Did you say Medical Aid for your dog?

After recent trips to the vet (twice in one week...) my mind has been working overtime as to how I can deal with the vet bills better. While I was waiting for Salvador to come out of the operating room on the one occasion, I found a pamphlet for pet insurance and I think this is the answer.
Accidents will happen when you have a pet! Don't ever kid yourself and think 'my dog/cat is young and I can handle paying for the initial shots. If we get past that we'll be fine right?' Wrong...Salvador has been to the vet thrice this year alone...keep in mind I've only had him for a year and these don't include going for his routine injections...So medical aid it is for him!

When we were at the vet for the second time around the other day, due to the dreaded grass seed incident, I asked the vet to microchip him - this is one of the prerequisites for getting medical aid. You do not need it to sign up initially, but your pet will have to be chipped if you are going to claim. This seemed like a relatively pain free procedure where the vet just injects a small microchip into the dog's neck, you fill out some forms and you're off. They send the forms away and you stick your pet's code in the front of it's vet book.

Next thing I did was to go online and find a pet insurer. I used Rogz Pet Insurance and I chose the plan that I thought best suits Salvador's needs. At first I thought of going with the cheaper first option, but then there isn't much difference in price between the first plan and the third, I filled out the very easy application and almost immediately I was informed that Salvador was on his way to be covered. I received a final mail yesterday saying that Salvador is now on medical aid!
The only little annoyance is that you can only claim 1 month after you made your first payment...so here starts the countdown and let's hope I can keep Salvador out of trouble till then!

Return of the dreaded Grass Seed...2!!

O.K so the birthday celebration is over and all is back to normal - and by normal I mean going to the vet once again, for the second time this week to have a grass seed removed from Salvador's foot.

Last weekend I noticed him licking his paw a lot. I decided to leave it and see how it goes the next day, only to wake up to a restless and limping, very unhappy looking dog. Upon further investigation I realized this could only be due to the dreaded Grass Seed that grows in lush abundance on the farm at this time of the year(Spring-Summer).

A dried version of the plant...

The actual seeds - they have arrow-like heads and are
anything from 1-2cm long! 

They specially target breads with furry little feet like the Spaniel and the Border Collie for instance. They have long, hair-like grips to help them attach to the fur and they're spear-like heads easily penetrate the soft skin between the toes and in the ears. The seed has little hairs or fibers on the casing that makes it capable of only moving one way and that is in! No need to speculate if it is a grass seed or not either - they are pretty easy to identify by the little swelling and hole they leave in the paw.

And this is what your dog's foot will look like...
(image from Cockers Online)

According to the vet I saw, she treats dogs on a daily basis with these nasty things lodged into their toes and ears.
She removed Salvador's under a general anesthetic by using a fancy little scissor/tweezers to go into the hole and so pull it out. On Monday they were lucky to find the whole seed, but this morning they had to cut to try and find it and even then she reckoned that the seed might have traveled quite a way up his forearm or we hope it somehow already got out.
The worry is that, as I've said before, these seeds travel one way and that is onward and upwards so there is always a risk that they could travel all the way to the heart - which of course is fatal...

As it stands now, I have a very drowsy 'puppy' of a dog lying at my feet with one foot wrapped up and all the rest clean shaven so as to avoid those nasty seeds from attaching and hopefully preventing further infestations!

-Drowsy-

The vet suggested this not-so-hip cut to prevent the seeds from attaching...

If you live on a farm or in a very bushy area, this cut might be helpful to your dog. Getting these seeds removed can be rather costly and trust me, it won't just happen once! Take it from me, in this case, prevention definitely is better and much cheaper than cure! 

GOODLUCK OUT THERE !! 

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY Salvador!!!

13th of November, 2013

Today marks the very first birthday of Salvador!! I love him to bits, he is the best dog in the whole entire world(apart from your dog...)and that is all I have to say on the matter!
(Salvador will unfortunately be visiting the vet first thing tomorrow morning...more on that when we get back...)

Meet Salvador...

This lovely creature is my Golden Cocker Spaniel, Salvador.

The first scary car ride home...

Salvador was a bit of an impulse addition to my family...Growing up with enough pets to fill a decent sized plot of land I felt the need to have a dog for many years after moving out of the house. The final straw was when my neighbors (whom I live on a farm with) was losing some of their house mates and therefor their two dogs and we needed another dog to keep the remaining dog company. This was enough reason for me to immediately start looking for puppies online. I found a suitable batch very quickly, went to view them and Salvador(then called Bull due to a bit of a weight problem caused by him snatching all the food...)caught my immediate interest and the rest is history!

His puppy years were relatively easy to deal with. When bringing a puppy home your best friend is consistency. Know that all pups need to go to the loo after a meal and after a big sleep and if you establish this routine early on you are well on your way to having a dog with good toilet habits. 

Salvador, aged 3months

From the beginning I took him everywhere. I wanted him to be able to socialize well with humans and dogs alike - I even remember taking him to restaurants and trips to the shops. I wanted to have a constant little companion and that is what he has become, although he is a dog of many duties!

Every day I have had him has been extremely happy and we've had some very interesting times the past year(realizing his favorite place to pooh is in the main walk-way of the weekend market; literally scaring a duckling to death by simply barking at it, putting up with four very inquisitive kittens and their less than dog-friendly mother), but it has also been pretty crazy and tough(I promise you, although it is worth it, getting a dog is like having a child, organizing play dates and babysitters and all!).

Salvador's angry face, aged 4 months

I decided to write this blog - with the help of Salvador, as a little diary of his life and in doing so we can maybe help out other first time dog owners, because even though I've had other dogs before, I have never had a dog that I was totally and solely responsible for. I bought him, I need to feed him and if he has to go to the vet I better be sure that money is coming out of my wallet!

So here starts the many Adventures of Salvador!

Salvador in Hermanus, aged 10 months