Grooming/Shearing a dog with hair that mats [Archive]

pcooley

4-12-14, 1:34am

My daughter's dog, Charlie, is a very large mutt with hair that not just mats, it felts. We try to brush him occasionally, but the brush just catches on his hair. I bought some pet clippers (electric) and try to clip his hair that way sometimes, but the clippers overheat and seize up.

Mostly we ignore his dreadlocks. However, occasionally, the matting obstructs some of his, um, biological functioning, and cleaning up *that* mess is horrible, and I'm sure it's a horrible experience for Charlie as well. (This email is prompted by our coming home from vacation to find him in terrible shape. I don't know if our housesitter didn't notice the smell, or he just didn't want to deal with it. I had thought about trimming him before we left, but I didn't think his hair had grown too long back there, and I've been so busy, I had not made the time to take a close look at him, so it's partly my fault. Our housesitter was supposed to be staying at the house for the animals, but we get the sense he was not sleeping here.)

While the dogs are not supposed to be my responsibility, I seem to be the one who steps in to take care of them when something - like hair matting over a delicate area - goes wrong. (I love and enjoy our cats. I love and feel guilty around the dogs).

I'd really like to stay ahead of his hair matting. I would take him to a groomer, but he's a very big dog, and while I haven't priced grooming, I'm worried it would be $50 - $60 to shave a big dog, and that's just ridiculous in my book and in my budget.

On the other hand, with my electronic clippers burning out, what I end up doing is spending three hours, every four months or so, trying to carefully cut the felted fur away from his body with haircutting scissors. I usually can only get through part of him in that amount of time, so he's always a very lopsided looking dog.

Are there specific grooming tools for dogs with hair that mats like that? His quarterly haircut is a real chore. I'd love to be able to keep his hair short enough that it didn't felt together, but I don't have hours a month to try to brush him. I feel so bad for him, in spite of my insistence that I would have nothing to do with any dogs adopted into this family until I felt I was ready to give a dog the attention they deserve.

I'm attaching a photo I took of him *after* his last three hour haircut. It doesn't look like I accomplished anything at all. I'd happily spend $20-30 for a grooming tool that would allow me to spend ten minutes a day getting the dreadlocks out. Every other dog I've had has had short hair, and it's just been a matter of giving them a bath every year or so. I've never had such a high maintenance animal in my life. I literally do not know what to do to get his hair short and then keep it that way with a reasonable expenditure of money and time. I think it's frustrating to both him and me. I try to brush out the felted fur, but all the brush does is pull the hair out, and he yelps, so I stop. I try to cut it with scissors, and unless I'm moving at a glacial place, I invariably cut his skin, and I feel terrible about that. The electric clippers seem useless, (at least the $30 Walmart clippers. I can't see spending the prices at Petco for their shears). We've had years and years of an endless, losing, struggle with his hair.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2861/13792155504_df4150bf01.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/n1Lpjy)Charlie (https://flic.kr/p/n1Lpjy) by onequietbreath (https://www.flickr.com/people/123100377@N08/), on Flickr

Float On

4-12-14, 9:06am

rodeosweetheart

4-12-14, 9:38am

First off...what a cool dog! With that kind of hair you just have to pony up and make the commitment. I'd go ahead and spend the big bucks to get him properly shaved then you and your daughter have to make a daily commitment to brush and a weekly commitment to trim him. I had to trim the hair on the hindquarters of my golden weekly or he'd have the same matting issues. Future maintenance will be easier if you get a routine now. Waiting 2-4 months is really not healthy for any of you (physically for him and mentally for you).
+2

Definitely pay to have that initial groomer appointment, and then keep trimming. He looks very sweet. And I would pay to do the groomer, then turn over maintainance to your daughter, and let her research the best way to keep up with coat care for his breed/mix, which may have something that naturally dreads like a Puli. And go ahead and buy her better clippers if need be.

fidgiegirl

4-12-14, 10:42am

I groom Gus at home (except last time he went to the groomer, I was too preggo to handle him). I consulted with the groomer at PetSmart who was more than kind to tell me all kinds of info knowing she was giving away business, and she recommended a pair of clippers that was about $150. They have been worth it. Gus is a shih tzu and his hair is not even as challenging as Charlie's looks to be and this is what it took to get clippers that would handle his hair. They are corded Andi's clippers and we got them online through PetEdge. You also have to oil clippers and keep them cool.

