The vet called me today. Roscoe showed no overt signs of anything causing a massive bleed-out in hiss chest and abdomen. She said it could have been either a congenital blood disorder or -
rat poisoning.
And she said it couldn't have been from Roscoe eating a rat who had ingested poison, because a) there were no remnants of anything in his digestive tract and b) a rat would have had to ingested a HUGE amount of poison in order for him to be so seriously affected by it.
So now I don't know WHAT the H#$%L to do or think.
Karen
no S***. Do ya think he really got poisoned? That's terrible!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG...I don't know what to think either!!! Poor baby....to think it could have been rat poisoning....how terrible. Who lives next door to you?
I've had that same fear but all the neighbors that live close to me are dog people. I'm surprized they didn't do a blood test to find out if anything way in his system.
I'm so sorry to hear this.
Oh Karen, I am so sorry to hear this. How can people do such things. :cussing: Just remember that what comes around, goes around and they will definitely get theirs.
RIP Roscoe.
Darcel & Solly
THe question is what do I do about the Herd and their corral, which abuts the neighbor's house??? No more outside time for them??!!??
Karen :rolleyes:
That is not what you wanted to hear. I say we all gather at Karen's and have an old fashioned beat down on the neighbors!! :evil6: Keep the herd close and under good watchful eyes!! It will take a lot out of your day to have to watch them when they are outside but better that than another sick pup. I am really sorry to hear this news.
It may not be the neighbors, a while back we had people throwing baits into front yards or leaving them in parks. So he may have just been the one who ate the bait, any other incidents in the area. All said and done keep the whackie dachies corral fenced in.
Roscoe I hope is resting in peace, as long as he avoids Emma he will.
Roberta
Do you really suspect that the neighbors would do something like this?
If I suspected as much I would have one of my police friends go around to the neighbors and and conduct a mock investigation. Got any cops you can talk too? Maybe talk to the guys in the K-9 unit...I would imagine that they would be sympathic to your plight.
But I'm afraid in the end there's really nothing you can do.
However, you can police your yard before you let the herd roam the pasture...and certainly pay attention to them if it looks like they've found something of interest.
That is some heavy news!
Are the results conclusive? In other words, can you keep an eye out for more heinous behavior and nab them in court? I would notify your local SPCA that there is a depraved person in your neighborhood. Maybe other pets have suffered the same fate God forbid? I don't know if you are retired or not but if you are STAY OUTSIDE WITH THEM!! It is a lifestyle change but a doable one and it sounds like this herd is your lifeline! Has anyone ever complained before about him? Was he a barker? I know going over this is painful but only with VIGILANCE will you keep your other animals SAFE!! DO NOT ENGAGE IN ANY CONFRONTATIONS WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS!! For all you know you could have parked in some sickos favorite spot and this was his revenge. I am NOT excusing behavior but put any ego or offense aside and STAY LOW KEY!!! That includes those waskally wabbits too! LET YOUR OTHER DOG OWNING NEIGHBORS KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. There is strength in numbers.
Personally, I would conduct some nightly recon and do actual surveillance, but that's the Corps in me . . . Not exactly appropriate for a lady.
Yeah, I am old fashioned.
Doxiedoo or die dad
Yet, none of the other members of the herd showed any symptoms? Kind of odd, if it was a toss and run, if one got into it, all of them should have gotten into it. When my former boss' parents dogs were poisoned, they lost all three in one shot. Also, living in an urban environment, perhaps somebody carelessly disposed of a rat trap, or it got blown out of a trash can. Is there anything in the past that would lead you to believe that your neighbors, or anyone else in the neighborhood would do this? Or, perhaps it was a parting shot from the "tenants" that you evicted?
I would, at a minimum, go ahead and report it to the police. There may be nothing they can do for you at this point, but if someone is intentionally poisoning dogs, you may be able to supply the police with a piece that helps them solve a puzzle. I do agree with doxiedoodad...do not confront your neighbors. Even if you had irrefutable evidence, leave the police work to the people who wear body armor and carry weapons. I would definitely be proactive and talk to other dog owners to let them know what happened.
...and despite all this, don't fixate too much on Roscoe's passing. It is going to be too easy to focus on what happened and let that take over instead of all the happy memories you had with him.
