Poorly Pup (Again)

Barry has been a very poorly boy again and it's been such a worry. It was only mid-March when he last spent three days at the vets due to sickness and tummy upset and it's now early May and we're back again with a similar thing :-( Sorry if this post is a little graphic to read!

Visiting Barry at the Vets yesterday in an attempt to persuade him to eat

It started on Thursday afternoon with almost constant sickness and for the first time ever Barry refused to eat any food. This is very out of the ordinary for him, especially when he was only being offered plain boiled chicken (because of the sickness) and usually he eats this with glee. He didn't eat anything at all that night and started to look very sorry for himself by the next morning after a night of sickness too. He still wouldn't eat the next morning and when diarrhoea started which was mainly just blood I got very concerned and took him straight to the vets (it was very startling and scary to see). The vet couldn't feel any obstructions and so it was put down to severe gastroenteritis like last time, only this time called Haemorrhagic Gastroenteritis because of the blood. The vet said that fresh blood in stools isn't too worrying compared with 'coffee granules' dark blood which pinpoints problems much higher up in the digestive system but it was advised he stayed in to get him straight onto fluids and medicine to try and get him feeling better. Off he went out the back with the vet and they rang later to say that he was bright, but still some sickness and diarrhoea and therefore they wanted to keep him in overnight to keep him on the drip. I rang a few times the next day and it was the same story, though the sickness had finally stopped. On Sunday morning the vet rang and said he was much brighter but still not eating and therefore they asked us to come in and try and persuade Barry to eat.


Barry was very happy to see us and we managed to persuade him to eat a tiny amount of chicken which at least was something. Saying goodbye to him again was horrible and he howled and cried. They managed to get him to eat a small amount more yesterday afternoon and the vet rang this morning to say that it had successfully stayed down which is good. He isn't interested in eating again this morning but the vet said she's happy for Barry to come home in the hope that he'll start eating at home. So I'm off shortly to go and pick him up and I can't wait to have him home, we've really missed him this weekend.


As to the cause of his tummy troubles, it's very hard to pinpoint it as frustrating as that is. The vet says he obviously has a very sensitive digestive system and she herself has terriers and that they are more susceptible to sensitivities and are also extremely fussy (which I can vouch for with Barry!). Barry is already on a very good food (Arden Grange) and has been on that for 4 months now having changed it from James Wellbeloved a while ago to try and help his sensitivities to an even better hypo-allergenic food. The vets advised we stay on Arden Grange for now to see how he gets on and then we'll have to consider what to try next if not. Deary me, they're such a worry! I'm just glad he's ok and hope he'll be much better soon and not have anymore flare ups for a while, it's horrible seeing him so poorly.


In other news (no sickness or other messy stuff!), my parents arrived yesterday to spend a few days with us. Dad has got stuck straight into the tiling here at our house, with Jack's help. Jack and I madly spent Friday evening clearing the conservatory and ripping up the old laminate wood flooring as well as moving items off of the kitchen worktops ready for Dad to tile the conservatory floor and the kitchen walls. My parents are staying with us until tomorrow so hopefully the tiling will get finished, there may just be some grouting for Jack and I to do. I certainly can't wait to see the finished look in both rooms. I cooked a barbeque yesterday with Jack's help and it was very tasty. I made a tasty salad too and we of course had to have corn on the cob on the BBQ as that's my favourite.

Quickly took a photo last night; Dad & Jack have made a good start on our new kitchen tiles!

It was lovely spending the day in the garden with Mum while the boys were busy tiling. The tortoises have spent all weekend in their run and are very happy in their outdoor home. We just missed having Barry running around too.

We had to share our strawberries with the tortoises yesterday! They're very dusty in this photo as they've been busy digging into the little 'cave' I made them in their run

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed the hot sunny weather; I can't wait to get my boy home, spend the afternoon with him snuggled up on my lap while I read your blog posts!


Have a great week all!


Em x

Introductions: Squirt & Lola

I just wanted to give you a little introduction into the other two creatures in my life; Squirt and Lola, our charismatic Hermanns Tortoises!

Enjoying one of their favourite treats, strawberries

 

 

I love tortoises and find them such fascinating prehistoric-looking creatures. Anyone who thinks they're boring 'go-slow' sleepy animals are mistaken! Tortoises are totally independent from the moment they hatch from their egg and from day one they are funny little characters. They're inquisitive, not quite as scared as they make out and are notorious escape artists.