I would second the recommendations of the others to have it professionally done off the bat, and then try to keep up. Poor Charlie boy. There are also a number of videos on YouTube that might be helpful. I learned some tips on how to pull the skin tight while trimming, etc. that way.

I know cdttmm grooms her dogs, hopefully she'll see this and chime in.

new2oregon

4-12-14, 12:31pm

My Daughter is a groomer and this tool works great http://www.furminator.com/furminator-deshedding-tool-reviews.aspx . They are not cheap. It works great on dogs and cats and are great for removing mats.

boss mare

4-12-14, 3:44pm

This is going to be pet care 101 here. The type of clipper you bought is garbage the lower models are either battery operated and pretty small if it was a plug in then it was magnetic driven. Also crap and a waste of time and money The better clippers are gear driven brands are like the Oster Golden 2 speed... They run about 100 to 160... The blades are called A-2 and are interchange able with some of the better gear driven and cable driven brands The kit comes with a 10 blade. You can buy different blades for different uses the bigger the blade number, the closer it to the skin is cuts 40 being a surgical The 10 blade should be very suitable for you needs.The Cadillac of clippers is the Double K it is a cable drive and is very quiet as the motor is not near the the head of the clippers That is what I use since I have horses and dogs, and I have a lot of horses that are shown There is the Oster Clip Master but I don't thing you nee something that large
If I were you I would pony up what ever the cost is to have the dog professionally groomed the first time to get is all done at once...then up keep it your self . Make sure you ask for a "sanitary cut", have the nails trimmed and have his anal glands expressed This is a health problem as maggots can be in the warm, dark smelly areas and fleas, and ticks can be in burrowed deep along with a host of other skins problems

I am going to be very stern here... If you cannot or do not want to spend the time / and/or the money to care for the dog, reguardless of "whose" dog it is then maybe you need to reconsider your commitment to this dog PLease make you dog a happy welcome member of the family

Teacher Terry

4-12-14, 3:57pm

WE have 3 Maltese that get professionally groomed and in between cuts I cut their poop shoots so there is no mess when they do their business. After you get a professional cut you should be able to trim this area in between times. WE bought a expensive clippers but still it took us so long to do the job and the dog was frustrated. Plus we were not able to do the nail trim & anal gland expression so still had to pay for that. Now we get them groomed every 3 months and get them cut extremely short. Then I bathe & cut the delicate area as needed until it is time for the groomer again.

boss mare

4-12-14, 4:04pm

cdttmm

4-12-14, 5:06pm

Fellow dog owner here and we do all our own grooming. We've got two Aussies and a cattle dog so lots of experience with the long hair, potential for lots of mats factor.

First and foremost, bathing him regularly will help. Not every week, but once every 4-8 weeks should be sufficient. This will help remove some of the loose hair that's exacerbating the general matting problem. Use a mild shampoo and make sure he is rinsed thoroughly. Dry him with a couple of old towels and really use the drying action to remove even more loose hair. I'm pretty sure your kids are old enough to do this task, although you might want to supervise the first few times to make sure they aren't getting his face/eyes/ears full of water and/or suds.

Second, brush him every day! Even if it's just 10 minutes a day it will make a huge difference. Do this and it will minimize the time spent and the overall agony of the big grooming days. Again, your kids are old enough to do this.

Clipping a dog is not a hard task, but it takes practice and patience. Invest in a quality clipper. We bought a heavy duty Oster and it works great. It's a little on the heavy side so your kids might initially find it hard to use, but with practice they will quickly become pretty comfortable with it. I started grooming and clipping show cattle at 8 years old and was clipping my dogs by age 10. Sometimes they got interesting haircuts, but they got better with practice!

Clean hair will clip much more easily than dirty hair. Hence the regular baths. Dry hair will clip more easily than wet hair. So you might find it best to bathe him one day and clip him the next so that he is totally dry when you clip him. Practice using the clippers on a less delicate area first, like his stomach. He probably won't care if his stomach has been sheared so it's a good practice area. Then do the more delicate areas working slowly. Speed and clippers do not go together. My dogs won't always stand still long enough for me to clip everything in one shot because I have to do their legs as well, which is tricky. I just do what I can then I let them run around the yard for a few minutes and then bring them back for round two. Repeat as necessary.