That is a very hard one to take! When my brother passed away, he was a 49 yr old perfectly healthy person, I talked to him an hour before on the phone and he was fine. He was sitting in the yard with a walkman on listening to a book on tape, building a short rock wall with small river rock. He just died...two autopsies showed absolutely nothing wrong with him, it ruled out all of the "usual suspects" and after losing pretty much the rest of my family from things we did know what it was, I have to say not knowing does make it so much harder yet. I hope you get some concrete answers with dear Roscoe. And if it does turn out to be your neighbors there just may be a whole herd of wiener writing family congregating at your place for an old fashioned lynching!!!
I agree though it does seem odd Rocoe would be the only one who got it if it had been tossed over the fence or something. I hope it wasn't that...but I do hope you find out what the heck it was.
Thanks to one and all for the input:
1) let's see - no body armor, no weapons. Got it. No confrontation.
2) Roscoe being the only one who got it. Very possible. All four are very respectful of each other's food. Only Merlin and Beau occasionally try sniffing in each others's direction and the sniffer is promptly warned away by the snarling sniffee. I can easily see Roscoe getting something thrown to the yard and snagging it all for himself.
3) Roscoe could be a nuisance barker - sometimes he would bark just to hear himself talk. And that would set Guinness off. But they were never left out to bark at night, and rarely went on during the day for more than a minute or two.
I was really hoping for a nice big carcinoma breaking loose and causing the bleeding. There's no simple answer.
But I believe in Karma. All the good you do in life and all the bad you do in life comes back to you - if not in this life, then in the next life. And if you don't get yours from me, well, as I always tell my children, G-d has a BIG clipboard!
Karen
And speaking of children and former neighbors - there's no way they would EVER harm the Herd. When I was stuck at the vet's and needed a ride to the Pet E.R., I called Miriam - that G-d-awful Miriam, as we call her - and she loaded three kids in the van, drove out to the vets and chauffeured Roscoe and me 15 miles or so to the E.R. And after he passed, she checked up on me by phone for a few days to make sure I was o.k. Who'da thunk it?? :dontknow:
Sounds like Miriam may have grown up a bit. If so, at least there are some positives coming from this, that and the dogapult sending Ima into the herd.
Things in this world happen for reasons, and although we may not quite understand why in the present, with the passage of time, the reasons become clear. There are so many things that have happened to me in my life where I have wondered "Why", only to realize that when looking back, they were part of a bigger picture that I just couldn't see yet.
I am sorry you had to get such inconclusive news. :sad7:
It doesn't make his passing any easier does it?
Karen,
What about something natural that might test like rat poison? The gal that carried Jude for us had a dog that ate some sort of root and nearly died. They had a tough time figuring out what the poison was. Rat poison is a compound and it might be one ingredient that's in something else.
I'm not as quick to suspect "foul play" in the neighborhood since our trio is always eating something they shouldn't. Nearly lost Cocoa to salmonella when she was younger...they'll taste anything!
Sorry to hear the results were not conclusive. Keep your eyes open.
Good luck,
Dianne
Well, I am very sorry to hear there was nothing conclusive. But, as the others have said, be vigilant. Maybe that is part of the bigger picture, as David says.
That sucks that you don't know for sure. Do you think the neighbors did something?? That is one of my biggest fears.
Oh Karen........yikes. Alex got into some De-Con last summer up at the cabin, in my dad's workshop. Thank GOD I saw him doing it. We dumped hydrogen peroxide down his throat and he threw up every last bit of it. My vet said that the trouble doesn't show up until about 48 hours after they ingest it, and by then its too late. If Roscoe did get into some rat poison, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was given to him maliciously, it could have been an honest mistake like my dad putting it in his shop for mice. But STILL, people should be very careful with that stuff when pets are wandering around. Gosh, I am so sorry about Roscoe. :heart:
Gosh Karen, I think I would let the neighbors know...just in case. And contin ue to be very careful. I mean what else can you really do??
Geez.. :doah: thats no darn good... :confused: Just what the heck are those dirty rats setting out poison for anyways!!! :doah: :meme:
Stupid dirty rats... :cussing: :cussing: :grin:
the other is snail bait some of the older forms, I emptied Oliver's stomach when I thought he had eaten some, and Ahm he had'nt all he had to say he had ahad a nice dinny.
roberta