Spin-off: Do you have a "special-needs" pet?

[Magpie]

Let me tell you about my dog:

The vet calls her "neurotic" (having ruled out allergies, lack of exercise, boredom, all the usual culprits). If she isn't supervised constantly, she will chew on her own tail until it bleeds. Yep, she self-harms.

But she's also sweet-tempered and quiet and a terrific companion. She greets my students and sits in on all of our lessons. She's endlessly patient with them, and really helps create a calm, welcoming atmosphere when I'm teaching.

On the rare occasions that we need to go out and leave her alone, we stuff her into her pyjamas and confine her in the front room with a frozen bone to keep her occupied (bonus, it also cleans her teeth)

Oh, did I mention she wears pyjamas to sleep at night? Yep, I crocheted three pairs, all designed to make it hard for her to access her tail. We actually did try the cone of shame for awhile, but she's a contortionist and kept figuring out ways to get around it. The pjs work better, and are more comfortable for her.

Here she is, in her pjs:

http://imgur.com/a/T1xSq

We had a hard time finding a groomer who could keep her off her tail. A lot of them wanted to put her in a kennel by herself to dry, and she found that too stressful. We finally found one woman who was great with her, and who would keep her nearby while she worked on other dogs. The only groomer who would return an uninjured dog to us! When she retired, she offered to start coming to our home to groom our dog, independently. She called my dog one of her "special needs puppies", and said she'd kept a few of us as clients because it'd be too hard for us to find a good groomer.

Which is, of course, where the title of this thread comes from.

So... do you have a "special needs" pet? What is yours like?

 

[PollyannaMom]

Yes, yes I do. DS often asks me how all the "special" animals find us. We have:

- a cat whose picture is in an on-line veterinary textbook because of a weird reaction she gets to a common kitty "cold". The first time it happened, it took hundreds of dollars worth of biopsies and medication to get it diagnosed and under control. Now when she gets an outbreak, we fill a $60 Rx at a human pharmacy. They get a kick out of us. She is not amused.

- a guinea pig who had a spontaneous paralysis of his back legs a little over a year ago. He's better now (just a slight limp) but takes extra vitamin C that we crush, mix with water, and give him via dropper every night to keep him from being vulnerable to it again. Thankfully, he likes it.

- a dwarf aquatic frog with no arms. Yes, I said no arms. But he does quite well swimming - powerful legs, you know - and has lived far longer than we were told to expect. He still "sings" and seems happy.

I tell DS the animals just sense that we'll take care of them.

P.S. - Your dog is adorable!!

 

[Kiren]

I don't know if I would consider my cat to be special needs but he does have a very severe heart murmur and I've been told it could never affect him or he could die tomorrow. So I spend all the time I can with him trying to keep him happy (while staying a good healthy weight) Although when I got him from the shelter he had an upper respiratory infection and now during periods of stress or weather changes he'll get a little cold. (coughs and sneezes a lot)

 

[Magpie]

- a dwarf aquatic frog with no arms. Yes, I said no arms. But he does quite well swimming - powerful legs, you know - and has lived far longer than we were told to expect. He still "sings" and seems happy.

This made me laugh way too much. I love this!

A friend of mine had a budgie with no toes and only one leg (lost to frostbite before they adopted him). He lived to be a grand old age, though he was never what you'd call "friendly". Or in any way grateful.

 

[godders]

One of my cats has deformed/underdeveloped retina's and the layers the lens don't line up so she has very poor eyesight. We think she can see different colour but she struggles a lot with depth perception and large areas that are all one colour. She bumps into things a lot, struggles to jump down from chairs and gets scared by loud people she doesn't really know but she purrs like a helicopter and is generally a very happy cat as she's never known anything else.

Her sister has some issues where she randomly pees or poos right by our front door even if there are clean litter trays right there. No rhyme or reason (or even pattern), she's just a bit special like that haha

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Lots of them:
1. Parakeet with a missing toe
2. Parakeet with a hormonal problem that caused her to be obese and her sear (sp?) to grow over
3. Parakeet who never matured. Sear never changed from baby purple, never got pearls around the neck, never got white rings around the eyes. Lived 10 years and we never knew what it was.
4. Bulimic cat. Had lots of tests done. There was nothing wrong. Vet said he just binge ate and purged.
5. Cat whose tongue didn't work right. If you watch a cat drink in slow-mo they curl their tongue down and catch water in the spines. He flipped his tongue up like a dog and got water all over his face.
6. Our kitten will eat anything. Any kind of people food, stickers, carpet, latex paint.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Our Yorkie has epilepsy. She spent her first five years in a puppy mill and never touched grass.

