A cat called Nelson

A CAT CALLED NELSIN
She was born in the garage of our company some time over the Christmas break, I only saw he when I got back from leave and she must have been about 5 weeks old, she had 3 siblings a black a black and white and a lovely Tabby. I started to feed them, and then I decided to take these totally wild kittens home. It took a few days to plan their capture and then one at a time I managed to get three of the kittens. I took them home and placed then in a holding cage, I had the black we now call Nelsin, the black and white and the tabby, after 2 weeks I let them out hoping they would settle down, but not to be the black and white made a run for it, the Tabby vanished but Nelsin settled down slowly. A week later I found the Tabby behind the fish tank and she was jus learning that humans would not hurt he when she got out of my bedroom window and was sadly killed by my Dobermans. But this story is about Nelsin, whom was at first called Nelson because she is so black with yellow eyes and we thought she was a male. But after being with us for 11 weeks we knew she was a female. The first six weeks with us were pure hell for her as well as us. She screamed for her food, peed on the bed, and then one day she was gone, I could not find her anywhere. This was the day that the tabby died. Well I thought I only had them for 6 weeks, I should never have taken them away from their original home. One of my Chows had recently passed away suddenly after been bitten by a snake, and I went to her grave and spoke to her. "Nickie" I said, "Please help me to find Nelsin, send your sprit back and find the kitten for me" I stood at her grave for a while and then left. It was while I was getting supper that evening when I heard the meow of a kitten; it was dark so I took the torch to look for her. I eventually saw her walking up the drive with mo other cat speckles, a Maine coon, my prayer to Nickie ha been answered. Nelsin was very hungry and was only too happy to be home. Nelsin is now home bound and has grown into a lovely pitch-black cat and has been a mother herself a couple of times. She still screams at me when she thinks its supper time, she loves to watch the fish in the fish tank, and often sits and watches T.V. she is a gentle cat with a lovely nature. And She loved speckles and would sleep curled up with him between his paws. I trust that Nelsin will have a long and happy life with us, and her other cat friends.

Tidbits

TIDBITS
These are two little stories told to me by my Vet.
THE GREAT DANE AND THE SOCKS.
Sadie the Great Dane loved playing with the washing and in particular socks. One morning her mistress phoned the Vet, "Charles" she said, "Sadie has just vomited up 3 socks", bring her in to the surgery and I look her over " he said. At the surgery she promptly vomited up another sock, "Well " Said Charles "everything in pairs' He sent her home on antibiotics to ward off any infection the socks might have caused. But alas all was not well, the following morning, Sadie was even worse, not eating and not passing any stools, back to the Vet. Charles decided to X-ray the Great Dane, and got trapped, the only cure was to open her up and remove the offending object there it was another sock stuck in her mall intestine, it had passed through the stomach. This was done, and Sadie was once again a happy Great Dane no worse for wear. All the socks in the house are now kept well out of the way. Let this little story be a lesson to all, don't let the dog play with your smalls, it might just turn out to be more costly then buying a pair of socks.
PIP AND THE CHAMELEON
Pip was a Toy Pom puppy, therefore she was still very small, as you can imagine. Her owner also had a pet chameleon, but the day the Pom and the Chameleon met is to be remembered by many especially the Vet for a long time.
The vet "Charles" received a frantic call one morning " My toy Pom puppy has swallowed my pet chameleon, what can I do. I can see the Chameleon wriggling in his tummy". Well holding back his laughter Charles said to wait and see, as the chameleon would surly die and the puppy would pass in a stool in a day or two. Well an hour later another frantic phone call. The Toy Pom puppy had vomited up the Chameleon, What could she do for it, as it was still alive. Charles of course suggested bringing both the puppy and the Chameleon to the surgery. Pip the Pom passed a clean bill of health and the Chameleon was given a wash and survived to continue his creepy crawly life, well out of the way of the Toy Pom puppy.

Eclampsia

ECLAMPSIA
Candy, my little Maltese, was 60 days into her pregnancy, it had been a good pregnancy, and I could feel her puppies moving quite vigorously. On the Saturday 2nd November, she seemed to suddenly quieten down, she would not eat, or drink and her temperature was 38.5. Rather strange behaviour, but I thought it best to leave her to se what progressed. By the time I went to bed she was still lying next to me, breathing gently, and although she appeared to be in a deep sleep, she was not agitated.
At 2.20am I was woken up by a terrible scream, she was swaying her head from side to side, the fit only lasted a few seconds, and she then settled down to sleep again, an hour later she had the second fit. Oh my god I thought this is Eclampsia, I knew that it was imperative that I get calcium into her blood stream, and not having calcium injections, I missed a spoon of Cal sup into half a cup of water and syringed this into her mouth, she swallowed it all and again fell asleep, at 4 am she had another fit, but not as bad as the first two. I again gave her the cal sup mixture and again she settled down to sleep. But she was still not right, as she slept her head was in a thrown back position and her back legs were stiff, there were no contractions at this time. At 6am she started to have slight pushing contractions and these carried on for almost 2 hours. She still appeared to be in a comatose state. At 8.15am she gave birth to her first puppy, I revived the puppy and offered it to her but she was not interested in it at all.
As our Vet only opened at 9am, we took her over and waited for him. When he arrived I explained to him her condition, and he agreed with as to the trouble. While examining her before and X-ray was taken, she screamed again and then gave birth to her 2nd puppy. Once the Vet had taken the X-rays in which we could see another 5 puppies still to come, He put her on a drip, of glucose, into which he injected Calcium gluconate, and Oxytocin. During the day she recovered enough to take interest in her puppies and delivered another 4 healthy puppies, but by 4pm she still had not give birth to the 7th one, it was then decided to do a caesarean Section, and to spay her at the same time, due to a malfunction which showed up on her heart in the X-ray.
The 7th puppy was very weak but alive, and was put into the incubator with the others. Candy was then allowed home with her puppies.
These were fed by tube every 2 hours while their mother slept. This morning they all appeared well and candy was much better, although still very weak, she had started to take note of her babies, and was cleaning them. They were put to her teats and allowed to suck. I gave them a tube feed before I left for work. Knowing that my son would watch over them during the day and if anything went wrong, he would take them to the vet.
Eclampsia is a lack of Calcium in the Blood, which can lead to fits, coma and death, this usually occurs in small and medium bitches, but can affect any bitch, either before or even after whelping. It is not very common but is very dangerous, when it does occur. Emergency treatment must be sort after as soon as possible.
Post script: 4.7.2004
A week ago my little maltese bitch Roxy gave birth to 5 lovely puppies, but tonight things started to go horribly wrong, she became very restless and would not attend to her puppies refusing to go near them or feed them, she would not eat of drink and her gums and tongue went a bright color red, immediately this started to happen instead of panicking I started to give her Cal Phos tablets 2 every 10minutes I gave her a rescue tablet as well, When she started to pant and breathe rather to quickly for my liking, I made strong black coffee and put a lot of sugar into it, this I feed her with a syringe into her mouth and she was able to swollow it with no problems, I wraped her in a cold damp towel to bring her temperature down which helped dramatically, there was almost an immediate response for the better in her condition. Her Eclampsia started at about 10pm and with out a car I was unable to get her to an emergency hospital, I kept up the treatment until 4am in the morning, when she started to breathe easier and settled down with her puppies, as her heart beat slowed to a normal rate, and she looked more comfortable, she eventually went to sleep, exhausted but breathing normally and temperature normal. During the day I continued to give her 2 Cal Phos tablets every 2 hours, and that evening she ate all her food as well as a bowl of milk and then a plate of scrambled egg. To day I gave her a Niacin tablet which contains 234 mg of Calcium phosphate,100 mg Niacin,8mg Vegetable Steanic Acid, 4mg Vegetable Cellulose, she has recovered and is eating well and feeding her puppies. Yes I took her life into my hands, and with the help of her protector she is much better and is her loving self again.

