Little Norrie another update
Posted: 28 Jan 2013, 15:30
I received this from Ky today it makes interesting reading I think its prompted by the questioning re cost of feeding etc..I for one and indebted to Ky and Geoff as I have already said I can write the cheques but constant trips to vets cooking specialist type foods just dealing with an emaciated dog is nerve wracking when I had little Sunny very similar to Norrie everyday we expected he would pass away the sheer emotional roller coaster we are on I suppose when you see normal labradors who resemble a hoover when eating their dinner its hard to imagine handfeeding and encouraging a lab to actually eat.
This is in no way a critism of the question of his upkeep we established his overall keep over the last weeks including Vets was running around fifty pounds it was a guideline hopefully when he is back to normal God willing he will be near normal but he was starved slowly so building him up is a very slow process.
Helping dogs like Norrie brings its own rewards his wonderful nature and is getting more cheeky each day.
Thank you for caring for This boy and looking at his updates.
Glenys
From Ky "Caring for Norrie " ..........
I Thought I would give you a catch up on Norrie Boy.
We have been in quite a reflective mode this weekend as it has been our 2 week anniversary of Norrie arriving. When i had the email to say would we take in a yellow boy who had had blood tests but needed further tests we of course said yes in an instant as long as he was good with other dogs. The reasons for him coming here were the usual ones he may need extra TLC and our vets are very good at fitting the rescue dogs in and Glenys you always assure me the fees are not as high as they could be at some vets.
Totting up this weekend what this boy has cost over 2 short weeks is terrifying. When you look at the pictures I have sent he has gone from 3 tins of Butchers a day to the array of foods in the second picture and yes that is just ONE DAYS food we offer him. His kibble weighs over a kilo and so a sack lasts barely 10 days, there are 2 tins of sardnes, a tin of Hills prescription ( to be fair that is the last tin of the case and I will be replacing with meat), 3 duck eggs, 2 salmon steaks and a bowl of braised chicken as well as 2 tuna loins, sea biscuits and James Wellbeloved biscuits and goats milk ( although I have run out and so put a carton of milk there for the picture) other days there is a pound of beef or lamb instead of a piece of fish and the chicken. A supermarket chicken at £5-6 ish lasts him 2 days. His diet is gradually becoming higher in fat and protein and so, sorry, as more red meat is used is becoming more expensive. Soya is a cheap protein but as you know he is totally intollerant of soya and so it is the more expensive option all the way.
As I said I am in reflective mode, all the above has to be shopped for and then I cook on a daily basis. Our lives have altered as we now live around meal times.
Norrie is not a greedy dog at all and so I am re-educating the way he eats in that I am trying to get him into a routine of the now just 4 meals a day and at fixed times so that he expects to be fed and eats his meal. The first hurdle is over in that he now will eat unsoaked kibble the second is keeping to the time table and keeping him eating which he does as long as I stand with him, if I move he follows me so I think bless him he eats to please me.
Even our social lives revolve around him and meal times, we went to a Poultry Club social ( I had to go as I was doing desserts) and so both of us could go My Son David altered his shift to be here to give Norrie his tea and supper, we could not all 3 go to David's funeral as it would mean there was no one here to give Norrie lunch, Geoff went to the optomotrist the other day and so could not drive or go back to work he wanted us to go out for lunch and the first thing I did was look at my watch and say it had better be close and quick as Norrie would need his lunch, yesterday I should have been showing but as Geoff was at a meeting in Coventry and David was working I could not go to the show. Peppa was easy by comparison, just bundle her into the car with plenty dry bedding an away we went, this poor thin lad could not sit in a cold show hall all day he would freeze to death and besides the calories are to help him gain weight not keep warm.
I am not moaning in any way shape or form and took this lad on willingly not even knowing what it would entail, unlike when I took on Peppa puppy ,and would do it again in a heartbeat but sometimes I wonder if people realise the effort that some of these special cases take compared to "normal" fosters. Of course it is a whole family effort from the 3 of us but also from my gang who just accept what ever arrives and quite honestly all deserve a medal for never even attempting to eat Norries many meals which must smell so much better than their plain biscuit.