I do toenails after or on a separate day. One of my dogs is a dream for cutting toenails. She stands still and has clear nails, super easy. One stands still, but has all black nails. I've only nicked him once. He's stoic so he didn't even yelp. The third dog is a nightmare. Hates having her feet touched and screeches with every toenail that is cut despite the fact that she's never been nicked. She's just a drama queen.

Hope all of this helps both you and your kids get a better handle on grooming Charlie! Feel free to post questions if you have any. Also, check out YouTube videos for grooming videos. Good luck!!!

pcooley

4-12-14, 7:11pm

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'll save up for a better pair of clippers.

I have to say that years ago, I did get angry that the family members who said they were going to take care of the dogs were not doing so, and we tried to give them away. One person adopted Rosie, but they brought her back after a week. My wife was nervous that the person looking at Charlie wanted to use him for fighting. They're both very old now. I think Charlie is around 9 and Rosie is around 8. When they were young, they scrambled around on the top of some antique furniture I had that had deep emotional value. I was not a happy camper.

When I was growing up, I don't think we had a dog for more than two or three years at a time, but those were the days of putting the dog out the front door in the morning, and we lived in a land of heartworms and rattlesnakes.

I've never heard of cutting a dog's toenails. I cut my parrot's and cockatiel's nails, but I thought dog's kept their nails worn down by walking around. I have to admit I don't look closely at the dogs; they're not on my personal radar until something goes wrong with them. (Do other families have this problem - the pets belong to one person or another in the family? We don't really have any family pets. The Senegal parrot is mine. One of our newly adopted cats, Dixie, is mine. I now clean the litter box twice a day rather than blow up at the kids because I notice no one has cleaned it for days. Our other adopted cat, Bruce, is my wife's. The two cockatiels belong to my son, and he actually takes good care of them. Charlie is my daughter's. Rosie belongs to my son, (and again, he takes pretty good care of her in terms of playing with her and keeping her in his room at night. My daughter, after clamoring for Charlie, has never particularly liked him. I pay more attention to Charlie than anyone else. We don't really have any pets that we are responsible for *as a family* and none of the pets are really family members the way some pets are in some homes. My wife hates my parrot because he lunges at her. I don't like owning the dogs - though I like the dogs themselves more than I own up to - because I made it clear years ago that I didn't have the time or emotional resources I felt a dog needed. (And I think the best way to ruin a walk is to leash yourself to a dog.) The cats are the closest to being family members. We all love and play with the cats.) I think that's also the way it was when I was growing up. There was no family decision to adopt an animal. One or the other of us would drag a stray home, and then we were responsible for it. My parents made it clear that we were responsible, and if the animal died, we were to blame because they were not going to have anything to do with it. We always took care of our animals because we knew the threat was not an idle one. I cannot sit by and watch an animal suffer, so all my threats are idle.

I spent this morning trimming the hair off one of Charlie's legs. I'm planning to do some more tomorrow. I'm still not sure about finding a groomer. (I have to say that I just buzz my own hair down to the quarter inch mark on the clippers. Hair is not something that seems justifiable to spend time or money on, either with humans or pets. I have better things to do with the little time and money that I have. His hair is just so darn difficult to tend to.) I think, from now on, if we adopt other dogs, they will have short hair.

rodeosweetheart

4-12-14, 8:33pm

Paul, your comment about the rattlesnakes in SC made me think of what our old vet in SC said about our Pyr. He said that the Gullah people on the island where we lived believed that the double dew claws gave a dog immunity from rattlesnake bites!

Charlie looks like herding breed to me--maybe some sort of bearded collie or something--or Puli if he dreads naturally?
Fidgie has me wanting to buy an Andis clipper--it looks like you would want a long blade like a 3 3/4 maybe to give him a fluffy kind of cut like a labradoodle-- that kind of thick hard to get through hair--they recommended a 2 inch cut for bearded collie and that 3 3/4 blade looked like the longest I could find. I am now kind of getting into this--I have clipped our Cairn and she looks awful, and I am using a really cheap clippers and sometimes it looks like her coat was chewed off by moths. I am totally getting the Andis. Fidgie, do I have the blade concept correct? Lower number, longer the haircut?

