losing my sanity

yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster for me.. in the morning, gia passed away.. and that night, madeleine was adopted!! so last night i was a blubbering sack of tears and mood swings.. didn't help that i'm like pmsing as well. so this was me last night:

"YAY!! Maddie's got a family!!"
"Sob, sniffle.. But little Gia is dead.." *CURL UP INTO FETAL POSITION IN BED AND SOB*
"I miss Maddie so much already!" *CRY*
"Oh poor Molly will think Maddie abandoned her.. Molly will be lonely!" *MORE TEARS*
"The house is so empty without Maddie.. I miss her cutesy face.." *AND YET MORE TEARS*
"Yay!! The people that adopted Maddie are so nice!!" *SMILE*
"How can i celebrate for Maddie, when Gia is dead..." *CRY AGAIN*

i'm exhausted today. i have no emotions left. i think that's good. i need a little break from all that.

general whining and moodiness

It's saturday night now. Little gia has been staying at the vets for 2 days already. There is no improvement in her condition whatsoever. When I saw her yesterday she was unresponsive and motionless again. I called the clinic today for an update and they said there's still no change. She woke up once but couldn't even stand. Dr L says we'll have to take it one day at a time and see if gia survives tomorrow. Dammit I was so sure that once she was on the IV drip thingy that she would get better. It was always like that with other sick kitties and pups before...

Also Maddie's bald butt isn't improving again. she's had treatment for flea allergy dermatitis but her fur didn't grow back. Now she's just finished a two week course of antifungal tablets and several medicated baths but her fur still isn't growing back. Her butt and thighs are all patchy. I really need her to be in perfect condition to meet potential adopters. What now? Back to the vet...

chinese new year weekend..

darling madeleine still not adopted..

oh lord please save me from these mood swings and emotional attachments and disappointments.. my heart can't take it.. i'm 27 going on 107 i swear.. soon i'll look it too and then i'll be REALLY upset.. incon-frickin-solable. did you notice that skinny people with round faces look like olives on toothpicks? now imagine the olives drying and shriveling up or rotting and turning soggy.. not a pretty picture either way right.. well that's whats gonna happen to me if i don't start getting more sleep and feeling less stressed. ahhhh my future's sooo bright i need sunglasses..

soooo yesterday a lovely young couple came over to meet maddie. they were looking for a puppy that would get along with their 3 month old female golden retriever pup. i really like this couple. they were very nice, asked all the right questions, gave maddie the space and respect that a dog meeting strangers needs, and took their time getting acquainted with her. they described their experiences growing up with dogs, and how they care for them. very good. they have a house with a large yard and they keep their pets indoors but with lots of outdoor activity. what more could i ask for. they're the type of adopters i hope all my foster kids will spend their lives with.

well... i think maddie was having a bad day or something.. she was being quite disagreeable which is not like her at all. she barked at them, made little growly noises, sniffed them suspiciously, wouldn't let them pet her. that's not like her at all. i can't understand it. usually she's jolly, warm, sweet, and just oozing with puppy cuteness and vibrancy. where did this sudden change in temperament come from? she has been wonderful with everyone that has come into my home and met her. is it possible that she is learning to be territorial and fearful from molly? molly is scared of strangers and displays very aggressive behavior toward them. could maddie have been acting up yesterday because that's what molly does? i don't know. even after i put molly in her room, maddie continued to bark. i had the couple give maddie some treats to show they weren't a threat. still didn't really work.. she'd take the treats then back away nervously eyeing them and bark.

anyway looooong story short.. they left but not before telling me that they were also considering a dog from PAWS. a 2 year old large breed male that was rescued starving from the streets. they had met him at PAWS earlier that day. it sounded like after they met maddie, they were leaning more towards the PAWS dog. well i would never try to deprive another dog of a home. especially an adult one that has suffered so much and could be at risk of being euthanised. if they choose the PAWS dog, that would be wonderful news as well.. they said they'd keep in touch.. but i could tell maddie had not won them over. i'm pretty disappointed. they're great adopters. ah well.. better luck next time i guess..

i gave maddie a pep talk later explaining that i am not her forever mum, and my home is not her forever home and that she needs to help me out coz other puppies and kitties need me to foster them too and are just waiting for a spot. of course by this time she was back to her lovable sweet self.. but the adopters were no longer there to see it. what am i doing wrong with maddie? please advise!!

