I've noticed that Jax is considerably calmer during walks taken at night. Less stimuli? Don't know.
Have been using a Halti on him to give me more control. Applying the halti is a trick. He doesn't like his face handled and resists with his teeth. I hold a treat in my right hand, slip the nose loop over my treat-bearing fingers. As he takes the treat, I slip the loop over his snout. Then maybe a struggle to get it latched behind his ears.
According to Cesar, long walks are supposed to drain his energy, but taking Jax on a long walk only makes him tense. He is so relieved to be indoors again, he goes into ballistic play. How to drain his energy??
Behaving a teeny bit better about us going in and out of the door, and also eating more regularly. Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior recommends a low protein, high carb diet. Read this somewhere else too, dog food should be no more than 21% protein. Hi-protein encourages aggression in dogs.
Pat plays with him on the front lawn, and he's getting more comfortable outside. A little too aggressive during play, sometimes gets too excited and will start jumping up and biting. When that happens I hold the leash firmly and make him sit, then rub him behind the ears until he relaxes. It's like he suddenly turns into a wild fox or coyote and is quite disturbed to be so close to humans, so he starts biting. But he relaxes very quickly when massaged - almost melting into the ground.
Barks himself into a frenzy at the cats.
8/8 Friday Introduction to Mina, 2 year old spayed Lab/Dal mix. She was extraordinarily patient with him.
8/9 Saturday Walk for 45 minutes downtown and back. Saw Pat at Main Street, as soon as Jax recognized he rushed up to him and started snuggling and exposing his belly, tail wagging low. Then Daryl came out and he met Daryl - went okay, not exactly calm, but not so anxious
Sunday 8/10 Went for walk 1 1/2 hours across town to cemetery and back. Jax nervous and pulling the entire time. I think I'm calm. On the way back we encounter 2 small dogs, a corgi puppy and a terrier in their yard - they chase us along the fence yapping madly and Jax is terrified, trying to get away and manages to pull the halti off his nose. (Big advantage of halti over gentle leader halter - the halti has a safety loop that attaches the halter to the collar. So even if the halti slides off, the leash is still connected to the collar.) Anyway, a struggle with a panicky dog trying to put the dreaded halti back on, but managed. Finally reached home, me worn out, Jax relieved and playful and energetic.
Days later it comes to me: being quiet is not the same as being calm. In fact, I was not calm on that walk, I was grim, which is entirely different. I was worrying about all the different problems in my life and feeling anxious myself. Of course it wasn't a fun walk! How could it have been for him? I was all gloomy and angry, even though I was quiet, I'm sure he felt my mood.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Diary of a broken dog: the first week (July 29 - Aug 4, 2008)
7 month old male, neutered border collie
Situationally aggressive: when attempting to close into kennel; handling mouth/neck to apply collar or leash; on being restrained when excited. Will jump, bare teeth, mouth hands, bite hands (and hold teeth on hands with progressively more pressure).
Fearful: of outdoors (just the wide open space?), traffic sounds, other dogs, cats, people jogging, walking, bicycling, talking, wind, rain, thunder. Fearful of being alone in fenced yard. Symptoms exhibited: panting, pulling frantically on leash, cowering.
Indoors hyperactive but cheerful and playful. But rough or excited play incites aggressive, biting behavior.
Easily aroused to hyper-excited state.
Hyperactive: paces and pants continuously, barks excitedly, impulsive, cannot calm self. Cannot ignore external stimuli, when fed cannot pause long enough to eat meal - will take a bite, then dash off to check out noise or some other thing he's anxious about.
Uncertain around people, but if left alone will approach and behave submissively - low tail wag, sit, slouch down to back and expose belly. Enjoys being petted.
---------------------------------------------
First 3 days walks were very stressful. Jax pulled on leash and panted, trying hard to ignore all the sights, sounds, smells around him. Walks did not seem to tire him out physically, even though they must be very mentally challenging. At home he raced toward the door eager to be inside. Indoors he relaxed somewhat and became playful, until he encountered a cat, which terrified him. By the second day he was barking at cats and getting overexcited. Not met dogs yet, but certainly can hear and smell them.
Sleeping in Mary's room. Hard to leave him in room, he leaps to rush out, and will jump up and bite your hand as you attempt to open or close door.
4th day walk: Sniffed some bushes! Progress. He was able to ignore scary stimuli long enough to behave like a real dog. Learning to sit calmly when I stop at curb. Not so noticeably nervous as trucks roar by.
Met woman who knows him - her father used to own him. Dog and I were standing at a curb, he was sitting calmly, just received a treat for calm behavior, when woman pulled up in truck, got out and approached us. Jax sunk to sidewalk flat on his belly, ears drooping, whale-eyed, as she talked to me. When she tried to get close to him to pet him, his lips curled and he snapped the air. Don't know if he remembers her (sight, voice, scent?) or if she was intruding - but change in his posture was dramatic and behavior more extreme than I've seen before when he met the people in our family (he was sweet and submissive to each of us).
Started car trip to Texas - car too small for crate. Jax very excited, dashing back and forth in back seat. Figured he would calm down after an hour or so. Five hours later, still dashing back and forth occasionally barking. Very distracting and aggravating to us humans!
Had to put tags on collar - very mouthy, biting. Finally took collar off, attached tags, then Mary held him by slip leash, while I put collar on - very mouthy, biting.
Moods swing back and forth - from snotty bratty bitey behavior to sweet little puppy and back again.