The horrors of the infared lamp

Melushka looking for the cats

THE HORRORS OF THE INFRARED LAMP
In May a few years ago, my Bitch Meltari Chrystal Gazer was expecting a litter from Meltari blue Denim. The weather was turning cooler and my heating pad I had used for years had finally packed up. All the books I have on puppy rearing suggest the use of the infrared lamp, saying this was the best way of keeping young puppies warm, so instead of buying another heating pad, I bought an infrared lamp from the chemist.

My bitch's litter of nine puppies were born but two died soon after birth. The rest survived and were kept warm under the infrared lamp. No, unknown to me, I sued a medicated infrared lamp, not knowing at the time you could buy a special lamp for keeping puppies or chickens warm. I left the lamp on all night and turned it on periodically during the day when the weather turned chilly - never knowing the damage I was causing my lovely puppies and their mother.
My puppies thrived and grew and soon their eyes were open. All of them had bright blue eyes and as they grew the blue did not fade away very much. Only two puppies' eyes eventually turned brown at six weeks of age. I took my bitch puppy Meltari Melushka to the vet and on careful examination he pronounced her blind in both eyes. The corneas were badly damaged and he suggested I put her down and it was possibly a genetic disability.
Well I went through my puppy's pedigrees to try to trace this blindness but all dogs on both sides were of sound bloodlines and there was no blindness. I did not destroy my puppy and today although she cannot see, she can find her way around like any Chow with sight. I telephoned S.A. Phillips to get a replacement globe for my infrared lamp. The gentleman I spoke to was horrified when I told him what I wanted " You cannot use a medicated lamp on small puppies, you need an incubator lam" was what he said. Suddenly it struck me; Melushka's blindness was not a genetic fault by my fault for using an incorrect infrared lamp. I phoned my Vet and spoke to him about my discovery and he agreed immediately with me. It was the rays of the infrared lamp that had burned the corneas of the whole litter of puppies abut somehow my puppy received more than the others. There were three puppies that developed white spots on their corneas, my blind puppy, only one had clear eyes and two were blind in one eye. This was terrible and all puppies were given away to people who wanted them. Their mother Chrystal, because of receiving such a large dose of infrared has lost all the hair on her chest and tummy. I am horrified at the dangers of a medicated infrared lamp. Don't trust your chemist for providing the correct lamp. They may also not know the difference. Rather get professional advise on where to buy the correct item from S.A. Phillips or use a heating pad which is far safer for you precious litter.

You all read about the devastating effect of the infrared lamp on my puppies. Now I am going to tell you about my blind chow, "Melushka".
She was the pick of the litter, a lovely sturdy puppy with good bone and a lovely head; only we did not know that she would never be able to see.
As a tiny puppy she won every one's heart. When we realised there was something very wrong with her sight, I took her to my vet who confirmed my fears and suggested that we put her down. She was then 8 Weeks old. Instead I asked him to inoculate her as I would be keeping her, blind or not she was a Chow and one of mine.
As the months went past, we watched her grow from a tiny puppy, which at first would stumble around the garden finding her feet, but soon learnt where every obstacle was that she might bump into. In her rush around the yard, she soon learned that her best friends were my three cats. She would gleefully sniff them out and the chase was on. She flew around the garden after them. Looking at her you would never think this lovely chow was totally blind. She has never seen the sun or the trees and really has no idea what the cats look like. Many a time, when the cats were well and truly cornered, they would jump over my garden fence. She was not perturbed by their actions and would stand with her two front paws balanced on the fence. She was not perturbed by their actions and would stand with her two front paws balance on the fence "looking" over to see if they were anywhere within reach. While she was still very young, I also got Charlie, a black Maltese Cross Toy Poodle to be her companion. She loved Charlie and when they are together, follows him around the garden. It's like having a guide dog for a blind dog. They have always got on very well together.
Two weeks ago Melushka had to have one of her eyes removed as she had developed glaucoma in it. It was unsightly to look at. I thought it would be better if it were not there at all. She sailed through the operation and although my Vet said it was a difficult operation as the eyeball itself was a big as a golf ball and full of fluid, he thought that infection might set in and that he would have to put her down. But again she proved him wrong and she healed very quickly and was soon getting around even better than before. Without the pain and the weight of a very bad eye, the cats are now even more aware of her. You would never think that she was blind unless you look at her eyes. She is a truly lovely young 18-month-old chow and so far she has coped extremely well with her disability. And I am sure she will cope very well with anything put in her way. On a sad ending note of Melushkas life I had to put her down at the age of 8 years because she developed cancer in her throat.

THE MATING OF LADY AND LEO
I wish to thank the following members who helped me in the very frustrating job of mating two very Novice Chow Chow's.
Many thanks to Andries and Lia Du Toit, Mr & Mrs Myburg and Mr and Mrs Zwang, for their offer to help as well. I think you are all very wonderful people and I don't know what I would have done without all of you.
I also wish to thank Mr Skidmore for allowing me to mate Lady Loretta with Leo, even though it took almost four hours, half a dozen beers and a few cigarettes. Oh what a night, I will never forget it.
Lady produced her first two gorgeous puppies, Midnight and Leo's son a lovely red and a lovely black.
MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS
Many of you "oldies" may remember the story of how Rick and I were so frustrated when we tried to mate our very first two sill Chow's, "Lady" and "Leo" and had to eventually call in the help of the Chow Club to get these two dogs together. It was only after the kind assistance of Coen Myburg and Andries du Toit that we made thing happen. Out of this union were born two male puppies "Leo's son" and "Midnight". We showed them at shows as puppies and Midnight was sold at the age of 5 months. "Sonny" as we called him was sold to a Mrs Annamarie Balmer. These puppies were born on the 17th April 1984. At the time of writing this story 10 years ago and to day "2nd May 1994" I received a very unexpected phone call. Annamarie Balmer phoned me at work, after getting my number from the Chow Club. What a wonderful surprise she had for me! "Sonny" now called "Leo" had just become a father for the first time to a young bitch they call "Kama". He sired a magnificent litter of 5 bitches and 3 dogs. All doing very well. This was his very first mating and I really feel that this could be a record. i.e. his age and the number of puppies born for his age!
I know that he is truly loved and cared for by the Balmers and I am so very proud to be a grandmother to his puppies! He was our very first.