Madeleine has fungus!! ARGHHHH

Soooooo... Maddie's butt has kinda been going bald again..

*BIG FAT FRICKIN SIGH*

We went to the vet again.. I love how these expenses keep popping up.. coz i shit money right? Bloody hell.. Anyhoozers Maddie was a pain going to the vet again.. When i snapped on a leash to her collar she did that "hit the deck" thing again and wouldn't get up so i took off the collar and put on a harness instead. Within five minutes she had slipped out of the harness and took off running around the house as if a bloodsucking airplane sized vampire bat was chasing her. Ok so she didn't like the harness.. so i put the collar back on and put the leash on again. This time i held treats in one hand and let her sniff them then had to drag her into the car.

When we arrived at the vet she gave me this look like "WTF?? OH HELL NO!!" Because we were at a different vet i guess.. Yeah i found another awesome vet near my home. The clinic is called Sacred Heart Animal Clinic and its great!! i really like it!! The vet is sooo super nice and fosters animals herself.

There i go getting side-tracked again. Stupid adhd.. anyway i got maddie into the clinic by bribing her again and when we got her up on the examination table i kept her calm and still by bribing her some more. she was very excited coz she could see all the other dogs outside the room and she wagged her tail so hard her whole body wiggled. sooo cute when she does that. turns out she's got her permanent canine teeth already so she's at least 6 months old.. i've been telling potential adopters she's 5 months old.. argh.. we also weighed her again today and now she's 12.3 kilos. she gains like a kilo every two weeks the little piggy.. Dr.P examined Maddie's butt and took some hair and skin scraping samples to check under her microscope and LO AND BEHOLD... FUNGUS!!! TA-DA!! Isn't that what i thought in the first place? MUAHAHAHAHHAHA and the last vet told me flea allergy dermatitis.. Maddie's flea free yo!!

Anyways i have to give her a stinky medicated bath tonight and she's on a course of anti-fungal pills for two weeks. I hate giving dogs pills. They're sooo uncooperative and I basically suck at it.. I have no secret weapon or super stealth moves.. looks like we're in for a wrestling match tonight.. And the medicated bath!! The vet said to keep the lather on maddie for 15 minutes.. i'm like "eh.. how the hell am i gonna keep her soaked in lather and still and cooperative for 15 minutes?" more bribery perhaps..

I've also got a couple of new potential adopters for Maddie again. Let's hope one of them works out. One lady is looking for a companion for her 2 year old neutered male dog and the other lady is looking for another pup to accompany her 3 month old retriever pup. they both sound very promising but i don't wanna get my hopes smooshed again..

Maddie still needs a permanent home and loving family

So, i announced last week that i had found an awesome adopter for Maddie and that she'd be going to her new home soon. Well, that's not going to happen and i'm soooo super annoyed and frustrated. I always tell people that if they're not serious about adopting, then don't fricking waste my time! i'm busy as hell and i only want to be answering their emails, text messages, phone calls, if they are GENUINE adopters. Don't contact me on a whim, these are LIVING creatures we are dealing with. If you are ready to commit your time and your life to a dog for the next, say 15 years, then contact me.

Anyway long story short, Maddie is available for adoption again. She is growing and growing and though i love her, she's a lot of work and i'm freaking out with work and cleaning up after everyone everyday and trying to rescue feral cats. Also, i turned down like three other adopters for this one family that i picked for maddie. they seemed so perfect. now we're back to square one. BIG FAT SIGH. i really hope we find a great family for maddie soon. she's is growing up really fast and we're all getting really attached to each other.

A great week for adoptions!!

I'm super happy to announce the confirmed adoptions of Madeleine, Snowy, Luna, and Rajah!!
Madeleine will be off to her new home sometime next week where she will join 4 year old labrador retriever mix pooch Lucky and his human family of four. Yay!
Luna has been adopted by my good friends so i know she'll be in great hands.
Snowy and Rajah have been adopted together by a nice lady with 4 other cats and will be going to their home once Luna has been weaned.
At the moment, snowy, luna, and rajah are all still with me because luna still refuses to try food.. i can't separate her from her mummy snowy until she's more independent.. i'm really not sure what to do about her actually.. her brother rajah has been eating on his own for weeks now but luna still only wants her mummy's milk.. oh dear!

