Sunday night Emmers!

January 30th, 2011 - 10:10 pm KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Sunday Night Lovers…..

Tonight Grandma came down to help me feed the hounds and made a comment. “Emma looks like she gained a pound.”! Well, Grandmas can tell these type of things. LOL!

IMG_1785

Herz looks thin to me!

Turns out Grandma is right. Our Emma gained a pound. She is always so hungry! That aside!

IMG_1790

Can you tell why she gets a few extra treats?

More loving our love handles on Emma later…Cat, Chaps and Emma

David Dowbyhuz presents Rollins and Bonk:)

January 30th, 2011 - 7:07 pm KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and bassetabulous artist David Dowbyhuz…..

Meet Rollins and Bonk! PRECIOUS!

dowbyhuzrollinsbonk

Wow! David has such a gift. It must be fun when you are so talented and these guys are your subjects!

More loving his work later….Cat, Chaps and Emma

Be careful out there if you have snow on the roof!

January 30th, 2011 - 2:02 pm KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Being Careful Lovers…

Well, when the back steps are iced over or slick I put a baby gate up so the hounds won’t slip or fall. So, today the sun came out and the steps are clear so I let the kids go down to the lower level. Emma did not care to venture down, being the cold natured girl she is.

So, Chaps went carefully down. He was enjoying himself sniffing around and I was cleaning my office when I heard an ice sheet slide off of my roof. My heart got stuck on my throat as I ran out the door. It missed Chaps by a few feet, Thank Dog. He took off running towards me and I just hugged him.

So, this is a message from your Mayor and his Mommy…

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

IMG_7904

More putting the baby gate back up later….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

YouTube find of the day….

January 29th, 2011 - 10:10 am KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and YouTube Find of the Day Lovers….

This one is called Basset Hound Care in the Winter……

Too cute!

Stay warm residents.

More blankets later….Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma

Baby it’s cold outside!

January 28th, 2011 - 12:12 pm KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and not loving the cold outside lovers! Well, Chaps and Emma don’t like to be cold so I put their cute coats on them for our well baby visit to the vet. OMD! I cannot believe howl fast their nails grow. I have seen homeless hounds with shorter nails than Emma’s.

Here the kids are getting a treat before we take off….

IMG_1726

We have seen many shots of the kids in the backyard but not many with cute coats! Look at Chaps face!

IMG_1728

Emma was really strutting her stuff!

IMG_1729

Burger boy runs towards the basset hauling vehicle. Poor boy, has no idea where he is going:(

IMG_1730

Oh well, Himz will get a large fry to share with Simlette…..

IMG_1731

Emma finds great smells outside of the vet office….

IMG_1737

I think someone knows where he is…..

IMG_1735

T-minus 20 minutes until French Fries!

IMG_1736

More loving hounds around the town in coats! Cat, Chaps and Emma

Heart warming blog and video about Rosebud!

January 27th, 2011 - 1:01 pm KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Rosebud lovers! Wow! What a heartwarming story that I just ran across on Youtube.

It goes like this!

“I have a soft spot for Basset hounds. My personal dogs, Ralph and Gus, are Basset mixes. When people call me about adopting a Border Collie, I always say to them, “Why do you want a smart dog? They get bored and get into trouble. Get a Basset hound. Even when they come up with a devious plot, they forget what they’re doing half way through!”

So is it any surprise that our wonderful Amy felt safe sending me this e-mail?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011: Today one of my students came to me in tears. Initially I assumed she was upset about the grades on her upcoming report card, but I was wrong. She was upset about a dog. Some of my students know I volunteer for The Dog Liberator and come to me about stray neighborhood dogs destined for the county pound. Usually these dogs are pit bulls and pit bull mixes, so I pass, knowing just how difficult it would be even for TDL to rehome these poor souls. Instead, I give students the address and phone number of the area’s humane society, a no-kill shelter.

But today was different. This student was crying over a neighbor’s dog that had taken to chasing her (the neighbor’s) horses and was therefore headed for points unknown if she wasn’t gone by the end of the day. Much as they’d like to, the student’s family couldn’t take the dog. I was ready to say “no” and write down the humane society’s information once again when the student showed me a cell phone photo of “Missy.” How could I say no? Staring back at me from beneath several folds of skin and a pair of ridiculously long ears were the saddest basset hound eyes I’ve ever seen … This was the dog guilty of chasing horses?

Fast forward to the end of the school day, and I’m following handwritten directions to a neighborhood several miles from the school. I just couldn’t see allowing that sweet-looking dog to be taken to the county shelter or worse. My destination was an older singlewide with a dirt yard surrounded by barbed wire fencing. I counted four horses and numerous cats milling around the trailer as I parked and made my way to the front door.