She is terrified of most strangers and will probably never be 100% potty trained because she only knew how to "go" in her cage for so many years. She and the crate get lots of cleaning.

This dog exudes PURE joy. She has zero Yorkie attitude. She simply loves life.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

My dog who is no longer with us had a couple health issues. I really hate to use the term "special needs" though as I know many humans with one of her conditions and I don't consider them special needs people, as I saw it as a manageable condition.

My dog had diabetes, which was quite a life changer for us. It required insulin shots 2x a day (had to be 12 hours apart). Our routine was 6am / 6 pm and she could not have eaten more then a half hour before her insulin. If we would go out in the afternoon into the evening we'd have to plan it days in advance so we could adjust her insulin times. We could sway an hour each way so if we knew we had to leave home at 4pm - 10pm on a Saturday then on Friday we'd get up early and do her routine 5a / 5p, Saturday we'd be up even earlier to do routine at 4a / 4p, Sunday we'd be up early again to do 5a / 5p and Monday back to normal at 6a / 6p. Then there were the days the pup didn't feel like eating, which meant she couldn't be given insulin. That made her miserable because her body was out of wack, plus had to watch to make sure she didn't go into shock.

She also had Cushing disease. That was relatively easy to manage with medicine each morning. But the medicine was pretty expensive at $100/mo for the Cushing meds. Plus she would need extensive quarterly tests to make sure her levels were normal which was about $400 a test.

After we had to put her down her health issues is the main reason we won't get another pet. I do not want to go through that again. I feel fortunate we were able to give her a good quality of life in her later years when these issues developed, but it's not something we want to risk happening to another pet.

 

[Kellykins1218]

We've had 2 dogs that were epileptic. We have 3 boys that have special needs so it's been kind of a family joke that we end up with the special needs dogs, too.

 

[Magpie]

My dog who is no longer with us had a couple health issues. I really hate to use the term "special needs" though as I know many humans with one of her conditions and I don't consider them special needs people, as I saw it as a manageable condition.

My dog had diabetes, which was quite a life changer for us. It required insulin shots 2x a day (had to be 12 hours apart). Our routine was 6am / 6 pm and she could not have eaten more then a half hour before her insulin. If we would go out in the afternoon into the evening we'd have to plan it days in advance so we could adjust her insulin times. We could sway an hour each way so if we knew we had to leave home at 4pm - 10pm on a Saturday then on Friday we'd get up early and do her routine 5a / 5p, Saturday we'd be up even earlier to do routine at 4a / 4p, Sunday we'd be up early again to do 5a / 5p and Monday back to normal at 6a / 6p. Then there were the days the pup didn't feel like eating, which meant she couldn't be given insulin. That made her miserable because her body was out of wack, plus had to watch to make sure she didn't go into shock.

She also had Cushing disease. That was relatively easy to manage with medicine each morning. But the medicine was pretty expensive at $100/mo for the Cushing meds. Plus she would need extensive quarterly tests to make sure her levels were normal which was about $400 a test.

After we had to put her down her health issues is the main reason we won't get another pet. I do not want to go through that again. I feel fortunate we were able to give her a good quality of life in her later years when these issues developed, but it's not something we want to risk happening to another pet.

I'm sorry for your loss!

My brother-in-law's cat had diabetes, but fortunately was easier to manage. And my mother-in-law's dog had Cushings, but she was able to purchase the meds cheaply at the pharmacy. At 80lbs, her dog could use medication formulated for human beings. We got much luckier, in both instances.

 

[Snowysmom]

My dog is definitely special needs. DH and I have come to that conclusion. He is a rescue. When he first came to our family he was skinny and nervous. He has gotten so much better over the past 4 years. He barks ferociously at men dressed in black and then shakes. We believe he was abused. He is not 100% house broken mainly due to the anxiety. He knows he is supposed to go outside. He hides under the bed sometimes just to get away. Some days he is a bit more anxious than others. He is a handful and a half. But, he is a sweet boy and needs a good, loving home. He actually goes over to DH and "asks" to play most evenings and has a great time chasing the ball or another toy. MY DIL loves to say that he is almost like a real dog. We just want to give him a good forever home.

 

[cvjw]

Yep, we have a "special needs" rescue Black Lab. We have always had Labs, but never anything like her.