Day 5
Very afraid of outdoors, new place (Missouri). Difficult to go in and out of door to pack car - he keeps trying to slip out. Eager to get back into car and out of scary outdoors. Somewhat calmer in car - dashing and barking only at cars going north, while southbound cars pass by without him reacting. At rest stops have to drag him out of car, he pees quickly and leaps back into car.
In Texas met 2 new people, my aunt and young cousin. Jax wary. Snout wrinkled when Tristan approached too quickly - I corrected with a gruff no, Jax looked up at me, then rolled onto his side, exposing his belly to me. Later we try again, I tell Tristan the no touch, no talk, no looking at the dog rule (Cesar Millan and Mark German), and this works better. Tristan and I talk, while Jax approaches, sniffs and calms down.
Jax must stay in family room, gets jumpy and mouthy whenever we attempt to leave him in the room.
----------------------------------------
Remember:
Practice makes progress.
Be realistic - don't expect miracles.
Remain calm-assertive at all times.
Work toward a little progress each day - and quit while you're ahead, when the dog has successfully completed an exercise and can be praised for it.
Expect setbacks - don't be discouraged. View setbacks as opportunities to learn.
Be kind to yourself as well as to the dog.
Be patient - it took seven months to get him in this condition, it may take at least that long to recondition him, to modify behavior and develop new neural pathways in his brain.
Be positive.
Situationally aggressive: when attempting to close into kennel; handling mouth/neck to apply collar or leash; on being restrained when excited. Will jump, bare teeth, mouth hands, bite hands (and hold teeth on hands with progressively more pressure).
Fearful: of outdoors (just the wide open space?), traffic sounds, other dogs, cats, people jogging, walking, bicycling, talking, wind, rain, thunder. Fearful of being alone in fenced yard. Symptoms exhibited: panting, pulling frantically on leash, cowering.
Indoors hyperactive but cheerful and playful. But rough or excited play incites aggressive, biting behavior.
Easily aroused to hyper-excited state.
Hyperactive: paces and pants continuously, barks excitedly, impulsive, cannot calm self. Cannot ignore external stimuli, when fed cannot pause long enough to eat meal - will take a bite, then dash off to check out noise or some other thing he's anxious about.
Uncertain around people, but if left alone will approach and behave submissively - low tail wag, sit, slouch down to back and expose belly. Enjoys being petted.
---------------------------------------------
First 3 days walks were very stressful. Jax pulled on leash and panted, trying hard to ignore all the sights, sounds, smells around him. Walks did not seem to tire him out physically, even though they must be very mentally challenging. At home he raced toward the door eager to be inside. Indoors he relaxed somewhat and became playful, until he encountered a cat, which terrified him. By the second day he was barking at cats and getting overexcited. Not met dogs yet, but certainly can hear and smell them.
Sleeping in Mary's room. Hard to leave him in room, he leaps to rush out, and will jump up and bite your hand as you attempt to open or close door.
4th day walk: Sniffed some bushes! Progress. He was able to ignore scary stimuli long enough to behave like a real dog. Learning to sit calmly when I stop at curb. Not so noticeably nervous as trucks roar by.
Met woman who knows him - her father used to own him. Dog and I were standing at a curb, he was sitting calmly, just received a treat for calm behavior, when woman pulled up in truck, got out and approached us. Jax sunk to sidewalk flat on his belly, ears drooping, whale-eyed, as she talked to me. When she tried to get close to him to pet him, his lips curled and he snapped the air. Don't know if he remembers her (sight, voice, scent?) or if she was intruding - but change in his posture was dramatic and behavior more extreme than I've seen before when he met the people in our family (he was sweet and submissive to each of us).
Started car trip to Texas - car too small for crate. Jax very excited, dashing back and forth in back seat. Figured he would calm down after an hour or so. Five hours later, still dashing back and forth occasionally barking. Very distracting and aggravating to us humans!
Had to put tags on collar - very mouthy, biting. Finally took collar off, attached tags, then Mary held him by slip leash, while I put collar on - very mouthy, biting.
Moods swing back and forth - from snotty bratty bitey behavior to sweet little puppy and back again.
Day 5
Very afraid of outdoors, new place (Missouri). Difficult to go in and out of door to pack car - he keeps trying to slip out. Eager to get back into car and out of scary outdoors. Somewhat calmer in car - dashing and barking only at cars going north, while southbound cars pass by without him reacting. At rest stops have to drag him out of car, he pees quickly and leaps back into car.
In Texas met 2 new people, my aunt and young cousin. Jax wary. Snout wrinkled when Tristan approached too quickly - I corrected with a gruff no, Jax looked up at me, then rolled onto his side, exposing his belly to me. Later we try again, I tell Tristan the no touch, no talk, no looking at the dog rule (Cesar Millan and Mark German), and this works better. Tristan and I talk, while Jax approaches, sniffs and calms down.
Jax must stay in family room, gets jumpy and mouthy whenever we attempt to leave him in the room.
----------------------------------------
Remember:
Practice makes progress.
Be realistic - don't expect miracles.
Remain calm-assertive at all times.
Work toward a little progress each day - and quit while you're ahead, when the dog has successfully completed an exercise and can be praised for it.
Expect setbacks - don't be discouraged. View setbacks as opportunities to learn.
Be kind to yourself as well as to the dog.
Be patient - it took seven months to get him in this condition, it may take at least that long to recondition him, to modify behavior and develop new neural pathways in his brain.
