13 yr old and 16 yr old need "foster" homes

[lurcherlass]

I've just taken in a 13 year old collie x male and a 16 year old border collie bitch - both from a farm, so will never have lived in a house. He lived in a shed and she lived in the farmyard. The lady who contacted me about them has recently lost her husband suddenly and now has had to leave the farm. She can't take the dogs to the place she's moved to....poor woman has lost her OH, her home and her dog

Calac (sp? It's meant to be Welsh for Charles for any Welsh folk out there, spelling please? ) is absolutely gorgeous to look at....he's 3/8 Collie 5/8 Greyhound, a Hancock dog....a blue merle rough coat, born on 7/6/92. He's a little unsteady on his back legs at times and I think he could be a tad arthriticky... but we'll see what the vet says. He seems quiet and steady - was shaking in the car, but he's never really travelled that much and gave me a big wet smackeroo of a kiss when I gave him some sausages. He needs a blimmin' good grooming session though!

Nellie, the 16 year old BC bitch is a different matter.......she's very frail ....looks really hairy but I suspect she's all bones underneath, I think she's lost the greater part of her eyesight to cataracts and she stumbles into everything. I've actually ended up putting her into a kennel run for her own safety as she's got herself stuck twice behind things in the barn. I've taken the plastic bed out of the bed area and just piled loads of bedding on the floor for her, as I had visions of her getting herself stuck behind the bed I think she may be incontinent too - she's very smelly and really needs a good bath and comb through ....but on the plus side, she likes sausages

I'm taking them to the vet tomorrow evening and getting him to do an MOT on them. I rather think Nellie isn't destined to be with us for very long Obviously we'll see what my vet says, but if anyone can find it in their heart to offer either of these 2 golden oldies a "foster home" for the duration, then Lurcher Link will undertake to pay all vet bills incurred and any other expenses necessary for their comfort.

This is Callac:











Isn't he a stunner? I think some Metacam will make a world of difference to him......mind you, he came out for a stroll with Cash tonight and wasn't exactly lagging behind

and this is poor little Nellie









Nick and I have just been trying to make her comfy in the barn .....put a kingsized duvet folded over twice down for a bed and rigged up the heatlamp over it (she'll probably be too hot now! ) and she was tottering around the barn all the time we were tinkering, wanting to know what was what and why She's eaten a fair bit of her tea (more than Callac ate actually), her breathing's quite laboured though.........I wonder if we might be looking at heart congestion Oh well, see what my vet says tomorrow!

[shellie3]

Any more news on these poor old souls??

[apples]

Apparently there's life in them yet - though the old girl doesn't have as long with us as Cal, I'd love to take one but my boys would give them a hard time demanding they play....

I should think Kaye or Lisa will provide a full update, I can't remember the details.

[lurcherlass]

Update is:

OK, back from vet with bottle of Metacam for BOTH of them I love my vet ;DPrognosis on Calac is:

He's in quite good shape for a 13 year old outside dog. There is some muscle degneration around his hind legs and possibly the onset of arthritis in his hips and hind legs. A couple of his teeth could warrant extraction but most of them are surprisingly good for his years. Vet doesn't think there's much point in castrating him at the mo either. His eyes are good, although there is a slight "blueing" which indicates a little deterioration but that's expected in a lad of his age. His heart is good and strong, he has no external parasites and I've got to keep an eye on his drinking habits and state of his urine in case of any kidney probs (especially with him going onto Metacam).... but the general consensus is that he's got a few years left in him yet and will bounce back like a spring lamb once the Metacam kicks in

Nellie (bless her) is still with us although we will be surprised if she is at Xmas time : . She's not too bad for a 16 year old though - she can see a bit, although there's obviously quite a bit of deterioration in her sight. Her ears are manky and need some drops to unplug them. Her back end is very unstable but she doesn't appear to be in too much pain or discomfort, so we'll try her on the Metacam too. Her teeth are very good for her age (which is amazing seeing as she's been fed on greyhound food! ). She seems to be slightly incontinent, but until we know how she's doing on the Metacam, we're not going to try her on Propalin because she has some heart congestion as I feared..... not much fluid build up though, so we'll just take one day at a time with her and try to ease her discomfort as much as we can until The Time comes.

Having said all that, she's polished off a bowl of food today AND insisted on coming out for a (wobbly) walk with Calac and Cash....little madam!

So....that's the story so far..........it would be so nice if we could find a couple of comfy firesides for these two Golden Oldies, so they can spend what time they've got left in a family environment. Please consider them.....yes it WILL be sad when they do go and "go" they will, sooner rather than later....but there's a few folks on here who have lost young dogs unexpectedly............but think of what you can put IN to these two oldies' lives (however short) and how rewarding that will be. ;D

[rozzie]

hope that someone will offer twilight homes to these lovely pair