Reaching out

REACHING OUT
For the last few days, my mind has been playing tricks with me, I found my self constantly thinking about my "Skye's" sister, "Bortei Sidgen", whom I sold to two young men when she was 8 weeks old. I have not seen her as she has grown up, but something nagged me so I tried to phone her owners. The phone was disconnected.
To day at lunchtime, 19 January 1995, tow of my friends from work and I decided to spend our lunch hour at the Kloof S. P.C.A. We often do this at lunchtime, as we all love the animals. Well today was no exception. We first went and said hello to the cats and the kittens then slowly made our way to the dogs available for adoption. There were all sorts, a lot of nice staffies etc. then Jo, who was looking at another cage called me,"Carol there is a Chow here" Well I ran to the cage and my heart almost stopped when I saw her. She looked so much like my "Sharin", she could be her daughter, and I ran to the office to Enquirer if she had a pedigree. "Yes" the lady, said a very good one. "May I see it I asked" To my surprise I found my name as the breeder. She was the bitch I had been worrying about for the last week "Her owner died suddenly " I was told." I am Mrs. Mc Intyre Dewrance" I explained to them, that I was the breeder and that I have copies of her papers. "I want her back, but not spayed, I told them" I was told that they would have to speak to Dr Pringle the Chairman of the S.P.C.A. and also whether I could prove that I am her breeder. I explained that I will show them my Kennel Union Registration number and I will bring it to them.
I then went to her kennel and went inside, at first she was a little nervous, but soon settled down with me when I spoke to her,"Sidgen" I said "I'm coming to get you tomorrow". I rubbed my face against her soft cheek and because her kennel was very hot, no shade at all, I put a choke chain onto her and took her out for a walk. I then put her back into her kennel.
I went back to work and immediately phoned Dr Pringle and explained to him what I had told the S.P.C.A. he said he would consider my request not to spay her and that I must phone back sometime later. When I phoned back later I was told the wonderful news, "She is yours, you can come and get her" I was so thrilled I burst into tears. I was getting my baby back even though she is now 20 months old. I know she will produce lovely puppies one day with Baxter and I will have her in the show ring as soon as possible.
"De JA Vu" or what ever it's called. "Sidgen " reached out to me in her time f trouble and I felt it. I know she will be happy and soon settle down in her birth home.
Sidgen has settled down very well. You would think she had never spent 20 months of her young life away from home. She is lovely, and has a marvelous nature and loves me as much as I love her. She will be my Chow forever.
PostScript 5th Dec 200l.
Sidgen will be 10years old next year and like her sister Skye she is still getting around not as much as she used to because of arthritis in her hind legs but she is still with us and still loved very much.

