It’s similar to the look he gives me when I go out to get something from the car and I leave him indoors. He goes upstairs to the window overlooking where I park and glares at me disapprovingly and indignantly, in much the same way as Nora Batty used to do to Compo in Last of the Summer Wine. And, appropriately, enough, his mum’s KC name is “Oakfell Nora Batty”. My neighbours think it’s hilarious
I keep my dogs well away from any badger set. Ferocious defenders with impressive claws and teeth… yikes…
Yeah tough blighters badgers - evidently they can dig through chalk I was over the fields with the last dog we had, 'ol Knobby Nelson, where during the winter he'd mostly disappear into the dark. This time I heard some vague quiet grunting, growling & such and after scanning round with the torch there he was standing astride a badger.... Oh good lord.... he was doing his usual stella boy dog posturing which the badger obviously didn't understand. Oh shit... if this kicks off what the chuff do you do... so I just gave him a sharp recall and he came back to me. If the truth be known I'm not entirely sure he had a clue what he should do and was grateful for me making the decision for him. And here he is in his glory days - still miss him....
That's great to see @Zhed46 about your doggo, just read through the posts Update on this cat.. old Facebook revealed its a she, at least 10+ years old, always friendly looking for food, and supposedly belongs to one of our neighbours who's garden backs onto ours. Funny enough the Facebook chat turned into an argument and was deleted Anyhow.. Can't afford to take the cat to the vets but we suspect she's not in the best of health. I'll see what I can and can't do for her Installed a cat flap which she used happily to get in and out of the garage, and has been sleeping in there on a chair during the nights. Currently though...
You know what? I’ve never actually seen a live badger despite the fact they live all around me. This summer I’m determined to do a few night walks just to spot one of the elusive buggers!
Flat is the word that comes to my mind... they seem to hunker down low to the ground and are surprisingly big. Sortov like a jacket thrown on the floor. But like most animals fighting is a last resort. Whatever you do don't encourage them into the garden cus if they build a sett you can't (legally) evict them. And your house will halve in value. Always tickles me the present fashion for Dachshunds - they were bred to chase out badgers from their dens and many still retain the mindset required to do that. Be wary of wiggling your toes in front of a Dachs
I had a badger build a sett in the garden of my last place. A hole with a load of excavated dirt suddenly appeared next to a lean to shed overnight, so I put a very heavy cast iron grate over the hole to stop Mr Badger being able to get into the garden, mainly because Iggy will fight anything but I didn't fancy his chances against a wild animal armed with lethal 4" claws. It seemed to do the trick because it sett up shop (see what I did there?) in my neighbour's garden instead
perhaps better get your coat... We also had trouble with badgers digging big holes to get under fences, smaller holes to look for bulbs & worms and even smaller holes as toilets. They can be deterred by scent marking but only with urine from complete males. Either canine or human.... and I can vouch for the latter And they can destroy a garden.
Sadly, Iggy is being re-admitted to hospital as his neurological symptoms started to return. He's likely to be in for a day or two while they try more intensive medication, which most likely means he'll be having the Lactulose injected up his bum rather than into his mouth once again. He's still eating to beat the band and I've managed to get him started on his special (and eye-wateringly expensive) kibble. Thankfully he hasn't turned his nose up at it, which is unusual.
Thanks everyone. As per s.1(1) of Sod’s Law, as soon as we got to the hospital and there were interesting smells to smell, humans to make friends with and dogs to bark at, he started being extremely boisterous and normal. Then during the consultation he was jumping up at and licking the vet and the nurses and generally acting like the cocker spaniel of chaos who we know and love, so they sent him home with more lactulose at an increased dose and advice to cut the fish from his diet as that’s probably what’s causing it. He seems a bit better this morning - no head pressing or standing in corners and his balance seems to be slightly improved. He hurt himself yesterday because his preferred way of getting down the stairs, which have a 90 degree turn near the bottom, is to basically take a running leap from the top step, maybe touch down once or twice with his front paws only and then land on and use his back feet to push off hard from one of the bottom steps at right angles in order to make the turn. It’s kind of like parkour. Unfortunately though, with his equilibrium being a bit pissed, he just leapt off the top step, but didn’t touch any of the other steps and landed in a heap near the bottom. Thankfully, his headlong plummet down the stairs passed without incident or injury this morning.
The vet recommended replacing the fish with soy and cottage cheese, which is fortuitous as Iggy would sell his spaniel soul for a single edamame bean. Happy days!
On the other note, I have garden badgers every night. No sett fortunately but there will lots of weeing in the garden now by me and my lad.
What’s fish got to do with his ailments? @Zhed46 Mine have at least a tin of mackerel or sardines a week. Aren’t the omega oils etc supposed to be good for them?
See if you can concentrate it around where you think they maybe gaining access. I used to err... decant into a bottle throughout the day which helped it to, ahem.. age
Due to the extra blood vessel which is bypassing his liver, his blood isn’t being detoxified anywhere near as effectively as a normal dogs would be. Hence, he needs to eat protein which is more bioavailable and easy to metabolise completely, so it doesn’t result in so much ammonia as a byproduct. Soy, eggs and dairy are the most appropriate, then white fish, followed by chicken, with meats such as beef, lamb, pork and duck to be avoided altogether because not only do their proteins result in a lot of ammonia production, they also contain a lot of copper, which can cause serious issues for dogs with weak liver function. He refused to eat for all the time he was in ICU, had lost a lot of weight and was very weak. He wasn’t really ready to be discharged but the vet thought his refusal to eat (combined with constant barking that was wearing him out) was due to separation anxiety more than anything, so she decided that on balance, it was better for him to be at home with me in order to get him eating again. In the end, I had to get down on the floor with him and feed him by hand for the first couple of days back at home. As for his diet - the vet said it was worth the risk of feeding him white fish (which he loves) as it’s relatively easy to digest, in order to get some weight back on him, rather than trying to transition him onto a specialist hepatic formula kibble straight away, which he’d probably turn his nose up at. However, it seems he’s even struggling to metabolise those proteins, so although he’s still going to have some fish mixed with the kibble, I’m cutting back on the amount. He’s having 5ml of lactulose 4 times per day as that helps with blocking ammonia reabsorption in the gut. He also had a course of antibiotics, not because of any infection, but because it kills the gut bacteria which produce ammonia. While typing this message I’ve been sent the appointment for his pre-op scan (21st May), followed (all being well) by surgery the next day.