Just don't make mistake we did with summer coming and clip too close. Our Pyr never had hotspots or any problems with insects until one summer when we made the mistake of clipping her. That's why I want the longest blade I can get for the terrier.

mschrisgo2

4-12-14, 8:40pm

Oh my, poor Charlie! Well, several things come to mind...first of all, I guess I should say that the vast majority of my grooming experience has been with cocker spaniels. Over the last 20 years, I have had 3 cockers of my own, and been totally involved in the rescuing, clean-up, fostering and re-homing about 250 others.

It does look to me like Charlie is a double-coated dog, meaning that he grows a thick undercoat. Spaniels do too, and that undercoat is what mats like cotton (or should I say "felts"?) on the dog I have now. To deal with her matting, I use a Mars Coat-King (Amazon) when I bathe her to strip out at least half of the undercoat. That leaves coarser "guard hairs" on top that do not mat.

I've also found that the type of shampoo matters- a lot! I use a shampoo and conditioner made by Quadruped, that I buy on Amazon. It gets my girl really clean in one washing, repels fleas, and smells good when she gets wet, no "dirty dog" smell :) However, I do know at least one very good cocker breeder who uses Pantene shampoo and conditioner on his dogs! Pantene is much less expensive and very effective; conditioner is important.

With a coat like that, I'd say 3 weeks is about as long as you can go without bathing. Then if you blow dry, the hair will not tangle and mat nearly as much. But that's quite labor intensive; it takes me an hour and a half to dry my cocker, and she has a fairly short coat.

In between baths, I comb her every few days with a wide, long toothed comb that some refer to as a "poodle comb." The long teeth reach all the way to her skin, and the wide teeth don't catch so bad on mats. Brushing tends to tear hair, then it mats even worse, so I prefer combing.

Year round she has a shaved short belly and insides of her back legs. And I scissor the feathering around her rump. She has a "natural" back- no shaving or cutting there, and I cut her leg hair with scissors. Her head, face and ears get shaved with a #10 blade on Andis professional clippers. It takes me about 3 hours to clean ears, bathe, cut nails (always when wet), dry, and clip, in that order.

I will readily admit to being tired when we're done, but she enjoys the attention and is very cooperative. After I paid hard-earned money for one too many really bad grooming jobs on my first cocker, decided I could do that bad myself (!!) and enjoy the time with my own dog, so I starting buying tools and learning on my own; I have never considered letting anyone else groom my dogs again.

boss mare

4-12-14, 8:54pm

[QUOTE=rodeosweetheart;173726]Paul, your comment about the rattlesnakes in SC made me think of what our old vet in SC said about our Pyr. He said that the Gullah people on the island where we lived believed that the double dew claws gave a dog immunity from rattlesnake bites!

Charlie looks like herding breed to me--maybe some sort of bearded collie or something--or Puli if he dreads naturally?
Fidgie has me wanting to buy an Andis clipper--it looks like you would want a long blade like a 3 3/4 maybe to give him a fluffy kind of cut like a labradoodle-- that kind of thick hard to get through hair--they recommended a 2 inch cut for bearded collie and that 3 3/4 blade looked like the longest I could find. I am now kind of getting into this--I have clipped our Cairn and she looks awful, and I am using a really cheap clippers and sometimes it looks like her coat was chewed off by moths. I am totally getting the Andis. Fidgie, do I have the blade concept correct? Lower number, longer the haircut?

Just don't make mistake we did with summer coming and clip too close. Our Pyr never had hotspots or any problems with insects until one summer when we made the mistake of clipping her. That's why I want the longest blade I can get for the terrier

.
The lower the number the less hair is removed a # 10 will give you about what a horses summer hair coat a # 40 will shave it down to skin

rodeosweetheart

4-12-14, 9:10pm

Thanks, Boss mare!

Jilly

4-12-14, 9:38pm

Poor Charlie. Too bad he cannot buzz cut his own hair. Allrighty, that is too harsh and I apologize, although I am not taking it back. Please, still forgive me.

I spent nearly thirty years in animal rescue and shelter work. I also apologize for mentioning that so often here. Anyway, as a trainer, groomer and vet assistant, my job often included helping pets with severely matted coats. Not only does matted/tangled/dreadlocked hair catch and hold feces, as boss mare shared, all manner of critters can take up housekeeping in that mess.