Be positive.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Diary of a Broken Dog
Jax is a 7 month old border collie who is a ward of the Poweshiek Animal League Shelter. For most of his life he has lived confined in a crate. His previous owners claim that he is hyperactive. He was adopted once for a very short time, and was returned because of aggression and biting - he attacked a veterinarian who then recommended the dog be euthanized. Because of his bite history he was not accepted into a Border Collie Rescue group. At the PALS shelter he tried to bite at least two of the volunteers.
I didn't know any of this when I met Jax. The dog I met was a very sweet, submissive puppy, whom I had to coax out of his crate. When he finally was brave enough to venture out, he sidled up to me nose down, ears pinned back, with his tail brushing the floor between his legs, and rolled over, exposing his belly. On walks he lunged on the leash, tail down, panting, panicking at every sound, every rustle of a leaf, at the sight of cows, at the other dogs. Occasionally he would stop walking, sit, lean against my leg and point his nose toward my face with the most pleading expression in his eyes. I thought, "this is one scared puppy."
When I learned that Jax might be euthanized, I protested. I was not impressed by the pronouncement that a 7 month old border collie is hyperactive. To me, that's redundant. Border collies are one of the most active breeds of dogs, bred for stamina and agility and energy. One source I read described them as "high voltage." And a 7 month old puppy of almost any breed of canine is going to be active both because it is young and because it is canine. If you don't want an active, energetic pet, then don't buy a young dog. Get a turtle.
Or if you just want something that looks cute, then get a frickin' plush toy, but don't force your unrealistic wants on a living being.
As far as being aggressive - I confess I had only dealt with Jax three or four times, but I hadn't seen anything I'd label aggressive. Mark German, Arizona dog whisperer, told me that people are way too quick to label a dog aggressive, and it's unfair to the dog, because many of them end up dead as a result of one person's erroneous opinion. Dogs that look like they're acting aggressively are often in reality trying to defend themselves because they are afraid, he said, and it's up to humans to correct that behavior, to let the dog know it doesn't need to be afraid, that it can depend on a human pack leader for protection. Shelter dogs don't usually have a pack leader - they live in separate quarters, not in a pack, and I suspect many of them often feel threatened by the situation they're in, so they act out. Jax certainly was living in a state of fear. If he was biting, I wondered, could it be because he is afraid and trying to protect himself? I was told that his biting didn't resemble fear-biting, but was unpredictable and "mean".
I was distressed for this pup. He'd had a rough start and was coping in the only way he knew how, and that coping behavior was leading him toward death. On Tuesday, July 29, I took Jax from the shelter and brought him home. Though my skills and education about rehabilitating a damaged dog are limited, I thought I'd give him a chance.
For the next several posts, this blog will consist of a journal about my experiences working with this dog. May we all learn something, and may Jax learn to be whole again.
I didn't know any of this when I met Jax. The dog I met was a very sweet, submissive puppy, whom I had to coax out of his crate. When he finally was brave enough to venture out, he sidled up to me nose down, ears pinned back, with his tail brushing the floor between his legs, and rolled over, exposing his belly. On walks he lunged on the leash, tail down, panting, panicking at every sound, every rustle of a leaf, at the sight of cows, at the other dogs. Occasionally he would stop walking, sit, lean against my leg and point his nose toward my face with the most pleading expression in his eyes. I thought, "this is one scared puppy."
When I learned that Jax might be euthanized, I protested. I was not impressed by the pronouncement that a 7 month old border collie is hyperactive. To me, that's redundant. Border collies are one of the most active breeds of dogs, bred for stamina and agility and energy. One source I read described them as "high voltage." And a 7 month old puppy of almost any breed of canine is going to be active both because it is young and because it is canine. If you don't want an active, energetic pet, then don't buy a young dog. Get a turtle.
Or if you just want something that looks cute, then get a frickin' plush toy, but don't force your unrealistic wants on a living being.
As far as being aggressive - I confess I had only dealt with Jax three or four times, but I hadn't seen anything I'd label aggressive. Mark German, Arizona dog whisperer, told me that people are way too quick to label a dog aggressive, and it's unfair to the dog, because many of them end up dead as a result of one person's erroneous opinion. Dogs that look like they're acting aggressively are often in reality trying to defend themselves because they are afraid, he said, and it's up to humans to correct that behavior, to let the dog know it doesn't need to be afraid, that it can depend on a human pack leader for protection. Shelter dogs don't usually have a pack leader - they live in separate quarters, not in a pack, and I suspect many of them often feel threatened by the situation they're in, so they act out. Jax certainly was living in a state of fear. If he was biting, I wondered, could it be because he is afraid and trying to protect himself? I was told that his biting didn't resemble fear-biting, but was unpredictable and "mean".
I was distressed for this pup. He'd had a rough start and was coping in the only way he knew how, and that coping behavior was leading him toward death. On Tuesday, July 29, I took Jax from the shelter and brought him home. Though my skills and education about rehabilitating a damaged dog are limited, I thought I'd give him a chance.
For the next several posts, this blog will consist of a journal about my experiences working with this dog. May we all learn something, and may Jax learn to be whole again.
Friday, July 4, 2008
A bucket of kittens
A few weeks ago we offered to foster a litter of five newborn kittens. The animal shelter worker who was caring for them also had several other dependent animals in her care and was feeling overwhelmed. My daughter Catherine had the time and ability and desire to help, so she took the kitties.
For the first few days all seemed to be going well. Catherine loved the kittens and took great pleasure in feeding them, helping them to eliminate and keeping them warm and dry. She successfully transferred them from syringe feeding to bottle feeding. They were so cute, their little round ears twitching as they suckled at the bottle.
