Holly is a 2 and a half year old cavachon.

At around 6 months old Holly started scratching excessively. So much so that she regularly caused her skin to bleed and become infected.
A change of food for a few weeks made no difference so blood samples were taken for skin allergy testing.

Results confirmed that Holly is extemely sensitive as to what she eats – she is allergic to beef,chicken, lamb, turkey and amazingly not to pork. The indoor allergy tests confirmed her intolernce to house dust mites.
Treatment has vastly improved Hollys itchiness but has not cured it.
This is what we regularly find at The Animal Hosptal, Tallght – we can manage but not cure skin allergies.

The main treatment that Holly is getting – on an ongoing basis – is a special low allergy food. Her owner has also purchased a high powered Dyson Pet hoover to keep dust mites to a minimum.

TIP – if your dog is scratching excessively from a young age – initially try a food change to see if that helps.

In December 2016 Bobby started drinking and urinating a lot. He also started eating much more food. Blood tests were taken over several weeks and confirmed that Bobby is a diabetic.
Diabetes in dogs is very common, although definitely more common in the female !! The most common clinical signs are excess drinking and urnation. It is really easy to rule it out by a simple in-house blood test.
Bobby is now getting insulin injections morning and evening and in great form – as you can see from todays picture of him.

TIP – if you have a diabetic dog be aware they can get LOW blood sugar when receiving insulin. Weakness and lethargy is usually the main signs. A couple of spoons of honey by mouth will usually sort the problem

Food, walks, Sleep, Food Walks, Sleep…..

These are the things that occupied Bonnie’s mind.

She is 10 years old.

She lives the life.

She shares her home with Rocky, who is one year younger.

She has had a few health problems, nothing she couldn’t handle. She had the odd lump or bump removed but hasn’t been tempted to have cosmetic surgery.

At the beginning of October she felt really unwell. She walked much slower and was occasionally vomiting. She clung carefully to her owners.

A blood sample was taken during her visit to the hospital which revealed she had a liver problem. She was Jaundiced.

Now sleep replaced the walks and food in her list of priorities.

She had a scan of her liver and gallbladder .

Her gallbladder was abnormal, her liver was also affected.

Bonnies owners faced a very difficult decision, she was so sick and the surgery needed was very risky.

Her gallbladder was removed along with a portion of her liver.

It took a while for food and walks to become important to her again, but the have.

She wouldn’t be a Labrador otherwise!

Cats love warm places and in their attempt to stay warm during the cold winter months, they sometimes climb into car engines to sleep. Car engines are warm long after they are turned off, and it’s this warmth that attracts cats to sleep under your hood.

Cats caught in moving engine parts can be seriously hurt or killed.

To avoid such traumatic episodes, it’s worth slowing down a little when you head off in your car in cold weather. Rattle your keys, bang the hood, slam the door shut, and rev the engine a couple of times rather than just leaping into your parked car and heading off without a pause. This should give sleeping cats just enough warning to escape before there’s rapidly moving ground beneath them.

Coopsy having a snooze!

We thought we should prepare for the puppy’s arrival and so we made a trip to a local pet store to stock up on beds, toys etc.  When we entered the pet store we could hear a puppy barking, my husband went to check it out while I continued piling the puppy goodies into a huge bursting basket.  My husband suddenly came to me and dragged me over to the cubicle stating ‘your not going to believe this’.  I approached the glass window and my heart pounded as I caught sight of the little noise maker on the other side.

There she was the whole perfect Dachshund bundle of her.  Her little short stubby legs holding her up as she bounced up and down barking at us.  Her soft ‘puss’ looking eyes filled our hearts as she peered out at us.  Then it happened when I thought my heart couldn’t melt any further.  I knelt down next to her by the window and placed my hand on the glass, palm flat.  She came towards me and placed her little fat paw against my hand on the other side and then  she put her head against my hand too.  ‘WE’LL TAKE HER’ I yelled.  Out came the already financially challenged credit card to pay for her to come home with us.  Ordinarily I would never buy a dog in a pet store and I find it unacceptable to sell puppy’s in shops, but I just couldn’t leave her there alone.

Coopsy meets Dusty!

We left with her that day and she curled up in my arms the whole way home in the car.  Coopsy settled in within 5 mins of arriving in the house, re arranging the sofa cushions to make the perfect nap area and that night she slept across us both with her bum on my husbands shoulder and her wet nose tucked under my chin.  She still sleeps between us every night.

Coopsy has grown into a beautiful little dog with big old heart.  She loves to travel with us everywhere and has even swam with our other dear friend Dusty the wild dolphin. (Please see pics)  She loves the beach and turns into a mini Sonia Sullivan the minute her paws feel the sand on them.  She is our baby and my little boo boo.  May she be with us for many more years to come.