Apollo and snake bite

SNAKE BITE; Not many Chow breeders go through this traumatic experience but it can and does happen.
The date is Thursday night 18.11.93.
I allow Apollo and Monique out of their kennel run each night, so that they can sleep on the veranda by the front door. On Thursday night it was no different, in the morning as usual I then put them back into their kennel for the day. Neither of them are energetic dogs nor therefor do not run all over the grounds as the younger Chows do. When I got home from work on Friday I noticed that Apollo was not standing on his left leg, and after questioning both Rick and Robin as to his activities during the day they both said that neither of them noticed anything unusual. I examined his leg and found it to be very swollen, presuming that he might have strained a ligament; I gave him an Indocid tablet with his supper of which he only ate half. On the Saturday morning I took him over to the Vet, who after examining him agreed with me that he had hurt his leg and put him onto a course of anti inflammatory tablets to reduce the swelling and the pain. I took him home and put him straight back into his kennel, with strict instructions that he was to rest his leg as much as possible. I gave him his tablets with a small amount of food and again tried to feed him his supper, which he was not interested in. The following morning he appeared to be worse, he was not very keen to walk on his led, I again examined it and to my horror found that his glands in his groin were very swollen he had a very high temperature and when I lifted him to see if he could stand he collapsed, I called Rick and showed him the swelling saying that if this was a ligament problem he should be able to stand and not collapse as he did. I immediately realized that this was a very dangerous situation and a snake had possibly bitten that he. Possibly a small Night Adder, I phoned every Vet in the book and eventually found a Doctor in Hillcrest where we immediately took him. By this time Apollo was battling to breathe he could not even lift his head or his body he was in a comatose state, the doctor examined him and immediately agreed with me that a snake had bitten him, and due to the large swelling of the groin this was the possible entrance of the fang bite. He was put onto a drip and placed in the intensive care ward. He managed to survive the night but was still not out of danger when I phoned the Vet at 9am on Monday. I again phoned him at 5pm when I got home to be told that his temperature had gone down and the drip had been removed, He was able to stand, but not on the swollen leg, The Doctor said he was very depressed, and when he slept he snored all the time, He was afraid that Apollo might be getting respiratory complications. He said he thought Apollo's face looked rather puffy, but then he had never worked on chow before, I explained that most Chows snore, and that Apollo's bone structure was normal and that he did have rather big cheeks. The Vet assured me that he was better than he had been in the morning, but he would like me to go up and see him on Tuesday after work to help his access him, and his condition and that I must phone to see how he was doing in the morning, and that hopefully he would be able to hold out through the night. Although in a very critical condition he said he thought that Apollo would survive this bite. It's Tuesday morning the date is the 23.11.93 and its been 5 days since Apollo was bitten by a night adder, this morning when I phoned the Vet, he said that Apollo had had a good night although he had snored all night. He had eaten a little chicken for breakfast, and was standing up on all four legs. When I got to the hospital this evening I saw a remarkable change in my very sick dog, from almost being a dead dog, to come to me when I opened his cage, and stood up on all four legs and even wagged his tail, he then placed his lovely head on my lap as I sat in his kennel on the floor next to him. He was so happy to see me, and I think he was so grateful to still be alive, he tried to follow me out the Hospital ward door, and was still very shaky on his legs, I put him back into the kennel an told him that I would see him tomorrow. I then spoke to the Vet whom said that he would like to do a thyroid test on him tomorrow and that hey would like to keep him in another day to make sure that here was no relapse. Apollo was nearly just one of the many Chows to walk in Doggy heaven, but thanks to a wonderful medical team he is not going to be in Heaven until the right time comes.
Wednesday 24.11.93 I phoned this morning and the Vet told me that he felt that Apollo would be better off at home, due to bad depression. I picked him up this evening, he was still very confused and we took him home. On arrival at home I allowed him to take a short walk in the garden allowing him to urinate, you could actually see a smile on his face when he suddenly realized that he was really at home, he wagged his tail and had a very short walk around and then Rick picked him up and carried him inside, and put him into the Shower room, where I had made a cozy bed for him, hopeing that he would sleep there and settle down, I gave him a small amount of supper which he heartily ate as he had refused to eat anything at the hospital, I then allowed him to eat what Tasha had Left, a good meal for a dog that had not eaten in 6 days. He is still very weak but I am sure he will grow stronger each day now he is at home. The swelling in his leg has gone down and the only swelling now is where the actual snake bite is, but this has considerably reduced from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a ping pong ball, he is still not very happy about walking on the leg but does try his best to get up without help, which is very difficult on the bathroom floor. The Vet has given him tablet to take that should set him on the path to full recovery.
30.11.93 It has been a week now since Apollo came home from the hospital, his condition has improved very slowly and today he was able to stand for a few minutes on his damaged leg. He is still taking anti-inflammatory tablets and shall do so for the next week, I have put him back into his kennel as he appears much happier there with Monique, He is eating well and looks much better. I have now put him onto a course of Arnica tablets which I think had helped in his recovery, I also rubbed his leg every day with Arnica ointment, these are available at your local pharmacy, and I advise anyone who has dogs to keep a supply of them at home, they reduce swelling, sprains, bruising and inflammation, they are truly a wonder tablet. This will be a long procedure for Apollo but I know that he will regain his strength in his leg. I shall follow this up with a report next week to inform the progress he has made.
Apollo has improved tremendously since he has been on the Arnica tablets, and although his leg is still weak he is now walking slowly around our garden on all fours.
APOLLO
I know this is a very touchy subject to write about, and I know I have written about it before in chapter one, but feel that this story and the follow up in Afrikaans by Mrs. L Naude are an essential part of my book.
Over the years we have lost some of the best dogs in the Chow World, To Gastric Torsion. The first I knew of was "Adoons" Andries du Toit's male, then my "Halley" died suddenly, "Sheila" of Johan Naude used to suffer from gastric torsion, "toper" Cheryl Ann's lovely dog, and then my dear old "Lady", "Tinkerbell" of Coen Myburg, "Benjie" Elize Greens imported male and also "Suster" of Tom Putter, as well as our beloved "Tangerine dream - Tangie" owned by Alma and Andrew, Toppie van Niekerk also lost number of Chows due to gastric torsion, and as I have said, a great loss to all of us.
Now I know that once this happens there is very little that can be done, but on Thursday night when I got home from work all my dogs appeared fine, I fed them at five and allowed them out to do their business before settling them down for the night. At 9pm I heard a terrible scream from "Apollo's" kennel, I rushed outside to see what was the matter, all the time with the fear of the dreadful Bloat in the back of my mind. I was right, his belly was blown up like an over size football, ready to explode. I knew if I could not reduce it in size he would die, we did not even have time to get him to the emergency Vet in Westville, as he would have died by the time we got him down the drive. I screamed for Rick and Robin to help me, We cut a piece of hose pipe and while Robin held "Apollo's" mouth open with a piece of wood, I battled a few times to get the hose down his throat into his stomach, It seemed to take hours, but only a few seconds had passed when we heard the sound of air escaping through the tube. Rick pressed gently on his belly helping to expel the excessive gasses that had built up so quickly. I gave no thought to what other damage the hosepipe might cause; I just knew I had to reduce the gas if I wanted my dog to live.
Within five minutes the belly of my dog had reduced to almost normal, I gave him a massive dose of Arnica to reduce swelling, bruising and shock and allowed him to sleep inside during the night, I stayed up with him the whole night to see that it won't happen again and also that he did not suffer a heart attack.
The following morning, I took him over to our Vet who examined him and said that he was a very lucky chow to have me, as he would have died if I had tried to move him. A hosepipe was all I was able to think of too release the gasses he had built up. To prevent this from happening again he is now being fed a mixture of food that is liquidated into a pulp to aid his digestive system. He has a limited amount of food per day and his water intake is restricted before and after meals. I did not allow him to eat anything for 24 hours after bloating and today, a week later he is back to normal.
Bloat is something, which I know now, is to be treated immediately on the spot, you do not have time to wait for a Vet or even get to a Vet. This is how I lost my "Halley". Any flexible tubing inserted through his mouth into the stomach will help to reduce the gas built up, but unfortunately if left to long or a car trip could cause the stomach to turn and this will cause the death of your dog. Try to save him before moving him, fast thinking, no fuss and fast work and you dog may live to see many more happy years. I hope and pray that Apollo will and that my little story will be able to save maybe one Chow chow out there. Please don't be afraid to try this treatment on your own, Your Chow is a valuable member of your family and his life must be save if at all possible.
In die lig van bogenoemde artikel, wil ek ook net graag iets ontrent"bloat" kwytraak. Eerstens did is seker die aakligste dood wat 'n hond kan sterf. Dit is ontsettend pynlik en soos Carol gese het indien verligting niebinne sekondes of 'n minuut to twee bebring kan word nie, slaan die hond se maag on en sterf hy binne 10 minute.
On whet die gavel met "Sheila" 'n swart chow tee wat Gerald net nadat sy 'n werpsel kleintjies gehad het(as die kleintjies sowat 'n week oud is) "ge bloat" het. Gelukkig was ons elke keer tuis on na haar om te sien. Die pyp waarvan Carol gepraat het werk uitstekend, Dis is miskien 'n goeie idee om so 'n stuk pyp, wat van 'n sagte tekstuur moet wees on maklik kan buig ann te skaf vir die wis en onwis (verkrygbaar by die Veears). Wees eerder voorbereid as om in die middel van die nag; terwyl jy deur die slaap is to wonder wat moet ek nou doen.
Nog'n metode om die gas uit die maag te laat ontsnap is deur gebruik te maak van 'n hol naald (verkrybaar by die Veearts) was dan so 2 sentimeter onder die laaste ribbebeen
van die hond ingedruk word. Die hond moet op sy sy geplaas word en voel dan met die hande waar die laaste rib is en ongeveer twee sentimeter verder (in die maag) word die naald dan ingedruk en die opgeboude gasse ontsnap dan deur die hol naald. Die hond moet egter nadat die gasse ontsnap het so spoedig moontlik by 'n Veearts kom sodat daar vasgestel kan word of daar enige verder skade was en of die maag nie dalk omgeslaan het nie.
In "Sheila" se geval het haar maag die eerste maal werklik omgeslaan en moes die Veerats opereer om dit weer reg te draai. Dit was net blote geluk dat ons haar nie verloor het nie. He het aan ons verduidelik dat die maag in sy opgeswelde posisie soos 'n ballon is wat vol water gemaak is, as die hond enigsins sou beweeg gedurende hierdie "vol" toestand dan draai die maag om, in welke geval die gasse glad nie kan ontsnap nie en die giftige gasse in die ingewande versprei word. Lewerskade word ook op die manier opgedoen.
Hierdie toestand het " Sheila" net oorgekom nadat sy kleintjies gehad het en op 'n vrag aan die Veearts waarom, het hy gese dat verskeie faktore daartoe kan bydra. Onder andere to groot maaltye (tewe vreet gewoonlik meer as gewoonlik nadat hulle kleintjies gehad het) en daarna drink hulle te veel water. Nog 'n oorsaak is te veel oefening (rondhardloop, speel ens.) nadat hulle geeet het. Spanning by sommige honde kan dit ook veroorsaak deurdat spanning veroorsaak dat die maag gasse vrystel wat dan opbou en sodoende die toestand veroorsaak.
Die oplossing is on te sorg dat die hond eerder twee of drie kleiner maaltye per dg kry as een groot maaltyd. Maak ook seker dat jou hond nie 'n groot doeveelheid water op 'n slag drink nie. Voorsien eerder 'n kleiner waterbak en sien toe dat die bak altyd vol vars water is en dan natuurlik, maak seker dat daar nie gespeel word of rondgehardloop na maaltye nie.
"Bloat" ge beur gewoonlik in die laat-aand of nag wanneer almal slaap en as jy nie 'n ligte slaper is nie, tel jy jou hond die volgende dag dood op. Wanneer die toestand ontstaan sal die hond op 'n baie vreemde manier begin "skreeu-blaf-tjank". Ek wet nie wat om dit anders to noem nie, jy sal dadelik agterkom dat daar groot fout is en dat die diere in geweldige pyn verkeer.
Ek hoop van harte nie dat hiedie toestand enige verder Chows in ons geledere sal tref nie. Soo Carol gese het, dit is 'n groot verlies vir die Chowwereld. Prgtige honde, ingeevoerde honde is all o die maniere dood en dit wil al lyk of dit ongelukkig iets is wat die Chows nogal gereeld tref. As jou hond dit eenmaal gehad het en jy kon hom deurhaal, kan jy maar seker wees jy sal hom voortaan soos 'n valk moet dophou want die kanse dat dit weer met hom sal gebeur is 99% party honde isgeneig daartoe ander nie.
Die belangrikste van alles is, is om nie die hond water of medisyne to probeer injaag of om hom onnodig te beweeg nie. Moenie paniekbevange raak nie, as jy die pyp of hol naald byderhand het gebruik dit en wanneer dar verligting is kan die hond beweeg word of no 'n Veearts gebring word.
Sterkte!
Leana Naude

Meltari Midnight

Middies first adventure

MIDDIES FIRST ADVENTURE.
BY
Mrs. Sue Forgan
Having been a Chow Chow owner for 13 years, of two dignified and stately animals did not however prepare me for the advent of Meltari Midnight. "Midnight " or "Midi" as we fondly call him, arrived at our home five months ago. He was four months old then and very cuddly looking, as Chow Chow puppies usually are. The problem was that he was unapproachable. He barked viciously and bit too! It took a very wary three weeks to win his confidence but eventually he saw things our way and decided we were not planning anything - other than love and devotion.
He ate voraciously and bloomed, with much pampering and plenty of exercise. We thought he as growing into a very good dog and thoughts turned to the show ring. We walked him on his leash, gave a few commands to obey and watched him going from strength to strength. As the date for the open show at Goldfields drew closer, we groomed him more often and more thoroughly, and bathed him and groomed some more.
Eventually the big day arrived. We were quite nervous, my husband and I, as we had never shown a dog before. Looking at the opponent puppy, made us more nervous and we thought- "ah well, he probably will be placed second, it is experience for him". So imagine our joy and elation when he was chosen as best puppy, and given 3 Seconds in S.A. Bred, Open and Novice sections respectively. Our apologies if we overdid the joyous bit, but we were so delighted! Here's hoping he will improve and grow even more delightful as time passes, and use this opportunity to compliment other Chow owners on their gorgeous dogs!