But then one of the smaller kittens began to fail. We had trouble feeding him and he cried piteously - this heartbreaking descending wail. His little face was bony, not round and cute. I took him to our vet, who thought he could still make it, and told me to continue to care for him. But he warned me, things could change very quickly. That night the kitty died as I held him in my hands.
By this time the other kittens were experiencing trouble too. They were constantly wet and dirty with feces. It was nearly impossible to keep them clean and dry and warm. One by one they stopped nursing at the bottle. We fed them with syringes, but they did not thrive, they grew weaker, frailer. Within a few days, all the kitties had died.
We were devastated, traumatized. Our little babies suffered and died. Why?
A little backstory: these tiny, fragile, babies were found inside a plastic bucket at the edge of a lake. Who knows how long they had lain in that bucket in the sun? Had somebody planned to drown them in the lake? Lost their nerve or been interrupted? What happened to the mother cat? Is she still alive? Pregnant again? We don't know. But we feel pretty certain that these kittens were treated with hideous disdain for their little lives.
What we've learned. We managed the care of the kittens poorly. People have said, You did your best, you don't need to feel guilty. But we made some very serious mistakes, and those kittens suffered for it. And yes, we do feel guilty, we feel responsible. Here is what we now know, maybe it will help someone in the future.
We already knew about kitten formula and feeding with syringes and bottles. We knew that very young kittens need to be stimulated to eliminate urine and feces (gently wash their genitals with a warm damp cloth). We knew kittens needed to be kept warm, clean and dry.
We had already raised one newborn kitten, and he thrived. But raising one kitten is not the same as raising more than one. Tommy, our bottle kitten, was easy to keep dry and warm.
How to care for motherless newborn kittens
Keep the kittens separate from one another. This is counter-intuitive, but very important to understand. Our motherless kittens were always wet and dirty, which kept them cold - it took us way too long to figure out they were peeing and pooping on each other. We didn't understand how this was happening: if kittens need stimulation to eliminate waste, how were these kittens managing to pee and poop on each other constantly? Kittens, like all mammal babies, have a strong instinct to suckle, and will spend much time suckling on their mother. Motherless kittens who are kept together will suckle on each other - generally on each other's genitals which are nipple-like to the touch. When they suckle on each other's genitals they stimulate elimination, which means they end up peeing and pooping on each other. The kittens will get wet and dirty, then they will get cold. When they get cold, their systems begin to shut down, they lose their energy and strength, they will not suckle properly, they will not digest food properly.
So: Wrap each kitten in a warmed piece of flannel or fleece, tuck it into a small box. Put all the small boxes in a larger box (a styrofoam cooler or other insulated box if you have one). Tuck blankets or towels or quilt batting in between all the small boxes. Loosely cover the big box with a towel or light blanket.
2. Keep the kittens warm. We kept our kittens together, thinking they would keep each other warm. BUT a newborn kitten does not have the ability to keep itself warm, therefore newborn kittens cannot keep each other warm. (And as stated above, if kept together, they will suckle on each other, and make each other wet from urine & feces, which will make them cold.) They depend entirely on external sources to keep warm: a mother cat, a light bulb, a heating pad, a very warm room (90 degrees).
Put the big box with the small individual boxes in a small room - a laundry room, bathroom or closet, and keep that room heated to 90 degrees with a space heater. Or position a desk lamp with a 25 watt bulb over the box. For temporary heat you can also use socks filled with raw rice and heated in the dryer or microwave, and tucked between the boxes. (You can also buy pet beds that contain heating pads.)
3. Feed the kittens a commercial kitten formula like KMR. This is available at most pet stores, Wal-mart or your local veterinary clinic. Dilute the formula by adding about 1/3 water to 2/3 formula. You don't want the formula to be so dense that it causes diarrhea, or so weak that the kittens aren't getting nutrition. You may have to adjust the dilution over a few days until the kittens are eliminating properly. Add a drop of corn syrup or molasses to the formula in the bottle and shake it up. This will help keep the baby from getting constipated. Feed with either a syringe (ask your veterinarian for a couple, usually free) or a baby bottle for pets (available at same place you buy formula). You have to make your own hole in the nipple - this is the most difficult thing to do. Too small and the kitten has to work too hard to get a small amount of food. Too large, and the kitten will choke on the fast flow. Buy a few extra nipples if you can, to experiment. Then you have to practice patience and perseverance as the kitten learns to suckle from the bottle. Once the kitten figures it out, feeding is easy. A healthy kitten will stop eating when it is full - you can tell the kitten has enough formula if it drops off the bottle, its mouth relaxed and almost smiling, it's tummy round and full, and its body relaxed. The kitten will look drunk and happy.
An unhealthy kitten will struggle at the bottle and may never seem to get enough. If necessary, go back to feeding with a syringe. This takes practice!
Feed healthy kittens about every four hours. Weak kittens may need to be fed every two hours.
4. Help the kittens to eliminate waste. After the kitten has eaten enough you must wash its genital area with a warm damp cloth or cotton ball. The kitten will pee and poop. Healthy poop will be soft and mustard yellow. Tiny kittens may experience diarrhea or blood in their stool due to the formula not being perfect like mother's milk. (Occasional diarrhea or blood is not a cause for concern. If the kitten has constant diarrhea or bloody stool, take it to you veterinarian.) Clean and dry the kitten and wrap it up in a warmed piece of flannel and deposit it back into it's little box. If you have extra help, have someone else warm up some flannels in the clothes dryer, so you have them ready as each kitten is done eating.
5. Weigh the kittens. Determine your own schedule, but weigh the kittens at a consistent point at each feeding - either before or after you feed them. Use a small kitchen scale.
