Tinsel's Journey

Tinsel is safe and sound and home. He wasn't excited to see me, just wanted to get the heck out of that place. After about an hour of being home he remembered he hadn't eaten and started looking for food. I gave him a few pieces at 4pm and then just gave him his normal dinner at 6:30. So far he is leaving his incisions alone, has had a normal bowel movement and is acting normal. I was disappointed to see that they didn't cut back his toenails but instead just trimmed them. The tech didn't want to make his toenails bleed. I explained to her that they needed to go back and now I wouldn't be able to do anything about them as it would be painful to do it without anesthetic. At least I wasn't charged - since he had had them done at Meaghan's on Friday I doubt that the tech trimmed much at all. Oh well.
The sutures on his scrotum came out without any difficulty so I doubt that he will bother with that. Now we wait until next week to get results of the thyroid panel. Tomorrow is horse vet day and then Friday is farrier. Been a pretty expensive week what with our son getting married last Saturday as well. If you see an old lady at the end of a driveway selling pencils, that might be me!
 
Awfully glad Tin is home and hopefully not too much worse for wear. Bummer about his toenails - when the quicks grow out too much they have to be cut back and will bleed, but then the quick will retract and that's what you want, as you know. And of course they should have done that while he was under!! :(

Hope he is OK this morning.
 
He licked his IV and dew claw sites a bit overnight. Not too bad but I'll be watching. The whole surgery thing ended up being a last minute rush when the stitches became known so it was Kevin doing the surgery instead of Carol. Kevin hadn't seen him before and it was one of those "too many fingers in the pie" situations where I talked to two of the techs about cutting back the quicks but not the one that actually was involved in the surgery- hence job not done right. Disappointing to be sure but not much I can do. He is now living through the invasion of the "cousins" Gem and Connor. They are here until Sunday while their parents are off diving shipwrecks in Tobermory. It will be interesting to see if Tinsel gets over his aversion to barky dogs as Gem is a talker, especially when playing. He does think she is tooo cute though so he might just learn to ignore her - shall we say noisier moments!
 
I just read this entire amazing, wonderful thread for the first time -- wow! Tinsel is a brave little dog and you are an inspiration to this Sheltie owner, with your ability to put patience and understanding into consistent practice.

I probably won't ever see a world where there are no more dogs in conditions like what Tinsel came from, but that is my greatest wish.

As you have been Tinsel's angel, I am sure he will be yours, for many years.
 
They have increased the penalty for inhumane treatment in Quebec but not soon enough for the monsters that ran the mill Tin came from. They got banned from owning or operating a breeding facility for 2 years. Had the seizure happened a couple of months later they could have been banned for life. However, the son can own and breed dogs under his name, he wasn't an owner of record so wasn't named in the charges, so really, it won't help much. I think they also got a $10K fine - big wow eh???
All we can do is educate as many people as we can, lobby for a ban on sales of puppies in pet stores, spay/neuter our dogs and encourage those around us to do the same, support rescues and be prepared to write letters to our governments asking for better legislation that gives the humane society more teeth when they investigate these places.
Tinsel was lucky. He got out and has a chance to live. Thousands of others still need our voices.
 
I think Tinsel is ready for the "cousins" to go home. Being the quiet little soul that he is he is finding all the commotion disconcerting. Gem wants to play ALL THE TIME and while it amuses the heck out of Dave and me, Tin just wants to go back to laying in the family room while we watch TV. I will be really surprised if it turns out that his thyoid is functioning properly. He's like a little old man. Only goes far enough to be able to go and lay in the sun unless there is food involved. Really looking forward to getting the results of his bloodwork.
 
Could it be the extreme heat making him move around less? I know Liam is having difficulty with it this summer - I blame his illness and recovery from surgery.
 
Tagg said:
As I sit here with the dogs draped around me I got to thinking about what my goals have been with all the furry friends I have shared my life with. When I showed dogs it was bringing out the best of their physical attributes while maintaining a "showy" attitude. In obedience, which I dabble in, it was to teach a response that would help us live together in a manner that was compatible. With Tinsel and Towyn, both rescues, it was to help them achieve a sense of peace and security. All of the things that we have done with our dogs are so interconnected. Each thing we do with our dogs gives them the tools to live with us. After thinking on this this morning I realize that through it all, I still love to sit in a quiet room with my pals enjoying the companionship that we give each other. They don't have to do or be anything other than what they are - beautiful, loving and trusted friends.
Click to expand...

I just love where you are coming from with this. Especially "With Tinsel and Towyn, both rescues, it was to help them achieve a sense of peace and security."
It's taken us over a year -but I feel we've finally achieved this with our Jack. he is a much happier dog than he was when we got him -he is at home -he knows he's loved - and safe. VERY gratifying.
scott
 
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