More importantly, mats hurt. They hurt a lot and the reason that cats and dogs do not constantly complain is because they get accustomed to that nearly constant pain. The pulling on the hair, the moisture that is held close to the skin and the pulling on the hair is painful. In your defense, most people do not know about that; most people are aware of the mess and the poop problems, but they do not think about how really painful it is.

If you do not want to invest in a good clipper (Oster or Andis), the alternative is to have Charlie professionally shaved and then go over his fur at least once a month with the clipper you have. His rear bumper may need cleanup more often.

When the thick fur and mats are gone, your clipper will not overheat. He also needs to be brushed every week, and if this does not keep that super-short fur tangle-free, then more frequent brushing may be needed.

We only know what we know and it is clear that you really do care about Charlie and are trying to do the best for him, within the constraints of what you are able to add to all of your responsibilities.

Please get him shaved. If you cannot find a reasonably priced groomer, then contact your vet and your local animal shelter and as them for referrals to people that they trust. At nine years old, being a large-ish dog (looks to be a lot of terrier in him), Charlie does not have many years remaining. It would be wonderful if you were able to make that time less painful for him and less stressful for you.

If you cannot do any of this, please send me a private message and I will try to find a rescue group or shelter in your area.

fidgiegirl

4-12-14, 11:42pm

Fidgie, do I have the blade concept correct? Lower number, longer the haircut?

Still figuring it out, truthfully . . . I only just changed the blade itself last time I clipped him, and it went much better. Before that I was only using guards and they tangled in his hair.

ETA: bossmare got to it! I was hoping she would!

fidgiegirl

4-12-14, 11:51pm

Since you asked . . . as far as the individuals in the family having a given pet as "theirs," it is not the way we look at it in our family, and it was never allowed in my family of origin, despite much begging from the 10 year old me - because my parents knew the truth of the matter and what would happen, which is exactly what is happening in your family - the parents (or one of them) would be the one to take full responsibility for the pet, because a living being can't just be left to a child's whims or passing interest/limited financial capability/incomplete knowledge/etc. You clearly feel the same way or Charlie would not be the subject of a thread right now. I believe that if the parents don't want the pet, the pet doesn't get to come into the home. I do have friends, though, who had "their own" dogs growing up, and it worked for their family . . . but this is how it went in ours. At any rate, hopefully the ideas on here will be helpful for Charlie.

Yarrow

4-13-14, 2:19am

A few years back I owned a Shetland Sheepdog that I got from an animal shelter that was a kill shelter. I'm sure I saved her life and in turn she gave me complete love and devotion. She died in 2005 and I still miss her everyday....

However, I did not realize what I was getting into as far as her grooming needs with her long hair. Now I am the most frugal person you'll meet and so I persevered trying to groom her myself for months. One day I realized that I would be doing both myself and her a favor if I took her to a professional groomer a couple times a year for a complete grooming..... She would feel better and so would I. I simply could not keep her trimmed up correctly, express her anal glands, trim her nails, and keep all the mats out of her hair adequately.... When I went to pick her up after her first grooming I cried because she looked so beautiful and I could tell she felt so much better too!

Please do Charlie a favor and spend the money every few months to have him groomed properly so he will feel better. Matted fur and a fur impacted behind is neglectful and makes the poor dog feel very uncomfortable. Not to mention unexpressed anal glands....that can be misery for a dog. If you won't bother to do this for poor old Charlie then find him a better home or rescue group that will care for him properly.

Money isn't everything! Caring for a pet adequately says a lot about somebody in my opinion....and I think from reading your past postings that you're a decent man that will do right by your dog. Hopefully.

cdttmm

4-13-14, 9:40am

They're both very old now. I think Charlie is around 9 and Rosie is around 8.

I'm not trying to be harsh here...simply realistic. Eight and nine are not necessarily old for dogs. Most vets will call them middle-aged. My last two dogs (medium-large breeds) lived to be 16 and 17 years old. My current crew is 12, 10, and 7. They still play hard every day and will, barring anything truly unfortunately, likely be around for quite some time. If there is any thought in your mind that this will all be over soon because they will go to the great beyond, then you might want to reconsider. These dogs could easily live another 8 or 9 years. Please recognize what you've committed to and if you're not okay with that commitment, then surrender them to a rescue group sooner rather than later. There are many adopters who are willing to bring an 8 or 9 year old dog into their home, but a dog that is 13 or 14 is much harder to adopt out for obvious reasons.