 

A quick little fact-file for you on my two:

 

Squirt

Species: Testudo Hermanni Boetgeri (Hermanns Tortoise, the most popular and common pet tortoise species in the UK)

Gender: 90% sure Squirt is a female, though we do still call her 'him' most of the time!

Age: 6 years old

Fave Pastime: climbing, eating whatever she can find in the garden

Fave Food: Pak Choi, Dandelion leaves

 

Lola

Species: Testudo Hermanni Boetgeri

Gender: Female (we think!)

Age: 4 years old

Fave Pastime: digging holes in lawns while hunting for clover

Fave Food: Clover, strawberries

 

 

When hatched, Hermanns Tortoises are the size of a 50 pence piece!

 

After much research I decided to get a tortoise and chose Hermanns Tortoises as I thought their shells were beautiful colours and they had quirky personalities. I was lucky to find a lovely breeder locally; she had two separate Hermanns breeding pairs, Totty & Too and Twiggy & Tommy. I got Squirt when she was 10 months old and her parents are Totty & Too. Squirt was a mere 7.5cm in length when I brought him home and he's grown well since I've had him. Tortoises are prone to pyramiding (where their shells grow unevenly and look very bumpy) if they don't have the right diet and other factors. I think I've done a good job with my two and they both seem to be very healthy tortoises.

 

Squirt aged 10 months

 

Squirt aged 2 years

 

Tortoises are more than happy alone, but after keeping in touch with the breeder and hearing that Twiggy had laid eggs, I was keen to get a friend for Squirt. Not only that but Lola is totally unrelated to Squirt so if it turned out I had one of each sex then I could breed them. It looks like I've got two females but I'm thinking of getting an adult male once my two reach breeding size so I can breed them. We actually watched Lola hatching from the egg which was fascinating. We brought her home at two weeks and I was petrified that Squirt would squash her as she was so tiny but they were totally inseparable and Squirt was so careful with Lola. Quite often I'd lose Lola as she'd bury herself in the soil, but I always knew where she was as Squirt was usually asleep in the same place but would only manage to half-bury herself. They follow each other everywhere now, eat together, and sleep side by side.

 

Lola was a Birthday present from Jack, here she is at two weeks old

 

Meeting her new best friend, Squirt

 

Sharing a slice of tasty apple - I'm busy watching I don't lose a finger!

 

Squirt has successfully managed to hibernate twice, but we've had to over-winter her the past two winters because it just wasn't possible to hibernate her while we lived in our rented flat. They're now back outside much more now that we have our own house and garden and we're currently in the process of building them a permanent outdoor run so they can live out year-round and hibernate as normal each winter (though they'll be transferred to boxes and hibernated in the shed where rodents can't get to them during hibernation). This year will be Lola's first hibernation and hopefully she'll be successful. Let's not talk about winter just yet though, brrr!

 

 

Squirt and Lola have been brilliant photographic subjects; I've managed to get a few good action shots of them (best before the sunshine has warmed them up because then they're off!). I can't tell if they like being the subjects of my photos or not but I don't really give them a lot of choice! They're pleased that Barry now has to do his fair share of modelling duties too so they can spend more time devouring weeds in the garden or escaping when I'm not watching them!

 

 

 

 

 



Introductions: Barry

I'd like to introduce you to our handsome Jack Russell Terrier, Barry!

His name gets a lot of laughs but also a lot of approval! Jack chose his name and said he had to have a 'bloke's' name; I was very sceptical about "Barry" at first, but it totally suits him! He's also a "Bazza" or "Baz" at times, plus the odd expletive when he runs off with the washing!

We met Barry when he was five weeks old and it was love at first sight. He was a chunky little puppy with an inquisitive nature. What makes him even more special is that he was born with a little stump rather than a full tail. He was the only one in the litter of five like it, but Vets confirmed he was totally healthy and on researching I discovered this can be quite common in a number of breeds (some pups are born without a tail, some with a 'half-tail' or a little stump like Barry). On our first meeting I think Jack only had to take one look at my face and know that there was no way we were leaving without putting a deposit down. Then came the agonising but exciting weeks prepping the house ready for Barry's arrival.