Madeleine's balding bum and trip to the vet

I noticed last week that the fur on the backs of Maddie's hind legs seemed to be thinning but I thought maybe I was just paranoid or something.. Then over the weekend, she began to really itch and every time she sat down she'd give herself a good nibble and scratch.. The bald patches grew huge overnight. My first thought was "oh crap! mange!". But there was no crustiness so then i thought it was really horrible super fast-spreading powerful radioactive mutant ringworm unlike any other case I had ever seen before. i hate ringworm. its so annoying and i feel itchy just thinking about it.

Yesterday, I finally got home early enough to bring Maddie to the vet. That's always a challenge because the clinic closes by 730pm; too early!! Maddie isn't really used to wearing a collar and a leash yet so that was another challenge. Whenever i put a collar on her and attach the leash, she immediately lies down flat, chin on the floor, legs splayed out in every direction. I'm not sure why she does this but have been working on it by bribing her with treats. So yesterday, as expected, she wouldn't cooperate and get into the car on her own legs. She's a big pup and I'm a skinny chick so carrying her to my car is no easy task. I wrapped my muscle-free arms around her body and hoisted her up onto the backseat where she cringed and glared at me accusingly. While all this was happening, the other dogs were FREAKING OUT. They were totally convinced that Maddie and I were going to THE most fun place in the world without them. They were all very upset and sure that I was being a meanie and depriving them of going to a magical doggie wonderland where its OK to eat and roll around in cat poop.

Once we were on our way, I had to give Maddie treats every 30 seconds or so to keep her calm and happy. When we arrived, she refused to get out of the car. I had to carry her big ass body into the clinic. When i set her down on the floor, she immediately did her 'hit the deck' thing again. So, it turns out that Maddie has picked up some fleas and the reason for the crazy balding and skin flaking is that she is severely allergic to them. Poor thing. The vet frontlined her from head to toe and prescribed a course of antibiotics and steroids because her skin was so inflamed and itchy. Poor little Maddie has allergies like i do. Now i know where those super itchy bites on my ankles came from!! Thanks a lot Madds!! Oh and just in case you're wondering, the flea allergy thing is called Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD). My first time hearing about it!

By the way a potential adopter is coming over this weekend to meet Maddie!! Wish us luck!! Someone is also coming to see Rajah, Snowy, and Luna. YAY!!

Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better issues RED ALERT for Klang Dog Pound

Dear friends, animal lovers, compassionate souls,
I'm personally begging you to please have a look at this post by local NGO "Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better". Some of you may have heard that the conditions in local dog pounds are getting worse. This is true and the cruelty continues to reach new heights. Please help me and other animal welfare activists help the innocent canine victims who continue to suffer at the hands of heartless malaysians. Look at the photos below to understand the conditions. These photos were taken at the Klang Pound by MDDB. I am fostering a puppy (Madeleine) from this pound and she came to me terrified, insecure, and sad. All we ask if that you write in to the Klang municipal council. An email has been drafted at the bottom of this page and all you have to do is forward it to the email addresses provided below. I thank you in advance for your time and kindness.

From: http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2010/01/red-alert.html


The man responsible for the carnage

Pitiful

Suffering

Frightened and hungry

Starved

Frightened to even move - probably bullied by the other dogs

Mother dog and her pups

Anyone missing their pet?

Terrified.

The situation at the Klang Municipal Council dog pound has reached a critical state. A friend who had gone there to feed the dogs said there were almost 200 dogs crammed there and some were terribly sick.

She has taken some photos and the sight at the pound is terribly heart wrenching. The Klang Municipal Council refuses to look at other alternatives instead of catching and putting these dogs through hell.

To make matters worse, they pay their dog catchers incentives which has resulted in them going out to catch dogs at all times of the day.

Their favourite time is about 6.00 or 7.00 pm when home owners come back from work and release their dogs to ease themselves.

Most of the dogs caught have collars on and if allowed to go on the situation will only get worse.

We have posted pictures taken by our friend and will also give out pamphlets this Saturday calling for people to gather outside MPK next week. We will announce the date soon.

Meanwhile, we are attaching a message to be sent to the relevant people as well as their emails. please send them mails telling them to stop the carnage.