Sorry...this is one of my hot button issues. So please excuse me if I sound overly cranky about this!

Tammy

4-13-14, 10:34am

I'm a non-pet person now due to cat and dog allergies, but was raised on a farm with outdoor animals as a kid. I have a science-y question for pet people--- how do you think about all of this grooming stuff in light of evolution? Why do dogs need all this help with nails and glands and hair if they evolved from wolves who don't?

The pets we had never got groomed. They lived outdoors. A few times a year we would cut the burrs out of their hair, as occasionally they ran through the woods and picked up burrs. But most of the time their costs were natural and not matted. And we played with them a lot, so I don't think I'm just forgetting. They were full bred cocker spaniels and we bred them each year and sold the puppies. I heard nothing about nails and glands.

Thoughts?

sweetana3

4-13-14, 10:44am

Unfortunately, dogs and cats have been genetically altered due to human intervention. If you look at dogs and cats in countries that do not care for them and they run wild, you will see appropriate traits being bred such as an appropriate coat, proper sized ears, snout shaped for hunting and eating, etc. We used to call them generic dogs and they breed whatever survives the best..

We had some purebred cats with horrible teeth since the breeders were more concerned with coat and color than genetic health issues.

pcooley

4-13-14, 1:15pm

Eight and nine are not necessarily old for dogs.

Rosie is still going strong and acts like a puppy. Charlie is definitely slowing down. I took him for a walk around the neighborhood this morning, and he stumbled once and also ran into a mailbox. He slowed down on the walk to the point I thought he was going to lie down, and I would have to call my wife to pick us up. He also just does not want to stand up to come into our bedroom at night anymore. He has always slept on the floor right next to my side of the bed, and at bedtime, he would go down and wait at the end of the hallway for me to let him in. Now, even if he is outside, I have to call and cajole for quite a while to get him to stand up and make the walk back to the bedroom. I definitely think he is showing his age. Rosie still rolls and romps and plays. I think she might be good for quite a few years yet. Charlie, I'm worried about. He has considerably slowed down over the last few weeks. I'm even worried about getting him in the car to visit the vet, (I think he weighs about 120 lbs), but I plan to get him in soon because of this decline he seems to be experiencing. He may be a tangle, but he's incredibly sweet.

boss mare

4-13-14, 1:27pm

Paul .. a pet is not something that one person can have and not affect the rest of the house hold... It is not like that, and your posts here show you that. Who cares what pet belongs to who? The really big concern that I have is that the dog is not getting the care he needs.... He stinks due to needing "personal care" that he is not getting. If his nails are too long he could be having strain on the legs and tedons
The matted coat can be home to maggots, fleas, ticks and skin infections that may add up to more money in the form of vet bills as you dither around about spending the money. Another thing to think about, if he is all matted and overly hairy, you cannot see the true condition his weight is in. He maybe over weight or under weight.
Short haired dogs come with their own hair baggage too. it is never ending :treadmill: but I love being surrounded by horses cats and dogs

This is really a case of " For the want of a nail"

fidgiegirl

4-13-14, 3:13pm

I think bigger dogs live shorter lives than smaller dogs. I am not surprised that a dog of that size would be slowing at 8/9 . . . that's about the age our Corky (much smaller at 50 lbs) had to start his daily pain pills due to hip problems.

Float On

4-13-14, 5:44pm

Paul, the way you talked about how he is behaving now reminds me of how my Golden behaved. He was also 120 lb a big dog for a golden. Very slow to get up and would just rather stay where he was. When we finally took him to the vet when he couldn't get up one day at all. They x-rayed and found a fresh break in his back, apparently it had broken before but this time it basically exploded. He was 9 and it was very sad to have to have him put down.

Teacher Terry

4-13-14, 6:01pm

Many big dogs only live between 10-13 yo. Little dogs can live up to 20 years. In most parts of the country taking a 9 yo dog to the pound will result in it being killed. I work in rescue. Fortunately where we are this is not done.

pcooley

4-13-14, 10:47pm

I found an undercoat rake at the pet shop today. That seems to help quite a bit, but it will be a long time before we're all the way through. He also got a bath today. He's not very happy with me. I've been snipping away at his coat and clipping away clumps of hair for two and a half days.

