I have had so many people contact me because their special and precious dog has become paralyzed and they are asking for help. What do they do now? How do you handle this? How do you deal with the emotional stress of this huge life changing event? What is the next step? Where can you get help?

I have answered many of these emails personally and tried to help where I could. I must stress that I am not a veterinarian. We must all rely on the expertise of those trained in the care of our beloved animals.  But the Veterinarian does not come home with you and your newly paralyzed pet, no one is there to hold your hand and give you guidance or answer your questions. I know this because it all happened to me.

Yes, when my Isabel became paralyzed there were no answers. No one to help. I searched the internet and nothing came from my searching. There simply was nothing out there, that was six years ago. Today there are more choices and more people trying to help. Including myself.

Does this mean there are more paralyzed dogs than their used to be? I don’t think so. I think people are just much more comfortable with using the internet and there are more people comfortable with putting the information they are searching for out there. It is a good marriage. When people need information and ask for it, other people who write online have figured out how to give them what they need.

So I am in the unique position of loving and owning a paralyzed dog. And learning the ins and outs of this through trial and error and have figured out things that work very well, and other things that are just dumb. As I said before I have tried to help a lot of people, but it is on a one to one basis. So now I have created help that anyone can use anytime without waiting for me to respond.  It is a site I have created called Care Of A Paralyzed Dog, kind of catchy isn’t it?

Please feel free to bookmark it so you can refer to it often. My Isabel was the Model for the site and she had a great time making videos and posing for photos.I hope you find it helpful and I hope your paralyzed dog is going to benefit and that your lives will improve and become joyful. Just remember, It is not hopeless. It is never hopeless.

Care Of A Paralyzed Dog

A Website with some answers about caring for and loving a paralyzed dog.

Isabel, My paralyzed dog on wheels

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It may surprise you to know that while price can hint at quality, a high price does not always mean a good quality pet food. There are many factors that determine what the final price tag on a bag of pet food will be. To note, we are primarily talking about dry kibble as for cats and dogs in this article.
 
The Ingredients are a big contributing fact to the price of a cat or dog food. Quality ingredients drive a price up, cheap ones, enable the manufacturer to sell the food for less. We will not discuss every ingredient here, just some of the most common.

Be aware that ingredients… From: Pet Food Prices Why Are Some Cheap and Others Expensive

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Everyone Knows how I feel about Puppy Mills. My Abigail came from a puppy mill and worse yet, we didn’t even find that out for weeks after we purchased her. It was one of those situations where she was sold by a puppy mill to a dog broker who supposedly is reputable, then he sells to individuals and to pet stores. Well no matter how you white wash it, it is despicable, and needs to be stopped.

A friend of mine over at Associated Content fro Yahoo, Michele Starkey, has written an article that really needs your attention. Here is an excerpt. Please got to the article because at the end is a link to a form you can fill out to speak to your legislature no matter where you live, to help put a stop to this nightmare.

I’m counting on you, the puppies need us.

According to the ASPCA and several members of the U.S. House of Representatives, there is a giant-sized loophole in U.S. law concerning puppy mills. Breeders who sell to puppy brokers and pet stores have to be USDA
licensed but those who sell directly to the public are NOT monitored by the USDA.

The Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety (PUPS) Act has appeared in past Congressional sessions, but has always timed out. Why has the Congress let this Act time out? Inquiring minds want to know.

read the rest of this article

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I was never so happy as to hear that the Bill to Close the Puppy Mills in Missouri had passed with a resounding victory. So many dogs were rescued and cared for. It is just unbelievably wonderful. I am so happy to support the ASPCA and all the good work they do.  I hope all you dear readers are too.

As a result of the shutting down of the puppy mills, many many dogs needed to be adopted. Here is the story of one such little guy named Peanut.

This is Peanut

On September 21, the ASPCA joined the Humane Society of Missouri (HSMO) in removing dozens of dogs from a puppy mill in Camden County, MO. Most of the dogs were transferred to the Humane Society of Southwest Missouri in Springfield and HSMO in St. Louis, but a few made their way to the ASPCA in Manhattan. One such pup—a darling Welsh Corgi named Peanut—was adopted by one of our own: Julia Nelson, ASPCA Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Julia first met Peanut while the sweet pup was recovering at the ASPCA Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. “She was in her temporary living quarters in our Adoption Center director’s office. She was so excited when she first saw me, and the feeling was mutual,” Julia recalls. “She was adorable!” The happy pooch soon joined Julia’s family of cats, Ireland and Woody, and quickly settled into life in Manhattan. Woody, the younger cat, and Peanut became best pals right away. “He showed her his tummy, and now they eat side by side in the kitchen,” Julia says.

read the rest of the article here.

