Dog - Real Life Stories
Real Life Stories
Read the real life stories of some of our most recent canine customers.
Lacy knickers get bull mastiff in a twist
Puppy's owner thanks fire service for rescue
Major Chocoholic Disaster
An expensive Truffle
Lacy knickers get bull mastiff in a twist
Deefer, dearly beloved bull mastiff of the Hall family of Stapleford, nearly came to an untimely end when he tangled with a pair of lacy knickers.
The Halls were well aware that two-year-old Deefer had a habit of eating supposedly inedible objects so, when he wasn't looking his usual self one Saturday and had deteriorated sharply by Sunday, the family knew that there was something seriously wrong.
A rapid visit to the vets revealed the problem - a blockage in his intestines that turned out to be a pair of bright pink lacy knickers. Removing these was not the end of it. Poor Deefer had severe stomach problems and spent a week in hospital recovering.
'Luckily, he was covered by Pet Protect who paid the £1,162 bill," said Lisa Hall. "He is now home, happy and healthy and the vets have given him the all clear. At least I didn't have to worry about the bills and knew that Deefer could have all the treatment he needed."
'He still rummages around but we now know to be extra vigilant. Turn your back on him for one minute and he'll be up to some new mischief!'
Puppy's owner thanks fire service for rescue
The fire fighters at Mereway Fire Station were recently presented with a £250 cheque made out to the Fire Service National Benevolent Fund by Holly Winch, from Roade in Northampton, following their rescue of Jet, her nine month old black Labrador puppy. Jet had had a lucky escape when he got his leg caught in the mechanism of a reclining chair.
Luckily, Blue Watch of Mereway Fire Station were on hand to cut him free and, although Jet suffered shock and severe bruising to his hind leg, he fully recovered following treatment by his local vet.
Jet's veterinary bill paid was for by Pet Protect Ltd, who were impressed by the speed with which the Fire Service responded and by their sympathetic approach. After talking to Jet's family, Pet Protect decided to present a cheque to the Fire Service's charity.
Receiving the cheque on behalf of the Fire Service, Sheldon Fenning commented: 'Lots of our fire fighters are dog lovers and we know what it is like to see an animal in pain. We are delighted that Jet is now running about again. We are very grateful for the donation. It was most unexpected but very welcome.'
Holly Winch, 8, Jet's owner, presenting the cheque said 'Jet's quite a naughty puppy. He's always getting into trouble! Only a week later we nearly had to call the Fire Service again when Jet set fire to his plastic food bowl by pushing it onto a gas ring. Luckily Dad extinguished the flames. Thank goodness Jet has pet insurance!'
Major Chocoholic Disaster
A free box of cooking chocolate nearly proved to be a disaster for Mrs Alipin's Cocker Spaniel, Major. She hadn't thought twice about putting the box of cooking chocolate on a chair in the kitchen, but when she returned and found only half of it left, there was only one culprit in the line-up. Major had eaten a whole 750g bar.
Unsurprisingly, Major was looking rather poorly, so, with it being a Sunday, Mrs Alpin quickly called the emergency vets for their advice. She explained how much chocolate Major had eaten and they asked her to bring him in straight away for treatment.
He was given an injection to pump his stomach, fed charcoal and put on an intravenous drip overnight to flush his system out. He was allowed home the next morning but took a few days to get back to normal.
Major's pet insurance contributed over £197.00 towards his treatment, but unfortunately the experience hasn't put him off chocolate! Mrs Alpin still has to hide the Easter Eggs.
'He still loves chocolate," explains Mrs Alpin, "but we know we have to be careful when it comes to Major: turn your back for one minute and he is up to something! He's eaten half a loaf of bread before, a block of lard and even some tablets, although luckily not enough to cause any concern.'
Major has Mrs Alpin's quick reaction to thank for his continued health. The amount of chocolate he had eaten could well have proved fatal had he not been caught brown-mouthed.
An expensive Truffle
Mrs Hakin's Spaniel, Truffle is one dog that lives up to her name. Not only is she chocolate-brown in colour, but she also loves chocolate. So much, in fact, that she's hospitalised herself two years in a row with chocolate poisoning.
The first time was when the Hakins received some truffles one day as a present. They left them on the kitchen table, went out and returned to discover that Truffle had eaten his name-sakes down to the very last one.
Mrs Hakin immediately called her vet, knowing how poisonous chocolate is for dogs, and, after contacting the poison department with details of how much cocoa Truffle had actually eaten, he asked Mrs Haskin to bring Truffle straight in for treatment.
An emetic injection soon made Truffle bring up what she'd so recently scoffed, and fortunately a lot of the truffles were still whole. After an overnight stay at the vet's for observation, she was allowed home.
Almost exactly a year later Truffle was in trouble again. Having managed to get hold of a bar of Galaxy which had been left on the side, she repeated the whole experience! After another overnight stay at the vet's, Truffle survived her second potentially-lethal chocolate encounter in just over a year.
Both times, Pet Protect paid over £100 towards the cost of Truffles veterinary visits – making her taste in chocolate a very expensive one!