The destructive itch

THE DESTRUCTIVE ITCH
In August last year, we had a constant young visitor, who at the time worked with my son, Well he loved the Chows and would sit for hours rubbing their tummies and ears, this was fine and the dogs loved it, but unfortunately we did not realize the damage this was going to cause our dogs over the next few months. Unknown to any of us this young man had Scabies and he passed the mite on to our dogs.
Scabies or Sarcoptic Mange is a disease caused by a microscopic spider like creature called a mite; this disease causes uncontrollable itching of the skin, causing the dog to loose all his coat by scratching and biting. The first signs are small red lumps that itch, at this stage our Vet suggested a course of antibiotics and cortisone saying the dogs had hot spots because of the sun’s powerful rays. The treatment only made them worse. Now five of our Chows were driving us and themselves mad with their now very destructive itching.
Well studied all my 43 medical books and came to the conclusion that they had Scabies. So I shaved all their coats off an with the help from my Homeopath I started treating them on Homeopathic remedies, as well as shampooing all of them is a shampoo called Quelled shampoo. After a good bath, I then applied Quellada lotion to their skins, after the first application the itching sopped.
I then waited for another 10 days when I re-shampooed and again I applied the lotion to their shins. At last I had conquered the itch, and now 6 weeks later their fur is growing back and they are starting to look like chows again. During the treatment I cleaned the Kennels out and washed everything in a dog dip. And finally after the treatment was completed I dipped all my dogs as a safety precaution against re-infection and shall continue to dip them once a month in future. I have learnt a lesson from this unfortunate disease, not to allow anyone to touch my dogs unless they have first washed their hands and especially their nails in Savlon. All your carpets in your home must also be treated with the dip, including your furniture, beds and bedding Scabies is very contagious and can be transferred to the human during grooming sessions. The mites do not live longer than three weeks on the human body and the treatment is the same.
This is not a terrible disease and can be cured very quickly but it is a very uncomfortable disease for your dog. It is very disfiguring a they look terrible with no coats, but rather a Chow with no coat than a dead one as coats do grow back.
This treatment can also be used on early eczema as well, I have found the bet remedy for my chows with very sore hot spots or eczema, is that the raw patch is first sprayed with Dermoplast to stop the itch, and then to be completely covered with Gentian Violet. This clears the skin up in a few days. Not all skin problems need Cortisone and I for one do not think it is a good thing to give in excess to your dog. There are other remedies that are just as good.

a tribute to Smurf and Flash

This Chow deservs a medal

THESE CHOWS DESERVE MEDALS
In the May issue of Heads and Tails, I read the lovely article on chows, Well I phoned Shirley Birkett and managed to obtain the telephone number of Mrs Bunty Hubard in Uvongo on the South Coast of Natal, and I phoned her, what a lovely Lady, I could have spoken to her for the whole day, but telephone calls are expensive, she told me that she had two chows, Tzu Tang a Cream chow of ten years old and a young ten month old female called Laura, whom she got from very dear friends of mine, Erica and Shawn O'roiden a third chow had died a few months ago, this chow as well a her other two deserve medals.
While she was driving through the town of Uvongo, she stopped at a stop street, her handbag was on the seat next to her and her Chow bitch was in the back seat of the car, an African approached the car and a quick as lightening thrust his hand through the open window and grabbed her handbag, but before he could withdraw his prize, her chow sunk her teeth into the thief's arm and would not let go, He was arrested and never got the handbag.
Her chow Tza Tang has covered himself with glory twice by saving her life when a knife yielding man attacked her; see her newspaper cuttings, which were front page of their local newspaper.
Mrs. Hubbards husband is blind and his guide dog is getting old, she is really not safe to take him down the streets anymore, and this is where Lara comes in, she has been learning to lead Mr Hubbard in his daily life and is learning to become his eyes, Who would ever have thought a Chow could be a guide as well a Guard dog, but then they are very special dogs.
Thank you Shirley Birkett for helping me find this wonderful lady and her very special Chows, and thank you Bunty for having the time to speak to me and tell me about your wonderful dogs.
CHOW SAID 'CIAO' TO THIS BURGLAR
STORY BY Sheila Park
South Coast Herald
Friday February 17th 1989.

He might look like a Teddy bear, but there was nothing cuddly about the way Tzu Tang the Chow attacked his mistresses knife-wielding assailant, who cornered her in her garage and demanded money last Saturday afternoon.
Nor did his sprightly 70-year-old owner, Mrs. Bunty Dilworth (Hubard) let her attacker get away lightly for when he threw her to the ground, leapt on top of her and threatened to slit her throat, she kicked and bit him until he gave up and fled.
Mrs. Hubard of Manaba had been shopping at the local supermarket with her blind elderly Husband and returned home at about 1.30pm when she faced her terrifying ordeal, Having dropped her husband and his guide dog off at the gate leading from the driveway to their house, she proceeded to park the car in the garage a few meters away.
When she opened the back door of the car to takeout a bucket she had purchased, she was accosted by a Black Man, who pinned her between her car door and the garage entrance, Initially he told her he was looking for employment, but when she told him that she had none to offer, he demanded money and, after she said she had none, he grabbed her leather handbag.
REFUSED
However she refused to let go of it and he threw her onto the grass, climbed on top of her and pulled out a knife, threatening to slit her throat,
But the determined Mrs Hubard was not prepared to give up without a fight, and she caught him with her knee, kicked him and bit him, he wrenched the bag from her, tearing the handle off and scattering its contents. During the scuffle, She said she had "screamed her head off" which resulted in her losing her voice, her screams alerted a neighbor, Mrs Jean Mclean, who summoned the police.
Meanwhile Tzu Tang, one of Mrs Hubbard's two chows nearly went mad trying to gain access to the garden and Mr. Hubbard had closed the gate leading to it when he went into the house.
But Tzu Tang refused to give up and finding a Hole in the hedge between the next-door garden and his own, he wriggled through and attacked Mrs Hubards assailant, who was making off up the road.
Undeterred by the knife-wielding man Tzu Tang grabbed hold of his jacket and held on, despite being nicked by the attacker's knife. The assailant wriggled out of his jacket as Tzu Tang held firmly onto it.
Meanwhile the police arrived on the scene, as the assailant made his get-away, Attempts to corner him were unsuccessful. But he gained nothing from his attack and Mrs. Hubard was able to scoop up all her scattered belongings.
Mr. Hubard, who had also heard his wife's screams, had wanted to grab a truncheon and go to her assistance, despite being blind and sickly, Mrs. Hubard told the Herald on the Monday when we visited her.
The hero of the day Tza Tang was feeling most putout by the events and eyed our photographer with disdain, only reluctantly agreeing to pose for a photograph.