The emails are that of the Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, the state executive councillors, Klang Municipal Council officials as well as the Klang MP Charles Santiago.




The Klang Municipal Council’s dog catching unit is going on a rampage as the dog catchers have been given incentives for every dog caught. The situation has gotten out of hand with the dog catchers even going out to catch dogs late at night.

Their favourite modus operendi is to go to housing estates in the evening when dog owners return home and release their dogs out for a while. The dogs are nabbed and manhandled before being brought to the pound. A large number of the dogs at the Klang dog pound have collars.

Yes, no doubt there are complaints about strays but this time MPK has embarked on a rampage of hate against all dogs under the instructions of its health department head En Zulkifli Abbas. The dogs are cramped in cages without proper food and water and many end up dead.

Hopefully, the state government will look into this as soon as possible and failure to do so is reflective of the Pakatan Rakyat’s inability to control its local government machinery. We also urge the Pakatan Rakyat government to transfer En Zulkifli Abbas out of MPK.

Failure by the state government to do so will result in aggressive groundwork being immediately launched to ensure that it’s booted out of Selangor in the next elections. We animal activists are willing to put any party which propagates compassion for animals in power because our main priority is to stop this cruelty and viciousness against dogs.

khalid@selangor.gov.my
teresakok@selangor.gov.my

hasanali@selangor.gov.my

yaakob@selangor.gov.my
roziahismail@selangor.gov.my

drxavier@selangor.gov.my

drhalimah@selangor.gov.my
iskandar@selangor.gov.my
ronnieliu@selangor.gov.my
elizabethwong@selangor.gov.my
eanyong@selangor.gov.my
mislan@mpkklang.gov.my
mjaid@mpkklang.gov.my
norfiza@mpkklang.gov.my
datoghani@mpkklang.gov.my
azmizam@mpkklanng.gov.my
mpklang@yahoo.com


http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2010/01/red-alert.html

Foster pups Molly Sue & Madeleine are in love

Rescue tripod pup Molly and ex-pound pup Madeleine seem to have taken a liking to each other.. When Maddie first arrived, she was scared of her roommate and showed lots of teeth.. she was a snappy little growler but now she wags her tail so hard that her whole body wiggles. Its so wonderful to see traumatized puppies open up and learn to have fun again.. Madeleine is most definitely ready to go to a new home but i still haven't found her a family yet.. please help spread the word! Maddie is paper-trained, knows how to sit, comes when she's called, and surprisingly, is much calmer and mellower than my older adult dogs. She's quite zen this one.. and super cute too. she's not a picky eater and she gets along with cats. She also enjoys chewing rawhide bones and having her tummy rubbed.

Malaysian Dog Pounds

To fully understand why pups like Madeleine are so traumatized after their stint at local dog pounds you have to check out the photos taken by Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better. Dog pounds here are not like what you see on Animal Planet or in movies. Please see how dogs are treated in Malaysia. They endure extreme cruelty, starvation, and pain.

http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2009/12/latest-klang-pound-pics.html

http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2009/12/who-feeds-dogs.html

http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2009/12/pound-puppies-and-dog.html

Madeleine needs a forever home

Madeleine was rescued by the kind people of Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) last week. She had been caught by municipal council dog catchers along with a large group of other dogs and puppies and was being held at the MPK (Majlis Perbandaran Klang) Dog Pound. Little Maddie is now staying with my during her rehabilitation. Her time at the pound was quite traumatizing and she had some insecurity issues and fear.

She's a sweet, and friendly puppy now, eager to please and learn. She loves the company of people and her new friend Molly Sue. Maddie has been through some very rough times in her young life, i expect adopters to be patient and extra gentle with her. She needs to trust you and feel safe.



Maddie doesn't like to be alone so it would be great if she could be adopted by someone with another friendly dog or someone that has time to spend at home. At the moment i am paper-training her because I am not home enough to expect her to be completely housebroken. I think Maddie may grow up to be quite a big dog so adopter should have space for her to run around in and time to take her for walks.



Vaccinations and spaying are compulsory for adoption. cost of these procedures to be borne by adopter. no caging, no tying up, no beating.

Interested parties can sms/call me at 0122917213 or Wani from MDDB at 0193576477. You may also email me. serious inquiries only please. a brief introduction of yourself and a description of your experience with dogs is appreciated.