News Archives: August 2008

Friday, August 15, 2008

Alfie Again

Alfie is an old boy, and that means he comes with a few health problems. The biggest for him is that he's both long-sighted and has cataracts. His vision's pretty good at a distance, but anything close by and he can't focus on it. He'll ignore a treat if you show it to him, but take it (very carefully - he's a gent!) if you hold it so he can smell it. His back legs don't always work, and there's some evidence that he might be half-deaf. Personally, I suspect he's just ignoring us...

This week we've discovered a rather bigger problem for us to deal with. We've been a bit concerned about how much he drinks and pees, and one blood sample and four urine samples later, our vets have reached the conclusion that his kidneys don't work very well. This isn't a major concern quite yet - he's only just reached the point where the problems are noticeable - but we need to manage his diet carefully so that he doesn't get worse any time soon. At the moment, Alfie isn't even aware of the problem, just that he needs to drink regularly. With a bit of care and luck, he may not get any worse. Unfortunately, he won't get any better either - kidneys aren't self-repairing.

Other Alfie news is rather happier. He likes going for walks, and is still young enough to chase a stick or ball (providing you only throw it a few feet), and is much better at bringing them back than the youngsters. Cisco has got used to having Alfie around, and is no longer sulking.

Finally, here's a couple of photos Claire took of Alfie & Tara exploring a flooded ornamental feature in Callendar Park last weekend.

Posted by graham @ 08:44 pm

Friday, August 8, 2008

Alfie

This is Alfie.

He's a small, elderly dog, of unknown parentage. We were told he was a "lurcher-cross", but I suspect that may be because the charity only handles lurchers and greyhounds. Whatever he is, he's now living with us. We collected him from his foster home, just outside Leicester, on Monday morning, and he's settling in well. If you want to come round and met him, let me know.

Zak and Alfie sorted out their relative places in the pack in about five minutes. Zak asked "are you going to challenge my position?" and Alfie said "can't be bothered". Tara took a little longer - she woofed at him a few times, until he woofed back. Tara now knows she can't bully him, and the three dogs are getting along fine.

Cisco is sulking somewhat. Alfie's a little bit curious, but rather more scared. He seems to know that cats have sharp edges. Cisco's okay with a dog that mainly ignores him, but doesn't want Claire and I getting the idea that we can just keep bringing new dogs into the house.

Tuesday, we took all the dogs over to Fife for the Pittenweem art festival. The dogs were a bit unsure why Mum kept vanishing into galleries, but they did enjoy the beach.

Posted by graham @ 09:47 pm

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