Keep a record for each kitten, at least for the first couple of weeks until you know they are thriving. Kittens should gain weight rapidly, and may show weight gain at each feeding. A kitten who is losing weight is in dire trouble.
6. Troubleshooting. Consult your veterinarian for constant diarrhea or bloody stool. If an otherwise healthy kitten is struggling with a bottle, check the size of the hole in the nipple - try different nipples. Eye infections are common in kittens. Gently wipe the the kitten's eyes with cotton balls dipped in saline solution or boric acid solution (in the pharmacy with contact lens solutions). You can also buy eye ointment from your veterinarian.
7. Love. Snuggle the kitten and stroke it gently (as it's mother would lick it). I tucked Tommy inside my bra and carried him around next to my chest. Tommy craved affection, as I'm sure our little motherless litter of kittens would have if we had been able to get past desperately trying to feed and warm them. Tactile stimulation is important, touch, hold, pet, nuzzle.
This is just the basics. For more information:
Raising Orphan Kittens
Orphaned Kittens
Hand raising the orphaned kitten
There are a lot of other websites - just key word "orphaned kittens".
And a book: Hand-raising the orphaned kitten, by Myrna L. Papurt, DVM
To finish up - I think most or all of our kittens would have survived if we had kept them separated from each other - they would have stayed warm and dry and would have eaten better as a result. I can't tell you how awful we feel about this.
For the first few days all seemed to be going well. Catherine loved the kittens and took great pleasure in feeding them, helping them to eliminate and keeping them warm and dry. She successfully transferred them from syringe feeding to bottle feeding. They were so cute, their little round ears twitching as they suckled at the bottle.
But then one of the smaller kittens began to fail. We had trouble feeding him and he cried piteously - this heartbreaking descending wail. His little face was bony, not round and cute. I took him to our vet, who thought he could still make it, and told me to continue to care for him. But he warned me, things could change very quickly. That night the kitty died as I held him in my hands.
By this time the other kittens were experiencing trouble too. They were constantly wet and dirty with feces. It was nearly impossible to keep them clean and dry and warm. One by one they stopped nursing at the bottle. We fed them with syringes, but they did not thrive, they grew weaker, frailer. Within a few days, all the kitties had died.
We were devastated, traumatized. Our little babies suffered and died. Why?
A little backstory: these tiny, fragile, babies were found inside a plastic bucket at the edge of a lake. Who knows how long they had lain in that bucket in the sun? Had somebody planned to drown them in the lake? Lost their nerve or been interrupted? What happened to the mother cat? Is she still alive? Pregnant again? We don't know. But we feel pretty certain that these kittens were treated with hideous disdain for their little lives.
What we've learned. We managed the care of the kittens poorly. People have said, You did your best, you don't need to feel guilty. But we made some very serious mistakes, and those kittens suffered for it. And yes, we do feel guilty, we feel responsible. Here is what we now know, maybe it will help someone in the future.
We already knew about kitten formula and feeding with syringes and bottles. We knew that very young kittens need to be stimulated to eliminate urine and feces (gently wash their genitals with a warm damp cloth). We knew kittens needed to be kept warm, clean and dry.
We had already raised one newborn kitten, and he thrived. But raising one kitten is not the same as raising more than one. Tommy, our bottle kitten, was easy to keep dry and warm.
How to care for motherless newborn kittens
Many, many thanks to my friends at the Ask the Vet Techs and Cat Lovers Group at Care2.com. From these wonderful people I learned so much about handraising orphaned kittens, unfortunately I learned too late to save my babies.
Keep the kittens separate from one another. This is counter-intuitive, but very important to understand. Our motherless kittens were always wet and dirty, which kept them cold - it took us way too long to figure out they were peeing and pooping on each other. We didn't understand how this was happening: if kittens need stimulation to eliminate waste, how were these kittens managing to pee and poop on each other constantly? Kittens, like all mammal babies, have a strong instinct to suckle, and will spend much time suckling on their mother. Motherless kittens who are kept together will suckle on each other - generally on each other's genitals which are nipple-like to the touch. When they suckle on each other's genitals they stimulate elimination, which means they end up peeing and pooping on each other. The kittens will get wet and dirty, then they will get cold. When they get cold, their systems begin to shut down, they lose their energy and strength, they will not suckle properly, they will not digest food properly.
So: Wrap each kitten in a warmed piece of flannel or fleece, tuck it into a small box. Put all the small boxes in a larger box (a styrofoam cooler or other insulated box if you have one). Tuck blankets or towels or quilt batting in between all the small boxes. Loosely cover the big box with a towel or light blanket.
2. Keep the kittens warm. We kept our kittens together, thinking they would keep each other warm. BUT a newborn kitten does not have the ability to keep itself warm, therefore newborn kittens cannot keep each other warm. (And as stated above, if kept together, they will suckle on each other, and make each other wet from urine & feces, which will make them cold.) They depend entirely on external sources to keep warm: a mother cat, a light bulb, a heating pad, a very warm room (90 degrees).
Put the big box with the small individual boxes in a small room - a laundry room, bathroom or closet, and keep that room heated to 90 degrees with a space heater. Or position a desk lamp with a 25 watt bulb over the box. For temporary heat you can also use socks filled with raw rice and heated in the dryer or microwave, and tucked between the boxes. (You can also buy pet beds that contain heating pads.)