Barry with his siblings

Barry days old and at 5 weeks old

 

Barry settled in at home with us very well. He became my little lost lamb following me everywhere (he still does). He had his own comfortable bed downstairs with lots of toys and a hot water bottle and within a week the crying at night had stopped (thank god!). He was soon getting up to mischief and loved exploring the house with me as long as I was close by. He loves exploring the garden too - he is eyeing up my cherry tomatoes in the garden at the moment, so I'm going to have to watch him! We've been really lucky that he's such a clever little dog and it didn't take him long at all to get the gist of toilet training. He also loves learning new tricks, "rollover" being his current favourite.

 

Barry perfected the art of the 'butter wouldn't melt' face from a very early age! (8 weeks old)

 

We took Barry to puppy classes for ten weeks and it was really good for him to meet other puppies. He's still a nervous dog even today at six months old despite often meeting dogs on walks, but with a little encouragement he's happy to say hello and then soon discovers the other dogs won't eat him and just want to play! Puppy classes were also really good fun and Barry was top of the class on more than one occasion; his recall is really good (for the most part!) and at the promise of a treat he'll do whatever he's asked to do.

 

Hogging the remote (9 weeks old)

 

Our family and friends all love Barry. I think everyone has enjoyed watching him grow, though I'm sure my friends are also a little sick of all the Instagram posts I've made about him! He grows so quickly though and being a photographer (an average one at that!) I can't help but take a million photos of him. He's grown into a really nice dog and now at almost seven months old I don't think he's got much more growing to do. He's a sturdy build just like his Dad. Barry's Dad is called Patch and he's a handsome tan and white smooth coat Jack, while Barry's Mum (Honey) is a petite tan and white rough coated Jack Russell. Barry has a lovely smooth coat and is tan and white mostly, but with cute black markings around his eyes. He has a perfectly symmetrical face and I'm sure this is what everyone falls in love with.

 

Starting to grow out of his puppy fat! (15 weeks old)

 

If you read my 'Newbie' post then you'll know that Barry broke his leg four weeks ago :-( He fractured his right femur just above the kneecap; not a bad fracture but not in the best of places. Luckily it has healed well and the limb has stayed fairly straight (there was a worry that he could have a slight bow, common in Terriers), four weeks later and this Monday just gone he had the two pins removed from the leg. The wound is healing nicely (one incision either side of the leg) and it's great to see Barry weight-bearing properly on that leg now. He's desperate for us to throw his tennis ball for him but he's got another week of taking it fairly easy. He's pleased to be back out on walks though and is allowed a 5-10 minute walk on the lead every day. He rolls his eyes at me about the fact he's on the lead (usually always racing ahead of me on a walk and then running back to me to say hello), but hopefully being strict with him over the past few weeks will mean that he won't have any long-term issues with that leg.

 

Barry loves cuddles in bed on a Saturday morning - his weekend treat! (6 months old)

 

The only problem we've come across with Barry is that he hates travelling. We go back to Cambridgeshire to visit Jack's parents every few weeks and onto my parents in Norfolk so the journey can be up to four hours. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a short trip either though, he's nearly always sick in the car and we've tried everything; putting him in different places in the car, ginger biscuits/treats before the journey, he doesn't eat for at least 3 hours before we travel and I've even tried sitting him on my lap only for him to be sick all over me too. We give him lots of fuss and sometimes he'll eventually lie down and settle. He doesn't pant in the car and only tends to shake and cry for the first fifteen minutes of a journey before going quiet and just sitting still. I think he's got a bit of anxiety about being in the car as he seems to travel a lot better when we're on the way home (almost like he knows he's going home). Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated if ever you've had similar problems with your dogs! Our Vet says he'll likely grow out of it and we continue to take him in the car even if it's just a trip to the next village to get him used to lots of car journeys. He's fine as soon as he's out of the car and pleased to see whoever we're visiting.

 

We had a trip to my parent's home in Overstrand, Norfolk back in May and that was Barry's first experience of the beach - he LOVED it! He loves water anyway (he cries to get back in the bath once I've taken him out of the water) and enjoyed chasing a ball across the sand. He soon discovered seawater doesn't taste too nice and thankfully doesn't drink it. We can't wait to go back to the seaside with him again once his leg is completely better and he's built the muscles back up.

 

Playing on Overstrand beach, Norfolk (15 weeks old)

 

To say he's become a member of the family is very appropriate, we can't imagine being without him now and he's great company for us, especially for me if Jack's working late. We love exploring the local Berkshire countryside with him and he provides us with hours of entertainment too! I'm sure he'll feature a lot in my blog posts and I hope you enjoy hearing about his latest adventures.