Then of course in the middle of all this Penny arrives unexpectedly.........................
As I said in reflective mood and have butterflies as it is another check up and weigh in tueday morning.
Ky
Little Norrie today watching Ky feed the sheep
A typical days food.
What he was fed also with pasta before we had him and he was slowly dying
This is in no way a critism of the question of his upkeep we established his overall keep over the last weeks including Vets was running around fifty pounds it was a guideline hopefully when he is back to normal God willing he will be near normal but he was starved slowly so building him up is a very slow process.
Helping dogs like Norrie brings its own rewards his wonderful nature and is getting more cheeky each day.
Thank you for caring for This boy and looking at his updates.
Glenys
From Ky "Caring for Norrie " ..........
I Thought I would give you a catch up on Norrie Boy.
We have been in quite a reflective mode this weekend as it has been our 2 week anniversary of Norrie arriving. When i had the email to say would we take in a yellow boy who had had blood tests but needed further tests we of course said yes in an instant as long as he was good with other dogs. The reasons for him coming here were the usual ones he may need extra TLC and our vets are very good at fitting the rescue dogs in and Glenys you always assure me the fees are not as high as they could be at some vets.
Totting up this weekend what this boy has cost over 2 short weeks is terrifying. When you look at the pictures I have sent he has gone from 3 tins of Butchers a day to the array of foods in the second picture and yes that is just ONE DAYS food we offer him. His kibble weighs over a kilo and so a sack lasts barely 10 days, there are 2 tins of sardnes, a tin of Hills prescription ( to be fair that is the last tin of the case and I will be replacing with meat), 3 duck eggs, 2 salmon steaks and a bowl of braised chicken as well as 2 tuna loins, sea biscuits and James Wellbeloved biscuits and goats milk ( although I have run out and so put a carton of milk there for the picture) other days there is a pound of beef or lamb instead of a piece of fish and the chicken. A supermarket chicken at £5-6 ish lasts him 2 days. His diet is gradually becoming higher in fat and protein and so, sorry, as more red meat is used is becoming more expensive. Soya is a cheap protein but as you know he is totally intollerant of soya and so it is the more expensive option all the way.
As I said I am in reflective mode, all the above has to be shopped for and then I cook on a daily basis. Our lives have altered as we now live around meal times.
Norrie is not a greedy dog at all and so I am re-educating the way he eats in that I am trying to get him into a routine of the now just 4 meals a day and at fixed times so that he expects to be fed and eats his meal. The first hurdle is over in that he now will eat unsoaked kibble the second is keeping to the time table and keeping him eating which he does as long as I stand with him, if I move he follows me so I think bless him he eats to please me.
Even our social lives revolve around him and meal times, we went to a Poultry Club social ( I had to go as I was doing desserts) and so both of us could go My Son David altered his shift to be here to give Norrie his tea and supper, we could not all 3 go to David's funeral as it would mean there was no one here to give Norrie lunch, Geoff went to the optomotrist the other day and so could not drive or go back to work he wanted us to go out for lunch and the first thing I did was look at my watch and say it had better be close and quick as Norrie would need his lunch, yesterday I should have been showing but as Geoff was at a meeting in Coventry and David was working I could not go to the show. Peppa was easy by comparison, just bundle her into the car with plenty dry bedding an away we went, this poor thin lad could not sit in a cold show hall all day he would freeze to death and besides the calories are to help him gain weight not keep warm.
I am not moaning in any way shape or form and took this lad on willingly not even knowing what it would entail, unlike when I took on Peppa puppy ,and would do it again in a heartbeat but sometimes I wonder if people realise the effort that some of these special cases take compared to "normal" fosters. Of course it is a whole family effort from the 3 of us but also from my gang who just accept what ever arrives and quite honestly all deserve a medal for never even attempting to eat Norries many meals which must smell so much better than their plain biscuit.
Then of course in the middle of all this Penny arrives unexpectedly.........................
As I said in reflective mood and have butterflies as it is another check up and weigh in tueday morning.
Ky
Little Norrie today watching Ky feed the sheep
A typical days food.
What he was fed also with pasta before we had him and he was slowly dying