Yarrow

4-14-14, 2:44am

Charlie would really benefit from taking Glucosamine Chondroitin. The last couple years of my dog's life - she could hardly get up. Put her on some generic glucosamine chondroitin from Walgreen's via a vet's suggestion. Dosage is based on dog's weight - you can google that or ask your vet. Anyway, my girl was up and moving like a much younger dog within a couple weeks. It was amazing and made the last days of her life much more enjoyable and pain free.

lmerullo

4-14-14, 8:32am

Charlie would really benefit from taking Glucosamine Chondroitin. The last couple years of my dog's life - she could hardly get up.

Thanks for the reminder about GC, Yarrow - I will try it for my girl, who has been refusing her walks lately and sometimes does not get up to greet us at the door.

On the grooming note, my male has a similar problem with the felting... he is curly haired and his tail curves up on his back. The back hair gives the appearance of being brushed out, but beneath the surface it can get to be one solid mass... I have a cutting comb I got from the pet store, and he is ok with us using it. It doesn't seem to pull, but rather cuts through any obstruction. The blades are razor sharp, so be careful with it's use - I stabbed my arm once when I emerged on the other side of a knot!

pcooley

4-14-14, 9:05am

Thanks Yarrow. I'll try some Glucosamine. I'm worried about him - he is significantly worse over the time we were out camping with the kids for spring break. It makes me wonder if our house/pet sitter was really even staying at our house while we were gone. I feel like he may have just been out in the unheated office while we were gone. He's always happy to get up in the morning to eat. (He will eat anything unattended. It's been a real struggle to keep his weight down).

Pet ownership is so emotionally draining. My tendency is to do the best thing possible. When I've tried to do that, the costs just escalate. That's why I don't want to own pets. I budget $40 a month for our pets - but like all things, I find that I really should take what I think things should cost and multiply them by four or five. I have to take the new cat in to the vet for some booster shots. I think that will cost $30 or so. It will probably be closer to $100. That's 2.5 months of pet budget for one visit. My wife always thinks our pets are lucky and well loved to live with us. I'm always beating myself up because I don't feel like I am able to do enough.

sweetana3

4-14-14, 12:03pm

Paul, I cannot remember whether you live in Santa Fe or Alb. Both have low cost clinics for pet vacinations and spay/neuter. We use the one here in Indy. Big reduction in cost. I googled to get the names and addresses so it is easily searchable.

rodeosweetheart

4-14-14, 2:03pm

I think 40 dollars a month would not be enough. I am not good about budgeting for mine, but I would think it is more like 50 a pet, maybe? (Excluding horses, which seem to be about 200/month if kept at home. Don't know about goats.)

fidgiegirl

4-14-14, 5:47pm

I am always surprised at how much the vet care costs for our two boys. It seems like if we go to the vet - which (knock on wood) hasn't been often lately - we don't get out of there for less than $200. Not sure if this will work with your family dynamic, but maybe consider "thinning the herd" as some of your pets go to the happy hunting ground. In other words, as they say goodbye to one pet, a replacement does not come into the home. My parents have done that and it's been a good thing in their case.

Another thing you could do is just call ahead, and tell what you want, and ask for the prices of all of the services you want. If you are not wedded to using one vet and you can keep pretty good records yourself, I don't think it's necessary to go back to the same vet every time. Easier, probably, but not essential.

On costs, not sure if such a thing exists in your area, but for Gus, who is otherwise healthy, we use the PetSmart shot clinic for his basic shots. No vet visit fee, and it is a local vet who comes in and does the shots. Saves us a little bit, anyway. Not sure if the chains have that partnership everywhere, though.

Teacher Terry

4-14-14, 7:07pm

Pets are very expensive. At times we have had 4 Maltese and in the past 9 years could have bought a new car cash for what we have spent on them. We are now doing what Fidgiegirl suggested to you & not replacing as they die. We have 3 now but eventually will only have 1 or 2. I think it is better to have fewer pets but be able to provide the care that they need.

pcooley

4-14-14, 7:29pm

We used to go to the low cost shot clinic at Petco, but at some point guilt caught up with me. I don't understand why -- I certainly don't take good care of myself in that regard. (I hate the doctor). I have some condition that seems like arthritis in one hand that comes and goes and makes it hard to do certain tasks. I think to myself, "I should go to the doctor," then I think, "nah, he would just say 'you have something like arthritis.'"