Smurf and Chrystal

Arthur

ARTHUR OR CHINABEAR BUSTER OF MELTARI.
He came to live with us four years ago, He was then just 5 years old, he was one of the most beautiful Chows I have ever seen, I fell in love with him at first sight, and within a week Arthur as he was called, why I will never know, as he really was not an Arthur, Golden Boy would have suited him better, but Arthur he was and Arthur he stayed, We were soon getting on very well together, he knew I loved him and he soon learnt to trust me, and then to love me. We were unable to show this lovely Chow, as we were unable to find his original owners, I knew his breeder, but she could not help me, We even went onto the Web but could not find them, I even tried the ITC but without an ID number, this did not help, so Arthur became a pet, where he should have been a Champion, I could not even use him for breeding as his puppies would not be able to be registered, but Arthur was a wonderful pet, he loved playing football, he would hit the ball with his paws and dribble it around the lawn like a professional football player, he never ever chewed up any ball or toy he was given, he would carefully place them in his kennel, these belonged to him and not to any one else, he lived with Gucci our blind rescue chow, and he loved her and she him, he would many a time lead her away from danger, like taking the wrong step and landing up in the dam, of which she did a few times when we first moved onto our small holding, but Arthur soon learnt to look after her. He was also very gentle with the puppies, especially if they were female, he loved the ladies, There was only one thin Arthur was not very happy with and that was my red dressing gown, when I ore it he would do his best to get it off me, and if he had been given his way, he would have dad it and most probably torn it up and laced it in his kennel to cuddle up and keep warm on, Arthur hated getting his feet wet, but loved the rain, he used to sleep on a pallet of wood above the ground so if it was raining his coat would get wet, and his feet tucked under him to keep them dry, crossing puddles in the lawn was another thing he would walk the length of the puddle, looking for the narrowest part where he could very carefully sort of skip over, making sure his paws would land on a dry spot on the oppersite side and when crossing back over the same puddle he would reverse his steps, and cross back in the same spot he had used before. Arthur did not like cats, Big cats, medium cats or even tiny kittens, given half a chance he would try his best to chase them but cats are not stupid, Arthur was in the run during the day and the cats stayed on the outside of the run, they did not trust the chows at all, even though they had been brought up with them. He also did not like the Egyptian Geese, their quacking made him mad, and he would continuously bark at them it was quite something to listen to the three of them, that is Arthur and the two geese, having a conversation, what they talked about I will never know and don't even know if they understood each other, Many a time he would sit and watched me while I was on the small boat on the dam, and he would sit and watch the Koi swimming past, but he never attempted to bet into the dam to try and catch them, But all good things must come to and end and soon Arthur's time started to run out, he got sick with a gastric torsion, but the first time I managed to save him, but four weeks later it happened again and although my son robin and I stayed up al night with him, I decided that it would be kinder in the long run to put this lovely chow to sleep, I miss you Arthur and will never forget you and your wonderful ways, May you rest in peace now.

Lukes Nightmare and Kennels all shiny new

sleep.
LUKES NIGHTMARE
We were awakened by a screaming dog, who sounded like he was in absolute agony, Robin and I ran outside with the torch, not thinking to put on the outside lights, the unholy screaming was coming from Luke's kennel, we shone the light into their run and Trisha seemed to be O.K. but Luke could not move, We went into the run and climbed on the top of his kennel with him, he had got this toe caught in a small hole on the top of the kennel, Now the Kennel is made out of metal and after looking to see what the problem was and calming him down, I said to Robin to run and get the wire cutters, and to see if we could cut the hole bigger and thus be able to get his toe out, While Robin very carefully and gently cut the metal away Luke never said a word, he seemed to know that we were trying to help him and within a few minutes he was free, we had pored a cup of cooking oil over his foot and he was far more interested in licking the cooking oil up then worrying about his toe, Thankfully there was no harm done, and the following morning he was walking around on all four feet, If this had happened in America, or maybe else where in the world, 911 would have been called to get him free.
KENNELS ALL SHINY NEW
It's not Christmas yet but close enough to it, the date is 19 November 200l and today Carol bought us some nice new shiny wooden kennels to sleep in and just in time because I know it's going to rain very hard, I was a bit worried as I like to sleep on top of my old kennel and when I saw all these new ones, I thought I would have to learn to sleep on the ground like every one else, but no Carol had made a plan as usual and when she took out my old kennel I was very reluctant to say good bye to it, as it had been home for two years and it smelt of me, Well she took out my kennel and them Alex's Kennel and then she and Robin her son carried in out new ones, first she placed Alex's one on the ground and then she put my kennel on top of Alex's, as she knew I would not sleep on the ground, then she placed a roof over mine that would act as a roof for both of our kennels, I was very suspicious at first and would not go into it, it smelt different, not the homely smell of the old one, but it looked far more comfortable, and when she put in my piece of carpet then it started to look and smell a bit like home, Alex refused point blank to go into his, So guess what old Sidjen pinched it even though she had a nice fiberglass kennel of her own, so now if Alex wants to keep out of the rain then he has to share the new kennel with Sidjen or use her old one, Tammy and Archie also got new kennels, and Archie could not wait to get into his, he tried to get into it before Robin and Carol and even managed to get the roof on and of course he does not mind sharing it with Tammy, Gucci now loves her kennel and it is not easy to get her to come out of it, as she is nice and warm. Skye and Sinjon also got one but Skye like me likes to sleep on top, she has a long bench in her kennel which is sheltered by the roof, and this she likes to clime up onto and go to sleep, weather it rains, hails or is boiling hot, Sinjon smelt the new kennel and that was it a new home for an old boy, Trish and Luke also got a new kennel and they take turns sleeping in it, as both of them like to sleep up on the old deepfreeze's that where put into their run for them to sleep in, and keep them out of the rain, but the new kennel has slightly changed their way of living. Denim got the spare lid put over his kennel, and is also now kept dry. We have had some terrible rain in the last few days and I as well as all the other Chows and the Dobermans are very grateful for the lovely Christmas present Carol has given us. Even though it may be a bit early.

Three hours past midnight

THREE HOURS PAST MIDNIGHT
It's 3am, up until now I had been sleeping soundly, when I was rudely awoken by my Chow Chow Skye, who has her kennel right outside my bedroom window, she was not barking but almost screaming, what on earth is wrong this time I thought, this is the sound she makes when the monkeys are around, but there were no monkeys around at this time of the night, I got up and walked onto the veranda and looked into her pen, she was very agitated about something and Baxter was also bouncing around the kennel, well I thought there is no way out but to go and see what is disturbing her, I walked around to her kennel and in the dark saw the shapes of Tao and Denim who have the run of the whole garden at night, attacking something under an old pile of wood we had used for making their kennels, I walked up to them calling their names, but to no avail, something was there, and they were trying to get at it, I could hear a sort of a "Yak Yak" noise and low growls coming from under the woodpile, they had cornered an animal, I tried to grab Tao by her coat, but she darted away from me, running to the other side of the wood pile, I eventually had to pick her up to get her out of danger, and carried her to her kennel where I locked her in, Denim now on his own wanted to go in for the kill but knowing this could be a dangerous situation, I made a grab at him risking his sharp teeth and shouting at him, I demanded that he return to his kennel, which surprisingly he did, I then tried in the dark to see what was there, but could only see two red eyes looking at me with the continued noise of"Yuk Yuk, growl" it must be a mongoose I thought, but being careful as to where I put my hands, I did not want a nasty bite from this terrified animal, I thought it best left alone, and hopefully it would make it's escape while the dogs were locked up. I went back to bed and tried to get back to sleep, but it was impossible.
Every now and again Skye would let out her terrible scream, so eventually I got up, and let her and Baxter out of their kennel into the protected area of the garden, Baxter listened to me buy Skye made straight for the wood pile, she had to have her say in this matter, I heard the terrified noise of the small animal, knowing that it was still there I grabbed Skye and pulled her through the gate, it was now 4am, I locked the gate behind me and allowed the two of them the run of the front garden knowing that they could not get into the back yard, I again went back to bed and tried to sleep, but it was impossible, I was wide awake, thinking of how I was going to capture this small animal, and at 5.30 I got up, hoping that it had gone, I put Skye and Baxter back into their kennel and allowed Tao out of hers, she went straight to the woodpile, but there was not a sound coming from it, the little animal had gone, Tao then went charging up the hill into the bush following it's scent, but it was gone, I'm sure it was a mongoose, and she was looking for a warm place to hide or make a nest, I felt sorry for the little creature and hope she finds somewhere in the bush away from my Chows to make her home, and hopefully will be able to get a good nights sleep tonight.
This morning I phoned the Natal Parks Board, and found out that it was not a mongoose but a Genet cat, possibly looking for food to feed her kittens; she may have had in a nest nearby. Although I have not seen her I believe they are incredibly beautiful cats, bigger then the house hold cat, they could also give the dogs a nasty bite if given a chance. They are very fast and will spend a lot of time in the trees catching birds, they will eat anything, and this includes dog food, hopefully she does not come back tonight, and we are able to get some sleep.

