Oscar back from TED

On 2006-08-29, Marina penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

On the way back, I left the top zipper open just enough that Oscar
could poke her head out, without allowing her to get her body out.
That seemed to help a bit, and allowed me to provide skritches at
every stoplight =)

What a good girl she was!

Once she's *in* a carrier, she's never tried to break out of it. I
mean, I'm sure if I left it open enough she'd jump right out, but she
doesn't seem inclined to try to open it herself.

Maybe the car is scary enough that getting out in the car would be
just as scary as getting out at the vet's -- ie, not something worth
considering!

Frank once broke out of the Sherpa bag when I'd left the top zipper
open a little bit. That had potential for a disaster, because the bag
was in our boat while we were loading the rest of the stuff on board.
I caught him just as he was going to jump on land (he was wearing his
harness, so I had a 'handle' to grab). The d*g in the next boat didn't
fare as well. That boat had just landed, and the owner had just taken
off its little life jacket (it was a doxie, if memory serves me). The
d*g made a jump for the jetty, but fell in the water. Luckily, the
owner managed to fish it right back up. Hope they learned their
lesson, do not remove life jacket until d*g is on dry land.

Wow. Scary!

I've never had Oscar out near water. Puma (RB) was a black lab and
swam all over the place. Would the dog not have been able to swim to
the edge of the water? Are there dogs who can't swim?

Oh, and purrs for Oscar's lip.

Thank you!

I just got home from work (10pm) -- Oscar has been purring and
drooling on me to tell me just how much she missed me!

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
I've never had Oscar out near water. Puma (RB) was a black lab and
swam all over the place. Would the dog not have been able to swim to
the edge of the water? Are there dogs who can't swim?

The jetty is pretty high and has a smooth side that goes straight down
into the water. I don't think the doggie could have climbed that. I'm
sure it could swim, but may not have been able to swim far enough to
find a place where it could get up on land.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Marina wrote:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
I've never had Oscar out near water. Puma (RB) was a black lab and
swam all over the place. Would the dog not have been able to swim to
the edge of the water? Are there dogs who can't swim?

The jetty is pretty high and has a smooth side that goes straight down
into the water. I don't think the doggie could have climbed that. I'm
sure it could swim, but may not have been able to swim far enough to
find a place where it could get up on land.

Kasper might be able to climb it. He's a master of tai chi.

Hopefully, both kitties and doggies manage to stay out the water in
those areas.

"Marina" wrote in message
...
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
I've never had Oscar out near water. Puma (RB) was a black lab and
swam all over the place. Would the dog not have been able to swim to
the edge of the water? Are there dogs who can't swim?

The jetty is pretty high and has a smooth side that goes straight down
into the water. I don't think the doggie could have climbed that. I'm sure
it could swim, but may not have been able to swim far enough to find a
place where it could get up on land.

That's one thing that makes me very uneasy with letting dogs swim. Making
sure they have an easy way to get back out of the water. Can a lab scramble
back into a boat if it jumps out for any reason? I bet some of them weigh a
ton wet.

Jo

On 2006-08-29, Jo Firey penned:


That's one thing that makes me very uneasy with letting dogs swim.
Making sure they have an easy way to get back out of the water. Can
a lab scramble back into a boat if it jumps out for any reason? I
bet some of them weigh a ton wet.

Depends on the dog and the boat. In calm water (a small lake) I've
seen large dogs half-scramble, half-be lifted into the boat. In fact,
that was the intention: hot day, spending all of it on the boat, you
need a dip now and then!

But you have to be careful swimming with dogs. I've seen some nasty
scratches; the dog doesn't even have to be panicked. My dog Puma
scarred my brother up pretty badly swimming out in a lake, no boat
involved, just playing in the water. Obviously the dog has to move his
legs pretty vigorously in order to swim. On a boat, there was a big,
stocky lab who wasn't used to boats and wouldn't come close long enough
for us to pull him in. So his owner (against everyone's advice) jumped
in with him. The dog did manage to get into the boat with his help.
The owner ended up with some nasty scratches on his back and face.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-08-29, Cheryl penned:
On Mon 28 Aug 2006 03:34:11p, Monique Y. Mudama wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
):

We talked a bit about the risks of steroids; TED said that while
you generally want to avoid them, cats handle them better than any
other pets, and that while liver damage and shortened lifespan is a
possibility as the number of shots increases, it's still better for
her quality of life to treat the EGC as soon as possible.