She can be really hard to handle - so hard that we did consider giving her back to the rescue group. We did not, and have just embraced her quirkiness. She hates loud noises and hides in the closet. She quakes when I pick up anything like a fly swatter - she thinks I am going to hit her. She must have been beaten by her previous owner. She has to be heavily sedated when traveling. She can not go to a kennel, she totally freaks. Can't let her ride in the car on errands like a normal dog - she barks at the top of her lungs the whole time. She barely minds me if she really wants to do something She will not allow us to sit or lie next to her. After 8 1/2 years, she is still somewhat scared of us!

On the plus side - she is such a loving dog. She adds spice to our lives! She is super smart. She has a huge vocabulary - we have to routinely talk in code around her. She also talks to me constantly - telling me what she wants or needs. She has multiple different barks and whines that I know exactly what she is telling me!

 

[Magpie]

My dog is definitely special needs. DH and I have come to that conclusion. He is a rescue. When he first came to our family he was skinny and nervous. He has gotten so much better over the past 4 years. He barks ferociously at men dressed in black and then shakes. We believe he was abused. He is not 100% house broken mainly due to the anxiety. He knows he is supposed to go outside. He hides under the bed sometimes just to get away. Some days he is a bit more anxious than others. He is a handful and a half. But, he is a sweet boy and needs a good, loving home. He actually goes over to DH and "asks" to play most evenings and has a great time chasing the ball or another toy. MY DIL loves to say that he is almost like a real dog. We just want to give him a good forever home.

This made me laugh. When I take my neurotic little fur ball out for a walk, sometimes I'll point out other people's dogs to her and say, "See? That's a REAL dog!" And she'll grin at me and wag her tail.

 

[bjscheel]

At one point we had a three-legged Dalmatian, a foundered pony (brought to us that way- we tried to make her better), and a dog with seizures. Now we just have the dog with seizures and some fairly normal cats.

 

[Magpie]

At one point we had a three-legged Dalmatian, a foundered pony (brought to us that way- we tried to make her better), and a dog with seizures. Now we just have the dog with seizures and some fairly normal cats.

Were you able to do anything for the pony? Founder is a horribly painful condition, poor thing.

 

[bjscheel]

Were you able to do anything for the pony? Founder is a horribly painful condition, poor thing.

My SIL worked on her hooves and care for a few years (horse person with equine science degree) and when she moved away we had a farrier out on a regular basis along with special diet and exercise. She seemed to get along pretty well, just slow to get around although there were days you would see her frolic. Then one week she just went downhill extremely fast and the vet put her down. I was relieved, really, as SIL just brought her out one day saying she would handle her care and when she left it was quite a responsibility we hadn't asked for. She was a nice pony for the girls though and safe for them to sit on or brush.

 

[Magpie]

My SIL worked on her hooves and care for a few years (horse person with equine science degree) and when she moved away we had a farrier out on a regular basis along with special diet and exercise. She seemed to get along pretty well, just slow to get around although there were days you would see her frolic. Then one week she just went downhill extremely fast and the vet put her down. I was relieved, really, as SIL just brought her out one day saying she would handle her care and when she left it was quite a responsibility we hadn't asked for. She was a nice pony for the girls though and safe for them to sit on or brush.

It sounds like you guys gave her a good few years that she wouldn't have had otherwise. You did as well as you could by her.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

We have a black kitty that has hyperthyroidism. She takes a medicine twice a day for it and blood tests every few months. She is also deaf.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

She also had Cushing disease. That was relatively easy to manage with medicine each morning. But the medicine was pretty expensive at $100/mo for the Cushing meds. Plus she would need extensive quarterly tests to make sure her levels were normal which was about $400 a test.

My cocker spaniel, Lucy, has cushings and we are well into the thousands on all of the different meds and tests. She's due for her quarterly in a couple of weeks - another $400. We have had issues trying to keep her cortisol levels in a good range. She has shifted into Addisons and then drops back to cushings. It's so draining - both emotional and monetarily.

 

[TeresaBelle]

I have a one-eyed cat! In June I came home and found her on my porch, bleeding from the mouth and her eye was all cloudy. I took her to the vet and they think she was either hit by a car or fell out of a tree, maybe. Her jaw and upper palate were broken, along with the little bones in her nose.. then her cloudy eye ruptured and had to be removed. I've had her 12 years and she's always been my most affectionate cat, but she's even more so now. She is always on me. She can only eat soft food and her mouth doesn't close all the way, so she drools a lot too. And she gets stuffy easily and sneezes a lot, she'll sneeze 15 times in a row.. not kidding! Her name is Pretty.. I call her my Pretty Pirate kitty!