A rainey weekend

A RAINEY WEEKEND
I had taken the Friday off to prepare my dogs for the weekend shows, we had put the tent and stretcher to air before packing them, but as I opened my eyes that morning my sprits fell, it was raining so hard, the tent was soaking wet as well as the stretcher, the ground was flooded and half the drive had washed away. On checking my dogs half of them were dry and asleep in their kennels, but the others including Baxter were looking like drowned rats, to top it all I had a boarder bitch that had come for mating closed in the bathroom as she was going home that evening, I had to try and keep her dry.
Well I went shopping and came home and prepared our bags to take with us, it was still raining, I got the stretcher in and managed to almost suck all the water out with the vacuum and then blew it dry with my hair dryer, I then attempted to do the same to the tent but to no avail, the more I vacuumed the tent the harder it rained, I gave up in the end and folded this large soggy canvas mess into two black garbage bags and hoped that Saturday would be a bit dryer.
My boarder bitch was collected a 6pm and then it was time to bath and prepare my two dogs for the weekend shows, Tao loves her bath and was soon clean and dry, but not allowed out for the night, Baxter was another problem, although he loves the bath its the drying afterwards that terrifies him, first of all I sucked the water out of his coat with my vacuum but he would not allow me to touch his head, he screamed his lungs out drying him with the hair dryer, eventually I had him reasonably dry, I allowed him out to relieve himself and then called him back inside, he was again covered with burs, so once again out came the brush and the hairdryer, to get those sticky things out of his coat, it was not 1am and time to get some sleep before we left at 5 in the morning.
We awoke slightly refreshed and looked outside, Loa and behold it was still raining, pouring down, everything was underwater, we got the dogs settled into the car and para-glide down our drive, We were on our way, nothing could keep us from the shows, it's like a drug. The trip although wet was safe and we arrived in good time at the grounds, but to our dismay the field where we were suppose to show our dogs was under water in places a meter high. Cars were stuck in the mud, humans were fed up and dogs restless, we had to turn around and head for the Port Shepstone High school hall, of course we got lost going around in circles before we eventually followed some one who knew where they were going. Again chaos reigned, the hall although large felt crushed with dogs, humans and all their belongings, about 600 dogs, double the amount of adults and hundreds of kids, well we all settled down as best we could and the show went on.
Our judge I won't give her name, worked her way very quickly through the Bull Terriers that she judged before starting the utility group, she rushed the bulldogs in and out of the ring, we were the only two Chows, Baxter she liked enough to give best of breed and a C.C. but Tao she ignored, why I will never know as she is now starting to look lovely, even though her coat is still short, she walks like a dream and another judge not judging this day said she had lovely conformation and an excellent walk, head lovely and good bone, all that was lacking was coat "all Chows shed once a year.
Well once Saturdays show was over, I put away my disappointment over Tao and the Judge, and said I would never show under her again, and never have. We packed the car and set off for the beach, at least he rain had stopped and we could take the dogs for a walk, before settling them down at the Caravan Park in our wet tent for the evening. Once we had made our camp we thought a nice cup of tea would round up the day, Oops we had nothing to boil the water in but Baxter's dish, I had forgotten the kettle at home, so I fed Baxter and Tao and then washed his dish and soon we had a cup of very welcome tea, and supper, The stretcher was still wet, so I covered it with a blanket and by 8pm that night I was ready for bed, Rick slept in the car and I in the soggy wet cold tent, it was quite a long time before I fell asleep, as the noise from the traffic on the main south coast road was terrific, During the night while my two dogs slept peacefully in the tent on dry blankets, I heard a strange sound, we were being visited by a family of ducks, Thank heavens the dogs did not wake, they might have had duck for supper the next night. The following morning dawned, soft blue clouds floated above us, and no sign of rain at last it had cleared up, we had breakfast and then packed all our gear into the car, got the dogs settled and off we went for the second show this weekend. Baxter and Tao both did very well at this show both gaining their C.C points and Baxter again Best of Breed. Once the show was over we again packed everything into the car and headed for home, quite some weekend and one that won't be forgotten in a long time but this all goes to making dog showing the enjoyable sport that it is.

Heidie

HEIDIE
Heidie flew down from Johannesburg at the age of 6 weeks, She was a very lovely puppy, and once we had got her home she was soon accepted by all our other Chows, especially Tammy who had just had a puppy herself only one out of a litter of 4 survived, our dear little Amour who sadly was born with congenital cateracts on both of her eyes, and although she can see a little it will take a lot of treatment until the cataracts clear, this we now realize she inherited from her father Archie who on looking closely you can see the blue film over his eyes, But this is Heidies story. Heidie was a very very lovely golden red chow, a very quite puppy and loved to sit in her water bowl for hours on end, she was forever wet front and back, and as soon as I dried her off she would be back into the water, so I built her and Amour a puppy pen where they could play together safely with a small flat bowl of water the could play in, they were allowed certain play time out of their puppy pen and this was when my heartbreak started.On the 30th Dec l998 while playing with Amour ,.how this happened, I don't know. I was busy painting the Kitchen, and noticed Heidie limping. I took her inside to examine her and felt her Hip did not feel right, it felt out of joint, so I kept her inside and settled her down in the bedroom with some warm milk soon after drinking her milk she started to Vomit, I gave her gastrospect but it did not help, our vet only opened his surgery at 4.30, So as soon as Rick came home I rushed her up to see him, He confirmed that her hip was dislocated and said she had enteritis as well, He said that I should leave her in
hospital for that night so he could put her on a drip to control the vomiting and that he would x-ray her hip the next day, and put it right. I could fetch her in the evening. When I got to my Vets on the 31st Dec l998 Heidie had stopped vomiting, Her leg was strapped to her body with thick plaster and she was allowed to come home, She refused to eat and lay with her little face in her water bowl taking small laps of it now and again, I was still very worried about her but she eventually seemed to settle down, and went to sleep, I sat with her until 2am, then went to bed, When I woke up at 6am she was crying a bit, and I thought her leg was sore, so I gave her an antibiotic and a little milk. But she continued to cry and was very restless, I phoned my Vet but he was not there and as Rick had to work that day I could not get her to the emergency clinic in Durban. She got weaker and weaker, And I tried everything in my Power to help her. My lovely baby died at 10am on New Years Day l999, and I cried and cried. I could only get hold of our Vet on the Saturday morning, and I took her body back to ask him to do and autopsy. As I wanted to know why a perfectly healthy puppy 3 days ago was now dead. She had only been with us a few weeks. He did the autopsy and the cause of death was "Enterotoxaemia, resulting from Acute enteritis, complicated by intersusception of the small intestine, (i.e. The bowel had telescoped in on itself and had been unable to free itself) She also had some arrears of hemorrhage of the lungs. When I spoke to him on the phone he said he had also examined her hip and although not qualified to say so he said it looked suspicious and that if she had lived
she would have had to undergo further X-rays at 12 months and possible hip replacement to correct the defect. I have cried and cried over the loss of this little Angel, but God wanted her so he took her. Was it shock that caused the enteritis, How did she dislocate her hip at such a young age did she have congenital Hip Dysplasia, These are questions that will never be answered, All I know is I miss her so much and Tammy and Amour miss her as well, she was part of our hearts, and our life, for such a short period, but we will never forget her she grew into my heart and there she will stay forever.