It is just too wonderful to know that these precious creatures are finding new homes and love after such a horrible existence.

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Why is it that people frequently fail to think of their dogs as living breathing creatures that require the same care to stay alive as they do? At least this is the way it seems when you hear on the news how someone has again left their dog in the car with the windows up and the temperature outside is 90 degrees.

Dogs do not have the ability to sweat and discharge that excess heat that has built up in their bodies. They can only pant which is their way of exchanging the hot air for cooler air, but what happens when the temperature on the outside is the same or worse than the inside? This is when heat stroke occurs a deadly and painful condition.

Heat stroke is an emergency. If you intend to save your pet you must act quickly. You must get the body temperature down below 104 degrees F. Do this by cooling them with cool water, not freezing, set them into a cool bath for a couple minutes then put them in front of a fan. Put cool cloths on their abdomens, groins and arm pits. Dip their feet into cool water or put cool cloths over the feet as well.

Keep checking the rectal temperature every ten minutes and when you have it down below 104 degrees F. get the dog to the vet, there are many complications that can occur after the heat stroke has occurred and been dealt with.

If you have a dog or pet and you love them, you must exercise that part of you that would do anything to save a child. Learn about heat stroke and how to prevent and in the worse case scenario how to treat it.

Please take a moment to look at more detail in the recognition of the symptoms of heat stroke and the treatment in my Factoidz Article regarding this very subject.

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This is so precious. It reminds me so much of my own Golden Retrievers, Nicholas and Abigail. They both loved all our cats. I even had a big old black and white cat that we named Rocky. The Goldens loved to play with the cats and this video just made me relive some very nice moments. I wanted to share with you. I hope you smile.

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Abigail, My puppy mill puppy

Missouri is my home state. It is shocking and disgusting to me that it is also one of the largest puppy mill producing states in the Union. It hurts my heart to even think about it because as you know, my love Abigail came from one of them. We didn’t know that at the time, but it makes no difference. We rescued her but we didn’t do anything to shut them down. It must be done!

The ASPCA is in St. Clair County, Missouri. They are removing 34 dogs from another puppy mill. It marks the third time in one week that the ASPCA has been contacted to help transfer dogs and puppies from Missouri puppy mills, as well as private residences, were owners did not care for the animals properly.

Here is what Tim Rickey, The ASPCA’s Senior Director has to say:

“These incidents reinforce the need for Missourians to vote ‘yes’ on Proposition B,” says Tim Rickey, the ASPCA’s Senior Director of Field Investigations and Response. Also known as the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, Prop B aims to raise the standards of care for dogs in Missouri’s more than 3,000 commercial breeding facilities, which export more than 40 percent of all dogs sold in pet stores nationwide. If passed, Prop B would require Missouri’s large-scale breeders to limit the number of breeding females to 50, as well as enact common-sense standards such as requiring dogs to be provided with sufficient food and clean water, regular veterinary care, adequate housing and space, and access to regular exercise.

You must vote for these changes and improvements in dogs and puppies lives. They deserve it and didn’t ask for abuse. Please go to this link to learn more. ASPCA in Missouri.

And if you would like to visit my puppy mill puppy Abigail,  feel free.

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We know what to do if we have a handicapped person. For instance a blind person has many resources. School for the blind, Braille, Seeing Eye dogs.

But what about a handicapped dog?

I’ve already told you about my paralyzed dog Isabel. And of course she now has many resources available to her because we love her and made sure we got as many as possible for her so her life is normal.

Well I found this incredible article while “stumbling” the other day about a seeing eye dog for a blind…dog. How wonderful is that? It brought tears to my eyes it made me so happy for Clyde and Bonnie, Get it? Bonnie and Clyde. They are adorable and this blind dog could not want for more. It is a great story, I hope you enjoy it too.   Guide dog leads blind pooch – two are inseparable.

Seeing Eye Dog Bonnie for her Blind friend, Clyde

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So many of us love our pets especially our dogs to the point of distraction. We would do anything for them, we even give up our privacy and our time with our human partners. Well is it healthy?

