    A wonderful thread which should gladden the hearts of all the animal lovers in the community. There is a separate section for Pets and Animal Lovers under 'Life style' Forum. Don't you think this will be more appropriate in that Forum? I'll decide about it moving it there after hearing your point of view.
    Sri
     
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  10. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Incidentally I am the Moderator for this Forum. Sorry for not mentioning it earlier!
    Sri
     
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