Sezer

Bringing up Sezar
He was just six weeks old when he came to live with us, a cute little baby Bear, and he loved everyone, this included the other chows of our house hold, young and old alike. His favorite was out tiny blue chow Tanya, He just loved her and she loved him back, she cleaned him and even tried to feed him, but Sezar was destined to grow, and this he did, you could almost see him growing after each meal he ate, he just grew and grew.
He loves the Rain and plays with the hosepipe, whether it is on or not.
Paddles in his water bowl and I can never keep him dry, so I bought a bigger bowl, that he could not get in too. Well it did not stop him, at that time We had very heavy rain and this lasted for nearly a week, He loved it and
flew around the garden getting as wet as he possibly could, I had the jobof trying to get him dry, every evening once I got home from work. putting him under the hair dryer is no joke, but he eventually started to enjoy this as well and would stand and allow me to dry him. It was during this time that he caught a bad cold, and had to have a visit to the Vet, bronchitis said Charles, keep the little bugger dry, and gave him a shot of antibiotics, of course Sezar did not like this treatment from a stranger and tried to bite him, I guess he is going to need training said Charles, The devil must be gotten out of him.
And I had to agree , If I was hoping to show this lovely puppy. Now our darling Sezar whose name really suits his cheeky attitude, is five months old, a very very pretty puppy except for where I cut the fur fromunder his chin and chest when he was getting so wet that it made him sick.
he has had all his injections and deworming and is healthy loveable bundle of joy, very square and compact with very good bone, not to tall or to short, But he does have a few bad habits, he insists that I get up at 5.04 every morning to give him his breakfast, he bangs on the veranda door, and if that does not work, he barks and barks until he wakes the whole house hold up. He then flies inside to the kitchen and stands looking at the fridge until I get his plate and feed him. At first he hated the car and cried and cried and barked as loud as he could, but now he is Ready to go, he is going to training lessons on a Saturday afternoon, and loves it, he walks like a dream on the lead and loves to show himself, he knows that he is a winner, and is slowly starting to allow other humans to handle him as well , at first he growled and tried to bite, but he was only nervous, he still drops his tail If he is not sure of someone, but once away and walking up it comes and he is his smiling self once again.
When he was 3 months old Robin was given a little Doberman Bitch puppy, and Sezar loves to play with her, she will soon have to start her lessons, As she is growing like a horse, and is also well accepted by the other Chows and the Maltese..
As our home has large grounds for the dogs to play in, it is not necessary to walk them every day like we used to do in Hillbrow, but I do miss my Sunday walk, but it is to dangerous to walk them in this area of Pinetown, there have been a lot of attacks, and muggings, and I don't intend being a victim ever again. Sezar will be going to his first open show on the 9th November, and then the following weekend he will be representing the Natal Chows at the World of Dogs and Cats.

Kimiko

GOING BACK A BIT IN TIME TO 1972
KIMIKO
As I was passing a pet shop in Ladysmith one hot summer's day, I saw what looked like a little golden teddy bear, lying in the window box. the bowl which was near to her contained no water She looked at me with dark almond eyes and yawned, Her tongue was almost black in color. I walked into the shop and enquired as to what breed she was and the price, She I was told was a Chow Chow I bought her and took her home, much to the delight of my two small sons. She was just six weeks old.
As the months passed Kim grew into a beautiful golden dog, She had the most loving nature and was always at my side. A better friend and watch dog I could never have had. The local Africans, were terrified of her, for she looked like a small lion.
By the time she was nine months old, she had become a mother, to seven smaller images of herself, except for one which was black and very much larger than his brothers and sisters. Kim took motherhood well but missed her romps with myself and the boys in the veldt. Soon new homes were found for her litter, and she was once again free to be with me.
One afternoon when she was about a year old, she showed just how faithful she was, She was walking through the bush with the children, when they came across a large snake basking in the afternoon sun. Kim barked a warning and stood between the boys and the now alert snake. As the snake's head started to rise, Kim pounced, catching it behind the head, she bit hard and shook the snake, as a cat would a mouse, the snake fought back wiping its long body from left of right. Kim grimly hung on not letting go of her deadly hold until the snake was dead. All the time the children were screaming at her to stop. We never found out what kind of snake it was, but Kim came off her ordeal scott free, and with repercussions for her brave deed.
On our weekend walks we would take her down to the Klip River, where she soon became a proficient swimmer. She would swim the width of the river climbing out on the opposite bank, to chase the rock rabbits that lived there. You could hear her grunts of joy as she sprang around like a mountain goat, She never hurt them and would return to us shaking her wet fur over any one that was within her reach.
When she was two years old we moved from Ladysmith to Durban to a small flat at the seaside. We were very lucky to be able to keep her in the flat. Soon she became a creature of the sea. There was no need to worry when she was not at home. All you had to do was look out of the window, and you could see her where she was playing with the children along the beach. She loved running in the cool water, barking as the waves chased her along the wet sands, then chasing the ripples back to the deeper water.
Many nights we would go swimming, there was no leaving her behind.she would follow me into the water, swimming by my side, grabbing hold of the back of my costume if she thought I was swimming out to far.
she never allowed the children into the water on their own, and kept them within a few feet of the shore. If one of them was bowled over by a strong wave, Kim would dive to the rescue, bringing up the little person screaming his lungs out. She would then tug on his shorts until she had him safe on the shore.

Often we would take her down to the Point Yacht Club for an early morning swim, This was when she would catch her fish for breakfast there wasn't a morning that she did not catch at least two fish, one for her breakfast and one for mine. They were never big fish but big enough for a light meal.
We would take her with us camping, She loved to ride in cars, Anyone's car that had an open door, was an open invitation for Kim to demand a ride. She would jump in regardless of whom they were and where they were supposed to be going. I would then have the battle of getting her out. Most people after their initial fright of having a strange animal jumping into their cars fell in love with her, her friendly tongue licking their surprised faces and often sitting on their laps.
As she grew older Kim was plagued by skin infections, brought on by her swimming in the sea, time after time her fur would fall out covering my carpets and the furniture in a soft golden down, but try as I would there was no way of keeping her out of the water. She developed chest problems, she also lost weight. We took her to Vet after Vet, trying to get her well. The only advice to me was to keep her out of the sea, and away from the sand, as it was termites in the sand that was causing her fur to drop out. But Kim was adamant, that
the sea was her life and she pined for the water. Any chance she could get, to slip out of the flat, when I was not looking and she was gone.
Kim lived with us for 8 years, a real Water dog.
The day came when I knew that things were getting progressively worse she was now going blind and was also deaf. I could not leave her to her own resources. I took her for walks in the park on her leash,
I was now her eyes and ears. Occasionally I would take her to her beloved sea.
It was there that one night on our evening walk in the sand that she stopped and looked at me, I sat down beside her in the cool sand and she put her beautiful head into my lap, growling and almost as as if she was talking to me. I knew the time had come to say goodbye to my precious friend. She closed her blind eyes and took her last shuddering breath. She had left me for a life full of peace. We buried her in a quite spot near the beach at midnight when no one was around. But although she is now gone, if you look hard you will see her paw prints in she sand as she roams the beaches at midnight.