3. Feed the kittens a commercial kitten formula like KMR. This is available at most pet stores, Wal-mart or your local veterinary clinic. Dilute the formula by adding about 1/3 water to 2/3 formula. You don't want the formula to be so dense that it causes diarrhea, or so weak that the kittens aren't getting nutrition. You may have to adjust the dilution over a few days until the kittens are eliminating properly. Add a drop of corn syrup or molasses to the formula in the bottle and shake it up. This will help keep the baby from getting constipated. Feed with either a syringe (ask your veterinarian for a couple, usually free) or a baby bottle for pets (available at same place you buy formula). You have to make your own hole in the nipple - this is the most difficult thing to do. Too small and the kitten has to work too hard to get a small amount of food. Too large, and the kitten will choke on the fast flow. Buy a few extra nipples if you can, to experiment. Then you have to practice patience and perseverance as the kitten learns to suckle from the bottle. Once the kitten figures it out, feeding is easy. A healthy kitten will stop eating when it is full - you can tell the kitten has enough formula if it drops off the bottle, its mouth relaxed and almost smiling, it's tummy round and full, and its body relaxed. The kitten will look drunk and happy.
An unhealthy kitten will struggle at the bottle and may never seem to get enough. If necessary, go back to feeding with a syringe. This takes practice!
Feed healthy kittens about every four hours. Weak kittens may need to be fed every two hours.
4. Help the kittens to eliminate waste. After the kitten has eaten enough you must wash its genital area with a warm damp cloth or cotton ball. The kitten will pee and poop. Healthy poop will be soft and mustard yellow. Tiny kittens may experience diarrhea or blood in their stool due to the formula not being perfect like mother's milk. (Occasional diarrhea or blood is not a cause for concern. If the kitten has constant diarrhea or bloody stool, take it to you veterinarian.) Clean and dry the kitten and wrap it up in a warmed piece of flannel and deposit it back into it's little box. If you have extra help, have someone else warm up some flannels in the clothes dryer, so you have them ready as each kitten is done eating.
5. Weigh the kittens. Determine your own schedule, but weigh the kittens at a consistent point at each feeding - either before or after you feed them. Use a small kitchen scale.
Keep a record for each kitten, at least for the first couple of weeks until you know they are thriving. Kittens should gain weight rapidly, and may show weight gain at each feeding. A kitten who is losing weight is in dire trouble.
6. Troubleshooting. Consult your veterinarian for constant diarrhea or bloody stool. If an otherwise healthy kitten is struggling with a bottle, check the size of the hole in the nipple - try different nipples. Eye infections are common in kittens. Gently wipe the the kitten's eyes with cotton balls dipped in saline solution or boric acid solution (in the pharmacy with contact lens solutions). You can also buy eye ointment from your veterinarian.
7. Love. Snuggle the kitten and stroke it gently (as it's mother would lick it). I tucked Tommy inside my bra and carried him around next to my chest. Tommy craved affection, as I'm sure our little motherless litter of kittens would have if we had been able to get past desperately trying to feed and warm them. Tactile stimulation is important, touch, hold, pet, nuzzle.
This is just the basics. For more information:
Raising Orphan Kittens
Orphaned Kittens
Hand raising the orphaned kitten
There are a lot of other websites - just key word "orphaned kittens".
And a book: Hand-raising the orphaned kitten, by Myrna L. Papurt, DVM
To finish up - I think most or all of our kittens would have survived if we had kept them separated from each other - they would have stayed warm and dry and would have eaten better as a result. I can't tell you how awful we feel about this.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Leading cause of death in healthy young dogs and cats
According to the 1996 Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the leading cause of death in healthy young dogs and cats in the U.S. was intentional killing in shelters.
In 1996, 4 million dogs were handled by U.S. shelters, of those 2 million were killed.
4 million cats were killed.
People who choose to work in animal shelters love animals. Imagine the toll on their hearts and spirits when they have to do society's dirty work.
Help prevent these needless deaths.
SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR DOGS AND CATS.
In 1996, 4 million dogs were handled by U.S. shelters, of those 2 million were killed.
4 million cats were killed.
People who choose to work in animal shelters love animals. Imagine the toll on their hearts and spirits when they have to do society's dirty work.
Help prevent these needless deaths.
SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR DOGS AND CATS.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Dog is my copilot
Yesterday I was in a hurry, running late, just needed two items at the grocery store. I rush into the old building with its narrow aisles and am immediately blocked by a very fat, slow, shuffling man.
I danced in place behind him, fuming, anxious, checking the clock above our heads. Finally there was room to squeeze around him and as I did so, I glanced at his face. He was not good looking.
For some reason this annoyed me too. I dashed through the store, picked up my items and headed to the checkout line, only to find this same man in front of me. Aaargh. Slowly, slowly, he fingered through his wallet, found his debit card, slowly, slowly he lingered over the little keypad trying to figure it out. He was friendly to the checker, let her help him. But mostly he was huge and slow and in my way, and as I said, not attractive. Why did that bug me so?
But for some reason, my irrational, critical, judgmental brain noticed it and filed it away as "unworthy person blocking my path".
Finally (finally!), he was done, and shuffled out the door. I paid for my items and hurried out the door. As I reached my car I noticed the man opening his car door. Inside his car, a dog waited. A big yellow labrador, its tail wagging furiously, greeted the man as he climbed laboriously into the seat. A big yellow lab, all smiles and love. The man laughed and stroked the dog's head. The dog's mouth opened in a huge grin.
And my heart softened and all the judgment went out of me.
What the dog noticed about the man is this: he is worthy of being loved.
I danced in place behind him, fuming, anxious, checking the clock above our heads. Finally there was room to squeeze around him and as I did so, I glanced at his face. He was not good looking.