We are down to two dogs from four. That, in itself, is a relief, though I was closer to the older dogs. I was not able to get through the disappearance of our cat. We've ended up with two replacement cats, but I'm much more of a cat person than a dog person. I would not replace my parrot. While I consider myself to be a fairly good and enlightened parrot owner, my Senegal still bites at times, and it's hard enough to draw blood, and I'm tired of being bitten. It's predictable too. He does not, for example, like to step onto my hand when he is on top of his cage, and I'm trying to put him in his cage. Consequently he spends more time in his cage than I would like him to. Between his biting me, and my worry that the cats will bite him, and his lunging at my wife when he is out, he is pretty much cage-bound. He will live for decades more though - plenty of time for us to work out our differences.

thinkgreen

4-14-14, 9:20pm

Paul, we used to have a parrot that would nip us. We kept a piece of doweling, like a perch, and used to get the parrot to get up on that instead of our hand. It was simple and saved us a few nibbles.

lmerullo

4-15-14, 8:26am

my worry that the cats will bite him

As the designated parrot sitter for my husbands boss, we have been told to allow the cat and bird to "work it out" and that the cat will not kill the bird... however, we are told to not allow the bird out when my dog is around (mini schnauzer). I find this odd, and perhaps its just an urban legend - but his boss insists the bird and cat will determine hierarchy without actual harm whereas the dog will kill the bird. I find that hard to believe, as my dog has never so much as killed a lizard, let alone a big old bird. The cat has definitely stalked anything that comes close.

Back to OP - I, too, use the mobile vet vaccination clinics but they are not supposed to replace the regular vet checkups. I feel that the vet is aware that the business is being lost to these clinics, and he has therefore compensated by upping his office visit pricing. Sort of defeats the purpose, in my mind. Sigh!

fidgiegirl

4-15-14, 10:57am

As the designated parrot sitter for my husbands boss, we have been told to allow the cat and bird to "work it out" and that the cat will not kill the bird... however, we are told to not allow the bird out when my dog is around (mini schnauzer). I find this odd, and perhaps its just an urban legend - but his boss insists the bird and cat will determine hierarchy without actual harm whereas the dog will kill the bird. I find that hard to believe, as my dog has never so much as killed a lizard, let alone a big old bird. The cat has definitely stalked anything that comes close.

I suppose it depends on the individual dog. My parents have one that they got because she was killing chickens on a farm, and they think she killed a barn kitten that ventured into the fenced part of their yard. :( But their other dogs would just harass.

pcooley

6-20-14, 2:21pm

I'm sad to say that I'm reviving this thread to say I had to have Charlie put to sleep this morning. I haven't looked back through this thread to see if I mentioned that Charlie was experiencing seizures, but they started around this time of the grooming dilemma. His seizures grew worse, and he became blind, and I believe he was more or less deaf as well. A few weeks ago, we paid the vet to come out to our house because he yelped when I tried to lift him. The vet felt that he probably had a brain tumor. He also seemed to have some arthritis in his front legs. She prescribed some Rimadyl for him, but it did not make any difference in his behavior. It had been a couple of months since he had wagged his tail, and you could always count on him to start thumping the floor whenever he heard a voice. In the end, he was deaf and blind, and very vacant. He would walk in counter-clockwise circles and get stuck in corners or in among the bikes. On Tuesday, the vet called to see how he was doing, and suggested we might try to put him on prednisone to ease the symptoms of the suspected tumor. We also talked about putting him to sleep, and she said that there would be nothing wrong with putting him to sleep at this point.

Wednesday morning, he seemed worse. He stumbled trying to find his breakfast and smacked his head on a rock. He seemed to be losing control of his rear legs too. I had said that as long as he was enjoying his breakfast, that seemed to be enough to keep him going, but he stopped eating much and didn't seem to be enjoying that breakfast anymore. I called the vet and arranged for her to come out this morning. He didn't eat at all this morning, so I felt that I made the decision at the right time.

I don't think I cried that much when my mother died. It's hard to have a pet intentionally put down, but I know that he was not enjoying his life anymore.