This is what I've also had to come to peace with. While Shamrock's
frequency of steroid shots is probably going to shorten his life, it
will be a more comfortable life. I wish there was a better
treatment, or a better way to eliminate their triggers.

Yes, exactly. So far Oscar has had ... well, I'd have to count, but
certainly at most 5 shots. The fact that she only needs one shot to
make the lip subside helps. She didn't start needing them until she was
about 5 years old. Her problems are fairly minor compared to
Shamrock's, though.

Best to Oscar and you and DH. It's so hard to deal with allergies
and/or EGC.

It's not too bad. The paw thing is way more difficult and stressful.
Hopefully all of the irritant has escaped, and she's done with the
collar ...

I'm watching her as she looks out the office window. She couldn't sit
on the ledge with the collar on; she would try to jump up, hit the
collar on the window, and fall off. Poor girl. While she had the
collar, I tried to have her sit on an office chair I pulled up to the
window, but that freaked her out somehow and she wouldn't do it. She's
certainly enjoying the opportunity to watch the outside world now. And
I'm looking at her little paws, so cute, with tufts of fur sticking out
between the toes. God I love her. I feel so protective of her, like
I'd do anything to keep her from harm. This must be what parenthood
feels like, to some degree.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2006-08-29, Jo Firey penned:


That's one thing that makes me very uneasy with letting dogs swim.
Making sure they have an easy way to get back out of the water. Can
a lab scramble back into a boat if it jumps out for any reason? I
bet some of them weigh a ton wet.

Depends on the dog and the boat. In calm water (a small lake) I've
seen large dogs half-scramble, half-be lifted into the boat. In fact,
that was the intention: hot day, spending all of it on the boat, you
need a dip now and then!

But you have to be careful swimming with dogs. I've seen some nasty
scratches; the dog doesn't even have to be panicked. My dog Puma
scarred my brother up pretty badly swimming out in a lake, no boat
involved, just playing in the water. Obviously the dog has to move his
legs pretty vigorously in order to swim. On a boat, there was a big,
stocky lab who wasn't used to boats and wouldn't come close long enough
for us to pull him in. So his owner (against everyone's advice) jumped
in with him. The dog did manage to get into the boat with his help.
The owner ended up with some nasty scratches on his back and face.

Thanks. That is pretty much what I envisioned happening. Dog swimming next
to boat sounds cool. But wondered what comes next.

They have a water dog group in San Francisco that sends the dogs into the
bay to retrieve balls from the baseball game, but I'm pretty sure those
boats are equipped with special platforms for getting back out of the water.

Jo

Jo Firey wrote:
Thanks. That is pretty much what I envisioned happening. Dog swimming next
to boat sounds cool. But wondered what comes next.

They have a water dog group in San Francisco that sends the dogs into the
bay to retrieve balls from the baseball game, but I'm pretty sure those
boats are equipped with special platforms for getting back out of the water.


I saw that on TV. It was pretty cool. Those are Portugese water dogs.

Winnie

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote:
I'm watching her as she looks out the office window. She couldn't sit
on the ledge with the collar on; she would try to jump up, hit the
collar on the window, and fall off. Poor girl. While she had the
collar, I tried to have her sit on an office chair I pulled up to the
window, but that freaked her out somehow and she wouldn't do it. She's
certainly enjoying the opportunity to watch the outside world now. And
I'm looking at her little paws, so cute, with tufts of fur sticking out
between the toes. God I love her. I feel so protective of her, like
I'd do anything to keep her from harm. This must be what parenthood
feels like, to some degree.

Poor kitty. I'm also hopeful that her paw issues are done. I know
that protective feeling too. She is a very cute little girl.

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:10:32 -0600, "Monique Y. Mudama"
wrote:

snip
Wow. Scary!

I've never had Oscar out near water. Puma (RB) was a black lab and
swam all over the place. Would the dog not have been able to swim to
the edge of the water? Are there dogs who can't swim?

I think that, as a rule, all dogs can swim. But, I don't think all can
swim well enough to lift themselves far enough above the water for
them to look around and figure out how to get out. As a kid we had a
doxy who loved getting in the pool. His problem was that he needed
someone to call him to the steps, otherwise he had to swim to the side
of the pool and circle the edge until he found them on his own.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Spot
with loving memories of Rocky (RB)

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