For some reason this annoyed me too. I dashed through the store, picked up my items and headed to the checkout line, only to find this same man in front of me. Aaargh. Slowly, slowly, he fingered through his wallet, found his debit card, slowly, slowly he lingered over the little keypad trying to figure it out. He was friendly to the checker, let her help him. But mostly he was huge and slow and in my way, and as I said, not attractive. Why did that bug me so?
But for some reason, my irrational, critical, judgmental brain noticed it and filed it away as "unworthy person blocking my path".
Finally (finally!), he was done, and shuffled out the door. I paid for my items and hurried out the door. As I reached my car I noticed the man opening his car door. Inside his car, a dog waited. A big yellow labrador, its tail wagging furiously, greeted the man as he climbed laboriously into the seat. A big yellow lab, all smiles and love. The man laughed and stroked the dog's head. The dog's mouth opened in a huge grin.
And my heart softened and all the judgment went out of me.
What the dog noticed about the man is this: he is worthy of being loved.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Bye bye Lulu
So I had to say goodbye to Lulu last week. She got adopted by a good family, I hope.
For the last few months I have been volunteering at our new local animal shelter, and for as long as I have worked there, Lulu has been a resident. She was in foster care before the shelter building opened in the fall, and she's only 11 months old. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her, her beautiful red and white markings, her long floppy, silky ears, her lithe, bouncy body and her sweet nature.
Lulu is an English coonhound and she is beautiful. None of her pictures really captured her eager, friendly, bright spirit. I could never understand why she lingered so long in the shelter. Hunters didn't want her because she'd been spayed. "If the dog's a good hunter, you want to breed it," they said. Families didn't want her because she's a hound dog, and apparently hounds don't make good pets..?
Well, finally someone did want her, and he wanted her so much that he drove over a hundred miles to get her - okay so that doesn't sound like a lot, but he drove the miles the day after a blizzard, in which travel was not advised. The 2+ hour trip took about 4 hours. Nasty, icy, slippery, snow covered, ground blizzards, cars and trucks in the ditch type travel. For a dog. So that's a comfort to me. He really wanted this dog. My Lulu.
So I am happy for Lulu, but also a little sad for me. If I hadn't already had 6 dogs, I would have seriously considered adding Lulu to my family. There was just something about her that went straight to my heart. Now when I drive out to the shelter, and I see the dogs bouncing around in their kennels and my eyes immediately start to search for that little red and white, floppy-eared form, I have to stop and remind myself: she's not there. She's home now. She's home.
Bye bye Lulu. Be a good girl and have a wonderful life.
(be sure to click the link on Lulu's name, and watch the video of this happy girl.)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Vomiterrier
One of the lovely things about mutts is that you can make up breed names for them. Yogi, formerly known as the Boxspringer (Boxer/Springer Spaniel mix), has become the Vomiterrier.
Dogs barf. This is pretty common behavior for dogs, probably because dogs are eager to put pretty much anything into their mouths. (Occasionally when a dog vomits, it's because he is actually ill or poisoned, as we learned to our dismay a few years ago, and lost one of our dogs.)
Yogi is the champion of putting bizarre things into his mouth, getting a tummy upset, and then trying to quell his nausea by, are you ready? - licking the carpet. Lick, lick, lick, lick. He will also lick upholstery. He cannot be stopped in his licking. Eventually, he vomits. Sometimes, he vomits while people are awake and can take instant action to remove him from the interior of the house. But usually, he waits until the wee hours of the morning, and then ...
Well, if you're lucky, he's not in the bed beside you. I have not been very lucky in this regard.
Or, you stumble around in the morning in stocking feet and - squash- step into something.
That something is often an incredible and unusual collection of really weird stuff that Yogi has managed to ingest. Dogs are just pretty damn weird, not unlike sharks in their ingestion habits.
If it fits, it's in. If it doesn't fit, I'll just chew it up into small enough pieces until it does fit. Plastic toys and cups, stockings, blankets, beanie babies, leather, plants, rugs, cardboard, rope, crayons, markers, pencils, pens, wooden and plastic spoons, well, the list is endless.
So for now, when we see Yogi licking the carpet, he's off to the basement for the night. Actually,
he's off to the top of the stairs next to the basement door to cry and whimper and whine all night. Except when he's licking the basement floor or vomiting.
Dogs barf. This is pretty common behavior for dogs, probably because dogs are eager to put pretty much anything into their mouths. (Occasionally when a dog vomits, it's because he is actually ill or poisoned, as we learned to our dismay a few years ago, and lost one of our dogs.)
Yogi is the champion of putting bizarre things into his mouth, getting a tummy upset, and then trying to quell his nausea by, are you ready? - licking the carpet. Lick, lick, lick, lick. He will also lick upholstery. He cannot be stopped in his licking. Eventually, he vomits. Sometimes, he vomits while people are awake and can take instant action to remove him from the interior of the house. But usually, he waits until the wee hours of the morning, and then ...
Well, if you're lucky, he's not in the bed beside you. I have not been very lucky in this regard.
Or, you stumble around in the morning in stocking feet and - squash- step into something.
That something is often an incredible and unusual collection of really weird stuff that Yogi has managed to ingest. Dogs are just pretty damn weird, not unlike sharks in their ingestion habits.
If it fits, it's in. If it doesn't fit, I'll just chew it up into small enough pieces until it does fit. Plastic toys and cups, stockings, blankets, beanie babies, leather, plants, rugs, cardboard, rope, crayons, markers, pencils, pens, wooden and plastic spoons, well, the list is endless.
