PAWS FOR THOUGHT

We would like to remember those that have passed through our doors and made us happy for that precious moment that they were with us.

RHONA Although Rhona, of course, was not an animal and nor did she have paws; I still wanted her to be remembered by everyone on this page.  Rhona was my very good friend and colleague who sadly died on May 1^st 2005 after a short and sudden battle with cancer. Taken from us too early she was a true animal lover and gave her heart and soul to the welfare of animals, especially cats.  Rhona was the one that would always be there to take in the tiny kittens.  She would sit and feed them two hourly through the night and make them survive.  She was their mother for as long as they needed her.  I would sometimes go with Rhona on cat trapping expeditions and Rhona also often accompanied me on dog rescues.  Our last dog rescue together was for Susie the dog from Meia Praia beach and her 7 puppies. My first cat rescue alone without her was for Roma the Siamese X and her 3 kittens. Roma was named after Rhona, and Rhona was there with me that day as I tried to rescue her from the side of the 125 in Lagos. Many people miss Rhona and all she did for cats, I especially miss our outings together and our chats.  She was known as “Catwoman” by some, but to all she was a dear friend. Never forgotten - forever remembered.

SWEET PASHA died today (18/10/06). She was booked to be spayed at the veterinary clinic and to have all tests done, such as heartworm, Leishmianosis and to have her first vaccinations because she had found a home. Sarah Lang from “Animais sem Futuro” had put Pasha on her website that is in German, and read by many German people. Some friends of Sarah’s had seen Pasha on the website and fell in love with her and wanted her. Even without seeing her in person. We were so pleased. Today she was going to have everything done so that she was ready to travel back to Germany with her new family.

 Pasha was sedated and the operation began. It became obvious that all was not well with her once they opened her. She only had one ovary and was suffering inwardly (because outwardly she showed absolutely no signs whatsoever of illness) of a pyometra (an infection of the uterus which if not operated on, can kill a dog). She then began with breathing problems and the vets could not save her. She died on the table. The vets checked to see what else could have been wrong with her for her to die in such a way. They discovered a hernia. Her liver and her intestines had become meshed together and were in her diaphragm. They couldn’t believe she had lived with me for a month and had shown no signs of illness. Neither could I. The vet believes it was probably as a result of an accident, and that would tally with the fact that she had no back paws that seem not to have had any veterinary intervention when she lost them.

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MR. BAGGINS was a sad state of a poodle when he was found near Falfeira in Lagos.  His fur was matted and what wasn’t matted was missing.  He had a large bald patch on his backend due to a flea allergy.  He was a dirty grey when I picked him up.  When he had a bath he was white.  He was such a lovely character and spent a short time with us.  He was castrated and vaccinated and we were actively looking for a new home for him when tragedy struck.  It was totally my fault that this little dog lost his life, human error on my part.  Baggins had been very keen on keeping company with our large Boxer dog and had once got into his pen because of a faulty gate lock.  Instead of me sorting the problem out immediately, I delayed it.  The next time he managed to squeeze his way in to the pen was his last.  The Boxer attacked him, because of Baggins’ “amour”, and being at least 4 times his size managed to fatally injure him.  He died the next day of his injuries despite immediate veterinary intervention.  Some might call me stupid for including this story on my own web page as it doesn’t place me in a good light.  I say I own up to my mistakes and hope never to repeat them and Mr Baggins had to be remembered.

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    LADRAO was a young male dog living with his sister and mother on the land next to our house in Odiaxere.  They were never allowed into their owner’s house and lived in the garden.  The owner sold the house and moved away to smaller premises, taking only the mother and sister of Ladrao.  He moved onto our terrace and slept in his bed there.  A visit to the vet diagnosed heartworm.  The Hope Fund paid for this treatment and once that was done, he was castrated.  He lived happily on the terrace for a while until builders moved onto his old territory.  Then he spent most of the day there and the night with us.

One week I noticed that Ladrao was not himself and he kept losing his balance and was very lethargic.  The vet thought he may have tick fever and prescribed tablets.  This didn’t work.   Back to the vet we went and because of his breathing problem an x-ray was taken.  This showed he had an enlarged heart and was in some trouble.  Again he was prescribed tablets but this time for his heart. 