Once I explained who I was and why I was standing on her doorstep, it didn’t take long to convince the dog’s owner to let me take her. Missy, according to her owner, was four-years-old, hadn’t been on flea or heartworm preventative, had an expired rabies tag, and might/might not be spayed (eeek!). The woman said she’d had Missy for a year; the dog had been a gift from a friend. I could see for myself that Missy was overweight (truth is, she was the biggest basset hound I’d ever seen!). I still couldn’t see the dog chasing horses, but her owner insisted that she did. Okay, sure. After a few more minutes of conversation where I gathered as much information as possible about Missy, she and I were off to the vet’s office. I prayed she would be heartworm-free and that Gisele and Holly had room in the rescue for one more.

Rosebud1

At the vet’s office, Missy (now Rosebud) greeted both dogs and people with a friendly wag of her tail and waited calmly until they called us back. I explained Rosebud’s medical history as best I could, and prayed like crazy while Dr. Hendrix completed his examination and we waited for the results of the heartworm test. He verified that she is approximately 4-years-old, has been spayed (yes!), and miraculously is heartworm-free! Dr. Hendrix also said that Rosebud, who tips the scales at a hefty 69 pounds needs to lighten her load by about 15-20 pounds. Who doesn’t, I ask? She has several long scars on her left shoulder that indicate she may have been hit by a car at some point and is missing hair in several tiny spots on her head from ticks being removed. Otherwise, Rosebud appears to be in excellent health and is now current on everything vaccinations, Heartgard, Comfortis everything. Huge sigh of relief from me.

So now we’re at home and I’ve just given her a flea bath. Thank God for Comfortis and Adams Flea & Tick Shampoo because poor Rosebud was infested. Her previous owner told me her children slept with the dog. I certainly hope not because I haven’t seen a flea infestation this bad since I rescued Chloe (now Bacardi) from another neighborhood close to my school. It was so bad the bath water turned reddish-brown from the dried blood. Not to worry, though, because Rosebud is resting (read: sleeping) comfortably on the dog bed next to my Jack Russell/whippet mix, no doubt dreaming of her next meal.

rosebud2

Before I forget, here are the basics: Rosebud is both people- and dog-friendly, loves car rides, walks well on a leash, appears to be house trained, is super at the vet’s office, and enjoys simple pleasures like belly rubs and warm baths.

Yeah, you gotta love a Basset hound! Rosebud is divine! I can’t wait until she finds her forever family!!!

If you are interested in adopting Rosebud, please review our adoption process and then e-mail me at amyb.thedogliberator@gmail.com.”

Link to original blog posting…..Cat

http://thedogliberator.blogspot.com/2011/01/rosebud-basset.html

More loving when social networking really works….Cat, Chaps and Emma

Baby Emma in a Snood!

January 27th, 2011 - 12:12 am KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Baby Emma in a Snood Lovers! Can you Believe it?

Emmasnood

I took this picture of herz as a young pup! Can you believe howl cute she looks? This was about a year before she went blind. Poor baby went blind at about 3 years old.

Howl pretty is herz in her snood?

More loving a dreamy hound later….Cat, Chaps and Emma

Blast from the past….sigh…..

January 26th, 2011 - 10:10 pm KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and blast from the past lovers.

I am just so glad that I have photos like this. Grandpa was never more proud when he was walking the Mayor through our town. I took this picture when Grandma and I were walking Emma. It was so funny. Grandpa always went off with Chaps much earlier than we would leave with the puplicious, Emma! hehehe

granddogs

Grandpa and Chaps were the boys! We met them at the top of the street and I took this picture.

One of my favorite memories is turning around and seeing Grandpa tapping Chaps haunch with his umbrella as they crossed the street.

Fantastic memories like this are a blessing.

I dream of Grandpa a lot.

More loving dreams later…Cat, Chaps and Emma

Colby Chaps and his girl Jourdan Check in with the residents of bassethoundtown!

January 26th, 2011 - 8:08 pm KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Loving Chaps son lovers! Well………we are all one of those!

Colby Chaps starts out in his chair, and this is his chair!

Colbychaps11-2

Himz is just so comfortable! We think green is his color!

Now for a little play time with his girl, Jourdan! Belly rubs! What could be better?

Colbychapsjourdan2

Maybe another rub!

colbychapsjourdan

Now for the best part of having a little girl….

A hug!

Colbychapsjoudan3

It looks like you 2 are having a great start to the new year! Warms the heart!

More loving Jourdan and Colby Chaps later…..Cat, Chaps and Emma

P.S. as Chaps would say…..”Ah…..family!”

Clyde, gets state of the art treatment at the University of Wisconsin Veterinary School:)

January 26th, 2011 - 11:11 am KY Time

Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and cutting technology lovers! Well, it sure sounds like the University of Wisconsin Veterinary School is one of those!

MJS petcancer 1 of hoffman.jpg PETCANCER

Resident veterinary anesthesiologist Carrie Schroeder (foreground) monitors Clyde, while technicians Joan Capelle (left) and Cheryl Bohling prepare him for treatment last week.

Pets treated to cutting-edge therapy

By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel

Lying on a soft white blanket while waiting to get prepped for his medical treatment, Clyde looked bummed as he softly moaned.

