GARBAGE GUT
Garbage has been on my mind all week.
Several people I met in the park this week, have complained about their dogs suffering from garbage gut. Carlo, my bassett scoffed a bag of left over chicken bones, ham sandwiches and other rubbbish that was discarded by a so-called "naice" person. They were obviously too tired to walk 5 yards to the rubbish bin. I suffered from a sleepless night and so did the bassett hound, who spent most of his time throwing up and having the "runs". After two days, I have, at last got him stabalised by giving him two tablets, twice a day, of the wonderful homeopathic remedy, Arsen-Alb 30c. (Weleda brand).
Warm sunny days brings out the picnics. At the end of each day the bins in the parks and on the streets start over flowing with left over picnic food that consists of tubs of hummous, pork pies, bread and the dreaded chicken and lamb bones, plus all the other detritius that well brought up, tidy minded folk have stuffed into the bins before they go home. By the end of the day, the bins are so full, that bags are piled on the ground.
The sight of an overflowing rubbish bin first thing on a sunny morning makes every dog owners' heart sink, because we all know that you have to be extra alert and have the quick reflexes of Superman to stop your dog from scoffing all the bits that are strewn around. The strewing around is first done by the urban foxes at night, who tear open plastic bags and cherry pick what they want. The rest is left scattered around for the pampered pooches to feast on.
Please don't get me wrong. I am not implying that the park bins are never emptied but merely pointing out that early in the morning, dogs can suss out food that is left lying around. It doesnt just have to be the bin areas, they can sniff out a discarded sandwich at 500 paces. Have you ever heard a dog say "No thanks, I cant eat that. Ive had a gastric band fitted?"
Non-dog owners are puzzled by the reactions of near-hysterical dog owners who are trying to wrestle food out of their dog's mouth. They wonder what all the fuss is about. I'll tell you why we get fussed folks!
We know that the moment the dog slurps up rancid taramasalata, hummous, chicken bones and pork pies, they will go home and start throwing up on the living room carpet, possibly have a chicken bone stuck in the gullet, followed at 3.00 am by a chronic case of "garbage gut" or diarrhoea, keeping you up all night and an expensive visit to the vet the next day. The result is 24 hours of worry and expense and a very miserable dog. Im afraid dogs never think "Uh oh! maybe I shouldn't have eaten that lot, but what can I do, it was there begging me to try it out."
My short term remedy for easing the dog's discomfort is to give it a small bowl of plain yoghurt or one of those probiotic drinks to settle their queasy stomachs. Take up the water because the more water they drink, the more they vomit. After 24 hours the dog may feel better. But if it is acting very dull and listless, still off its breakfast, then its a visit to the vet.
Dogs in the wild were conditioned to eating anything on offer to survive, but modern day dogs dont have the same constitution for eating garbage and usually end up with a chronic bout of "Garbage gut."
Dog owners also despair of the dear old but lonely, well meaning ladies and gents, who carry copious bags laden with bread, nuts, cakes and other stale stuff to dispense to the birds and wildlife in the parks. A dog that eats bread can end up with painful bloat and need a visit to the vet. Trying to talk these people out of throwing it around is uselesss as they are convinced that without their daily help, all the birds and smaller animals will die. They are the park equivalent of those street "Pigeon ladies" who leave piles of bread and nuts on street corners to attract the pigeons.
For many years we had an elderly neighbour living next door to us, who fed all the neighbourhood cats, pigeons, rats, mice and foxes and it was quite unpleasant for those of us who lived on either side of her house. We nicknamed her house "Pigeon Palace". Environmental Health officers issued her with several warning letters but right up to the day she passed away, she refused to stop feeding everything on two and four legs. Her house was infested with fleas and one room was being used as a den by a family of foxes, pigeons were nesting everywhere, mice and rats were in abundance and there must have been over 35 mangy moggies wandering around. The stench was over powering and at night we could hear sounds of scrabbling, scratching and running around with the occasional yowl. At dawn, the noise from cooing pigeons was so loud that the only way to reduce the noise was to wake yourself up at 5 am and bang on windows to make them fly off. This went on for years.
So forgive me if I get ratty when meeting an old dear hurling handsful of bread, biscuits and nuts into the wind because I know that my dog eating nuts can choke on it or the bread and cake can give him severe and painful bloat with flatuence. There is also the added attraction of rolling in fresh bird poo near where the food was thrown.
That's it for this week but I thought you would love to see this video sent to me by David Evans (www.dwmanagement.co.uk), friend of mine and super agent for makeup artists and stylists. His pug, Albert and another named Dexter, (belonging to restauranteur, Tim Mason), are both exactly like the one in the video.
(Don't you just love the snoring! )
Enjoy!
It would be nice to hear from you, please feel free to leave a comment in the box at the end of this page then I will know for sure that you are reading my blog.
Keep warm, dig out the wellies (some terrific dog patterned ones on the Joules site, (www.Joules.com/wellies). I noticed they also had some lovely dog patterned sweaters and tee-shirts.
Until next week's blog,
Cheers,
Dawn ('-')
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