We had come to the conclusion that he had been severely kicked or hit.  On the first night after diagnosis I decided to keep Ladrao in the pen so that he could receive all his medication.  It was at 6am on a Sunday morning that our 3 year old daughter, who had become a close friend to Ladrao, cried out “NO!” in her sleep.  She didn’t wake but her cry woke me.  I heard a long, low cry from the pen and ran to the garden.  Ladrao was standing there, just looking at me through the fence.  I ran over to him and put my arms around his stomach and neck to support him, as I did this he collapsed into my arms and died.   It was so quick, and I believe that our daughter, Saskia, knew it was about to happen and alerted me.  He was the most affectionate dog who loved children and did nothing to harm anyone.  I am glad that he spent his short time with us and had not been killed in the dog pound as was originally suggested by the owner.

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    BONNY was found in Chinicato, just outside of Lagos, with her son, who we at the vet clinic named Clyde.  What else?  Clyde was homed very quickly being a young purebred Pedegueira.  Bonny, although a Pedegueira herself was not so young.  Both dogs arrived as skin and bone and covered in ticks.  They also both had heartworm.  They ate as if they had never seen food before and we had to limit the amount of food at each sitting and three times as often.  Both were treated for heartworm but Bonny’s treatment took twice as long because we had to give half as much each time and spread the treatment out or her body would not have coped.  Poor Bonny also had some other disabilities. One of her back legs had been caught in a snare leaving it severely scarred and the toes twisted.  One of her front legs had been broken and on healing had become stiff and fixed in an unnatural pose.  This made her hop when she walked.  Bonny was kept at the vet clinic for several months and hardly ever got out.  One Saturday I decided to take her to lunch at the beach with us.  She came home with us and never went back to her cage.  One of the reasons we took Bonny was on the advice of our vet, Jeff Allen of Lagos.  He told us that she might live another 6 months if she was lucky.  Well, Bonny was more than lucky – she got 7 years!  We had decided to give her a happy 6 months.  That was August 1999.  In February of this year, 2006, Bonny was finally put to sleep at home.  She must have been over 16 years old.   I know that Bonny had a good life right up to the end.  Bonny can also be seen at the top of each page on this website, sitting with me on the step outside the old vet clinic.

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    ROMEO was my baby. He was found on the streets of Bemposta, a suburb of Portimao in March 1992 along with his friend Zico, who is still with us!  They had belonged to builders that left them one day and went to work in Lagoa.  Romeo and Zico had nowhere to go and one stormy, wet night took shelter on our ground floor balcony.  There they stayed and we looked after them.  In the beginning, if I even raised a hand to wave to someone, Romeo would be down on his back, legs in the air, waiting to be beaten!  He was so submissive. (Zico was even worse! I had to throw food towards him before he would even eat! He’s fine now though!)  Romeo soon became part of the family and we took him and Zico on permanently.  During my 10 months alone in our bar I would drive from Lagos to Portimao with Romeo by my side.  He would spend the whole night in the bar with me, protecting me.  He was big and black and certain people were afraid of him.  Of course, I knew he wouldn’t hurt a fly and was a big soft baby but I didn’t tell certain clients that!  Romeo was always a gentle soul and even in his last year, when he grew a large ball size tumour in his mouth, he never grumbled or got grouchy with anyone.  He ate until the last couple of days with no pain and was always happy and wagging his tail.  He was put to sleep at home, in my arms, in September 2005 almost age 15.  Loyal to the end, he was a true friend.

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    TIGI was a very young pup found on the central reservation of the A22 in August 2004 by Makima and her daughter, Kira..  Makima had called in a panic and asked me to meet her on the motorway.  In the heat of that August we raced to find the two puppies that had, by the time I arrived, moved off the central reservation to undergrowth by the side of the motorway.  We searched high and low for over an hour and only managed to find one.  We called her, Tigi because she had stripes and was reminiscent of a vicious tiger.  There was never another sign of her sister despite Makima’s further efforts to look for her.  Tigi was terrified and was a biting machine and tried to keep her distance.  The only one that could get near to her easily was Saskia, our daughter.  However, Tigi soon calmed down and became a respectable little girl.  When she was fully vaccinated she was sent to Germany via Silke and rehomed very quickly with people that adored her, a young couple that sent photos of her to me.  Shortly after she had settled with them I received a message from Silke to say that the people had come down one morning to find Tigi dead in her bed.  They were devastated and no one ever knew what happened.  All I can say is that she was happy for a short time in Germany and hadn’t been killed on a motorway in Portugal at a young age.

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