This question is nicely answered in an article I wrote for Factoidz. I think you’ll enjoy it.

We live in a country of animal lovers and statistics show that many of us sleep with our beloved pets. According to a recent survey of pet owners by the American Pet Products Association, nearly half of dogs sleep in their owner’s beds. The survey found that 62% of small dogs, 41% of medium-sized dogs and 32% of large dogs sleep with their owners.

The survey also found that 62% of cats sleep with their adult owners, and another 13% of cats sleep with children.

But is it healthy to sleep with our pets? Of course obviously if you are allergic to your dog or cat you should certainly n… From: Is It Healthy to Sleep with Your Family Pet

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A very frightening health crisis with my paralyzed dog, Isabel happened in the past month. I wanted to share with you so maybe you don’t have to go through this with your dog.

Isabel became acutely ill. The usual dog symptoms of a paralyzed dog and urinary tract infection did not seem to be occurring and she has never been sick with any other symptoms so we were at a loss. We watched her closely for about a week and she just didn’t get any better, The main thing we noticed at this time was lack of interest in her walk. She was still eating and drinking in fact she was drinking a lot, but not enough to worry us. Then she began having diarrhea, of course this is a huge concern because she for sure will get an UTI. A dog in diapers can not tolerate having diarrhea without infecting themselves. So I did my best to keep her clean and gave her Immodium to stop the diarrhea.

Next she developed vomiting several times. Nothing was in the vomit like undigested food or anything, but she stopped eating. She would still drink and a lot, more than usual, The thing to worry about with a dog with excessive thirst and urinating a lot is diabetes. So we were worried but still watching.

We decided she was having too many dog treats. Maybe her partially paralyzed bowel and being ten years old, was just causing her not to be able to cope with the harsh jerky treats. She wouldn’t eat her chow but she still wanted her treats. We gave her the Costco Kingdom Pets Chicken Jerky Treats, in fact she has eaten them for years, long before her paralysis, so we thought nothing of it, in fact we were glad she would eat anything. Well then I saw in her vomit a bit of the jerky undigested and that was that. We stopped the jerky, She could only have her lamb and rice cookie treats from then on.

Well lo and behold she started to improve after a couple of days. No further diarrhea or vomiting and she slowed down on her water and she nibbled her regular chow at last.

Well coincidentally, one of her favorite treats was the Costco Kingdom Pets sweet potato and chicken jerky wrap treats. I thought the sweet potato would be much more gentle to her stomach and bowel. Our Costco stopped carrying it and so I went online to see if I could find them since we decided the other jerky treat was too harsh for her ten-year old paralyzed bowel to handle.

Wow, what a surprise I found! Do a search on Google for Kingdom Pets Chicken jerky dog treats. You are going to find post after post of concerned pet owners that have fed their pets these treats and they have sick dogs and some have dead dogs. It was shocking to us. I couldn’t believe it. I was killing my beloved pet by giving her tainted chicken from China. Are you kidding me? Who can you trust?

My Isabel had every dog symptom listed on the websites, many many websites. Diarrhea, vomiting, excessive thirst, increased urination, lack of appetite, and lethargy. The next step for her would have been kidney failure and then death.

I actually believe her dog paralysis is what saved her because I blamed her partially paralyzed bowel on not being able to handle the treats. Not the treats causing the problem.

Here is an excerpt of the ABC’s report on this subject:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about chicken jerky for dogs, saying some products imported from China may be associated with 70 reports of dogs who became ill or died.  That number is up from 54 reports last year, the agency indicated.

 

Finish reading this ABC News Post Chicken Jerky Treats Linked to Illnesses in Dogs

I am happy to say she is healthy and completely back to normal. We caught it in time and for whatever reason paralysis or dumb luck the events of this story are having a happy ending. I do hope any of you reading this will save your dogs too.

Needless to say we went on an all out search for dog treats made in the USA. At first not such an easy task, but we did find a couple that Isabel likes. One is Steak House Treat Company’s Lamb Cuts, treats for dogs, carried by Costco. The other is

Yummy Chummies, Wild Alaska Salman, Soft N Chewy that Costco also sells. Also cookies made with chicken, steak, peanut butter and lamb, lots of choices. She seems to like them all. She will never eat anything from China ever again. Neither will we!

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