So for now, when we see Yogi licking the carpet, he's off to the basement for the night. Actually,
he's off to the top of the stairs next to the basement door to cry and whimper and whine all night. Except when he's licking the basement floor or vomiting.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
The Dog's Mind, by Bruce Fogle, DVM
So I'm doing everything wrong. I read about dog-on-dog aggression in Bruce Fogle's book, "A Dog's Mind" last night and catering to the submissive dog is a big No-No. Well, I suspected that, but it's so hard to overcome my soft-hearted human impulses.
So for now:
This is supposed to help re-establish the heirarchy, with me as pack leader
I need to always remember that dogs are dogs, they are not human children, and even though my dogs live in America, they are not "free". They live in Dog World, and it's not a democracy.
So for now:
- no squeaky talk - dogs think you're a puppy, and low in the heirarchy
- speak in a soft, low, authoritative voice
- no greeting them when I come home - ignore them until they calm down - the human initiates the contact
- greet the dominant dog first - commanding officer to subordinate officer, leave the NCOs and privates till later (I'm a military brat)
- make them work for their affection - sit, down, stay
This is supposed to help re-establish the heirarchy, with me as pack leader
I need to always remember that dogs are dogs, they are not human children, and even though my dogs live in America, they are not "free". They live in Dog World, and it's not a democracy.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Peering into Dog World
For the last few months we've had a problem with our dogs. We always have little problems, but this is a big problem. Fighting.
Beau, our big 90 lb. black lab, attacks the other dogs. Mainly, he attacks Tipper, but he has attacked each of them one time or another. But when he attacks Tipper, he is ferocious and wild. Beau lunges and knocks Tipper down, Tipper shrieking in fear, Beau's jaws around Tipper's neck. Often Rocky and REO will jump in and attack Tipper too. The dogs are all in such a state of arousal, that we humans are nothing to them, we don't exist. And Beau won't quit. It's not enough to knock Tipper down - Beau acts like he wants to kill him.
Tipper is the oddball, the social outcast. I cannot decipher why - it's a different culture and language - in Dog World. The other dogs have never liked Tipper. Sometimes when they are playing, he gets excited and forgets himself. He dashes to them and does a play-bow, then the others stop playing and stare at him, "Who invited you?" It's painful to watch. He's the weird kid on the playground, and he tries so hard to fit in. But my human feelings can't transform the other dogs. "Come on guys, play nice!" Dog rule may be fair in its canine way, but it's not the Golden Rule.
But generally the other dogs don't attack him. They just ignore him. Except for Beau. Beau hates Tipper. A human word, but it's the only way to describe what I witness. It's possible that Beau is jealous of Tipper - because I feel sorry for Tipper and I play with him when the other dogs won't. I give him attention, I tell him he's a good boy, even if the other dogs don't like him. I feel sorry for him. And there's Beau, watching this - trying to figure out why I don't get it, why is the human fussing over this dog-retard? In Dog World it doesn't make sense. On the other hand, I am supposed to be the leader of this pack. Beau's behavior makes me feel like he doesn't believe I'm the boss. Doesn't the leader decide who's worthy and who's not?
We have talked about "getting rid of" Tipper, or "getting rid of" Beau - both should probably be in one-dog households. But what does "getting rid of" mean? Finding a new home for each of them? I volunteer at a shelter - there are not enough people who want homeless dogs. How can I add two more? Our shelter is full of very nice dogs that nobody seems to want.
Just thinking about this is giving me a headache. I have to figure this out. I have to go read some Cesar Millan now.
Beau, our big 90 lb. black lab, attacks the other dogs. Mainly, he attacks Tipper, but he has attacked each of them one time or another. But when he attacks Tipper, he is ferocious and wild. Beau lunges and knocks Tipper down, Tipper shrieking in fear, Beau's jaws around Tipper's neck. Often Rocky and REO will jump in and attack Tipper too. The dogs are all in such a state of arousal, that we humans are nothing to them, we don't exist. And Beau won't quit. It's not enough to knock Tipper down - Beau acts like he wants to kill him.
Tipper is the oddball, the social outcast. I cannot decipher why - it's a different culture and language - in Dog World. The other dogs have never liked Tipper. Sometimes when they are playing, he gets excited and forgets himself. He dashes to them and does a play-bow, then the others stop playing and stare at him, "Who invited you?" It's painful to watch. He's the weird kid on the playground, and he tries so hard to fit in. But my human feelings can't transform the other dogs. "Come on guys, play nice!" Dog rule may be fair in its canine way, but it's not the Golden Rule.
But generally the other dogs don't attack him. They just ignore him. Except for Beau. Beau hates Tipper. A human word, but it's the only way to describe what I witness. It's possible that Beau is jealous of Tipper - because I feel sorry for Tipper and I play with him when the other dogs won't. I give him attention, I tell him he's a good boy, even if the other dogs don't like him. I feel sorry for him. And there's Beau, watching this - trying to figure out why I don't get it, why is the human fussing over this dog-retard? In Dog World it doesn't make sense. On the other hand, I am supposed to be the leader of this pack. Beau's behavior makes me feel like he doesn't believe I'm the boss. Doesn't the leader decide who's worthy and who's not?
We have talked about "getting rid of" Tipper, or "getting rid of" Beau - both should probably be in one-dog households. But what does "getting rid of" mean? Finding a new home for each of them? I volunteer at a shelter - there are not enough people who want homeless dogs. How can I add two more? Our shelter is full of very nice dogs that nobody seems to want.
Just thinking about this is giving me a headache. I have to figure this out. I have to go read some Cesar Millan now.
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