It wasn’t clear whether he knew what lay in store for him. Clyde is a basset hound. Like most members of his breed, he always has a “hangdog look.”

On this day, 10-year-old Clyde was undergoing one in a series of TomoTherapy treatments for the cancerous tumor in his nose. He is one of the first pets to be treated by the relatively new radiation therapy at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, the first veterinary school in the nation to open a TomoTherapy clinic.

vetschool26_1

TomoTherapy delivers radiation in slices – the Greek prefix “tomo” means slice – focusing the beam more narrowly on the tumor without harming surrounding tissue and organs. Developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it provides a combination of radiation treatment with a helical CT scanner in equipment built by TomoTherapy Inc., a Madison-based radiation therapy firm.

In a way TomoTherapy has come full circle at the UW veterinary school because animals here were used in clinical trials with their owners’ permission to test the procedure before it was used on humans. Dogs with nasal tumors are similar biologically to humans with head and neck tumors, said Lisa Forrest, a radiation oncologist and researcher at the UW veterinary school.

TomoTherapy differs from conventional cancer treatments that have been used for decades because instead of blasting the whole tumor with radiation, and quite often harming healthy tissue, the treatment pinpoints the tumor. Dogs with nasal tumors often ended up losing sight in one or both eyes or suffering from dry eyes from the radiation treatments, leaving their owners with difficult decisions to make regarding quality of life for their pets.

“The thing with nasal tumors is we don’t discover them until they’re quite big because the dog or cat can’t say ‘Hey, I’m having trouble breathing,’ ” Forrest said

Nasal tumors are common in dogs, particularly retrievers, as well as cats. When cats can’t smell, it’s harder to get them to eat. Clyde’s owner Christine Cary first noticed one of his nostrils began plugging up with mucus in October. Clyde’s face was tender, and he sometimes yelped when petted in that area.

After seeing two veterinarians and learning that surgery was not an option, Cary was referred to UW, where she and her husband learned about the new TomoTherapy clinic. They drive 130 miles round trip each weekday while Clyde goes through 10 treatments, which last about 45 minutes, including 15 minutes or less in the TomoTherapy machine.

Costly treatment

It’s not cheap. The cost is based on the tumor type and size and ranges from $1,500 to $7,000, said Ruthanne Chun, associate dean for clinical affairs and director of the UW Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Most pet owners pay the full cost since few have insurance for their animals.

“We were kind of on the fence because of his age and yet we were hoping, after talking to the oncologist, to get another year out of him,” said Cary, who is using money she earned working as seasonal help at Lands’ End to pay for Clyde’s treatment.

On this day, Clyde was third in line after Bushes and Oscar and before Dukie, Jesse, Heidi, Chance and Ellie. Except for Bushes, a black domestic shorthair cat, all of the patients were dogs.

Clyde was given a shot to put him to sleep, then intubated with a breathing tube and hooked up to an anesthesia machine by Carrie Schroeder, an anesthesia resident. A pulse monitor, which normally goes on an adult human’s finger, was placed on Clyde’s tongue. Then Clyde was wheeled into the concrete-lined room and placed on the TomoTherapy equipment, splayed on his stomach with his furry head pointing toward the large doughnut-shaped machine, his mouth clamped on to a hard rubber bite block.

Soon the machine was sending a beam of radiation through the tumor.

vetschool26_5

With TomoTherapy “we preserve their eyesight, we prevent them from getting dry eye,” said Forrest, who is also a radiologist. “We’re able to shape the beam to the tumor.”

UW national leader

Chun noted that UW is already a leader in oncology treatment for animals and draws pet owners from throughout the Midwest and farther away. Other veterinary schools, such as Texas A&M, are planning on opening TomoTherapy clinics, but because of the expense it’s likely only a handful of veterinary hospitals will eventually have them. For that reason, Chun said, Madison will probably get more pets from as far away as the coasts as word of the UW TomoTherapy clinic spreads.

“As veterinary oncologists, our goal is to make the quality of life great, and with TomoTherapy we can do that,” Chun said.

The clinic, which took a year to build, cost about $5 million and was paid entirely through gift funds. It can handle animals ranging from rabbits to Great Danes though not horses, which are too big for the equipment.

Cathy Brown brought her 13-year-old golden retriever, Jesse, for treatment of a nasal tumor and a small tumor in his brainstem. Jesse was the first animal treated at the UW TomoTherapy Clinic.

She took him to her veterinarian in Madison in late November after noticing a discharge coming from his nose, and later a neurologist told her that the nasal tumor was quite large. When she learned the TomoTherapy clinic was opening soon, she decided to take Jesse for treatment since it was possible he would lose his eyesight with conventional radiation therapy.

“I knew the first option wasn’t an option because he still had a good quality of life,” she said as she waited for Jesse to finish treatment. “I knew the Wisconsin veterinary school had one of the best cancer treatment centers, and I’m not surprised they would be on the cutting edge”.

End of article…

Get well soon Clyde….

More loving the cutting edge later…..Cat, Chaps and Emma

Next Page »